It may be hard to believe but Parma was one of the dominant forces not just in Italy but all of Europe during the 90s. They have been struggling with their finances during the 2000s and 2010s that it’s a distant memory for football fans that Parma was a force to be reckoned with back in the day. And it all started with the hiring of Nevio Scala in 1989.
Scala’s playing career was that of a successful one as a midfielder playing for various top Italian top-flight teams such as Roma, Milan, and Internazionale. But when Scala joined Parma, he was a relatively unknown commodity in the managerial field having just guided Reggina to Serie B from the third division. However, that did not stop him from having that same success he had in Reggina over to Parma. In his debut season, he guided Parma to its first promotion to the Italian top-flight Serie A in 1990 and instantly made his presence known in the top division.
With the backing from its parent company Parmalat and the owner Castillo Tanzi, Parma was able to recruit some high-profile players such as Thomas Brolin and Claudio Taffarel to help stay afloat in Serie A. The new signings didn’t just help Parma stay afloat, but Scala was able to guide the club to secure an impressive sixth-place finish in its maiden season in Serie A and qualify for the European Cup.
They continued their success in 1991/92 with a seventh-place to secure another season of European football. However, their European campaign was a disappointing one as they were knocked out of the first round by CSKA Sofia on away goals 1-1. That’s not all bad news as they finally won a domestic trophy for the first time in their history by winning the Coppa Italia over Juventus 2-0. This secured them a place in the European Cup Winner’s Cup for the next season.
They continued to shine in the top-flight and even in Europe. Gaining those valuable experiences in the top-flight and in Europe allowed them to be even more successful during the 1992/93 season. They finished a record high third-place finish with 41 points and this time secured their first-ever European trophy by winning the European Cup Winner’s Cup by beating Royal Antwerp in the final. This, again, allowed them to compete in the tournament the next season. The only blemish from that season is that they were not able to secure the Supercoppa Italiana as they were bested by AC Milan 2-1. Nonetheless, it was a successful campaign where they would, once again, continue to rise.
Their success allowed them to recruit one of the top stars in Serie A in Gianfranco Zola during the 1993 summer transfer window. Scala brought the best out of Zola and Zola was able to continue to bring success to the club. He would go on to score 18 league goals in his debut season with Parma to secure European football, this time to the UEFA Cup, with a fifth-place finish in Serie A. However, they were almost able to repeat as champions of the European Cup Winner’s Cup only to fall short in the final losing to Arsenal in the process 1-0. Thus far, each season that they were in the top-flight they were able to win a trophy and the 1993/94 season was no different by winning the European Super Cup over AC Milan.
The 1994/95 season was no different as Parma continued their meteoritic rise in the top-flight division by finishing third with 63 points led by Zola, once again, with a team-high 19 league goals. With the arrivals of the influential Dino Baggio and Nestor Sensini, Parma was able to win their first UEFA Cup trophy by winning against their rival Juventus in the final 2-1 on aggregate. However, those two teams would meet once again on the domestic front in the Coppa Italia final where Serie A champions, Juventus, was able to get their revenge and beat Parma 3-0 on aggregate.
The 1995/96 season was their first season where they did not win any trophies since their promotion to Serie A. It can be considered a season to forget as not only did they not secure any trophies that season, but they also vastly underperformed. As the reigning champions of the UEFA Cup, they were embarrassingly dumped out of the competition in the first round by Vitoria Guimaraes 3-2. An embarrassment for their standards and it did not end there as they were also dumped out of the Coppa Italia in the second round by Palermo 3-0. They even lost the 1995 Supercoppa Italia to Juventus as well. Even Zola’s influence dwindled as he faced competition for his place with Hristo Stoichkov and eventually losing his place in the side even, despite scoring 10 league goals. While Parma managed to finish a respectable sixth-place finish to qualify for the UEFA Cup, it wasn’t enough for Scala to save his job, the man who started the Parma revolution in Serie A.
