Parma has returned to competing in Serie A in the last two seasons. However, the face of Parma today is very contrasting when compared to the 1992-2002 period.
Parma at that time was known as a star-studded team. The team, based at the Ennio Tardini Stadium, was accustomed to competing in the top-flight zone of Serie A and was quite familiar with the title.
Parma has never won the Scudetto because it is only two points at odds with the champions Juventus in the 1996/1997 season. I Gialloblu’s best achievement on the domestic stage is winning three Italian Cup titles and the Italian Super Cup.
In the European region, Parma successfully nailed as one of the respected teams. The team that is synonymous with yellow and blue were two UEFA Cup winners, one time Winners Cup champion, and European Super Cup champion in 1993.
Parma’s success cannot be separated from the role of Parmalat, an Italian company owned by Calisto Tanzi that produces milk and food. The flush of money from Parmalat makes Parma as they wish to bring in star players.
Under the crossbar Parma was strengthened by Italian football legend Gianluigi Buffon. Buffon was a fostered player of the club’s academy before being brought to Juventus.
Famous names such as Nestor Sensini, Fabio Cannavaro, Fernando Couto and Lilian Thuram have also strengthened Parma’s back line which is respected by opposing teams. Not to forget also players like Juan Veron, Dino Baggio, Alain Boghossian, and Tomas Brolin in midfield.
Parma’s front line is no less shiny. Petite striker Gianfranco Zola played for three seasons in a Parma shirt before deciding to move to English Premier League club Chelsea.
In addition, there are also names of goal-hungry strikers such as Enrico Chiesea, Faustino Asprilla to one of the best foreign strikers who ever played in Italy, Hernan Crespo.
A series of famous names above can appear charming thanks to the tactics of Nevio Scala, Carlo Ancelotti, and Alberto Malesani. Scala itself is a coach who played an important role behind the success of Parma promotion to Serie A in 1990.
With abundant funds, topnotch coaches, and star-studded squad, Parma in 10 years won nine trophies. Starting from the title in domestic competitions to the Blue continent tournament.
Parma, who is classified as a new kid in Serie A, has also been a candidate for the Scudetto in each season. I Gialloblu compete with teams that have great traditions such as Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, AS Roma, Lazio and Fiorentina.
However, Parma’s glorious days faded with the departure of star players like Hernan Crespo, Gianluigi Buffon, Lilian Thuram, and Fabio Cannavaro in the early 2000s.
In April 2004, Parma was declared bankrupt after the crisis experienced by Parmalat as the team’s main supporter. The owner of Tanzi was entangled in a financial scandal and Parma, who became a big power in Italy, was immediately shaken.
Three years later Parma was taken over by businessman Tommaso Ghirardi. In the era of Ghirardi, again the problem of club mismanagement occurred again.
Poor financial management made Parma bankrupt again in 2014. The club owed up to 218 million euros and had to accept the fact of being demoted to Serie D or the fourth caste competition in the State of Pizza.
Amazingly, even though it had collapsed, Parma only took three years to continue to go up to the caste until finally holding a promotion ticket to Serie A in 2018. It’s just that Parma’s face is now very different from in the past when their squad became one of the best in Serie A.
