When Parma Shocked Europe: The Rise, Fall & Resurrection of an Italian Cinderella

Everyone loves an underdog story (think Leicester City 2016, Montpellier 2012 or even Greece 2004), however these all ended up on the shelf in the category of 'one season wonders' - successes never to be repeated whilst the team slowly slips back to reality.

Whilst Parma Calcio's rise to glory may not have been enough to build a dynasty, their success was certainly anything but a season-long fairytale.

This is the story of Parma, from humble beginnings to a huge name in Italian football through to bankruptcy - and potential for a new dawn.

Sachi's Nearly Men

Parma, having spent a lifetime locked outside of Serie A, came so close to ending that spell under the future AC Milan, Italy and Atletico Madrid coach Arrigo Sacchi.

Under a 442 formation that Sachi would later dismantle Barcelona 4-0 with in a European final, Parma came just three points away from promotion in the 1986/87 season, whilst their manager jumped ship to AC Milan to stake his name as one of the best coaches in Italy.

Some fans may have thought this was as good as it would get and that they were doomed for the second tier forever, yet little did they know this would only be the beginning of the road to glory.

Scala's Magic

The inexperienced Nevio Scala, who had only one managerial season under his belt at Reggina (albeit a successful one), was appointed in 1989 and he was soon after to be the man to take the Gialloblu to their destiny.

Bringing in his 532 system that had earned Reggina promotion from Serie B just a year earlier, Scala's Parma remained in the hunt for Serie A all season and finally achieved their dream on the final matchday of the 1989/90 season, beating fierce-rivals Reggiana 2-0 to progress to the first division.

The unfortunate death of club president Ernesto Ceresini just months before their promotion meant he never reaped the rewards of his work, however his passing opened up the door to new investment and leadership from the top in the board room.

Parmalat, a local dairy corporation, bought a 98% stake in the club and Giorgio Pedraneschi was named as the new president of the club - his aim was to add established talent to the squad to turn them into rapid challengers for titles.

Brazil's goalkeeper Claudio Taffarel was the start of the stars bought under the Parmalat revolution whilst Thomas Brolin was to be the new striker after his electric displays for Sweden at the Italia 90 World Cup.

At the end of what was a first season full of new dawns, Parma's sixth-placed finish was regarded as remarkable and qualification into the 1991/92 UEFA Cup was achieved.

Trophy Hunt Begins

Alberto Di Chiara's experience was a vital component to balance the youth of Antonio Benarrivo as the two wing-backs were signed to fit Scala's 532 system like a glove, which is what they did.

Whilst their seventh-placed league finish may have been a sign of regression, a halting of the project that had threatened to disrupt the balance of power held by Italy's top clubs, their run to the 1992 Coppa Italia final signalled anything but.

There, they faced Juventus over the course of two legs and, despite falling behind on aggregate after the first match via a Del Piero penalty, a stunning 2-0 comeback at home in the second leg secured them their first-ever piece of major domestic silverware.

In the years that followed, Faustino Asprilla and the well-established Gianfranco Zola arrived to sprinkle flair on a side that already had a clinical edge - in the 1992/93 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup semi-finals, the Colombian winger netted a brace as the Italians knocked out Atletico Madrid.

At the old Wembley Stadium in the final, Parma faced Royal Antwerp and comfortably beat the Belgians 3-1 courtesy of strikes from Lorenzo Minotti, Alessandro Melli and Stefano Cuoghi - earning the Gialloblu their first ever European success.

The 1994/95 season was perhaps the turning point that made Parma serious contenders for not only domestic trophies and small European titles, but league challengers too - as their rivalry with the Old Lady really kicked off.

A fight on all-three fronts began, as Juventus finished 10 points ahead of second-placed Parma in Serie A and smashed the Gialloblu in the Coppa Italia final, whilst Parma got their own back by defeating the Old Lady 2-1 in the UEFA Cup final.

The introduction of future legend Gianluigi Buffon to replace the departing Taffarel and Dino Baggio's switch from Juventus to Parma for €4.50m proved Parma continued to lay the groundwork for a winning side, yet league success continued to elude them.

Carlo Disappoints

Calisto Tanzi, the Parmalat founder who had chosen Pedraneschi to be president, finally lost his patience following a sixth-placed finish in 1995/96 with no cup success, and overthrew the president in favour of his son Stefano.

With it came former player Carlo Ancelotti, fresh from his first managerial spell at Derby dell'Enza foes Reggiana, taking over from the adored Scala.

A flurry of players were also brought in with desperation in mind, as Lilian Thuram, Hernan Crespo, Enrico Chiesa and Mario Stanic joined for a combined total of €26.13m with a 22-year-old Fabio Cannavaro already at the heart of the defence.

However, Ancelotti did not hold the keys to unlock Parma's door to Italian champions, as back-to-back 1-1 draws to AC Milan and Juventus respectively ensured it would be the Old Lady who pipped the Gialloblu to the 1996/97 title.

After another trophyless season mixed with a manager-president row, Ancelotti was given the boot having spent just two years at the club.

