Palermo FC
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| Full name | Unione Sportiva Città di Palermo SpA | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Rosanero ("Pink-blacks"), Aquile ("Eagles") | ||
| Gegründet | 1898 (Anglo Panormitan Athletic and Football Club) 1987 (US Città di Palermo) | ||
| Ground | Stadio Renzo Barbera, Palermo, Italy | ||
| Capacity | 37,242 | ||
| Chairman |  Maurizio Zamparini | ||
| Manager | Francesco Guidolin | ||
| League | Serie A | ||
| 2005-06 | Serie A, 5th (due to Serie A scandal convictions) | ||
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Unione Sportiva Città di Palermo is an Italian football team which currently plays in Serie A, the top level of Italian football. The club has existed under various names, for over one hundred years.
The official team colours are pink and black, one of their nicknames rosanero is referring to this, Palermo's other nickname is aquile referring to the eagle in the official logo.
US Città di Palermo play their home games at Stadio Renzo Barbera, formerly known as La Favorita; the stadium has a capacity of 37,242 people.[1] It was originally built in 1932, but was renovated in the late 1980s and served as one of several venues for the 1990 FIFA World Cup held in Italy.
History
The club, in common with several other Italian teams, has its earliest roots in England. Football was originally brought to Palermo by English sailors of cargo vessels in the late 18th century who would play football at the muddy port in their spare time. There is some debate about the exact founding date of the club, some date the club's foundation to as early as 1898 due to the existence of papers addressed to Joseph Whitaker, English consul in Palermo and first club president, about a Palermitan football team founded in that year.
The most common and officially stated foundation date however, is November 1, 1900, [2] as the Anglo Panormitan Athletic and Football Club. The club is stated to be founded together by Whitaker and Ignazio Majo Pagano, a young Palermitan colleague of his who had discovered football while at college in London, England where the sport was already popular. While in London, Pagno also met Alfredo Marangolo; who went on to form Messina Football Club.
The staff foundations of the Palermo football organization was composed of 5 Englishmen and 9 natives of Palermo, including[3];
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The first known football match, played by the team on December 30, 1900, ended in a 5-0 defeat to an unidentified amateur English team. The foundation colours of the team were red and blue. The first official match, played on April 18, 1901 against Messina Football Club on a football field located in Via Notarbartolo, the game ended in a 3-2 win to the Palermitan side.[4] From 1905 onwards the two clubs competed in the Whitaker Challenge Cup, this was competed three times, Palermo won the competition once.
In 1907, the club changed its name to Palermo FBC, and the team colours were changed to the current pink and black; some sources state that the club colours were changed due to an accident which happened when washing the old red and blue shirts, while others (including an official letter from the time) state that the colours are poetically intended to represent bitter and sweet.
From 1908 until the final one in 1914, Palermo also played in the Lipton Cup, organized by English billionaire Sir Thomas Lipton. The competition saw them face off against Naples; Palermo won the competition three times, including a 6-0 victory in 1912. Football activity in Palermo then halted until 1918 because of the First World War.
On February 16, 1919 the club name was changed to U.S. Palermo[5], the club was re-founded by a committee of young university students and sportsmen with barone Sergio as president. For the early 1920s the club competed in the Campionato Lega Sud reaching the semi-finals in 1924, before being knocked out when facing Audace Taranto, Alba Roma and Internaples.
Early league prominence
On July 10, 1927 Palermo were forced to withdraw from the national league without playing a game due to financial reasons. Vigor Palermo were then merged with the club, helping its situation, it then played in its first non regionally organized competition in 1929. Palermo was admitted to I Division League, the equivalent of today's Serie C.
They gained promotion from that division into Serie B after only one season; prominent players of this time were Nigiotti, Valeriani, Lo Prete and 15 goal man Carlo Radice. They got off to a great start in Serie B, almost gaining promotion during their first season with a third place finish, only three points behind Bari. The following season they gained promotion and the Serie B championship, with 16 goals from Radice.
For their first season in Serie A, the club moved to a new stadium named Stadio Littoriale (Lictorian Stadium) in the Favorita neighbourhood, today known as Stadio Renzo Barbera. The opening match was played there on January 24, 1932 against Atalanta, with Palermo winning 5-1. It took Palermo a couple of years to find their footing in the league, but by 1934-35 the club finished 7th, cementing their place as a decent side. The next season however, they were relegated.
Down in Serie B they spent three concecutive seasons finishing in 7th position. Notably for Sicilian football it featured all three major teams; Palermo, Messina and Catania, it was also the first time which Palermo had played Calcio Catania on a national scale, their rivalry would become known as the Sicilian derby. The first game between the two on November 1, 1936 finished 1-1. Palermo got the better of Catania later in the season though, with a 1-0 victory.
