Palermo FC

Palermo FC
	Palermo FC
	Template: Infobox Football Club / Maintenance / No picture
Basic data
Surname	Palermo Football Club spa
Seat	Palermo , Italy
founding	November 1, 1900 (as Anglo Panormitan AFC); 1920 (as US Palermo); 1928 (as Palermo FBC); 1941 (as US Palermo-Juventina); 1987 (as US Palermo); 2019 (as SSD Palermo)
Colours	pink, black
president	Dario Mirri
Website	palermofc.com
First soccer team
Head coach	Roberto Boscaglia
Venue	Renzo Barbera Stadium
Places	36,349
league	Series C
2019/20	1st place ( Series D Group I; as SSD Palermo) ▲

The Palermo Football Club , known in German-speaking countries as FC Palermo , is an Italian football club from the Sicilian capital Palermo . The association was founded on November 1, 1900 as Anglo Panormitan AFC (1907–1915 Palermo FBC ) and learned due to financial problems in 1920 (as US Palermo ), 1928 (as Palermo FBC , 1935–1940 AC Palermo ), 1941 (as US Palermo -Juventina , 1944–1968 US Palermo and 1968–1986 SSC Palermo ), 1987 (as US Palermo ) and 2019 (as SSD Palermo ; since 2020 FC Palermo ) various start-ups and name changes.

The club plays its home games in the Stadio Renzo Barbera, which holds 36,349 spectators . The club belonged to Serie A , the top Italian division, for a total of 29 years and has been in Serie C since 2020 . The team's nickname is "Rosanero" after the club colors pink and black.

history

Beginnings

On November 1, 1900, the Anglo Panormitan Athletic and Football Club was founded by Ignazio Majo Pagano . The club colors were red and blue. On December 30, the club played its first game against an English selection. Ignazio Majo Pagano acted as referee. The more experienced Englishmen clearly won 5-0.

In 1907 the club was renamed Palermo Football Club , at the same time the club colors were changed from red and blue to the now legendary pink and black.

Anglo Panormitan AFC (1910)

The first success

In 1920 the Palermo FBC took part in the first edition of the Campionato Siciliano Federale , where teams from Catania , Marsala and Messina were met. Palermo prevailed against all competitors and was able to celebrate the first title in the club's history.

The following year (the 1921/22 season) you took part in the Campionato 1st Divisione for the first time. Palermo placed first in the Lega Sud Girone Sicilia and qualified for the Lega Sud finals . In the first round you met Audace Taranto's team . The Rosanero lost this game just 0: 1 after extra time.

Financial difficulties and start-up

On July 10, 1927, the Palermo FBC had to withdraw its team due to financial difficulties from the current championship. Four days later, the Palermo FBC team merged with Vigor Palermo and was able to start playing again.

Promotion to Serie B

In the season 1929/30 Palermo played in the Prima Divisione (Girone B), at the end of the season it was classified in the first place and promotion to the Serie B . The following season, Palermo finished in an excellent third place and missed promotion to Serie A by just two points.

Inauguration of the new stadium

Renzo Barbera Stadium

On January 24, 1932, Palermo was able to inaugurate its new stadium, which was named Stadio La Favorita . US Palermo still plays in this stadium today, but it has now been renamed Stadio Renzo Barbera in honor of an ex-president .

First promotion to Serie A

After having narrowly missed promotion to Serie A in the previous season, this undertaking succeeded with ease in the 1931/32 season. At the end of the season they won the Serie B championship and thus rose to Serie A for the first time. On this occasion, the President decided that a golden eagle (the symbol of the city of Palermo) should be added to the previously unadorned coat of arms.

In the 1934/35 season, the greatest success to date was achieved in Serie A, when they were classified in seventh place at the end of the season. One season later, however, a sudden crash followed when they were only 15th and thus relegated back to Serie B after four Serie A seasons.

New financial problems

On August 30, 1940, the President of the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC for short) dissolved the Palermo FBC due to serious financial problems.

A year later, more precisely on August 23, 1941, the team of the Palermo FBC merged with the Juventina Palermo and was able to resume championship operations in Serie C.

In the first season of the newly founded team, they immediately achieved promotion to Serie B.

Return to Serie A

In the season 1947/48 to Palermo Serie B classified in first place in the Girone C thus succeeded for the second time promotion to the Serie A . Palermo secured promotion on the last day of the match with a 3-0 win against Pescara. The most successful goalscorer for the Sicilians this season was Pavesi, who scored a total of 21 goals. As a result, the club was able to position itself in the lower midfield, before Palermo occupied a relegation place after the 1953/54 season and thus relegated back to Serie B. In the following years, Palermo shuttled steadily between Serie B and Serie A. The highlight was the 1961/62 season when Palermo finished eighth and defeated Juventus Turin 4-2 in Turin .

