U.S. Città di Palermo

]

The colours' choice were suggested by count Giuseppe Airoldi, a prominent founding member of the club. In a letter Airoldi wrote on February 2, 1905 to club councillor Joseph Whitaker, he defined pink and black as "colours of the sad and the sweet", a choice he asserted to be a good fit for a team characterized by "results as up and down as a Swiss clock", noting also the fact that red and blue were a widely diffuse choice of colours at the time.

The club had to wait for the new jerseys for three months, because no pink flannel was available in Palermo, forcing the appointed tailoring company to import it from England. The new shirts were first worn in a match against Sir Thomas Lipton's crew team; the match ended in a 2-1 win for Palermo. From 1936 to 1940 the team played in red and yellow jerseys due to an imposition by the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini, red and yellow being the official colours of the municipality of Palermo. When the club was refounded in 1941 following a merger with "Juventina Palermo", they started dressing light blue shirt on the pitch, switching to the more popular pink and black one year later. [cite web |url=http://www.comune.palermo.it/archivio_biografico_comunale/Archivio%20Biografico%20Comunale.pdf |publisher=Comune di Palermo |title= Archivio biografico comunale: Beppe Agnello|accessdate=2007-06-16 |format= |work= |language=Italian]

The choice of pink and black as official colours for a football club is still unique today, as Palermo appears to be one of the few top-flight football teams to use these official colours. Another club with these colors is the first division club Sport Boys in Peru. [cite web |url=http://www.footballinitaly.com/palermo.html |publisher=Football in Italy|title= Palermo - About US Palermo |accessdate=2007-06-14 |format= |work=]

hirt sponsors and manufacturers

tadium

Palermo plays its home matches at Stadio Renzo Barbera, located in the "Favorita" neighbourhood. The stadium was opened in 1932, during the fascist regime, with the name "Stadio Littorio" (Lictorial Stadium). The inaugural match was played on January 24, 1932, against Atalanta; Palermo won it 5-1. In 1936, it was renamed "Stadio Michele Marrone", after a fascist hero who died in the Spanish civil war.cite web |url=http://www.ilpalermocalcio.it/it/societa/stadio.jsp |publisher=U.S. Città di Palermo|title= Lo stadio Renzo Barbera |accessdate=2007-05-04 |format= |work= |language=Italian]

Initially a racetrack was present, and there were no curved sections, but only terraces and a stand. In 1948, following the end of World War II and the fall of the Fascist regime, the stadium assumed the denomination of "Stadio La Favorita", after the neighbourhood where it was located, and was also heavily restructured, without racetrack and with two curved sections, thus increasing its capacity to 30,000. In 1984 it was again enlarged, giving a capacity of circa 50,000. This higher capacity was however completely covered in only twice, respectively in a Serie C1 league match against Messina and a friendly match against Juventus. On the occasion of the 1990 FIFA World Cup, the stadium was renovated with the addition of seats, but the capacity, which was reached on only two occasions before 1990, was reduced to 37,619. During the 1989 renovation works, five employees died following the collapse of a section of the stadium. In 2002 the stadium was renamed in honour of Renzo Barbera, legendary Palermo chairman in the 1970s.

Plans to move the club to a new state-of-the-art stadium to be built were recently announced by current Palermo chairman and owner Maurizio Zamparini.cite web |url=http://espresso.repubblica.it/dettaglio-local/Si-studia-un-impianto-alla-tedesca-il-progetto-e-ancora-in-alto-mare/1354367/6 |publisher=L'Espresso|title=Si studia un impianto alla tedesca, il progetto è ancora in alto mare |accessdate=2007-05-04 |format= |work= ]

upporters

The majority of Palermo supporters come from the city and its neighbourhood. However, Palermo is also widely popular throughout Western Sicily, as well as among Sicilian immigrants in northern Italy, leading Palermo to have one of the largest followings in its away matches. US Palermo supporters, mainly Sicilian emigrants, are also present outside Italy; a number of Palermo fans living in and around the German city of Solingen have even founded a club named after their favourite club, "FC Rosaneri", which as of 2007 plays in the Kreisliga B league. [cite web |url=http://www.solinger-tageblatt.de/index.php?redid=156607367/6 |publisher=Solinger Tageblatt|title=Die Party ist noch lange nicht vorbei! |accessdate=2007-05-04 |format= |work= |language=German] [cite web |url=http://www.provincia.palermo.it/provpalermo/old_site/rivista%20Palermo/palermo_riv_pdf/palermo_mar_06/50.pdf |publisher=Provincia di Palermo|title=Cuori rosanero in terra tedesca |accessdate=2007-05-04 |format= |work= |language=Italian] [cite web |url=http://esvopladen.de/lmo/lmo.php?action=results&tabtype=0&file=07.l98 |publisher=ESV Opladen|title=Kreisliga B, Gruppe 2, Saison 2006/07 |accessdate=2007-05-04 |format= |work= |language=German]