Palermo's fourth season for back down in the league was a troublesome one, in 1940 they were expelled by the Italian Football Federation because of financial problems. It would not return until five years later after the end of the Second World War.
Post-War Palermo
The team, refounded, returning to Serie A by capturing the Serie B championship of 1947-48; the refreshed Palermo squad featured players such as Czechoslovakian legend Čestmír Vycpálek who was signed from Juventus alongside Conti, Di Bella and Pavesi. The president of Palermo from 1948 onwards was Prince Raimondo Lanza di Trabia.
Palermo achieved 11th position in their first season back in Serie A, but by the end of the season Italian football was struck by the tragedy of the Superga air disaster in which the Grande Torino squad died. Three seasons of mid table finished followed Palermo's Serie A return; the highest of which was 10th. By 1953-54 they were back down in Serie B.
With no discouragement, Palermo changed many people at the club, including a new president, Giuseppe Trapani, and new board members such as Artura Cassina and Salvatore Vilardo. A new coach, Carlo Rigotti, was appointed together with 14 players, including Enzo Benedetti who captained the club from 1955 to 1962.
This paid off by 1955-56, with a runners-up position achieved in Serie B which allowed Palermo to regain promotion. Palermo then became a "yo-yo" club, bouncing up and down between the top two Italian leagues. AC Milan legend Ettore Puricelli took over as trainer for a period, and River Plate star Santiago Vernazza pulled on the colours of the rosanero, making an impressive record of 51 goals in 115 games.
After the 1960s, goalkeeper Roberto Anzolin played for the club before being sold to Juventus where he would play over 200 games for the bianconeri; Palermo would also sign local native Giuseppe Furino later. A good relationship was built up with Juventus in the 1960s, with the bianconeri loaning Carlo Mattrel (he would appear for Italy twice while at Palermo) and Franco Causio for a period in Sicily. The club had a great campaign in the 1961-62 season, finishing 8th in Serie A. For most of the 1960s they however played in Serie B (from 1963 until 1968).
Renzo Barbera era
On May 4, 1970 Renzo Barbera took over the club, becoming the new chairman; he would go on to be remembered as one of the greatest chairmen in the club's history.
After 1973, Palermo FBC played exclusively in Serie B for a long time. Despite this, in this period Palermo reached two Italian Cup finals: in 1974, against Bologna, Palermo lost a penalty shoot-out after a 1-1 tie, with the Bologna goal, a penalty, scored during injury time. The club's second Coppa Italia final was reached in 1979: the game was lost 2-1 to Juventus after extra time, with the equaliser goal for the opponents curiously scored again during injury time, as happened five years before.
Mixed times: late 1980s and 1990s
The season which ended in the summer of 1986 was a poor one for Palermo, as they finished low down in the league, even under Sicilian rivals Catania; in the summer, the team was then again expelled by the federation because of financial problems. In the summer of 1987, after a year without professional football in Palermo, the club was refounded, bearing the current name, and began to play down in Serie C2.
A return to Serie B occurred in 1991, but lasted only a year. Palermo won the Serie C championship in 1992-93, the league that season featured numerous other Siclian clubs including Messina, Catania, Acireale, Giarre and Siracusa. Palermo stayed back up in Serie B for four more season, and in 1994 wrote a piece of history for themselves with a 1-0 away win against AC Milan in the Coppa Italia second round.
In the 1990s, the 1995-1996 season was the highlight for Palermo, obtaining a seventh place after having fought hard for promotion, and even appearing in the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia after eliminating Parma and Vicenza among others, with a team mostly composed of Palermitan footballers and coached by Palermo-born Ignazio Arcoleo.
However, the following season ended with relegation to Serie C1. 1997 was perhaps the worst playing season in the history of Palermo, as they were due to be relegated to the Serie C2 division after a dramatic and shocking defeat in a play-off against Battipagliese; however Palermo were later saved by the federation due to the expulsion of Ischia Isolaverde, another Serie C1 team.
AS Roma chairman Franco Sensi bought the team in 2001 but Palermo missed a spot in the promotion playoffs. However, Palermo won Serie C1/B and got promoted to Serie B the next year, after a hard fight against fellow islanders Messina, which were reached at the top of the table just at the last match-day.
On the rise with Zamparini
Palermo was sold to retail trade entrepreneur Maurizio Zamparini in the summer of 2002 after a quiet Serie B season, the former Venezia owner brought in various players, including ones from his past club, such as Mario Santana, Kewullay Conteh, Stefano Morrone, and Arturo Di Napoli.
