25 years after winning their first promotion to Serie A and three European trophies to their credit, Parma FC saw a long and agonising saga come to an end with bankruptcy being followed by a ‘re-founding’ that is an all too familiar procedure in the annals of Italian football, for which Parma’s forced decent is the latest illustration of a game seemingly in crisis.
For a provincial side, representing the capital of the old Duchy, Parma rose above their station to be a force in Italian and European football through the 1990s. They had a rougher time of it in the last decade, with relegation in 2008 after which they bounced back, and the even more painful season they have just endured. As recently as 2013-14, they finished a very credible sixth in Serie A, but were denied a European place due to financial problems.
2014-15 was a season in which they finished with 19 points after a seven-point deduction, failing to pay players’ wages and even postponing some games due to the gravity of the financial situation. Yet amidst all this, they somehow managed to defeat the league leaders Juventus 1-0, a game that is unlikely to be forgotten for the circumstances in which it took place. Parma’s relegation was followed by a declaration of bankruptcy, which means that a re-founded club will play in Serie D, in other words the fifth tier of Italian football, equivalent to the Conference, one level lower than what Fiorentina had to re-start at in 2002.
In contrast to Italy and others, a certain stability and arguably conservatism has characterised the English league system since its inception in 1888, and subsequent expansion to a three-tier league by 1920 and a four-tier league by 1958. The system, by which four clubs had to re-apply for election every year until 1986 (when automatic promotion and relegation from the Football League was introduced) saw comparatively few sides lose league status in comparison – from 1951 to 1986 only five such took place, although one of those involved Accrington Stanley in 1962 – while more recent casualties such as Aldershot and Maidstone United in 1992 are somewhat closer to the Italian cases, but not exactly a match.
Nearly three decades ago, Middlesbrough FC found themselves on the verge of going out of business. Under the management of John Neal, an exciting team including Dave Armstrong, Marc Proctor, Terry Cochrane and Craig Johnston held its own in the First Division. However, in 1981 Johnston would be sold to Liverpool while Proctor and Armstrong also left, and such sales also prompted Neal’s departure from the club to manage Chelsea. The sale of players conceivably fitted the definition of ‘asset stripping’. Unsurprisingly, relegation followed the next year. Boro could not get among the front runners in the Second Division though they had the quality of such players as Dutch international Heini Otto, local teenager Stephen Bell and Malcolm Allison, who despite keeping them afloat in the Second Division, said that “better for the club to die than to linger slowly on its deathbed”.
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Two years later, Middlesbrough would be relegated to the Third Division. The financial situation had gone from bad to worse, and mounting debts were followed with a winding-up order. The team under Bruce Rioch which included Colin Cooper, Gary Pallister, Tony Mowbray, Brian Laws, Archie Stephens, Stuart Ripley and Bernie Slaven would begin the Third Division locked out of Ayresome Park. In fact, it was uncertain whether they would even begin on the opening day of 1986-87 at all. Steve Gibson, already on the club board, was organising a consortium to keep the club alive. A deal with the Football League had to be reached, and was with only 10 minutes to spare. Middlesbrough were saved. The opening day game with Port Vale took place at Hartlepool United’s Victoria Park, but the 2-2 draw was no indication of what was to follow.
They would return to Ayresome Park before long, and it would be a ride for Boro fans to remember as Bruce Rioch’s team managed consecutive promotions. It was a tremendous achievement that not even a rather unfortunate relegation from the First Division and then needing a final day win over Newcastle United the next year to stay in the Second was able to diminish. The club has had ups and downs since, but their fans will always remember where they came from and how the club survived those dark days and came out the stronger for it. A tremendous spirit among players and fans, and the region, had been forged in adversity.
When Parma beat Juventus, one could see at least some of that spirit in evidence. The players, however, were battling in even graver circumstances as it turned out. Yet the recovery made by Middlesbrough may still prove an inspiration for clubs faced with uncertainty and worse.
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