Support for Palermo is closely associated to a strong sense of belonging to Sicily; indeed, it is not uncommon to see Sicilian flags waved by fans and ultras during Palermo matches. Palermo fans are also twinned with Lecce ultras. [cite web |url=http://it.sports.yahoo.com/03082006/8/lecce-l-8-agosto-sfida-palermo.html |publisher=Yahoo! Italia Sport|title=Lecce: l'8 agosto sfida con il Palermo |accessdate=2007-05-04 |format= |work= |language=Italian]

Palermo's biggest rivals by far are fellow islanders Catania. Matches between Palermo and Catania are usually referred to as Sicilian derbies, despite the existence of a third valid Sicilian team, Messina, who played in Serie A alongside Palermo and Catania in recent years. Rivalry with Messina, although historically older, is instead less intense than that with Catania.

The 2006–07 return match between Palermo and Catania, played on February 2, 2007 at Stadio Angelo Massimino, Catania, is remembered due to the tragic death of policeman Filippo Raciti who was injured during riots between the local police and the Catania supporters. This event led Italian Federation commissioner Luca Pancalli to suspend all football leagues and national team events in the whole country for a couple of weeks.

Honours

*Coppa Italia:*Runners-up (2): 1973–74, 1978–79
*Serie B:*Champions (4): 1931–32, 1947–48, 1967–68, 2003–04:*Runners-up (1): 1958–59
*Serie C:*Champions (1): 1941–42
*Serie C1:*Champions (3): 1984–85, 1992–93, 2000–01:*Runners-up (2): 1990–91, 1998–99
*Serie C2:*Champions (1): 1987–88
*Coppa Italia Serie C:*Winners (1): 1990–91
*Coppa Federale Siciliana:*Winners (1): 1920
*Whitaker Challenge Cup:*Winners (1): 1908
*Lipton Challenge Cup:*Winners (3): 1910, 1912, 1913:*Runners-up (3): 1909, 1911, 1914

Records

"Not including league playoff matches"
*Most league goals – 62, Carlo Radice (1929-1932)
*Most Serie A league goals – 40, Domenico Di Maso (1949-1954)
*Most goals in a season – 30, Luca Toni (2003-2004)
*Most league appearances – 319, Roberto Biffi (1988-1999)
*Most Serie A league appearances – 151, Gino Giaroli (1949-1954)
*Current player with most league appearances – 156, Franco Brienza (updated April 25, 2007)
*Biggest win and biggest home win – 8-0 ("v." Pro Patria, November 5, 1950)
*Biggest away win – 7-1 ("v." Lecce, October 23, 1994)
*Biggest defeat and biggest away defeat – 0-9 ("v." AC Milan, February 18, 1951)
*Biggest home defeat – 0-4 (two times), 1-5 (two times), 2-6 (most recent: 1-5 "v." Udinese, March 13, 2005)

References

Bibliography

*cite book |last=Prestigiacomo |first=Vincenzo |coauthors=Bagnati, Giuseppe; Maggio, Vito|title=Il Palermo: una storia di cento anni |year=2001 |publisher=Corrado Rappa |location=Palermo |isbn= |pages=232|language=Italian
*cite book |last=Prestigiacomo |first=Vincenzo |coauthors=Bagnati, Giuseppe; Maggio, Vito|title=Il Palermo racconta: storie, confessioni e leggende rosanero |year=2004 |publisher=Grafill |location=Palermo |isbn=88-820-7144-8 |pages=253|language=Italian
*cite book |last=Giordano |first=Giovanni |coauthors=Brandaleone, Carlo |title=Calcio Palermo: gli ottantaquattro anni di storia della societa rosanero |year=1982 |publisher=Giada |location=Palermo |isbn=88-820-7144-8 |pages=432|language=Italian
*cite book |last=Ginex |first=Roberto |coauthors=Gueli, Roberto|title=Breve storia del grande Palermo |year=1996 |publisher=Newton |location=Rome |isbn=88-8183-361-1 |pages=66|language=Italian

External links

* en icon [http://www.ilpalermocalcio.it Official site]