The 2002-03 season was the first of the Zamparini era: the club went through two managers that season before arriving at Nedo Sonetti, who managed to help Palermo climb the league table. However, Palermo missed out on promotion to Serie A on the final day of the season, after a 3-0 away defeat to Lecce, who obtained the last promotion place. Palermo ended in fifth place, and Sonetti was replaced by Empoli coach Silvio Baldini for the upcoming 2003-2004 campaign.
Zamparini was ambitious and reinforced the team with top signings such as Luca Toni, Lamberto Zauli and Eugenio Corini, and youngsters Simone Pepe, Andrea Gasbarroni and Christian Terlizzi. However, Baldini was fired in January 2004, after a shocking home defeat to Salernitana followed by public attacks from the head coach directed to the team chairman. Palermo, in third place at the time and reinforced still further with signings of Fabio Grosso, Antonio and Emanuele Filippini, replaced Baldini with Francesco Guidolin. Palermo ended its season winning the Serie B title season on goal difference over Cagliari, with Luca Toni finishing the league top-scorer by some distance, with 30 goals in 45 matches.
Back in Serie A
The 2004-05 season was the first back in Serie A for the Palermo club since 1973. Palermo ended the season with an excellent sixth place, allowing it to qualify for the 2005-06 UEFA Cup for the first time in its history. Luca Toni broke the Palermo's Serie A scoring record by notching up 20 league goals. After a long and successful time in Sicily, Francesco Guidolin resigned as coach, and Luigi Del Neri was appointed to replace him for the Serie A 2005-06 season.
During the summer football market, a couple of young internationals, Andrea Caracciolo and Stephen Ayodele Makinwa, were signed, and Luca Toni was sold to ACF Fiorentina for €10m. The team had a good start in the new season, most notably with an exciting 3-2 win against Inter Milan. That season, Palermo also made its UEFA Cup debut, defeating Anorthosis Famagusta of Cyprus 6-1 on aggregate (2-1 and 4-0) in its first appearance at the European level. US Città di Palermo then won the group state, finishing above RCD Espanyol, Lokomotiv Moscow, Maccabi Petach Tikva FC and Brøndby IF.
Despite good European form, Palermo were not able to keep up their form in the league; even with notable signings being brought in during the Winter transfer market, such as David Di Michele and Federico Agliardi, Del Neri was fired, and Giuseppe Papadopulo was appointed to replace him. Papadopulo made his debut at the helm of Palermo with a sensational 3-0 win to AC Milan for the Italian Cup quarter-finals return match, taking Palermo through to the semi-final round for the third time in its history; they eventually went out to AS Roma, the score was 2-2 on aggregate but Roma went through due to the away goal rule. Palermo were also eliminated from European, by FC Schalke 04 in a 3-1 aggregate loss, after having defeated Czech team SK Slavia Praha in the round of 32.
Current season
Palermo initially ended the previous season in eighth place, and thus qualified for the 2006-07 Intertoto Cup, Francesco Guidolin was also re-hired. However, due to the Serie A scandal of 2006, the FIGC had stated they would not enter Palermo into the Intertoto Cup.
After the verdicts penalized numerous clubs, Palermo's overall position for that season was elevated to 5th, meaning they had qualified for the 2006-2007 UEFA Cup. In the transfer window, Palermo spent millions adding players to their squad, including Aimo Diana, Mark Bresciano, Fábio Simplício and Amauri. Several football experts and pundits tipped Palermo to do well in the season ahead, including Alessandro Del Piero.[6]
They started well by knocking out English side West Ham United in the UEFA Cup. However, this time around the group stage was more difficult, they finished last in a group that contained Celta de Vigo, Eintracht Frankfurt, Fenerbahçe SK and Newcastle United.
For the first time in its history Palermo sat on top of the Serie A table in September 2006 after beating Catania 5-3 at home in the Sicilian derby. Another notable victory, was a 2-0 away win to AC Milan at San Siro stadium.
Palermo was involved in a controversial away Sicilian derby match on Catania on February 2, 2007, which was suspended for 30 minutes during the second half after some tear gas explosions from outside the stadium, used by the police to minimize hooliganism outside the Massimino Stadium, drifted onto the playing area. After the match, violence went on and policeman called Filippo Raciti was killed being hit in the face by a small explosive launched by Catania ultras.[7] This led Commissioner Luca Pancalli to suspend indefinitely football leagues and national team matches in the whole country.
At present Palermo are in 3rd position in Serie A behind Inter and AS Roma.
Current squad
As of January 31, 2007[8]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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- Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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- For recent transfer, see List of transfers of Serie A - 2006/2007 season.
