They started competing in the 1919/20 season and ended up second in the qualifying matches for the Emilian championship. Their first promotion dates back to 1924/25, as Parma moved from the second to the first division. In the 1928/29 season, they won the first division and were promoted to the newly formed Serie B. Currently the club plays all its home matches in Ennio Tardini under Seria A.
Ennio Tardini is located in the center of city and thus represents the heart of Parma FC. The stadium was constructed in 1923. Over the period of time the stadium underwent many redevelopment phases until 1990 thanks to direct contributions from the society. In 2002, a major agreement between the club and the Common one of the Parma “the gialloblu Club” obtained from the municipal authorities total control for the next thirty years. This agreement allowed the club to equip the stadium with new services. Currently the stadium stands for a capacity to accommodate 28783 guests.
Parma spent the early years of the 30s in Serie B and during that time they changed their name to A.S. Parma. They were relegated in 1932 and they had to be contained to play the remainder of the decade in the newly-formed Serie C. Parma played the pre-World War II years in Serie C before promotion to Serie B in the 1941/42 season. After the World War II, Parma played another three seasons in Serie B before once again being relegated to Serie C in a play-off against Spezia in the 1948/49 season. They lost 4-1 in the neutral venue of Milan. Then, they spent another five seasons in Serie C where they ended up in second place on two occasions before gaining promotion once again in 1953-54.
Following this relegation one of the most successful periods in the club's history began as Parma returned to Serie B. However their best performance came in 1954-55 season when they ended up ninth. It was during this season Ivo Cocconi played his 308th game which was a record as the most games played at that time. Parma made their debut on the European stage during the 1960-61 season, defeating Swiss side Bellinzona 0-2 in the Coppa delle Alpi. After such a massive win parma could not hold on their position and were again relegated in 1964-65 season to Serie D.
Parma continued falling into relative turmoil by the club's standards; they changed their name on numerous occasions until finally settling for Associazione Calcio Parma in 1967-68. In the summer of 1969, another local club A.C. Parmense was merged with Parma to form one team. The club crept back into professional football, with promotion back to Serie B during the 1972-73 season. They ended on fifth spot after three years which was their best standing after the promotion. But they disappointed again after that has they were relegated and continued to play in Serie C for the rest of the 70’s. After making small comebacks in the beginning of 80’s and followed it up as champions in 1984 they were once again relegated. They returned to B under Arrigo Sacchi for the 1986-87 season and remained there for the rest of the 1980s. After making an impression at Parma, Sacchi was scouted by A.C. Milan president Silvio Berlusconi, who brought him to become the new rossoneri coach. The historical promotion to Serie A came in 1989-90 season when Parma beat their old rivals Reggina 2-0.
Soon the historical promotion came the golden period of the club. Nevio Scala stepped into Sacchi's place as the new manager of Parma. Their first ever game in Serie A was a 2-1 defeat to Turin giants Juventus. Their first Serie A victory came 15 days later, against Diego Maradona's Napoli, the game ended 1-0. Parma ended their season in the sixth place and thus qualified for the UEFA Cup. But unfortunately they had to exit the championship losing to CSKA Sofia. Their first international trophy was won in 1992-93; Parma won the Cup Winners' Cup, beating Royal Antwerp 3-1 at Wembley in England on May 12, 1993. The following season, the club were successful in the European Super Cup; winning an all Italian final 2-0 over A.C. Milan. During the same season however, they lost the Cup Winners' Cup, 1-0 in the final against Arsenal. The 1994-1995 season saw perhaps their greatest achievement to date, when they beat Italian rivals Juventus in the UEFA Cup Final.
They were unable to put their form into effect within the Champions League, they also only followed up their league position with a 6th place. Under Alberto Malesani in 1998/99 the team won the Coppa Italia against Fiorentina. He also took the club to their second UEFA Cup final victory, this time they beat Olympique de Marseille 3-0, with goals from Crespo, Vanoli and Chiesa.
Parma started off the 1999-00 season well, winning the Italian Super Cup, but they were knocked out of the Champions League early and ended the season in fourth spot, level with Internazionale but lost the play-off 3-1.
Following the Parmalat scandal in late 2003, which caused the owning company to collapse, Parma has lately experienced a troubled period, having been under controlled administration until January 2007 and forced to fight to avoid relegation.
On January 24, 2007, Tommaso Ghirardi was announced as new owner of Parma FC, following a public auction sale. Ghirardi, owner of Serie C2 club Carpenedolo, became also chairman of Parma FC, ending three years of state-controlled management. On February 12, second-last placed Parma fired head coach Pioli and replaced him with Claudio Ranieri who, against overwhelming odds, managed to avoid the relegation of the team.
UEFA Cup (2):
Winners: 1994-95, 1998-99 European Super Cup:
Winners: 1993 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup:
Winners: 1992-93 Runners-up: 1993-94 Coppa Italia (3):
Winners: 1991-92, 1998-99, 2001-02 Runners-up: 1994-95, 2000-01 Italian Super Cup:
Winners: 1999 Serie A:
Runners up: 1996-97 Serie B:
Promoted: 1989-1990 Serie C: (7)
Promoted: 1928-29, 1943-44, 1953-54, 1972-73, 1978-79, 1983-84, 1985-86 Serie D:
Promoted: 1969-70 Ciutat de Barcelona Trophy:
Winners: 2003 Emilian League Division 1:
Champions: 1928-29 Emilian League Division 2:
Promoted: 1924-25 Runners-up: 1919-20