Inside the new Palermo-branded City Football Club

"Only together are we Palermo" is written in large letters in the changing room of the new pink and black sports center that has just been inaugurated in Torretta. The cohesion and sense of belonging that permeate this inscription are the cultural imprint that the club wishes to instill in those who represent it at a time of sporting rebirth, but above all of rediscovery and renewal of its identity. These words are the compass for the path taken in 2019 with Dario Mirri and in full swing three years later with the City Football Group (CFG). Alongside the return to Serie A, the aim was and is to rebuild the club's DNA, to return Palermo to the Palermitans and vice versa, as it were: a necessity that stems from the club's turbulent recent history. In the final years of the Zamparini era, whose departure dates back to December 2018, there was already a certain distance from the surrounding area, which was reflected in the decline in spectator numbers at the stadium - despite remaining in Serie A and the spectacle offered by Dybala, Pastore, Miccoli and other talents who passed through the Renzo Barbera. The arrival of the Arkus network and the Tuttolomondo brothers then completed the destructive work: the two were convicted of fraudulent bankruptcy, while U.S. Città di Palermo had to declare bankruptcy and was forced to reconstitute itself and thus restart in Serie D. At this point, in the summer of 2019, Palermo Football Club as we know it today was born under the leadership of president regular Mirri.

The new name is a tribute to the origins (to the Anglo Palermitan Athletic and Foot-Ball Club, founded in 1900), which was much desired by the fans. The new logo was designed by Danilo Li Muli and is intended to represent the renewal and at the same time the re-appropriation of the values and characteristic signs of Palermitan football. "A bridge between the past and the future," says Mirri, "linked to the original form and the glorious history of the club, to make it fly again: Roots and wings, in other words." "The biggest challenge," explains Gaetano Lombardo, Head of Communications, "was to build a brand identity on a brand that has existed for 120 years and already carries a universe of values, emotions and stories; and at the same time to start a new story, nourished by these values, but with the duty to write new pages, speak as a new theme and draw new horizons. As if to say: we are still us, but we are something completely different. In short: we must free ourselves from the dross of failure without detaching ourselves from the past, with the sensitivity that comes from the idea of "dealing with something that belongs more to the public than to the club".

Initiatives such as the fans' plebiscite on the choice of kit for the 2019 season and the switch from Legea, the technical sponsor before bankruptcy, to Kappa fit into this perspective. "A project that is in line with the objectives of transparency and participation that have characterized the vision of the new Palermo from the beginning," explains Mirri. "The fans are the guardians of the pinkand black faith and we wanted them to return as protagonists." On the same wavelength are the events organized last weekend on the sidelines of the match against Sampdoria, with the visit of Pastore, Amauri and other old pink and blue celebrities; or the opening of the Palermo Museum at the stadium, where memorabilia of all kinds donated by fans and the 57 jerseys that have marked the history of the Sicilian club (including the blue and white jersey worn for the 120th anniversary) are on display; right up to the inauguration of the Palermo City Football Academy, the first historic facility owned by the club, located 20 kilometers from Renzo Barbera. "As of today, we have a new home," says managing director Giovanni Gardini, "and this will also strengthen our identity, a crucial aspect for a club that wants to conquer an important place".

The arrival of CFG has not interrupted the process; on the contrary, it has given it additional momentum. Unlike the Red Bull Group, the Emirati holding company's modus operandi - a pyramidal structure with Manchester City at the top, but with a clear focus on the specifics of each controlled club - does not entail identity upheavals or drastic changes of course; on the contrary, Mansur bin Zayd Al Nahyan and his partners have embraced Mirri's vision, knowing that the connection with the fans is the true strength of the project. After all, there have never been 11,000 season ticket holders in Serie D in the history of Italian soccer, and the reach of the fan base is not limited to the city of Palermo (the fifth largest city in the country), but extends to the entire island and the many corners of the world affected by Sicilian emigration.

Palermo's football renaissance starts right here. From 2023, the focus will increasingly be on communication and marketing aspects, fan involvement and global merchandising developments, according to PUMA. The informal language on social media, the search for a dialog with new generations and the enhancement of collective memory are essential components of the ongoing redefinition of FC Palermo - first on a social level and then on a sporting level. And all this under the wings of the eagle, the medieval symbol of the city's nobility, and in colors that are "pink as sweet and black as bitter"; colors that have always unmistakably represented Palermo and its fans - beyond ceremonial jerseys and the yellow and red bracket in the fascist era - and evoke them in all latitudes. "The spark is the magic of pink and black," emphasizes Alessio Norrito, Professor of Sociology and Management of Sport at Manchester Metropolitan College. "It's the colors that create an immediate fascination because they are mutually inclusive and almost opposites. Being the best is a variable that depends on events and time, but being unique is something that no one can take away from these colors."