Youth squad
As of September 11, 2006[9][10]
Note: most players are granted first team number; however, this does not necessarily mean they have been used in any first team match.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Notable former players
Notable former managers
Presidential history
Over the years Palermo has had various owners, chairmen or presidential figures; here is a cronological list of the known presidents;
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Colours and badge
The official badge as of 2004 is a pink/black escutcheon with an eagle in the verge of flowing off inside it, and the official club denomination "U.S. Città di Palermo" on the top. The eagle represents the city of Palermo, as it appears also in the city's coat of arms.
Palermo originally played with red and blue as its official colours, but switched to the current pink and black on February 27, 1907, contemporarily to the denomination change to Palermo Foot Ball Club [11]. The colours' choice were suggested by count Giuseppe Airoldi, a prominent founding member of the club, as "colours of the sad and the sweet" which he believed to be a good fit for a team characterized by "results as up and down as a Swiss clock".[12] The new shirts were first worn in a match against Sir Thomas Lipton's crew team; the match ended in a 2-1 win for Palermo.
This choice of colours is still unique in football today, as Palermo is the only top football team to use pink and black as official colours.
Stadium
Palermo plays its home matches at Stadio Renzo Barbera, located in the Favorita neighbourhood. The stadium first opened in 1932, during the fascist regime, with the name Stadio Littorio (Lictorial Stadium). The inaugural match was played on January 24, 1932, against Atalanta; Palermo won it 5-1. In 1936, it was renamed Stadio Michele Marrone, after a fascist hero who died in the Spanish civil war[13].
Initially there racetrack was present, and there were no curved sections, only terraces and a stand. In 1948, the stadium assumed the denomination of Stadio La Favorita, after the neighbourhood where it was located, and was also rebuilt, without racetrack and with two curved sections, increasing its capacity to 30,000.[13]
In 1984 it was again enlarged, giving a capacity of circa 50,000. On the occasion of the 1990 FIFA World Cup, the stadium was renovated with the addition of seats, but the capacity, which was reached on only two occasions before 1990, was reduced to 37,242. During the 1989 renovation works, five employees died following the collapse of a section of the stadium.[13] In 2002 the stadium was renamed in honour of Renzo Barbera, legendary Palermo chairman in the 1970s.[13]
Supporters
The majority of Palermo supporters come from the city and its neighbourhood. However, Palermo is also widely popular throughout Western Sicily, as well as among Sicilian immigrants in northern Italy, leading Palermo to have one of the largest followings in its away matches.
Support for Palermo is closely associated to a strong sense of belonging to Sicily; indeed, it is not uncommon to see Sicilian flags waved by fans and ultras during Palermo matches. Palermo fans are also twinned with Lecce ultras.[14]
Palermo's biggest rivals by far are fellow islanders Catania. Matches between Palermo and Catania are usually referred to as Sicilian derbies, despite the existence of a third valid Sicilian team, Messina, now playing in Serie A alongside Palermo and Catania. Rivalry with Messina, although historically older, is considered to be less intense than that with Catania.
The 2006-07 return match between Palermo and Catania, played on 2 February 2007 at Stadio Angelo Massimino, Catania, is remembered due to the tragic death of policeman Filippo Raciti who was injured during riots between the local police and the Catania supporters. This event led Italian Federation commissioner Luca Pancalli to suspend all football leagues and national team events in the whole country indefinitely.
Honours
- Runners-up: 1973-74, 1978-79
- Champions: 1931-32, 1947-48, 1967-68, 2003-04
- Runners-up: 1958-59
- Champions: 1941-42
- Champions: 1984-85, 1992-93, 2000-01
- Runners-up: 1990-91, 1998-99
- Champions: 1987-88
- Winners: 1990-91
Whitaker Challenge Cup
- Winners: 1908
Lipton Trophy
- Winners: 1910, 1912, 1913
- Runners-up: 1909, 1911, 1914
Records
- Most league goals – 62, Carlo Radice (1929-1932)
- Most Serie A league goals – 40, Domenico Di Maso (1949-1954)
- Most goals in a season – 30, Luca Toni (2003-2004)
- Most league appearances – 321, Roberto Biffi (1988-1999)
- Most Serie A league appearances – 151, Gino Giaroli (1949-1954)
- Current player with most league appearances – 150, Franco Brienza (updated January 30, 2007)
- Biggest win and biggest home win – 8-0 (v. Pro Patria, November 5, 1950)
- Biggest away win – 7-1 (v. Lecce, October 23, 1994)
- Biggest defeat and biggest away defeat – 0-9 (v. AC Milan, February 18, 1951)
- Biggest home defeat – 0-4 (two times), 1-5 (two times), 2-6 (most recent: 1-5 v. Udinese, March 13, 2005)