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Parma’s stadium dates back to the 1920s when the club in conjunction with the local council sought to construct a new Stadio Municipale. Spearheaded by Parma F.C President and Italian Lawyer Ennio Tardini, the club launched a national competition for the design of the new stadium in February 1922 offering up a prize of ₤10,000 to whoever came up with the winning idea. Architect Ettore Leoni’s French and German inspired design which was said to borrow most of all from Lyon’s Stade de Gerland was eventually chosen, with construction work on Parma’s new stadium beginning on 26th December 1922. Sadly Ennio Tardini died a month before the stadium was completed in September 1923, and thus Stadio Municipale was renamed in honour of the ground’s catalyst. Stadio Ennio Tardini underwent slight renovations throughout the 20th century including the addition of an Athletics track in 1935 and its removal once again in the 1980s. The capacity peaked at around 13,500 until Parma were promoted to Serie A in 1990 which at the time required all stadiums in the league to have a minimum capacity of 30,000, and subsequently the majority of stands were rebuilt. Bankrolled by Italian multi-national company Parmalat in the 1990s until it went bankrupt in 2003, Parma had the necessary funds to rebuild the north, south and main stands, with the club’s owners even exploring the feasibility of constructing a brand new stadium in Baganzola outside of Parma. When Parmalat encountered excessive red tape they instead decided to renovate and the fill the corners to maximise the limited space.

DRIVING The majority of drivers will be arriving from the A1 motorway Autostrada del sole (The longest in Italy…) which runs down the spine of Italy, connecting Milan with Naples via Bologna, Florence and Rome. Take the exit to Parma and proceed to follow signs to the city’s ring road, Tangenziale, and exit at the Via Mantova road, following signs for the Stadium. The address for satnav is as follows: Stadio Ennio Tardini, Viale Partigiani D’Italia, 1, 43123 Parma PR, Italy Car Parks There isn’t any parking available at the stadium to the general public on matchdays which means you can either get there early and contend with street parking or find a parking garage in the city centre. TRAIN The railway train station of the city is Stazione di Parma which forms part of the Milan-Bologna railway with 4 tracks in total. Unfortunately there are no connecting trains or indeed train-stations near Ennio Tardini which means you will either have to walk to ground or catch a bus. The walk from the station to the stadium will take you 30 minutes but is pleasant enough as Parma like a lot of Italian city’s is full of character and history on ever street. BUS Buses number 8 and 9 take fans of I crociati straight from the train station to Stadio in no more than 15 minutes, making it the easiest and most convenient way of travelling to Parma’s home games. Note: They depart approximately every 30 minutes. AIRPORTS Aeroporti di Parma known as Parma “Giuseppe Verdi” Airport is located in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy, halfway between Bologna/Milan and only 1.5 miles Northwest of the city centre. The airport lacks its own train station meaning that you will either have to get a taxi or bus to get to the stadium/city. The main bus is No 6 which costs €1.20 euros with an additional 80 cents fee if you purchase the ticket on the bus rather than from a vendor before boarding.