With Scala gone, Parma decided to go with Carlo Ancelotti as their new manager. A similar hiring approach as they did with Scala. The young and ambitious Ancelotti started his managerial career with Reggiana. He had guided Reggiana to promotion to Serie A in his only season at the club during the 1995/96 season in Serie B a similar situation to Scala where a relatively new manager guiding a team to promotion becoming their new manager. But Ancelotti elevated the side to new heights that Parma was dreaming of. With the up-and-coming goalkeeper by the name of Gigi Buffon coming through the youth-ranks, along with the arrival of a young and promising defender, Fabio Cannavaro from Napoli was the making of the greatest Parma side of all time. Ancelotti also brought in Lillian Thuram into the ranks to solidify the defense even further and added a certain lethal Argentinean, Hernan Crespo who is Parma’s all-time record goalscorer, as well as the technically brilliant Enrico Chiesa to the fold. And while Ancelotti had Zola at his disposal, he did not fit into Ancelotti’s 4-4-2 scheme, and Ancelotti’s unwillingness to build the team around Zola only made things worse for Zola as he was often played out of position and was ineffective as a result. Ancelotti preferred to play Crespo and Chiesa upfront while deploying Zola on the left-sided midfield. Ancelotti’s Parma revolution was set, and he would lead Parma to its greatest ever Serie A finish in its history with a historic second-place finish with 63 points led by the dynamic duo of Chiesa and Crespo scoring 14 and 12 goals respectively. While they did not win a trophy that season either, they were able to qualify for the Champions League for the first time and the second-place finish was something they could build off of and continue their success.
But that honeymoon ended as soon as it started as Ancelotti’s second season in 1997/98 did not go as they planned. Whilst they performed admirably in the Coppa Italia, they were still knocked out of the competition by AC Milan in the semi-finals. In their debut campaign in the Champions League, they were able to comfortably win their qualifying round to make it to the group stage. And while they did not win the group, they had a shot of still making it out of groups and advance to the knockout stage as a runner-up. But that dream also ended as they were the worst out of the six runners-up teams and ultimately failed to make it out of groups. Even in the league they struggled and failed to replicate the fine form they had the previous season and ultimately finished in sixth place with 57 points. While they did still qualify for the UEFA Cup and have been consistently been participating in the European competitions each year since 1991, it wasn’t enough for Ancelotti to keep his job, and was ultimately sacked by the club.
In search for another manager for the 1998/99 season, Parma was convinced and decided to hire Alberto Malesani who was the manager for Fiorentina and led them to a respectable fifth-place finish. Malesani wanted a creative spark in the middle of the pitch and, thus, brought in Juan Sebastian Veron to Parma to be exactly that. He changed the shape of the team to a 3-5-2 system with Cannavaro, Sensini, and Thuram forming the back three while Antonio Benarrivo and Diego Fuser operated as the left and right wingbacks respectively. Alain Boghossian and Baggio were the pivots while Veron was a number 10 to support Chiesa and Crespo in the attack. It worked wonders as Malesani was able to bring success immediately. Parma won their second-ever UEFA Cup by beating Marseille in the finals 3-0 as well as winning the Coppa Italia overcoming Fiorentina in the final 3-3 on aggregate through away goals. This was their first-ever double by winning a European trophy and a major domestic trophy while their league position wasn’t too shabby as well finishing a respectable fourth place to qualify for the Champions League.
1999/20 was a slight disappointment after a hugely successful debut campaign by Malesani. Without the talismanic figure in the middle of the pitch in Veron, who Parma had sold to Lazio that summer, Parma struggled. They were knocked out in the third qualifying round by Rangers 2-1, failing to make it to the group stage, and also were knocked out in the third round in the Coppa Italia by Cagliari 3-2 and missing out on the quarter-finals. They did, however, start the season on a high by winning the Supercoppa Italiana by beating AC Milan 2-1 to win their only trophy for the season. Their season was a disappointment as they failed to qualify for the Champions League and, instead, qualified for the UEFA Cup by finishing fifth with 58 points.
Malesani would last another half-season before being sacked. Parma would go on to win the Coppa Italia one more time during the 2001/02 season but that’s where their success ends. Their glorious 90s would be no more as their financial budget and the ultimate bankruptcy of their parent company, Parmalat, would be their downfall. They would go on to sell all of their key players during their successful run and were never the same ever again. The club was even declared bankruptcy in 2015 only to be re-founded in Serie D and secured promotion each year to eventually return to Serie A in 2018.
However, their glory days are behind them and it feels like a distant memory. They would go on to win 2 Coppa Italia, 1 Supercoppa Italiana, 2 UEFA Cup, 1 European Cup Winners’ Cup, and 1 European Super Cup during their glory days a total of 7 trophies in the 90s. It all started with Scala securing a promotion and ending with Malesani winning a double for the club. In between, Ancelotti would go on to secure their highest ever finish in Serie A with a second-place finish. Each manager was able to create history at the club and bring success. But ultimately, they were not able to sustain that success due to their finances. At the height of the Italian league where the top teams such as Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Lazio, Roma, and Fiorentina reigned supreme, Parma hung in there and gave a run for their money. This was the height of Italian football and while Parma may be floating around Serie B nowadays, you can’t tell the story of Italian football in the 90s without the great Parma side.
