'Pink is elegance, sensitivity, light and black is battle. Together they tell the story of the Palermitan soul' Historic Italian club Palermo plot course for Serie A return after financial hardship and City Football Group investment

It is two days before Palermo welcome Spezia to Stadio Renzo Barbera in Serie B and fresh suits embossed with the club's logo are being unloaded from a van outside the stadium.

FourFourTwo are going for a typically Italian lunch at 'BarBera', located beneath the main stand, which becomes our hub for the weekend. The order is taken out of FFT's hands - it is, of course, espressos all round. On a television screen inside, the club's kit launch for the 2025/26 season titled, 'The Birth of a Palermo Fan', plays on a loop. A more accurate title would probably be 'The Vivid Conception of a Palermo Fan'.

As the eagle flies, BarBera is approximately 60 metres from the stadium's main entrance, an iron gate with pink graffiti reading 'Siamo Aquile' on its exterior, and tantalisingly close to the pitch, upon which World Cup winner Filippo Inzaghi is drilling his players. In two days, 25,000 supporters will file through adjacent turnstiles and witness Palermo FC history.

Palermo are owned by City Football Group (CFG), the holding company which oversees Manchester City, New York City FC and several other clubs in Brazil, Belgium, France, Japan and Australia. In 2019, Palermo were forced to start again in the non-professional fourth tier of Italian football, Serie D, due to financial issues. Fans describe that time as 'painful, almost humiliating'. In 2022, having already risen two divisions, the club were bought by CFG. They are plotting a way back to the top flight, seeking a return to their recent but all too fleeting 'epoca d'oro'.

"Palermo has enormous potential in every respect, both due to the city's size and the club's history," says Massimiliano Radicini, a journalist with Giornale di Sicilia. "It is Italy's fifth-largest city, with a population of nearly one million inhabitants. Many factors have led CFG to focus on Palermo. The club boasts important seasons in Serie A in its recent history, with top-class players who have also gone on to write significant chapters with the Italian national team. It may have been precisely these factors that convinced CFG to invest in Palermo."

Palermo have never won a major trophy. They've come close, losing to Internazionale in the 2011 Coppa Italia Final, when Josip Iličić, Fabrizio Miccoli and Javier Pastore inked the teamsheet. This was either side of Edinson Cavani and Paulo Dybala's respective stints, arguably the two most recognisable players to pull on the pink-and-black. The club have won Serie B on five occasions, most recently in 2014, when the Argentine Dybala was among them. Sitting fourth in the table before Spezia's visit on Sunday evening, another promotion is a possibility, but nobody at the club is counting their chickens just yet.

Sicily is a place of rich history and heritage, with the island influenced by the many cultures and past dynasties of their Mediterranean neighbours. Before Italian unification, the Kingdom of Sicily was a wealthy outpost, where major merchant cities were established under ever-changing rule. It is also home to 'The Godfather' but only by walking the equivalent of London's Oxford Street and peering into Palermo's lower-brow gift shops would you know it. The mafia is not romanticised here as it is elsewhere because Palermitans have lived the reality. It is not a glamorous past and there is no mention of it beyond FFT's initial taxi ride from the airport.

Massimo, a Palermitan whose broken English trumps FFT's restaurant-specific Italian, takes the scenic route to our hotel past the prison on the city's outskirts. He remembers four decades ago when a person was killed every day. There are no mafia types here, they are instead sent to Milan and other mainland lock-ups, he says. Association with known organised crime groups carries a 10-year minimum sentence.

The conversation takes turn after turn as Massimo's taxi weaves through the streets, lined by balconies and trees bearing citrus fruits on either side. He is especially eager to tell FFT all about Palermo - as we're yet to discover, this is simply the norm.

"There's an unbreakable bond between the club and the city," Radicini adds. "The lives of the people of Palermo revolve around Palermo FC. When the team achieves a good result, the city's spirits are positive; when there's a defeat, however, fans' lives are affected as well. It's an extraordinary relationship."

