Parma A.C.

The club was founded in 1913 as Verdi AC, but the name was soon changed to that of the town. The club was undistinguished, moving between Serie B and Serie C before falling into the semi-professional leagues in the late 1960s. Following a flurry of owners and name changes the club became Parma A.C in 1970 through the merger of A.C. Parmense and Parma A.C. The club crept back into professional football but was uninspired until the 1980s. In 1985 Arrigo Sacchi[?] became the club's manager and led them to the Serie C1 championship, he left them in mid-table Serie B and the club drifted before the arrival of Nevio Scala[?]. Scala brought the club into the top flight in 1990 and attracted a number of skilled foreigners. This achievement was paid for by the multinational dairy concern Parmalat, who had become the clubs new sponsors and taken a 45% stake. Success in cup football and high league finishes in the early 1990s attracted other stars, with the likes of Fabio Cannavaro, Gianfranco Zola, Dino Baggio and Diego Fuser joining. Scala jumped ship in 1996 and was replaced by Carlo Ancelotti. He took the club to its best ever league finish in 1997, second place and only one point behind the champions.

In all the club has won the Coppa Italia twice (1991-92, 1998-99), the SuperCoppa Italiana once (1999) the Cup Winners' Cup once (1992-93) and the UEFA Cup twice (1994-95, 1998-99).

The club play at the 29,050 seater Stadio Comunale Ennio Tardini

Famous players have included Diego Fuser, Hernan Crespo, Fabio Cannavaro, Gianfranco Zola, Dino Baggio, Juan Sebastian Veron, Ivo Cocconi, Lilian Thuram, Gianluigi Buffon, Hidetoshi Nakata, Claudio Taffarel and Faustino Asprilla.

External link

• Official website http://www.acparma.it