Malesani is the Man

Armoured with a great lineup of Buffon, Thuram, Cannavaro, Roberto Sensini, Diego Fuser, Paolo Vanoli, Alain Boghossian, Baggio, Juan Sebastian Veron, Chiesa and Crespo, ex-Fiorentina boss Alberto Malesani unsurprisingly guided Parma to their most successful season in their history.

Parma narrowly trumped Fiorentina on the away goals rule in the 1999 Coppa Italia final after a 3-3 aggregate score before an utterly convincing 3-0 mauling of Marseille in the UEFA Cup final of the same year ensued.

14 April 1999, Coppa Italia final first leg 🏆

Who else but Hernan @Crespo? 🇦🇷✨#ParmaTimeMachine #ForzaParma pic.twitter.com/P8eu2pjSy7

— Parma Calcio 1913 (@ParmaCalcio_en) April 14, 2023

The Downfall

Though the 1999 Supercoppa Italiana and the 2002 Coppa Italia trophies were added to the cabinet, league finishes began to regress as players were sold and Malesani departed - Crespo joined Lazio for a then-world record fee of €56.81m as Parma finished fourth, 10th and fifth from 2001 to 2003.

The main issues were away from the pitch however; Parmalat had accumulated debts totalling €20bn and CEO Tanzi was sentenced to 18 years in prison on charges of bankruptcy, fraud, embezzlement and criminal association.

As Parmalat were 98% majority shareholders plus their name were synonymous with the club - their company was plastered across the front of the shirts - Parma also fell into financial ruin and had to be placed into control of a court-approved bankruptcy trust until 2007.

A Failed Reprieve

In 2007, Tommaso Ghirardi bought the club out of administration and made himself president of the club, hiring Claudio Ranieri as manager.

The Tinkerman saved Parma's skins on the final day of the 2006/07 season as five wins in their last seven games ensured their survival with no games to spare.

However, Ranieri left that summer and three managers (Domenico di Carlo, Hector Cuper and Andrea Manzo) all tried to Parma afloat yet to no avail, as the Gialloblu's 18-year Serie A stay was over.

Former Palermo manager Francesco Guidolin took Parma back to the top flight at the first time of asking, finishing second and then an impressive eighth in the subsequent season, before Guidolin then departed for Udinese.

Four years of top-ten finishes occurred and their Europa League qualification under manager Roberto Donadoni looked to have Parma back where they wanted to be, except UEFA barred their entry into the competition due to late payments of income tax and their absence of a UEFA licence - leading to a one point deduction and owner Ghirardi fined plus banned from any club activities for two months.

In the 2014/15 season, Ghirardi was removed as owner/president of the club and two other owners walked through the door in the same year as the Gialloblu were declared bankrupt by a court in March 2015 due to liabilities of €218m and unpaid wages of €63m.

The Italian football federation gave Parma a £3.6m grant just so they could complete their remaining fixtures of the season, which they did and ended up finishing 18 points adrift of safety.

Parma have officially been declared bankrupt and will start next season in Serie D. A sad day for Italian football. pic.twitter.com/o5tZSnF1d3

— Football Tweet ⚽ (@Football__Tweet) June 22, 2015

The Resurrection

The re-founded Parma had to start out down in Serie D and ex-manager Scala, from the beginning of their glory days, was appointed president and former player Luigi Apollini was named as the manager.

Parma eased through Serie D at the first occasion, winning the league and securing promotion with three games spare - The following year in Italy's third tier, Parma finished in second within their group and secured back-to-back promotions as they beat Alessandria 2-0 in the promotion play-off final.

Aiming to become the first Italian club in history to achieve three successive promotions, Parma did just that as they finished the 2017/18 Serie B season in second place and with a greater head-to-head record than Frosinone, who had finished on an equal points tally.

2015/16 - Parma in Serie D.
2016/17 - Parma in Serie C.
2017/18 - Parma in Serie B.
2018/19 - Parma in Serie A.

First time in Italian football history a club has won three consecutive promotions! ⚽ pic.twitter.com/EwSOhkMuDN

— CaughtOffside (@caughtoffside) May 19, 2018

They remained in Serie A for three years, finishing in 14th, 11th and 20th - During their stay, current Tottenham winger Dejan Kulusevski had a spell on loan at the club and won Serie A's Best Young Player award for his time there.

Current Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca was sacked as Parma manager just four months into the new season as he failed to launch a promotion bid and a 12th place Serie B finished was to follow - Buffon rejoined his youth club during this period for a two-year spell before retiring from a 28-year career.

A fourth place finish in 2022/23 with a promotion play-off defeat meant the Gialloblu were condemned to another season in the second tier, until a 76-point campaign the year after saw them win the league and return to Serie A.

Former UEFA Cup winners Parma have been promoted to Serie A! 🇮🇹🆙 pic.twitter.com/KYgQOc9ZZ6

— 433 (@433) May 1, 2024

The most recent season had Cristian Chivu as their manager after Fabio Pecchia - who promoted them back to Serie A - was sacked as the club ended in 16th place and five points above relegation.

Can the glory days ever return to the team from Emilia-Romagna, or are they set to fight for their lives in Serie A for the foreseeable future? Only time will tell....