Legendary former goalkeeper and current head of the national team delegation for the Italy national team, Gianluigi Buffon, was among the first to send his congratulations to Parma after they mathematically secured promotion to Serie A on Wednesday night.
Parma played out a 1-1 draw away to 18th-placed Bari on Wednesday, which was enough to confirm their spot in the Italian top flight for 2024-25.
They are three points ahead of 2nd placed Como, and are also +13 ahead of them on goal difference, so they could technically be confirmed as Serie B Champions as early as Sunday, depending on results.
Buffon, of course, has a massively close relationship with Parma, having begun his career there as a youth player in the early 1990s, before going on to make his first team debut in 1995.
He would then go on to join Juventus in 2001, but returned to the club for a two-year spell between 2021 and 2023, eventually calling it a day on his playing career back where it all started at the end of last season.
Congratulating his former teammates and colleagues on social media, Buffon wrote: “Finally Serie A! How exciting to see the joy in the faces of the people with whom I shared the last years of my career.
“Dearest friends, dearest Parma fans, enjoy this achievement, that we chased and have hoped for for a long time. It’s deserved this season more than ever!
“Congratulations to the guys, the technical staff and coaches! With all my heart, Forza Parma!”