Palermo FC Palermo FC was founded on 1 November 1900 as the Anglo-Palermitan Athletic and Foot-Ball Club, on the initiative of Ignazio Majo Pagano, a young Sicilian who had learned football while studying in England, together with the city's local British community. The club's first president was the British vice-consul in Palermo, Edward de Garston. Palermo is the oldest existing football club in Sicily and the first ever founded in southern Italy.
The team originally played in red and blue, colours drawn from a football shirt Majo Pagano had brought back from England. The distinctive pink-and-black kit that gave rise to the nickname Rosanero was only adopted in 1907, after the club had changed its name to Palermo Football Club. Over the following decades the club changed its name several more times as a result of mergers with other local sides, including one with Vigor Palermo in the 1920s.
The most significant chapter in Palermo's sporting history remains its three appearances in the Coppa Italia final – in 1973-74, 1978-79 and 2010-11 – all of which ended in defeat. The first two finals came during the tenure of longtime president Renzo Barbera, after whom the club's stadium has been named since 2002, having previously been known as La Favorita. The venue opened in 1932 and now holds more than 36,000 spectators.
In the new millennium, Palermo experienced a genuine renaissance, returning to Serie A and making its European debut, with five appearances in the UEFA Cup and Europa League. The club has also won the Serie B title five times, as well as the Coppa Italia Serie C in 1992-93. Since 2022, the club has been part of City Football Group, the international football organisation that also owns Manchester City.