Zebre rugby: Lanfranchi Stadium

Before you travel

Confirmed · Zebre Parma: Come raggiungerci · TEP: TEP route 7 · Zebre Parma: Matchday Guide · Birrificio Gregorio: Il Brew Pub · Checked on 14 October 2026.

A Parma ground with its own rugby story

Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi is the home of Zebre Parma inside the Cittadella del Rugby, a complex managed by the Italian Rugby Federation. The club gives the ground a capacity of 5,000 and dates Zebre home matches here to the 2012–13 season. The address is Via San Leonardo 110/a, 43122 Parma.

The current ground opened in 2008, according to ticketing operator Ciaotickets, initially for Parma and Amatori Parma rugby. Its account distinguishes that beginning from Zebre’s arrival in 2012. The modern stadium is part of a municipal complex subsequently used by the federation, rather than a ground built only for the professional franchise.

Sergio Lanfranchi played for Rugby Parma from 1946 to 1950 and helped win the 1950 Italian championship. He later scored the decisive try for Grenoble in the 1954 French final against Cognac, won 5–3. The stadium’s name therefore honours a Parma player whose career crossed the Italian and French games.

The original Zebre were an invitation side founded in 1973 by Renato Tullio Ferrari with Marco Bollesan. They played twenty-five matches over twenty-three years, including a victory against the Barbarians in Brescia, before their last match in that form in 1996. This older identity explains the name inherited by the Parma franchise.

The Italian Rugby Federation took over the Zebre name on 7 June 2012 for a new federation-run side based in Parma. That team entered the Celtic competition and European cups. The club’s history records eight victories in 2015–16 and qualification for the following season’s Champions Cup.

On 28 September 2024 Zebre beat Munster 42–33 at the Lanfranchi, with 2,300 spectators recorded in the match report. Massimo Brunello was the home coach and Alessandro Fusco was player of the match. The home side scored six tries in a game with repeated changes of momentum.

Jacopo Trulla and Fusco each scored twice in that Munster victory, while Giovanni Licata and Gerónimo Prisciantelli supplied the other home tries. A late Giacomo Da Re penalty settled the nine-point margin after Munster had narrowed the gap. The comeback is a specific Lanfranchi occasion worth knowing before watching from these stands.

Zebre reached a first Challenge Cup quarter-final by beating Pau 31–15 here on 5 April 2026. Bautista Stavile scored two tries and was named player of the match; Trulla and Pitinari also crossed. Da Re converted all four tries and added a penalty.

The next European round also took place in Parma: Dragons won 35–32 on 11 April 2026. The scores were level at 17–17 at half-time before the visitors pulled away. Late tries from Krumov, and Quattrini brought Zebre close, but the final three-point gap remained.

Confirmed · Zebre Parma: Stadio Lanfranchi · CiaoTickets: Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi - Parma (PR) · Zebre Parma: Zebre club history · Zebre Parma: Zebre defeat Munster at Lanfranchi · Zebre Parma: Challenge Cup: Zebre battono Pau 31-15, ai quarti per la prima volta nella storia · Zebre Parma: Quarti Challenge Cup: le Zebre combattono, ma finisce 32-35 per i Dragons · Checked on 14 October 2026.

Centurions, former shirts and the village

A commemorative plaque in the North Stand Sky Box honours Zebre players with at least one hundred official appearances. The Club dei Centurioni records names and appearance totals, connecting the stadium’s hospitality space with the players who sustained the Parma franchise over multiple seasons.

For the January 2025 match against Perpignan, Zebre arranged a Legacy Round with a historical-shirt exhibition near the West Stand hospitality area. The display was curated by the Museo del Rugby. Former players also joined family activities and met spectators in the FanZone, placing the club’s earlier generations alongside its current matchday audience.

The October 2026 Edinburgh programme included the first Zebre Senza Confini integrated-rugby tournament, organised through Zebre Legacy with Gamberi Cuori Gialloblù. The same programme named the village, shirt-signing activity and post-match gathering. It demonstrates how the spaces around the Lanfranchi are used for participation as well as the senior fixture.

Our opinion: the Centurions plaque and Legacy events are better starting points for understanding the Lanfranchi than judging it only by the size of the stands. The Parma franchise is younger than many visiting clubs, but the ground has already hosted the Munster upset and the first European quarter-final run. Those are stories tied directly to the pitch in front of you.

