Genoa C.F.C.

Genoa
Full name Genoa Cricket and Football Club SpA
Nickname(s) I rossoblu (The red-blues),
Il grifone (The griffin),
Il vecchio balordo (The old fool)
Founded 7 September 1893 (mixed sports)[1]
10 April 1897 (football)[2]
Ground Stadio Luigi Ferraris,
Genoa, Italy
(Capacity: 36,536)
Chairman Flag of Italy Enrico Preziosi
Manager Flag of Italy Gian Piero Gasperini
League Serie A
2007-08 Serie A, 10th
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Home colours
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Away colours

Genoa Cricket and Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Genoa or the abbreviation Genoa CFC, is a professional football club based in the city of Genoa, Italy. Although the athletics and cricket club was founded in 1893 by Englishmen;[3] the footballing section of the club was opened in 1897 by James Richardson Spensley making it the oldest of its kind still active in Italy.[4]

During their long history, Genoa have won the Italian Football Championship nine times; the first of which was 1898 during the competition's inaugural season, the last time Genoa won the league was in 1923–24. It also won the Coppa Italia once. Historically, Genoa is the tenth most successful club in Italian football,[5] however they are the fourth most successful in terms of championships won.[6]

The club has played its home games at the 36,536 capacity Stadio Luigi Ferraris[7] since 1911. Since 1946, the ground has been shared with local rivals Sampdoria. Genoa has often bounced between the top two divisions of Italian football; Serie A and Serie B since the 1960s. After a recent promotion, Genoa now plays again in Serie A for the first time since 1995.

Contents

History

For more details on this topic, see History of Genoa C.F.C.
Founding constitution.

The club was founded on 7 September 1893[1] as Genoa Cricket & Athletic Club. In its earliest years, it only competed in athletics and cricket. Since the club was set up to represent England abroad, the original shirts worn by the organisation were white, the same colour as the England national team shirt.[1] At first Italians were not permitted to join as it was a private club.[1] Genoa's activities took place in the north-west of the city in the Campasso area, at the Piazza d'Armi. The men who founded the initial cricket and athletics club were;[1]

 
  • Charles De Grave Sells
  • S. Blake
  • G. Green
  • W. Riley
 
  • Daniel G. Fawcus
  • Sandys
  • E. De Thierry
  • Jonathan Summerhill Sr.
 
  • Jonathan Summerhill Jr.
  • Sir Charles Alfred Payton

On 10 April 1897[2] the footballing section of the club was officially opened by James Richardson Spensley.[8] It was amongst the oldest in Italian football at the time, the only other founded clubs were two in Turin.[9] With the football section of the club opened, Italians were allowed to join and found a new ground in the form of Ponte Carrega. The first friendly match took place at home, against a mixed team of Internazionale Torino and FBC Torinese; Genoa lost 1–0.[1] Not long after, Genoa recorded its first victory away against UPS Alessandria winning 2–0. Friendly games also took place against various British sailors such as those from HMS Revenge.[1]

Championship dominance

Genoa CAC in 1898, the first ever Italian Championship winners.

Football in Italy stepped up a level with the creation of the Italian Football Federation and the Italian Football Championship.[2] Genoa competed in the first Italian Championship in 1898 at Velodromo Umberto I in Turin.[2] They defeated Ginnastica Torino 2–1 in their first official game on 8 May, before winning the first championship later that day by beating Internazionale Torino 3–1 after extra time.[10]

Genoa returned for the following season, this time with a few changes; the name of the club was altered to Genoa Cricket & Football Club, dropping the Athletic from its name. A change in shirt colour was also in order, as they changed to white and blue vertical stripes; known in Italy as biancoblu. Genoa won their second title on 16 April 1899, by beating Internazionale Torino 3–1 for the second time. On their way to winning their third consecutive title in 1900 and proving their championship dominance, Genoa beat local rivals Sampierdarenese 7–0; a winning margin which would not be bettered by any team in the league until 1910. The final was secured with a 3–1 win over FBC Torinese.[10]

The club strip was changed again in 1901, Genoa adopted its famous red-navy halves and therefore became known as the rossoblu; these are the colours used even to this day. After a season of finishing runners-up to Milan Cricket and Football Club, things were back on track in 1902 with their fourth title. Juventus emerged as serious contenders to Genoa's throne from 1903 onwards, when for two seasons in a row Genoa beat the Old Lady in the national final.[10]

Genoa CFC championship winning side of 1904, their sixth league title.

