Palermo
Palermo is a football (soccer) club from Italy.
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Unione Sportiva Città di Palermo is an Italian Football (soccer) club from Palermo, Sicily which currently plays in Serie A, the top level of Italian football. Formed in 1900 as
Anglo Panormitan Athletic and Football Club, Palermo existed under various names before finally assuming the current denomination in 1987. Following its return to Serie A in 2004, Palermo became one of the most prominent in Italy. It has obtained a UEFA Cup place in each of the past three seasons, narrowly missing UEFA Champions League qualification in 2007.
The official team colours are pink and black, giving rise to the nickname
rosanero; another less common nickname is
aquile, referring to the eagle present in both the official club logo and the coat of arms of the city of Palermo.
US Città di Palermo plays its home games at Stadio Renzo Barbera, formerly known as
La Favorita; as of 2007 the stadium has a capacity of 36,871 people. However, the most common and officially stated foundation date is November 1, 1900, as the Anglo Panormitan Athletic and Football Club. Palermo is stated to be founded by Ignazio Majo Pagano, a young Palermitan colleague of Whitaker who had discovered football while at college in London, England where the sport was already popular. The staff foundations of the Palermo football organisation was composed of 3 Englishmen and 9 natives of Palermo, with Whitaker as honorary chairman, Edward De Garston as first president and red and blue as original team colours. The first known football match, played by Palermo on December 30, 1900, ended in a 5-0 defeat to an unidentified amateur English team. first official match, played on April 18, 1901 against F.C. Messina Peloro ended in a 3-2 win to the Palermitan side.
In 1907, Palermo changed its name to Palermo Foot-Ball Club, and Palermo colours were changed to the current pink and black. From 1908 until the final one in 1914, Palermo was featured in the
Lipton Challenge Cup, organised by English billionaire Thomas Lipton. The competition saw them face off against S.S.C. Napoli; Palermo won the competition three times, including a 6-0 victory in 1912.
After the football halting due to World War I, Palermo was refounded on 1919 as Unione Sportiva Palermo, by a committee of young university students and sportsmen. During the early 1920s Palermo mainly competed in the
Campionato Lega Sud (a football league of Southern Italy) reaching the semi-finals in 1924, before being knocked out when facing Taranto Sport, A.S. Roma and S.S.C. Napoli. Palermo was cancelled in 1927 due to financial reasons, but was reformed one year later following a merger with Vigor Palermo under the denomination Palermo FootBall Club. Originally admitted to
Prima Divisione (First Division), the equivalent of today's Serie C1, the was promoted into Serie B in 1930 and finally reached Serie A in 1932. From its debut season in Italy's top division, Palermo relocated to a new home, the
Stadio Littorio (Lictorian Stadium) in the Favorita neighbourhood, today known as Stadio Renzo Barbera. Palermo played Serie A until 1936, when they were relegated to Serie B and first challenged Calcio Catania in the Sicilian derby.
In 1936 Palermo was also forced by the Fascism regime to change its colours to yellow and red, after the official ones of the local municipality. Meanwhile, economical troubles arose, and in 1940 they were expelled by the Italian Football Federation because of financial problems.
After the World War II, Palermo returned to Serie A by capturing the Serie B championship of Serie B 1947-48; the refreshed Palermo squad featured players such as Czechoslovakian legend Čestmír Vycpálek who was signed from Juventus F.C. alongside Conti, Carmelo Di Bella and Pavesi. Massive changes in the board, as well as the managing post and the playing squad, proved to be successful and Palermo returned to Serie A in 1956. Palermo then became a sort of "yo-yo" club, bouncing up and down between the top two Italian leagues. Several stars appeared with Palermo during this period, such as Argentina striker Santiago Vernazza (51 goals in 115 games with the
rosanero), goalkeepers Roberto Anzolin and Carlo Mattrel, Giuseppe Furino and Franco Causio. Palermo marked its best campaign in the Serie A 1961-62, finishing 8th in Serie A. In 1963 they however were relegated in Serie B, and played there for five seasons.
In 1970, Renzo Barbera took over the club, becoming the new chairman. After 1973, Palermo FBC played exclusively in Serie B for a long time. Despite this, in this period Palermo reached two Coppa Italia finals, both narrowly lost: in 1974 to Bologna F.C. 1909 on penalty shoot-outs, and in 1979 to Juventus F.C. after extra time. Barbera left Palermo in 1980 and Palermo were relegated to Serie C1 four years later. The Serie B 1985-86 season which ended in the summer was however the last for Palermo FBC, as the club, after a struggling saving from relegation, was expelled by the federation because of financial problems. In the summer of 1987, after a year without professional football in Palermo, Palermo was refounded, bearing the current name, and began to play down from Serie C2, which was promptly won.
In the 1990s Palermo played extensively between Serie B and Serie C1, with a few highs, such as its Serie B 1995-96 Serie B and Coppa Italia campaign, the latter ended in the quarter-finals, and a number of lows such as the 1998 relegation to Serie C2 after defeat in the play-offs to U.S. Battipagliese, then revoked by the federation to fill a league vacancy.