Participation in the Mitropa Cup

On July 3, 1960, Palermo took part in the Mitropapokal and met Diósgyőri VTK . Palermo lost the first game at home 2-1, the second leg in Hungary was won 2-0 by the Sicilians. Nevertheless, in the end Hungary won the team classification and thus the Mitropa Cup in 1960.

The Renzo Barbera era

On March 4, 1970 Renzo Barbera was elected as the new president of the association. He was the first president to represent Palermo after decades of leadership by politicians. He stayed with the club for a decade, succeeded by Gaspare Gambino. Under Barbera the promotion to Serie A succeeded after a long time after they reached a 0-0 against Sorrento Calcio in Naples on June 18, 1972 , while the competitor AC Como was beaten by Reggina Calcio . The coach of the team was Ninetto De Grandi, a former full-back with Milan at times Gunnar Nordahl . Despite the success, he was not confirmed in office for the following season.

1974 Palermo reached the final of the Coppa Italia under the coach Viciani. On May 23, they met at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on the FC Bologna . Palermo took the lead thanks to a Magistrelli goal, but in the course of the game Gonella gave the Bolognese an unauthorized penalty, which was converted by Beppe Salvodi . After a goalless extra time, the game was lost on penalties.

In 1979 Palermo reached the final of the Coppa Italia again. On June 20, they met in Naples on Juventus Turin , who had previously lost the title fight for Scudetto against Milan. Again, Palermo managed to take the lead with a goal from Vito Chimenti . Shortly before the end, however, Juventus equalized with Sergio Brio . With three minutes left in extra time, Franco Causio , who had also played for Palermo, scored the winning goal for Juventus.

The preliminary end

On September 8, 1986 Palermo was excluded from the Italian football federation FIGC. The reason given was a lack of financial debt relief policy. The club was replaced in Serie B by Pescara, which was promoted to Serie A as the season progressed . The news of the end of the association provoked anger and anger among the Tifosi , who marched through the streets of Palermo in protest.

The start-up

On January 7, 1987, thanks to political and entrepreneurial efforts, the club was re-established under the name Unione Sportiva Palermo . Leoluca Orlando and the Minister Carlo Vizzini finally convinced Franco Carraro of the FIGC to grant Palermo a place in professional football. Salvino Lagumina became the first president of the newly founded association.

In 1988 the club started in the C2 series and immediately gained promotion. Unforgettable is the promotion party with a friendly against Ajax Amsterdam , which was surprisingly swept 4-0 out of the stadium.

In 1991, the club achieved promotion to Serie B with coach Enzo Ferrari (this is not the Ferrari manager of the same name). To celebrate their promotion, Real Madrid visited Palermo for a friendly and "only" scored 1-1. Later, however, they lost a friendly against AC Milan , trained by Fabio Capello , clearly 8-0.

On March 3, 2000, Franco Sensi became the association's new patron, succeeding Giovanni Ferrara. The chairman of AS Roma appointed Sergio D'Antoni president. Sensi supported the club that he had bought in Serie C until the summer of 2002 and sold it again after promotion and after a season in Serie B.

The Zamparini era

At the end of July 2002, Maurizio Zamparini became the new owner of the club with the clear objective of being represented in the higher classes again. He was warmly received by everyone. With Zamparini, the pride of the "Rosaneri" experienced a rebirth after many years of unsuccessfulness and disappointment. The new president turned almost the entire team upside down and declared the Serie A goal.

In 2003 they lost the promotion game to Serie A, for which 5000 Palermitans had traveled to Lecce , against US Lecce 0: 3. Thus, the dream of the ascent had burst like a soap bubble again. However, Zamparini was not deterred and bought players like Eugenio Corini and Luca Toni and hired Silvio Baldini as the new coach.

On January 26, 2004, Zamparini dismissed Baldini and engaged Francesco Guidolin . Under the leadership of the new coach, Palermo conquered the top of the table in Serie B and was promoted to Serie A on May 29, 2004. It was a record year: Palermo rose to Serie A after 32 years, Luca Toni was top scorer with 30 goals Hits and thus one of the most successful players in Palermo's club history.

Palermo put in an exceptional performance the following season, breaking all club records and taking an historic sixth place that enabled them to qualify for the UEFA Cup . On the side, Luca Toni became the most successful striker in Palermo history with 20 goals. At the end of the season, however, he left the club for ACF Florence , coach Francesco Guidolin announced his resignation. Maurizio Zamparini ordered Luigi Delneri to come to Palermo for him .