For a team whose wait for a major honour enters its 126th year, Palermitans are keen to point out four members of Italy's 2006 World Cup-winning squad were Palermo players: Cristian Zaccardo, Andrea Barzagli, Fabio Grosso and Simone Barone. Luca Toni, meanwhile, had departed Renzo Barbera a year earlier having scored 50 goals in 80 league appearances, helping Palermo to the Serie B title in 2004. He is immortalised on a wall at the club's new training base in Torretta, the first of its kind in club history, having previously trained on pitches at an army base.

Massimo makes another right turn, as does the discussion, reeling off a list of billionaires and celebrities who have chosen this impoverished rocky outcrop to holiday upon. Via an assist from Google Translate, we are informed Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Madonna have all visited nearby Agrigento, on yachts or otherwise.

The next morning, FFT are joined on the pitch beneath the empty 'Curva Nord' by star striker, Joel Pohjanpalo. An experienced Finnish international with a catalogue of Bundesliga goals, he is Serie B's current 'capocannoniere', lives within the city limits and enjoys bringing up his young family here.

Italian football has many 'Curva', where groups of die-hard fans stand behind the goalposts at each end. Some are called 'Curva' despite not being curved at all. Thankfully, this one is. In Palermo's case, that is no different, except during COVID when supporters climbed Monte Pellegrino, which peers over the stadium, to watch their team. Reaching a suitable vantage point requires a steep 90-minute hike or 20-minute drive up winding roads with limited parking. FFT chose the latter but when Manchester City visited last summer for a pre-season friendly, Pep Guardiola made the pilgrimage on foot.

Palermo have three separate ultras groups. By far the loudest and most intimidating are the 12 - or 'La Dodici'. They are located in Curva Nord Superiore, the upper tier which was constructed for the 1990 World Cup and could soon be renovated by CFG, whose plans include stadium development ahead of Euro 2032 host venue selection.

In Curva Nord Inferiore, below the flare-popping Dodici, stand CNI while at the other end are UCS in Curva Sud.

FFT are given licence to roam through the Renzo Barbera like some roving trequartista. There is not one, but two stadium cats, neither of which Mister Inzaghi could be persuaded to stroke upon his lap. In the concourse, there is half-eaten panettone beside a water dispenser, along with a pizza oven and paddle. Pitchside, a Palermo groundsman approaches and, via the expert translation of digital specialist Filippo Mazzù, shares his desire to be buried beneath the turf. He is 74 and has worked the stadium for half a century, during which time he's collected his fair share of souvenirs, including Marcel Desailly's training jacket, far too large for a man of 5ft 4in.

"Coaching Palermo, to me, is equivalent to coaching a major Serie A club," Inzaghi tells FFT. "After closing the previous chapter, I felt Palermo was the best choice to start again immediately."

For a man with two Champions League winners' medals and a World Cup, Inzaghi's aura does not disappoint. Last season, he won automatic promotion with Pisa, but by June was presented on a balcony to hundreds of Palermo fans at the Renzo Barbera. Insert Papal comparisons here.

"The passion of the people is incredible. My presentation will forever remain in my heart, because I immediately felt a great deal of trust," Inzaghi adds. "When supporters see commitment and dedication, they reward you regardless of the result, and that is a fundamental aspect for me."

Palermo have, at the time of FFT's visit, the best defence in Serie B which neatly juxtaposes Inzaghi's own playing style. Given 'Superpippo' knew how to steal in behind defences better than most, he probably knows how to prevent that happening to his team. There are parallels between the old world and the new as far as the eye can see.

Palermo's most passionate employee he is not, that honour is a straight shootout between press office chief Andrea Siracusa and museum manager Giovanni Tarantino, both of whom are assets to the organisation. While the latter could probably name every result in Palermo's 125-year history, the former has a chest tattoo of Kyle Lafferty, who played one season here. You decide.

"My life is really in parallel with the history of Palermo FC. [It] is a pink-and-black life," Tarantino says, surrounded by iconic shirts of the Rosanero's most famous sons.

"[In] 2019 we decide, after a failure, to build this museum that now is our history and identity place, where 125 years of history [is] told from many, many supporters. This place is a link point, a connection point. All the items you can see all around the museum was donated to us from collectors, from supporters, from Palermitan people, American people that live in Palermo, in United States, Britain, Canada, Argentina."

Tarantino is as knowledgeable as they come and has an anecdote for what feels like every exhibit.