Confirmed · Zebre Parma: Club Dei Centurioni · Zebre Parma: Legacy Round: Una giornata speciale con le Zebre Parma per la sfida contro USAP Perpignan di domenica 19 gennaio · Zebre Parma: Le Zebre aspettano Edinburgh sabato al Lanfranchi in una giornata ricca di iniziative · Checked on 14 October 2026.

A 25-minute walk from Parma station

Zebre places Parma railway station two kilometres from the stadium and gives the walk as twenty-five minutes. The club’s route follows Via Trento and then Via San Leonardo northwards, continuing under the ring-road viaduct.

The club recommends TEP bus route 7 between the railway station, Centro Torri and the motorway-side northern park-and-ride. Route 2 is another published option, serving Via Mazzini in the city centre and Via Trento near the station. Centro Torri is the named stopping area used in the stadium directions.

TEP’s route 7 timetable names Stazione FS fermata est, Madonnina on Via Trento, Centro Torri on Via San Leonardo and Park Nord on Via Rastelli. Those stop names help distinguish the stadium-side journey from the route’s continuation through the centre and towards the university area.

For an A1 arrival, Zebre gives the stadium as two kilometres from the motorway exit and directs vehicles towards the station before the Cittadella entrance by Robuschi. Its alternative is the free northern park-and-ride followed by route 7 to Centro Torri. The club also lists parking at Centro Torri and on Viale Europa.

Confirmed · Zebre Parma: Come raggiungerci · TEP: TEP route 7 · Checked on 14 October 2026.

Lanfranchi Restaurant, food trucks and Club House

The official matchday guide names a Lanfranchi Restaurant, the Mussini Lounge and the Villaggio. Its programme distinguishes village opening, stadium admission, catering, merchandise activity and the third half.

The October 2026 Edinburgh programme identifies MR SMEET as the food-truck operator and Blutoma as the DJ in the village. It also lists a shirt-signing session at the merchandise point. The named programme gives an example of the food and entertainment arranged immediately around a Lanfranchi match.

Pizza was explicitly offered in the Club House before and after the October 2025 Stormers game, accompanied by a DJ set. The clubhouse is also the named location for the rugby third half.

The club’s ticketing page directs online purchases to TicketOne and also identifies its secretariat on the first floor of the Cittadella office building. It lists a matchday ticket office opening ninety minutes before kick-off. The office address is the same Via San Leonardo complex used for the team’s home matches.

Our pick (opinion): We would leave space in the afternoon for the Villaggio and third half; the food, music and post-match gathering make the Lanfranchi more than an eighty-minute stop.

Confirmed · Zebre Parma: Matchday Guide · Zebre Parma: Le Zebre aspettano Edinburgh sabato al Lanfranchi in una giornata ricca di iniziative · Zebre Parma: Domani sera al Lanfranchi le Zebre affrontano gli Stormers · Zebre Parma: Biglietteria · Checked on 14 October 2026.

West, East, North and South

Zebre’s stand categories distinguish the North, South and East stands from three West Stand options: ordinary West, West Central and West VIP. The club introduced that six-category layout in its 2024–25 season-ticket announcement. The extra West distinctions describe different ticket categories on one side, not three separate stadiums or entrances.

The North Stand contains the Sky Box where the Centurions plaque is displayed. The club describes the plaque as visible to guests and partners visiting the franchise and attending matches. This puts a named historical feature inside a particular stand, while its public description does not establish unrestricted access for every ordinary ticket holder.

The Legacy Round shirt exhibition used the hospitality area near the West Stand. Alongside the North Stand Sky Box, that event identifies two distinct interior or hosted spaces in the Lanfranchi setting. The exhibition was part of the January 2025 event programme, rather than a permanently advertised museum with regular opening hours.

Zebre has offered an Executive Club hospitality package using the first-floor Sky Box and a Premium Club option focused on the third-half gathering. Its hospitality description names chef Andrea Nizzi of Ristorante 12 Monaci in the Executive offer. These are club hospitality products separate from standard stand admission.

Among the players recorded in the Centurions collection are scrum-half Guglielmo Palazzani, hooker Oliviero Fabiani and second-row George Biagi. The club lists Biagi’s 119 appearances and his subsequent move into rugby operations after retiring in July 2020. The North Stand plaque links that longer service to the franchise’s home ground.

Our advice (opinion): Compare ordinary West, West Central and West VIP on the ticket plan before paying for that side; the central position or hospitality needs to be worth it to your group.

