 Parma achieved promotion from Serie D into professional football league Lega Pro with three games to spare following a 2–1 win against Delta Rovigo, ending the season in first place with 94 points from 38 games, and an unbeaten run of 28 victories and 10 draws.Parma ended the 2016–17 Lega Pro season in second place of Group B, but were promoted to Serie B after a 2–0 win over Alessandria in the promotion play-off final.On 18 May 2018, Parma achieved a third promotion in three seasons, becoming the first Italian football club to achieve this, having finished the 2017–18 Serie B season second behind champions Empoli and level on points with Frosinone, but achieving automatic promotion due to a better head-to-head record, thus making a comeback to the top flight for the next season in 2018–19 Serie A just three seasons after their bankruptcy relegation to Serie D. On 23 July 2018, Parma were handed a 5 point deduction for the 2018–19 Serie A season, following text messages from Parma player Emanuele Calaio "eliciting a reduced effort" from two players of Spezia (Filippo De Col and Claudio Terzi) during the 2017–18 season, a match Parma won 2–0 to secure promotion.