"Cavani here became Cavani, and then he goes [to] Napoli and Paris St Germain," he says. "Dybala, who [knew] Dybala? Our old president [Maurizio] Zamparini take Dybala from Instituto Cordoba in Argentina. He arrived in Palermo, and then he became Dybala in Juventus and Roma.

"Palermo, we say in [an] Italian sentence, is a good 'trampolino di lancio'. A starting point."

Throughout FFT's visit, there is a potent familial feel coursing through the club's many tributaries, never more evident than at the newly inaugurated Torretta training base. The facility, opened less than two years ago, currently houses the first-team and occasionally the youth sector. Inzaghi's staff and players share breakfast and lunch here each day. The phrase 'Appartenenza', meaning belonging, is emblazoned upon the wall in the main corridor.

"Palermo CFA is outstanding: it doesn’t feel like Serie B here," Inzaghi acknowledges. "I hope my players fully realise how fortunate they are."

No other team in Italy's second tier could pursue a project like the repurposing of a five-hectare olive grove in the hills, turning it into a state-of-the-art training space without wealthy backers. The Palermo City Football Academy (CFA) is an impressive facility where attention to detail stands out, and demonstrations of CFG influence are never too far away. In the gym, watt bikes for injured players are positioned facing the two training pitches, both of which are built to the exact dimensions of the Renzo Barbera.

The restored 18th Century clubhouse is like something from Channel 4's 'Grand Designs'. Outside sits Palermo's social garden, where Silvio, a member of supporters' group 'Amici Rosanero', puts his agricultural qualifications to good use, producing vegetables for the clubhouse kitchen. CFA manager Lorenzo Miceli champions the 'zero kilometre' journey ingredients take from soil to mouths.

Attention to detail is not unique to the club's training base, it is something which evidently comes from the highest levels of Palermo FC's governance. Chief executive Giovanni Gardini has seen plenty of action in Italian football, working for Lazio, Livorno, Hellas Verona and prior to his arrival in Palermo, as chief executive at Inter Milan.

It is nightfall when Gardini joins FFT and our request for Renzo Barbera to be floodlit is granted. Gardini remarks at the expense for the sake of a 10-minute interview, cheekily shooting a smile to put everybody at ease, but there is a hint of truth to it. You don't spend 30-plus years running top tier football clubs without having one eye on the bottom line. Later that evening, Gardini strolls into the club shop, greets staff and makes what appears to be a return.

"It's impossible for the people who doesn't work in a group like CFG to understand [it] is the best connection, the best opportunities, the best thing to do with a group like this," Gardini argues. "CFG create a model, like a football industry. On the pitch is a core business, but it's not the only thing to do.

"For the culture of CFG [it] is important, first of all, to create the best conditions off the pitch.

"Palermo doesn't know its real potential for the future. I can say this because I'm coming [from] outside Palermo. I'm not Palermitan, but not everybody understands the strong opportunity that we have inside, and the opportunity that we can show and achieve in the future.

"Often people say pink-and-black is [what makes Palermo] unique, and that is true, but the potential off the pitch is more important than [what] we can do on the pitch."

It's matchday and FFT are invited to the home dressing room two-and-a-half hours before kick-off, but not before our hosts have showered and spruced themselves up. That means time for an espresso in hospitality, which fuels a climb to the summit of Curva Sud. Waiting downstairs are familiar faces Pasquale and Gabriele, Palermo's kitmen, each sporting impish grins.

At Torretta, FFT shared espresso with the pair inside the kit room, its interior a world away from the ultra-modern surroundings of the newly-christened CFA centre. Remnants of the training pitches are strewn throughout while circuit laundry washing machines whir. Palermo's players, sometimes as many as 15, they claim, will head to that least presentable of rooms after training, squeezing themselves between the boots, tracksuits and storage room shelving to shoot the shit.

Where employees at some clubs treat the hours before kick-off with the precision of a military drill, Pasquale is relaxed - he's been doing this for almost as long as FFT has been in existence. He is Mr. Palermo. His face is superimposed onto the Mona Lisa's on the reverse of the media team's office door. With Gabriele's assistance, everything is laid out for the players - and there's time for more espresso.