However, Delneri did not have much success and was replaced in early 2006 by Giuseppe Papadopulo , who managed the goal of relegation, and achieved a good eighth place, which meant access to the UI Cup at the time . In the UEFA Cup they reached the round of 16, in which they were eliminated against FC Schalke 04 . After the football scandal (Calciopoli), however, Palermo moved up in the table and also played in the UEFA Cup the following season.

The contract with Papadopulo was not renewed, instead Francesco Guidolin returned to the coaching bench after a year at AS Monaco . In the 2006/07 season he reached the top of the table with the team at the beginning, but quickly lost this position to Inter Milan . This was followed by the exit from the UEFA Cup after failing to survive the group stage. Zamparini's objective was a place in the top four teams, which would have meant qualifying for the UEFA Champions League . At the end of the season it was only enough for a fifth place and thus for the qualification for the UEFA Cup. Coach Guidolin was sacked and Atalanta Bergamo's Stefano Colantuono signed on as the new coach.

After a 5-0 away defeat by Juventus Turin on matchday 13 of the 2007/08 season , Colantuono was released on November 26, 2007. His successor was Francesco Guidolin, who coached the club for the fourth time, but was released on March 24, 2008 and replaced by his predecessor Colantuono.

In the 2008/09 season Palermo started with a defeat in the Coppa Italia against Ravenna Calcio and an away defeat on the first day of play at Udinese, whereupon Stefano Colantuono was replaced very early by the new coach Davide Ballardini.

At the end of the season, the club separated from Ballardini and announced the commitment of Walter Zenga for two years, until then coach of the island rivals Catania Calcio . But even Zenga could not hold long in the coaching chair in Palermo and was dismissed after only 14 competitive games. He was replaced by Delio Rossi , who at least managed to hold on to Palermo as coach until the end of the 2010/11 season , even if he was replaced by Serse Cosmi in the meantime. With Rossi, Palermo also reached the Italian Cup final again after 32 years. But the title could not be won again because Inter Milan had to admit defeat 3-1.

In the 2011/12 season Stefano Pioli took over as coach at Palermo. Pioli was sacked before the start of the Serie A games after failing in the 3rd EL qualifying round. He was succeeded by youth coach Devis Mangia.

Early in the season 2012/13 was Giuseppe Sannino 's new coach, but had to leave after only three games and was only by Gian Piero Gasperini , then by Alberto Malesani replaced. At the end of February 2013, Zamparini brought Gasperini back, but he was on leave after 13 days. The club ended the season with Giuseppe Sannino. After the 37th matchday, relegation from Serie A was certain.

For the 2013/14 season , Gennaro Gattuso replaced Sannino as head coach. After only seven points in six games and 13th place in the table, Gattuso was dismissed from the club on September 25, 2013. Giuseppe Iachini took his place . After the weak start, Palermo under Iachini was able to establish itself at the top of the table and determine the league. On April 26, 2014, they celebrated the early recovery, a week later the early second division championship .

Forced relegation and re-establishment in 2019

In 2017, long-time President Maurizio Zamparini resigned. After that there was no more calm. In May 2019, the national football association FIGC sentenced the club to relegation to Serie C for various administrative offenses, including falsification of balance sheets in the 2014/15 to 2016/17 seasons. Palermo appealed against this. In July 2019, however, the FIGC rejected the appeal by the Sicilian club and even tightened the punishment for relegation to the Serie D .

At the beginning of August 2019 the association was re-established as SSD Palermo . The previous company was declared bankrupt and dissolved in October 2019. The 2019/20 season had to be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The SSD Palermo standing after 26 games with 63 points on the first place in the table and was promoted to the Serie C explained. For the 2020/21 season , the name was changed to Palermo Football Club , or FC Palermo for short .

Former players

Former trainers

Fan culture

The majority of Palermo fans come from the city and its surroundings, but the club is also very popular in the rest of Italy (mainly due to Sicilians who have moved here), so that Palermo is also supported by a large fan base for away games.

There is a great rivalry between the supporters of Palermo and those of Catania Calcio . Games by these teams are considered "Sicilian Derby", although with FC Messina another well-known team is based in Sicily . The derby riots in 2007 achieved sad notoriety , in which a police officer was killed and as a result of which league play was interrupted nationwide.

A fan friendship is maintained with the Tifosi of US Lecce . At the international level, a few Palermo fans maintain a friendship with supporters of 1. FC Kaiserslautern from the Bundesliga .