Palermo FC, as the top association football club in Sicily in terms of Serie A appearances and among the major ones in the Italian football panorama, has a long history, which spans from its official foundation in 1900.
The club was refounded a number of times, most recently in 2019, and played in all the Italian professional leagues from Serie A to Serie C2 in different times. Its recent renaissance in the early 2000s brought the rosanero back to Serie A and later on to gain a spot in the UEFA Cup for the first time in the club history, thus giving the club a worldwide popularity. The club currently plays in Serie B, Italy's second-tier football league. They won UEFA Cup qualification for three consecutive seasons from 2004 to 2007.
Foundation and early years (1898–1927)
The history of the arrival of football in Palermo city is linked to the solid relationships that the high local bourgeoisie entertained with the British people. There is some debate and uncertainty about the exact date the club was founded. Some authorities believe that it may have been founded as early as 1898 due to the existence of papers addressed to Joseph Whitaker, English ornithologist in Palermo and originally believed to be first club president, about a Palermo football team founded in the month of April of that year. Conversely, another source cites that in April 1897, the future founders of Palermo Calcio founded the Sport Club. Joseph Whitaker have had an important role in the first years of the club: in 1902 he would then have been appointed honorary president, as evidenced by a letter dated 14 March of that year.
The most common and officially stated foundation date is 1 November 1900, thanks to the contribution, as well as the English community in the city, by Ignazio Majo Pagano, a young man who had known football in England and who had decided to import it in his native town. Thus was born the Anglo-Palermitan Athletic and Foot-Ball Club, which had the aim of promoting the development of the sports. Colors were chosen in red and blue, like the colors of a football t-shirt that Majo Pagano had brought with him from England. As the first president was appointed the Deputy British Console in Palermo Edward de Garston, as a trainer George Blake, coming from Genoa Cricket and Football Club. The first registered office of Sicilian Sodalizio was established at the Villa La Grua di Carini (today Villa Zito), while its first gaming land, for home-based football meetings, was made available by the Whitaker family, on their own property. However the Varvaro camp was soon nicknamed "u Pantanu" (the mire), given the bad drainage of the waters.
The Anglo-Palermitan Athletic and Foot-Ball Club played his first game on 30 December, same year, of his official foundation, on the Varvaro camp against the Nathan crew. The worldly character of the event is confirmed by the local chronicles that also remember the refreshment of the post-game. The first games in the history of the club were held all against the Team of British ships, coming from the port of Palermo: on 3 April 1901 the first meeting not solved in a defeat, against the crew of Caterina Walker.
Ignazio Majo Pagano had remained in contact with Alfredo Marangolo, a Messina's citizen who had been, for a period, his companion to the Eton College. He returned to Sicily in the early days of August 1900, once he discovered the newborn game of football, bringing with it some manuals on the rules of the game with a leather ball, shoes, a referee uniform, hats and different home. Next, on 1 December, he founded the Messina Football Club in his hometown.
The two friends would like to challenge the clubs of the respective inhabited centers. On the following 18 April 1901 this first Sicilian derby was played, completed 3-2 for the Palermo, meeting considered the first real match between Sicilian companies. Also the Messina was the protagonist of the first trip to the Palermitan team: played on 5 April 1904, the match was won 3-2 by the local team, but this match was rich in consequences, in fact the guest team contained the validity of the third and decisive goal.
To recompose the issue it was decided to play a revenge to reverse fields and to give annual cadence to the appointment. In practice, the Whitaker Challenge Cup was born, a silver trophy set up from Joshua Whitaker (also known as Joshua) and his wife Euphrosyne, among the most passionate family sports members. Of the Whitaker cup were played four editions, won, in order, two from Messina and two from Palermo. In the third edition the game was postponed by bad weather and was not immediately recovered due to the lack of an agreement on the arbitrage, then the match was held on 2 April 1907 at the Palermo house, which came out winners. After the catastrophic 1908 Messina earthquake at dawn of 28 December, the event was no longer organized.
In 1907, the club changed its name to Palermo Foot-Ball Club, and the team colours were changed to the current pink and black; some sources state that the club colours were changed due to an accident which happened when washing the old red and blue shirts, while others (including an official letter from the time) state that the colours are poetically intended to represent bitter and sweet.
From 1908 until the final one in 1914, Palermo also played in the Lipton Challenge Cup, not to be confused with the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy, also organized by English businessman Sir Thomas Lipton. The competition saw them face off against Naples; Palermo won the competition three times, including a 6–0 victory in 1912. Football activity in Palermo then halted until 1918 because of the World War I.