Scala’s playing career was that of a successful one as a midfielder playing for various top Italian top-flight teams such as Roma, Milan, and Internazionale. But when Scala joined Parma, he was a relatively unknown commodity in the managerial field having just guided Reggina to Serie B from the third division. However, that did not stop him from having that same success he had in Reggina over to Parma. In his debut season, he guided Parma to its first promotion to the Italian top-flight Serie A in 1990 and instantly made his presence known in the top division.
With the backing from its parent company Parmalat and the owner Castillo Tanzi, Parma was able to recruit some high-profile players such as Thomas Brolin and Claudio Taffarel to help stay afloat in Serie A. The new signings didn’t just help Parma stay afloat, but Scala was able to guide the club to secure an impressive sixth-place finish in its maiden season in Serie A and qualify for the European Cup.
They continued their success in 1991/92 with a seventh-place to secure another season of European football. However, their European campaign was a disappointing one as they were knocked out of the first round by CSKA Sofia on away goals 1-1. That’s not all bad news as they finally won a domestic trophy for the first time in their history by winning the Coppa Italia over Juventus 2-0. This secured them a place in the European Cup Winner’s Cup for the next season.
They continued to shine in the top-flight and even in Europe. Gaining those valuable experiences in the top-flight and in Europe allowed them to be even more successful during the 1992/93 season. They finished a record high third-place finish with 41 points and this time secured their first-ever European trophy by winning the European Cup Winner’s Cup by beating Royal Antwerp in the final. This, again, allowed them to compete in the tournament the next season. The only blemish from that season is that they were not able to secure the Supercoppa Italiana as they were bested by AC Milan 2-1. Nonetheless, it was a successful campaign where they would, once again, continue to rise.
Their success allowed them to recruit one of the top stars in Serie A in Gianfranco Zola during the 1993 summer transfer window. Scala brought the best out of Zola and Zola was able to continue to bring success to the club. He would go on to score 18 league goals in his debut season with Parma to secure European football, this time to the UEFA Cup, with a fifth-place finish in Serie A. However, they were almost able to repeat as champions of the European Cup Winner’s Cup only to fall short in the final losing to Arsenal in the process 1-0. Thus far, each season that they were in the top-flight they were able to win a trophy and the 1993/94 season was no different by winning the European Super Cup over AC Milan.
The 1994/95 season was no different as Parma continued their meteoritic rise in the top-flight division by finishing third with 63 points led by Zola, once again, with a team-high 19 league goals. With the arrivals of the influential Dino Baggio and Nestor Sensini, Parma was able to win their first UEFA Cup trophy by winning against their rival Juventus in the final 2-1 on aggregate. However, those two teams would meet once again on the domestic front in the Coppa Italia final where Serie A champions, Juventus, was able to get their revenge and beat Parma 3-0 on aggregate.
The 1995/96 season was their first season where they did not win any trophies since their promotion to Serie A. It can be considered a season to forget as not only did they not secure any trophies that season, but they also vastly underperformed. As the reigning champions of the UEFA Cup, they were embarrassingly dumped out of the competition in the first round by Vitoria Guimaraes 3-2. An embarrassment for their standards and it did not end there as they were also dumped out of the Coppa Italia in the second round by Palermo 3-0. They even lost the 1995 Supercoppa Italia to Juventus as well. Even Zola’s influence dwindled as he faced competition for his place with Hristo Stoichkov and eventually losing his place in the side even, despite scoring 10 league goals. While Parma managed to finish a respectable sixth-place finish to qualify for the UEFA Cup, it wasn’t enough for Scala to save his job, the man who started the Parma revolution in Serie A.
