I Rosanero (The Pink and Blacks)
Founded: 1900, Stadium: Stadio Renzo Barbera, Capacity: 36,365
Palermo FC was founded in 1900 by an English ornithologist as Anglo Palermitan Athletic and Football Club. In 1907, the club changed its name to Palermo Foot-Ball Club, and the team colours were changed to the current pink and black. In 1919 it was refounded as Union Sportive Palermo. The club was dissolved in 1927 due to financial problems, but was reformed one year later following a merger with Vigor Palermo under the name Palermo FootBall Club. A merger with Unione Sportiva Juventina Palermo brought the foundation of Unione Sportiva Palermo-Juventina In 1943 after a conflict, the club changed its name to US Palermo. In 2000 the named changed to US Citta di Palermo to become Palermo FC in 2019. Palermo is one of the most popular clubs in the country mainly thanks to Sicilians living in Northern Italy. However the majority of Palermo supporters come from the city and its neighbourhood. Palermo’s biggest rivals are fellow islanders Catania. Matches between Palermo and Catania are usually referred to as Sicilian derbies. The new official crest as of 2019 is a white eagle’s head and three pink/black feathers within a black stylized letter ‘P’. The eagle represents the city of Palermo, as it is also part of the city’s official coat of arms. This new badge replaced the long-standing badge of the previous formation of the club, an escutcheon with an eagle poised for flight within it, and the previous official club denomination “U.S. Città di Palermo” in capital letters on the top. The colour choice of pink and black was suggested by Count Giuseppe Airoldi, a prominent founding member of the club. In a personal letter Airoldi wrote on 2 February 1905 to English club councillor Joseph Withaker, he defined pink and black poetically as “colours of the sad and the sweet”, a choice he amusingly asserted to be suited for a team characterised by “results as up and down as a Swiss clock”, noting also the fact that red and blue were a very commonly used choice of colours around Italy at the time.