Having travelled all the way from the armpit of Italy, it is little wonder the Ligurian Spezia fans number no more than 100. They arrive at the Renzo Barbera third-bottom and firm outsiders. A day earlier, promotion rivals Monza and Frosinone have drawn 2-2, but Venezia - probably the division's best side - won. It is vital the Rosanero keep the pressure on with victory.

Ahead of kick-off, La Dodici are making a racket in Curva Nord away to FFT's left. Daylight is fading as Monte Pellegrino becomes a silhouette, backlit by the warm glow of Castello Utveggio.

Journalists in the 'Tribuna Stampa' are still taking their seats when Palermo's Tommasso Augello sends a long ball forward. Niccolo Pierozzi heads down into Pohjanpalo's path and the Finn instinctively flicks his right foot in Jacopo Segre's direction. He gets his head over the ball and rifles a shot into the Spezia net. There are 11 seconds on the clock. It is the fastest goal in Palermo and Serie B history. If Curva Nord wasn't boisterous enough before, it is now. That moment will do nicely as Tarantino's newest museum exhibit.

The first half passes largely without incident, which is just as well, because it is impossible to take your eyes off the Curva. Jesse Joronen makes a pair of decisive saves in Palermo's net, La Dodici sway side-to-side and 'Rosanero, ale ale ale' echoes around.

'For those who are not here but always with us', reads one of the banners in Curva Nord Superiore, 'Appartenenza' another. Above the stand, a permanent slogan in Rosanero colours reads, 'This is Curva Nord, the city's heritage. Its heart beats strong, its splendour will never fade.' The football is secondary to the festa in the stands.

When Palermo started from scratch in Serie D six-and-a-half years ago, the club had five full-time non-football employees. Since then, that number has swollen to upwards of 55. It is still a small operation, but supporters have been the constant. Without them, Palermo would not have been as attractive a proposition for CFG.

This season, the average attendance is approximately 29,000, the highest it has been in 20 years, but even in Serie D, Palermo were pulling crowds of 16,000.

"Staying, continuing to go to the stadium or following Palermo on provincial pitches, was an act of genuine loyalty. That was when you truly understood who really supported Palermo - the 10,000 season-ticket holders in Serie D. Those who genuinely loved these colours," Giovanni Dara Guccione, president of supporters group 'Amici Rosanero' (Friends of the Pink-and-Black), says. He has been coming here for 53 years.

"Pink is elegance, sensitivity, light; black is battle. Together they tell the story of the Palermitan soul, made up of beauty and hardship. Wearing Rosanero means carrying a history with you. Pink like sweetness, black like bitterness."

Like many others around him, his name is displayed on the seat he proudly shows off in the open-air, western-facing tribune. Before becoming club president and moving to the Tribuna on the other side, Dario Mirri sat a few rows in front. Everybody knows each other in this part of the ground.

Palermo hit the woodwork twice after the break and Spezia's goalkeeper is called into action at regular intervals, but a second goal proves elusive. The visitors go through and equalise late on, only to be denied by the assistant referee's flag. It's tense - this would be Palermo's fifth consecutive home win without conceding, something they haven't managed in Serie B for over 50 years.

And then it arrives, the referee signals for full-time, his last blast barely audible over the cacophony of whistles, because he's played well over the seven additional minutes. Pink shirts bounce in front of Curva Nord to the sound of Gala's 'Freed From Desire', obviously.

Leading the chants now is young supporter, Alessia, who has recently undergone chemotherapy, whose voice projects through the CNI loudhailer. Curva Nord responds in kind. Shyness doesn't exist in Sicily.

"Palermo represents far more than a football club: it is an element of identity," Dara Guccione adds. "Palermo is a complex city, often wounded, accustomed to living with deep contradictions. The team becomes a space for collective recognition, a way of feeling represented, of proudly affirming belonging to a city that is too often described only through its problems.

"Palermo to me is family - but it is also happiness, passion, resilience and home."

As the winter sun sets on FFT's stay, it is evident this is a club that has put its best foot forward and rolled out the pink carpet. But, there are some things that can't be faked, polished or manufactured to present a better image, and while Palermo may have greater resources than its rivals, there are also things here that cannot be bought. Passion is one of them and Appartenenza another. The Rosanero has both in droves.