How to Bet on Palermo

The club dates its official start to 1 November 1900, and its first official match, on 18 April 1901, was a 3–2 win over Messina. The name became Palermo Foot-Ball Club in 1907, with pink and black as the colours. From 1908 the club played in the Lipton Challenge Cup, and won it three times. Dissolved in 1927, Palermo were reformed a year later through a merger with Vigor Palermo, and they reached Serie A in 1932. After a new refounding in 1987, they won Serie C2 straight away. Maurizio Zamparini bought the club in 2002, and under Francesco Guidolin it returned to Serie A in 2003–04 after 31 years away, finishing sixth in 2004–05 to reach the UEFA Cup.

Palermo play at the Stadio Renzo Barbera, which holds 36,365. It opened in 1932 as the Stadio Littorio, and Palermo beat Atalanta 5–1 in the first match, on 24 January 1932. In 1948 it became the Stadio La Favorita, after the neighbourhood where it stands, and it kept that name until 2002, when it was renamed for Renzo Barbera, the club's chairman in the 1970s. The 1990 FIFA World Cup brought a renovation.

Catania are Palermo's biggest rivals, fellow islanders, and their meetings are usually called Sicilian derbies even though Messina are the third Sicilian side. Palermo first faced Catania in the derby in 1936, after relegation to Serie B. The rivalry with Messina is historically older but generally less intense. When Walter Zenga left Catania to manage Palermo in 2009, supporters of both clubs reacted with surprise and dismay.