Confirmed · Zebre Parma: Al via la campagna abbonamenti per la stagione 2024/25 · Zebre Parma: Club Dei Centurioni · Zebre Parma: Legacy Round: Una giornata speciale con le Zebre Parma per la sfida contro USAP Perpignan di domenica 19 gennaio · Zebre Parma: Hospitality · Checked on 14 October 2026.

Accessible ticketing and integrated rugby

For the December 2025 Benetton derby, Zebre published a complimentary-ticket application route for disabled spectators and one companion. Applicants were directed to the club secretariat with disability documentation and identification, subject to space in the designated disability sector. The announcement demonstrates a specific accessible-ticket route operated by the club.

In the opening home round of the 2026–27 season, Zebre players presented new shirts to Gamberi Cuori Gialloblù at half-time. The club identifies that group as an integrated-rugby team for athletes with disabilities. The presentation took place during the home match against the Bulls, linking the partnership directly to the stadium’s matchday activity.

The Pau knockout match also included around fifty guests from ParmaWelFARE – Non più soli, a local support network for vulnerable people. Zebre recorded their presence in the match report alongside the crowd of 2,259. That detail illustrates one of the named community programmes brought into the ground for a major European afternoon.

Confirmed · Zebre Parma: Derby Zebre-Benetton: prezzi bloccati solo fino al 30/11 · Zebre Parma: URC R1: Zebre Parma contro Vodacom Bulls finisce 13-47 · Zebre Parma: Challenge Cup: Zebre battono Pau 31-15, ai quarti per la prima volta nella storia · Checked on 14 October 2026.

Gregorio’s Parma beer venues

Birrificio Gregorio’s Brew Pub is at Via Reggio 14/a, 43126 Parma. Its own account dates the business to 2017 and describes beer brewed in-house alongside burgers, with bread prepared daily. This supplies a specific Parma address and food style for an off-site stop during a Zebre weekend.

Gregorio’s other named locations include Birra & Schiaccia at Strada Macedonio Melloni 5/E, 43121 Parma, and Beerstrot at Via Giosuè Carducci 30b, also in 43121. The addresses distinguish a central-city meeting from the Via Reggio Brew Pub; the same brewery name does not mean the same destination.

Confirmed · Birrificio Gregorio: Il Brew Pub · Checked on 14 October 2026.

Parma station or the northern stadium approach

The railway station address in Zebre’s directions is Piazzale Dalla Chiesa 11. It stands on the Milan–Bologna railway corridor. A station-based stay therefore starts from the club’s stated walking route through Via Trento, while a stay towards Centro Torri relates more closely to the Via San Leonardo approach and route 7.

Gregorio’s Brew Pub provides its own reservation link and a separate guided-visit link on the venue page. These are brewery arrangements at Via Reggio, not stadium tours. They give a named additional activity to enquire about for a Parma stay beyond the rugby and a pre-match drink.

Our opinion: we would favour the station side of Parma for a weekend combining the match with the city, and use Via Trento as the reference point for the stadium journey. A room near the northern park-and-ride serves a different kind of trip, particularly one organised around driving. The relevant choice is how much of the stay belongs to central Parma and how much to the Lanfranchi.

Gregorio’s Beerstrot in the Pilotta area serves homemade bread in both sweet maritozzi and savoury maritielli. The brewery presents the latter as its savoury interpretation of the traditional bun, alongside its craft beer offering in central Parma.

Confirmed · Zebre Parma: Come raggiungerci · Birrificio Gregorio: Il Brew Pub · Birrificio Gregorio: Beerstrot · Checked on 14 October 2026.

Which ground and which team?

The modern Lanfranchi has hosted Zebre from the 2012–13 season, while the club describes the municipality’s completion of the 5,000-place facility in 2013. That later completion date is distinct from the venue’s initial 2008 opening. Reading both stages together explains why different dates appear in accounts of the Cittadella development.

The franchise’s longer official history differentiates the original invitation club from the federation’s Parma team. Zebre’s matches in Parma belong to the second chapter, while the 1973 foundation and famous Barbarians meeting belong to the earlier side. The distinction keeps the ground’s history anchored to matches actually associated with the city.

Continue to Benetton’s Monigo, Rome’s Stadio Olimpico or Connacht’s Galway home.

Confirmed · Zebre Parma: Stadio Lanfranchi · Zebre Parma: Zebre club history · Checked on 14 October 2026.

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• Street map: Stadio Sergio Lanfranchi

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