Amatori Parma Rugby is a historical Italian

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

team founded in 1971.

History

From Amatori to Gran Ducato

Gran Parma Rugby was founded in 1999 following the merger of ''Amatori Parma Rugby'' and ''Rugby Noceto''. From 1999 to 2002 they competed in Seria A2 and won promotion to Serie A1. They finished eighth in their first season in the top flight which gave them the right to join the newly formed Super 10 (now

Top12 The Top10, known as the Peroni Top10 for sponsorship reasons, and formerly Top 12, is Italy's top level professional men's rugby union competition. The Top 10 is run by Federazione Italiana Rugby (FIR) and is contested by 10 teams as of the 2019� ...

). They made their European debut in 2002–03 in the

European Shield The European Shield (known as the Parker Pen Shield for sponsorship reasons) was a repechage tournament for teams knocked out in the first round of the European Challenge Cup. As such, it formed Europe's third-tier club rugby union competition ...

. GranDucato Parma Rugby was formed in June 2010 through the merger of ''Gran Parma Rugby'', ''Rugby Colorno'' and

Rugby Viadana Rugby Viadana 1970 is an Italian rugby union club based in Viadana ( province of Mantua, Lombardy). The club was established in 1970, and has since won the Italian championship in 2002, and the Coppa Italia three times. They also compete in Eur ...

. With the formation of Aironi to play in the

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organisation, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places part ...

, the best players and sponsorship from the three participating clubs were concentrated in this new single club Aironi. As a result of Aironi, these three teams decided to merge their senior and U-20 teams in order to better compete in the National Championship of Excellence for the 2010/2011 season. The three teams continued to exist below the U-20 level independently with the goal of producing players for GranDucato, and ultimately Aironi and the national team. Aironi struggled in the two season in the Magners League ran into financial difficulties and were replaced by

Zebre Zebre Parma (, meaning "Zebras") are an Italian professional rugby union team competing in the United Rugby Championship and EPCR competitions from the 2012–13 season. They are based in Parma (Emilia-Romagna), Italy. They are operated by the ...

. Viadana reformed as a professional team in the National Championship of Excellence.

Come back to Amatori Parma

From the 2011/12 season with the original name of Amatori Parma, it participates with a team in the Serie B championship, in addition to having seven youth representatives from Under 6 to Under 20. He is promoted and in the following season 2012/13 he plays in the Serie A2 championship, but arriving eleventh and facing the relegation in Serie B. In the 2014/15 season the ''blucelesti'' reach salvation and win the seventh place in the standings.

European Challenge Cup

References

{{Rugby union in Italy Italian rugby union teams Sport in Parma