With Scala gone, Parma decided to go with Carlo Ancelotti as their new manager. A similar hiring approach as they did with Scala. The young and ambitious Ancelotti started his managerial career with Reggiana. He had guided Reggiana to promotion to Serie A in his only season at the club during the 1995/96 season in Serie B a similar situation to Scala where a relatively new manager guiding a team to promotion becoming their new manager. But Ancelotti elevated the side to new heights that Parma was dreaming of. With the up-and-coming goalkeeper by the name of Gigi Buffon coming through the youth-ranks, along with the arrival of a young and promising defender, Fabio Cannavaro from Napoli was the making of the greatest Parma side of all time. Ancelotti also brought in Lillian Thuram into the ranks to solidify the defense even further and added a certain lethal Argentinean, Hernan Crespo who is Parma’s all-time record goalscorer, as well as the technically brilliant Enrico Chiesa to the fold. And while Ancelotti had Zola at his disposal, he did not fit into Ancelotti’s 4-4-2 scheme, and Ancelotti’s unwillingness to build the team around Zola only made things worse for Zola as he was often played out of position and was ineffective as a result. Ancelotti preferred to play Crespo and Chiesa upfront while deploying Zola on the left-sided midfield. Ancelotti’s Parma revolution was set, and he would lead Parma to its greatest ever Serie A finish in its history with a historic second-place finish with 63 points led by the dynamic duo of Chiesa and Crespo scoring 14 and 12 goals respectively. While they did not win a trophy that season either, they were able to qualify for the Champions League for the first time and the second-place finish was something they could build off of and continue their success.
But that honeymoon ended as soon as it started as Ancelotti’s second season in 1997/98 did not go as they planned. Whilst they performed admirably in the Coppa Italia, they were still knocked out of the competition by AC Milan in the semi-finals. In their debut campaign in the Champions League, they were able to comfortably win their qualifying round to make it to the group stage. And while they did not win the group, they had a shot of still making it out of groups and advance to the knockout stage as a runner-up. But that dream also ended as they were the worst out of the six runners-up teams and ultimately failed to make it out of groups. Even in the league they struggled and failed to replicate the fine form they had the previous season and ultimately finished in sixth place with 57 points. While they did still qualify for the UEFA Cup and have been consistently been participating in the European competitions each year since 1991, it wasn’t enough for Ancelotti to keep his job, and was ultimately sacked by the club.
In search for another manager for the 1998/99 season, Parma was convinced and decided to hire Alberto Malesani who was the manager for Fiorentina and led them to a respectable fifth-place finish. Malesani wanted a creative spark in the middle of the pitch and, thus, brought in Juan Sebastian Veron to Parma to be exactly that. He changed the shape of the team to a 3-5-2 system with Cannavaro, Sensini, and Thuram forming the back three while Antonio Benarrivo and Diego Fuser operated as the left and right wingbacks respectively. Alain Boghossian and Baggio were the pivots while Veron was a number 10 to support Chiesa and Crespo in the attack. It worked wonders as Malesani was able to bring success immediately. Parma won their second-ever UEFA Cup by beating Marseille in the finals 3-0 as well as winning the Coppa Italia overcoming Fiorentina in the final 3-3 on aggregate through away goals. This was their first-ever double by winning a European trophy and a major domestic trophy while their league position wasn’t too shabby as well finishing a respectable fourth place to qualify for the Champions League.
1999/20 was a slight disappointment after a hugely successful debut campaign by Malesani. Without the talismanic figure in the middle of the pitch in Veron, who Parma had sold to Lazio that summer, Parma struggled. They were knocked out in the third qualifying round by Rangers 2-1, failing to make it to the group stage, and also were knocked out in the third round in the Coppa Italia by Cagliari 3-2 and missing out on the quarter-finals. They did, however, start the season on a high by winning the Supercoppa Italiana by beating AC Milan 2-1 to win their only trophy for the season. Their season was a disappointment as they failed to qualify for the Champions League and, instead, qualified for the UEFA Cup by finishing fifth with 58 points.
Malesani would last another half-season before being sacked. Parma would go on to win the Coppa Italia one more time during the 2001/02 season but that’s where their success ends. Their glorious 90s would be no more as their financial budget and the ultimate bankruptcy of their parent company, Parmalat, would be their downfall. They would go on to sell all of their key players during their successful run and were never the same ever again. The club was even declared bankruptcy in 2015 only to be re-founded in Serie D and secured promotion each year to eventually return to Serie A in 2018.
However, their glory days are behind them and it feels like a distant memory. They would go on to win 2 Coppa Italia, 1 Supercoppa Italiana, 2 UEFA Cup, 1 European Cup Winners’ Cup, and 1 European Super Cup during their glory days a total of 7 trophies in the 90s. It all started with Scala securing a promotion and ending with Malesani winning a double for the club. In between, Ancelotti would go on to secure their highest ever finish in Serie A with a second-place finish. Each manager was able to create history at the club and bring success. But ultimately, they were not able to sustain that success due to their finances. At the height of the Italian league where the top teams such as Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Lazio, Roma, and Fiorentina reigned supreme, Parma hung in there and gave a run for their money. This was the height of Italian football and while Parma may be floating around Serie B nowadays, you can’t tell the story of Italian football in the 90s without the great Parma side.