| Club: | Parma |
| Season: | 1996–97 |
| Owner: | Parmalat |
| Manager: | Carlo Ancelotti |
| Chairman: | Stefano Tanzi |
| Chrtitle: | President |
| Stadium: | Il Tardini |
| League: | Serie A |
| League Result: | Runners-up |
| Cup1: | Coppa Italia |
| Cup1 Result: | 2nd round |
| Cup2: | UEFA Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | First round |
| League Topscorer: | Chiesa (14) |
| Season Topscorer: | Chiesa (16) |
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| Prevseason: | 1995–96 |
| Nextseason: | 1997–98 |
The 1996–97 season was Parma Associazione Calcio's seventh consecutive season in Serie A. The team competed in Serie A, the Coppa Italia, and the UEFA Cup, where it suffered a shock first round exit to Portuguese club Vitória de Guimarães.
Parma came the closest it had ever been to winning the Italian championship, but came up short by finishing only two points behind Juventus. The season started with Luca Bucci still as Parma's starting keeper. Young goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, along with new recruits Lilian Thuram, Enrico Chiesa and Hernán Crespo, proved to be the driving force in Parma's title bid, which nearly reached ultimate success. However, a dubious penalty for Juventus in a 1–1 draw against the Turin club in May sealed Juventus' title.
Squad at end of season[1]
| In | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=3% | Pos. | width=32% | Name | width=30% | from | width=35% | Type |
| DF | Lilian Thuram | - | |||||
| FW | - | ||||||
| FW | |||||||
| MF | |||||||
| MF | - | ||||||
| DF | - | ||||||
| MF | - | ||||||
| Out | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=3% | Pos. | width=32% | Name | width=30% | To | width=35% | Type |
| FW | |||||||
| FW | - | ||||||
| DF | - | ||||||
| MF | - | ||||||
| MF | - | ||||||
| FW | - | ||||||
| DF | - | ||||||
| DF | - | ||||||
| In | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=3% | Pos. | width=32% | Name | width=30% | from | width=35% | Type |
| MF | - | ||||||
| MF | Club Brugge | ||||||
| MF | loan | ||||||
| Out | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| width=3% | Pos. | width=32% | Name | width=30% | To | width=35% | Type |
| FW | |||||||
| GK | |||||||
| MF | loan | ||||||
| MF | |||||||
See main article: 1996–97 Serie A.
See main article: 1996–97 Coppa Italia.
See main article: 1996–97 UEFA Cup.