When the net swells

When in the summer of 1995 Hristo Stoichkov, fresh from the Golden Ball, arrived at Parma he found 3.000 people waiting for him. Those who were present swear that his eyes widened in disbelief, wondering what absurd and magical place he had ended up in.

While football artists have flourished here and there all over the world, the homeland of Giuseppe Verdi and Arturo Toscanini, Parmigianino and Benedetto Antelami was able to welcome and make so many of them blossom.

We need to immerse ourselves in the histories of those who have left their example as a legacy, with gestures and choices. The history of Parma Calcio is also made up of human beings, whose testimony is linked to the pitch but often goes beyond it.

To coach we have to know the application of the principles of the game but also the human psychology and group dynamics. Without attention for what happens outside the field too, it is much more difficult to reach the top. Especially for those who have the stimulating task of leading.

The magic of small things that become big is an insignificant event for the universe, like a ball that crosses a white line inside a green rectangle, which becomes an emotional “watershed” for a generation.

Tradition, ambition, willpower, and the sweat of their brow, both on the green field and in the imagination and identity of a community that comes together in football, in the shadow of the crossed shield, its ever-present symbol and coat of arms. For better or worse.

Parma Calcio is celebrating 110 years of history and this is a story about the Parma football spirit, a kind of magma that flows through the furrows of Parma’s fertile fields, animating an entire land.