The 2011–12 season was Parma Football Club's 21st season in Serie A and their third consecutive season in that division, having finished 12th the previous season. An up-and-down start to the 2011–12 season saw Parma in a comfortable 10th position after 11 games. However, a six-game winless streak culminating in a 5–0 defeat away to Inter Milan was enough for Ghirardi to let Colomba go on 9 January 2012, despite Parma sitting in 15th position and seven points clear of relegation, having picked up 19 points from 17 games. Roberto Donadoni was chosen as his replacement immediately. Donadoni initially failed to bring about a change in fortunes, but the side won seven matches in a row to set a new club record to finish in eighth position, level on points with Roma.
As well as competing in Serie A, Parma took part in the Coppa Italia, a competition which they exited in the fourth round after losing to Serie B side Hellas Verona.
Season review
Pre-season
Retreat to Levico Parma began their pre-season with the traditional summer retreat on 11 July 2011 in Levico Terme for the second season running. Parma remained in Levico until 29 July. The club's pre-season tour of England and Wales was announced on 13 June and will follow the time spent in Levico. They contested four matches in Levico. The first two were six-goal thrashings against local amateur teams on 16 and 17 July with new boys Graziano Pellè, Fabio Borini and Nicola Sansone all scoring, but the following two were more competitive.
Parma first welcomed mid-table Czech side Slavia Prague to Italy on 20 July, but neither side were able to break the deadlock and the match ended goalless. Three days later, Parma had more success against Bulgarian outfit Ludogorets Razgrad, who had just been promoted to the top tier of Bulgarian football, the Bulgarian A Professional Football Group, for the first time in their history. Parma ran out 3–0 winners Ludogorets with Cristian Zaccardo, Borini and Sebastian Giovinco all on the scoresheet. Parma's final game in Italy before their departure on a tour of the UK was the next day in Cogollo del Cengio against Cogollo, whose president Alberto Rossi had acquired a 5% share in Parma three days earlier. Parma won the match 10–1.
Tour of Britain Parma then travelled to the UK to contest four friendly matches against sides who with an earlier start to the English season were likely to have further developed their pre-season fitness. The first match was against Welsh Championship side Cardiff City and it ended goalless with the hosts enjoying the better of the game. Next, Parma travelled east to Bedfordshire to face Conference side Luton Town. The Italians overcame their English counterparts 2–0 with one goal coming in each half to record their first win on British soil in 18 years.
Next up was the first of two clashes against Premier League outfits on 6 August, as Parma met Norwich City at Carrow Road. The Canaries took a first-half lead through a close-range Grant Holt effort and led by that single goal at half-time. Andrew Surman then scored a second-half brace and Norwich ran out comfortable 3–0 winners. I Ducali then made the trip west to face West Bromwich Albion to round up the tour the following day and had more success. Nicola Sansone gave Parma the lead just before half-time, but a Somen Tchoyi goal deep into injury time in the second half secured the hosts a draw.
Return to Italy Parma then returned home to Italy and hosted La Liga side Levante at the Tardini following the annual presentation of the players to the fans on 12 August. Graziano Pellè's only goal of the game meant the home fans went home happy as Parma geared up for the new season. Six days later, a triangular tournament was contested in Salsomaggiore Terme (in the Province of Parma) between Parma and lower league sides Salsomaggiore and Fidenza Calcio with each match lasting only 45 minutes; Parma won both matches, beating Fidenza 1–0 and Salsomaggiore 3–0. Parma's final warm-up before the new season was supposed to be two matches on 25 August against the club's Allievi Nazionali (which was just a single-half affair) and local side Pro Desenzano (which the club both won comfortably by seven goals to nil and six goals to three, respectively), but the delayed start of Serie A due to a players' strike meant a friendly was played on Saturday 27 August against Carpenedolo; Parma won 7–0. Parma also played Mantova and Crociati Noceto in September to give fringe players more game time, winning both matches comfortably to nil.
Serie A Fixtures for the 2011–12 Serie A season were drawn in Milan on 27 July 2011 and made public the next day. Parma's league campaign was set to get underway on the weekend of 28 August 2011 against Catania in a repeat of the start of Parma's 2006–07 Serie A season, which ended two apiece, while the second match was to be away to Juventus. However, the opening weekend fixtures were delayed due to a players' strike over a new Serie A collective bargaining agreement between clubs and players, which was to include a super-tax on the league's highest earners and would compel unwanted players to train with the first team of their contracted club. An emergency one-year deal – as opposed to the normal three-year arrangements – was signed in the week leading up to the second week of matches, meaning Parma would start their campaign in Turin against Juventus.
