- U.S. Città di Palermo season 2003-04
U.S. Città di Palermo played the season 2003-04 in theSerie B league. The "rosanero" ended the season in first place, being crowned Serie B champions and promoted toSerie A after over 30 years in the lower divisions.Review and events
Ambitious Palermo failed to gain promotion to
Serie A in the previous season following a 3-0 away defeat in the final match against Lecce, which were promoted at Palermo's place. That dramatic defeat was also the last appearance in his playing career for team captainAntonino Asta , who seriously injured during the match and did not manage to recover; he was part of the first team squad in the season 2003-04, without however making a single appearance. Following the events, Palermo made a number of prominent signings in the summer market, such asEugenio Corini ,Andrea Gasbarroni andLuca Toni ; in addition, Palermo-born starGaetano Vasari agreed to join the "rosanero" with a salary based on the number of appearances he would have made in the season.Silvio Baldini was appointed as new boss to replaceNedo Sonetti . Several football pundits suggested Palermo to be the real favourite team to win the Serie B league because of the quality of its roster.The team made a very impressive start by defeating
Gianfranco Zola 'sCagliari Calcio , and managed to be always in the promotion spots. However, following a surprising 3-1 home defeat to Salernitana that brought Palermo down to third place, Baldini heavily criticized club chairmanMaurizio Zamparini who consequently fired him and appointedFrancesco Guidolin at his place. On the last day of the January transfer market, three new notable signings were made:Antonio Filippini ,Emanuele Filippini andFabio Grosso . Palermo later returned to top the table and eventually won the league, ending with the same points than Cagliari, but being crowned as Serie B champions due to head-to-head matches.2003-04 squad
-
colspan="10"|"Players sold or loaned out during the January transfer market:"January transfer market bids
;In
;Out
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.