On 16 February 1919 the club name was changed to Unione Sportiva Palermo, the club was refounded by a committee of young university students and sportsmen with barone Sergio as president, just after World War I. In 1920, Palermo competed in and won the Coppa Federale Siciliana. For the rest of the early 1920s the club competed in the Campionato Lega Sud reaching the semi-finals in 1924, before being knocked out when facing Audace Taranto, Alba Roma and Internaples.
Early league prominence (1927–1943) With the ratification of the Carta di Viareggio of 1926, the 1926–27 Prima Divisione, in which Palermo participated, became the prodromer of the current second level of the Italian football championship, being managed for the first time by the Direttorio Divisioni Superiori also for the South Italy: the Sicilians, however, played only nine football matches, because President Colombo had to withdraw the team due to financial problems, on 10 December of the same season. The first team of the city then became Vigor Palermo, that it was of the future Palermo' sport manager Totò Vilardo, who, after the championship of the 1927–28 Seconda Divisione, became the third series, the equivalent today's Serie C, changed its name to Palermo Football Club and took on the rosanero colors, making a merger with the old company on 15 July 1928. President became Conte Liotta di Lemos. On 15 August, the company is a point of a share capital of one hundred thousand lire, thanks to a subscription led by Vincenzo Florio. After three presidents in the short term of a year, the company began to be administered by Barone Bordonaro di Gebbiarossa, who resigned in 1931 to take up motor racing. The barone is responsible for the commissioning of a new coat of arms, made in the Futurist style by the Palermo painter Giuseppe "Pippo" Rizzo.
The new Palermo was admitted on 2 September at the 1928–29 Campionato Meridionale, which put a place in the new Serie B championship: the club placed third in the Sicilian sub-rig of group D, but was introduced in the next round for the FIGC resolution. Also in this phase the Palermo, arrived second, arrived made to pass from office. Arrived at the semi-finals, in the mini standings of group A, Palermo, together with Cagliari, Foggia and Lecce, played the first place for the final and, after having fought for a long time for that, came first on equal points with Lecce. It was therefore necessary to play a play-off for the final and to have the best were the Lecce players, set 1–0 in the neutral pitch of Naples. The promotion was then obtained the following year, thanks also to 15 goal striker Carlo Radice.
Palermo then got off to a great start in Serie B, almost gaining promotion during its first season with a third-place finish, only three points behind Bari. The following season it gained promotion and the Serie B championship, with Radice scoring 27 of the 50 goals for Palermo.
For its first season in Serie A, the club moved to a new stadium named Stadio Littorio (Lictorian Stadium) in the Favorita neighbourhood, today known as Stadio Renzo Barbera. The opening match was played there on 24 January 1932 against Atalanta, with Palermo winning 5–1. It took Palermo a couple of years to find its footing in the league, but by 1934–35 the club finished 7th, cementing its place as a well-established side. The next season however the club relegated to Serie B.
Down in Serie B Palermo spent three consecutive seasons finishing in 7th position. Notably for Sicilian football, the league featured all three major regional teams, Palermo, Messina and Catania; it was also the first time Palermo played against Catania on a national scale; their rivalry would then become known as the Sicilian derby.
Not considering the 1-0 Palermo win in a Reserve League match in 1929, the first official game between the two sides was played in Catania during the 1935–36 Coppa Italia, and ended in a 1–0 win for the home side. The first derby in a domestic league was featured only a few months later, on 1 November 1936 at the Stadio Littorio and ended in a 1–1 tie, with Catania being supported by only eight people attending the match; Palermo got the better of Catania later in the season though, with a 1–0 victory.
In 1936 the fascist regime forced Palermo to change its colours to yellow and red, after the official ones of the local municipality. Meanwhile, economical troubles arose: causing even the imposition of a 10 lire meat tax in an attempt to finance the club. However Palermo's fourth season for back down in the league was a troublesome one, as in 1940 it was expelled by the Italian Football Federation because of financial problems. A merger with Unione Sportiva Juventina Palermo brought to the foundation of Unione Sportiva Palermo-Juventina, which entered Serie C in 1941 and played with light blue colours. In 1942 the club returned to Serie B and switched back to its original colours. In 1943, however, chairman Beppe Agnello was forced to retire the club from the league following the World War II events.
Post-War Palermo (1946–1970)