Notably Genoa became the first Italian football team to play an international match, when they visited France on 27 April 1903 to play FVC Nice, winning the fixture 3–0. As well as winning the Italian championship in 1904, the year was also notable for Genoa reserves winning the first ever II Categoria league season; a proto-Serie B under the top level. From 1905 onwards when they were runners-up, Genoa lost their foothold on the Italian championship; other clubs such as Juventus, Milan and Pro Vercelli stepped up.[10]

The fall in part during this period can be traced back to 1908 when FIGC agreed to Federal Gymnastics protests forbidding the use of foreign players. Since Genoa's birth they had always had a strong English contingent. They disagreed, as did several other prominent clubs such as Milan, Torino and Firenze; as thus they withdrew from official FIGC competitions that year. The following season the federation reversed the decision and Genoa was rebuilt with players such as Luigi Ferraris[11] and some from Switzerland. The rebuilding of the squad also saw the creation of a new ground in the Marassi area of Genoa, when built it had a capacity of 25,000 and was comparable to British stadiums of the time; it was officially opened on 22 January 1911.

Garbutt revival

With the introduction of the Italian national football team, Genoa played an important part, with the likes of Renzo De Vecchi; who was azzurri captain for some time, Edoardo Mariani and Enrico Sardi earning call-ups.[12] Englisman William Garbutt was brought in as head coach to help revive the club; Garbutt was the first professional manager in Italy and he was considered to have a strong charisma, constantly smoking his tobacco pipe.[1] He was dubbed "Mister" by the players; since then Italians have referred to coaches in general with the term.[1]

Finally by 1914–15, Genoa had restored themselves as the top club from Northern Italy, winning the final round of the Northern section.[10] However, a national final was not played because Genoa did not have an opposition; the finals of the Southern Italian section was not decided due to the outbreak of World War I. Genoa would be awarded the title in 1919 after the end of the war, it was their first for eleven seasons.[13] The war took a harsh toll on Genoa as players Luigi Ferraris, Adolfo Gnecco, Carlo Marassi, Alberto Sussone and Claudio Casanova all died while on military duty in Italy; while footballing founder James Richardson Spensley was killed in Germany.[13]

The last Genoa side to win the Italian Football Championship, in 1924.

Just after the war, Genoa remained a strong contender in the Northern section.[13] Garbutt led Genoa to championship success in 1922–23 where they beat Lazio 6–1 in the final, over the course of two legs.[10] The following season, Genoa made their way past Bologna in the Northern finals, but not without controversy; after riots in the second leg during the game in Bologna, the game was called off due to crowd rioting and FIGC awarded Genoa with a 2–0 victory.[13] In the national final that season, Genoa beat Savoia 4-1 over the course of two legs; this would be their ninth and to date final Italian championship.[6]

The squad during these two championship victories included; Giovanni De Prà, Ottavio Barbieri, Luigi Burlando and Renzo De Vecchi.[6] With Genoa's championship victory in 1923–24 came the introduction of the scudetto patch; which means following the season which a club wins an Italian league championship, they are allowed to wear a shield shaped patch on their shirt which features the colours of the Italian flag.[1] For the rest of the 1920s, the club did not win the championship, with the highest they were able to finish being second place, like in the 1927–28 season when they finished runners-up to Torino, with striker Felice Levratto scoring 20 goals in 27 games.[14]

Genova 1893 period

Due to the strongly British connotations attached to the name, Genoa were forced to change it by the fascist government to Genova 1893 Circolo del Calcio in 1928.[15] The club competed in a proto-European Cup in the form of the Mitropa Cup, where they went out in the quarter-finals after losing heavily to Rapid Vienna. They followed this with a runners-up position back at home in the league, they finished behind Ambrosiana in the 1929–30 season; this would be their last top level championship runners-up spot to date.[10]

Genoa Coppa Italia winning side of 1937, celebrating in Florence.