Parma travelled to Juventus to become Old Ladys first competitive opponents in the brand new Juventus Stadium on 11 September and hoping to win a fourth consecutive match against the Turin side. However, Juventus scored early on through a tidy Stephan Lichtsteiner finish off a delightful Andrea Pirlo pass. This reflected the balance of play and Juventus were unlucky to have Alessandro Matri's effort ruled out just before half-time. Simone Pepe finally doubled the lead on 57 minutes with an accomplished finish, having been put through by Alessandro Del Piero. The chances continued to flow and debutant Arturo Vidal scored a fine volley from the edge of the box to make it 3–0 with quarter of an hour to go. Pirlo found Claudio Marchisio with ten minutes to go and Marchisio chipped Parma goalkeeper Antonio Mirante to complete Juventus' scoring. A late Sebastian Giovinco run saw him fouled in the box and score the resulting penalty, leaving Parma ahead of only Atalanta who were deducted six points before the season's start. Juventus had emphatically ended Parma's 18-match unbeaten record in season openers with a 4–1 win, the Ducali losing for the first time since 1992, when they succumbed to Atalanta.
On 18 September, Parma hosted former manager Domenico Di Carlo's Chievo at the Tardini with an unchanged line-up and were the better side for much of the first half and saw their dominance rewarded with a Giovinco goal with 24 minutes on the clock from a headed Pellè flick-on. The second half was, however, Chievo's, the majority of the action coming in Antonio Mirante's goalmouth, although chances were still at a premium. Chievo made their improved performance count through ex-Parma frontman Alberto Paloschi with 12 minutes to go and a draw looked the fair result, but a late Giovinco finish from substitute Jonathan Biabiany's inch-perfect whipped cross saw Parma snatch all three points and Giovinco become the first player since Adriano in 2003–04 to score 3 goals in the first two matches. Two-goal Giovinco was then sent off in injury time after he was shown a second yellow card for kicking the ball into the net following the referee's decision to penalise the diminutive Italian. The result represented a fifth consecutive victory at home for Parma – a feat last achieved in 2000–01 – after victories over Juventus, Palermo and Inter Milan last season and Grosseto this.
Three days later, Parma played away at Fiorentina, who had also won one and lost one of their first two league games. With Valiani and Pellè both missing due to injury and Giovinco serving his one-match suspension, four changes were made from the weekend's winning team, as both Abderrazzak Jadid and Zé Eduardo were given their first starts in a Parma shirt. Fiorentina made the only chances of the first half, but were largely restricted to long-range efforts. Before 30 seconds had passed in the second half, Fiorentina took a deserved lead from a close-range Stevan Jovetić tap-in after Alessandro Lucarelli failed to clear the ball. Alessio Cerci then doubled La Viola'''s lead with a diving header halfway through the second half, before Jovetić coolly added a third with ten minutes to go. The match finished 3–0.
On 26 September, Parma hosted Luis Enrique's Roma with Colomba's team needing a draw to stay out of the relegation zone. The game was one of few chances and a clash of styles between Roma's tiki-taka and the home side's counter-attacking football. Only Antonio Mirante's shakiness in the Parma goal from long shots appeared to be a route to goal in the first half, but the side from the capital struck early in the second half through a well-placed Dani Osvaldo header. Although Parma had more chances as the game went on, Osvaldo's effort was the only goal of the game, leaving Parma with 13 consecutive winless games against Roma.
The following week, Genoa came to Parma led by ex-Parma manager Alberto Malesani as Parma looked to put an end to their indifferent early season form and Genoa went in search of a second win at the Tardini on their twentieth visit. They were able to make their good start to the first half pay with a goal from a delightful Giovinco lob on the half-hour mark after a neat Sergio Floccari assist. As the first half drew to a close, Giovinco's mazy dribble was then illegally halted in the penalty area by Juraj Kucka and Parma were awarded a penalty; Giovinco himself converted the resultant spot kick. As Genoa threw more men forward, the chances continued to come for Parma and a fine counter-attack ended with a Stefano Morrone finish from inches out after he had somehow conspired to hit the bar from 6 yards out. The gloss of a fine victory was taken off when Genoa themselves were awarded a penalty for a Gabriel Paletta tug on Rodrigo Palacio in the last minute and the Argentine got up to score the penalty and round off the scoring at 3–1. This lifted Parma out of the relegation zone and Giovinco to the top of the scoring charts, alongside fellow 5-goal frontman Rodrigo Palacio.
After an international break which saw Sebastian Giovinco further cement his place in Italy coach Cesare Prandelli's plans for Euro 2012 the following summer, Parma travelled to Champions League side Napoli, who had beaten giants Inter Milan in their previous game by three goals to nil. Napoli had much of the ball in the early stages, but failed to make the most of their control of the ball, while Parma looked dangerous on the counter. This pattern continued into the second half before a Massimo Gobbi goal give Parma an unexpected lead just before an hour had passed. The left-back surged forward through Napoli's pedestrian midfield and laid the ball off to Sergio Floccari, who flicked the ball back into Gobbi's path, allowing Gobbi to slot home from point blank range. Napoli continued to press and eventually found an equaliser in a similar fashion to Parma's opener, Ezequiel Lavezzi supplying the backheel flick and playing the one-two with substitute Giuseppe Mascara. The sides were level for five minutes before Parma once again proved to have the more clinical instinct in front of goal. Francesco Valiani worked the ball out wide to Giovinco, who found Francesco Modesto sliding in at the back post to give Parma a 2–1 in the 82nd minute to momentarily put Parma seventh.