Parma A.C.

Parma A.C. (Associazione Calcio) is an Italian football club based in Parma, nicknamed the Gialloblu. Its home kit consists of dark blue cross on white jerseys, white shorts socks; the away jersey is a blue and yellow hooped jerseys in the traditional rugby shirt style, yellow shorts and blue socks. The club's stadium is the 29,050 seater Stadio Comunale Ennio Tardini.

The club was founded in 1913 as Verdi AC in honour of the birthplace of famous opera composer Giuseppe Verdi, 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 it in mid-table of 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 club's new sponsor 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. Following Parmalat's financial scandal in 2003-04 the future of the football club is uncertain.