The club's league form became highly erratic during the early 1930s, with varying league positions; it was during the 1933–34 season that Genova suffered their first ever relegation to Serie B, the second level of Italian football. Thankfully for the club, they were able to bounce back under the management of Vittorio Faroppa, winning promotion by finishing top of their group ahead of Novara. In 1936, the ambitious Juan Culiolo took over as president of the club; in 1936–37 they achieved a 6th place finish and also won the Coppa Italia by beating AS Roma 1–0 with a goal from Mario Torti.[16]

During the following season Genova finished in third place, this was a particularly tight season with winners Ambrosiana-Inter finishing only three points ahead of the club. That summer Italy competed in the 1938 FIFA World Cup and won, three Genova players formed part of the triumphant squad in the form of Sergio Bertoni, Mario Genta and Mario Perazzolo.[17] The club finished the decade on a high, maintaining a top five foothold in the top level of the Italian league.[10]

World War II affected dramatically the entire Italian football movement, but Genova did not recover as well as other clubs. In 1945, the club chose to revert their name to Genoa Cricket and Foot-Ball Club, the one which they had used in the very early days of the Italian championship.[18] In the years just after the war, the club were still popular with the fans, with people previously associated with the club such as Ottavio Barbieri and William Garbutt returning for managerial spells.[19] Genoa also had a new rival in the form of Sampdoria, who were founded by a merger of two other clubs in 1946 and would groundshare at Stadio Luigi Ferraris.

Post-war period

Genoa side during 1956–57 season.

After the Second World War the ability of Genoa to finish in the upper ranks of Serie A declined in a significant manner; throughout the rest of the 1940s the club were middle-table finishers. The 1948–49 saw three highly significant results, Genoa beat Inter 4–1, the famous Grande Torino side 3–0 and Padova 7–1.[20] The 1950s started in poor fashion for the club, they had bought Argentine Mario Boyé from Boca Juniors but he stayed only one season and the club were relegated after finishing bottom of the table, but after two seasons they achieved their return after winning Serie B, ahead of Legnano.[21] Ragnar Nikolay Larsen was a noted player for the club during this period and they sustained mid-table finishes for the rest of the decade.[21]

Despite suffering a relegation in 1959–60 and then a promotion back up to Serie A in 1961–62,[21] Genoa had a respectable amount of cup success in the first half of the 1960s. The club won the Coppa delle Alpi in 1962; it was the first time the competition had been competed between club teams instead of international ones, the final was played at home while Genoa beat French club Grenoble Foot 38 by 1–0 with a goal from Nizza.[22] Genoa won the same competition again two years later, the final was held at the Wankdorf Stadium in Berne, Switzerland; Genoa defeated Catania 2–0, with both goals from Giampaolo Piaceri to take the trophy.[23]

The celebrations for the club did not last long however, as the year following their last cup success they were relegated down to Serie B again. This time their stay at the second tier of the Italian football system would be far longer than previous relegations, the club was unstable as it changed manager each season.[19] Genoa even experienced their first relegation to Serie C in 1970, financially the club fell into difficulties and had several ownership changes.[24]

Mixed times

Throughout the 1970s, Genoa would play the role of a yo-yo club, bouncing up and down between divisions. Under the management of Arturo Silvestri the club made its way back to Serie A for the 1973–74 season, but they were relegated straight back down. For the return of Il Grifone to Serie A a couple of seasons later, the squad featured the likes of Roberto Rosato, Bruno Conti and a young Roberto Pruzzo. This time they stuck it out in the top division for two seasons before succumbing to relegation in 1977–78; the relegation was particually cruel as the side above them Fiorentina surved on goal-difference of just a single goal, the two teams had played each other on the final day of the season ending in a 0–0 draw.[25]

First Genoa side of the 1980s.

The relegation was bad for the club in more ways than one, they lost some of their top players who could have offered them a swift return; such as Roberto Pruzzo's move to AS Roma where he would go on to have great success.[26] After a couple of middle-table finishes in Serie B, Genoa earned promotion during the 1980–81 season under manager Luigi Simoni, the club finished as runners-up behind only AC Milan who had been relegated the previous season for their part in the Totonero betting scandal.[27]

Still with Simoni at the helm as manager, Genoa were able to survive in Serie A for their returning season, they finished just one point ahead of the relegated AC Milan, it was a dramatic last day of the season as Genoa were trailing 2–1 to SSC Napoli with five minutes left, until on the 85th minute Mario Faccenda scored the goal which secured the point Genoa needed, starting a friendship between the two club's fans.[28] A couple of seasons later in 1983–84 Genoa would not be so lucky, despite beating champions Juventus on the final day of the season, the club were relegated even though they finished the season with the same number of points as surviving Lazio; this was because Lazio had recorded better results in matches against Genoa.[29]

European experience

The club was purchased by Calabrese entrepreneur Aldo Spinelli in 1985 and despite no longer having Simoni as manager, Genoa were finishing in the top half of Serie B. After a slip in form during 1987–88, Genoa refocused their energy and were able to achieve promotion back into Serie A the following season, finishing as champions ahead of Bari.[10] Genoa, with an experienced trainer as Osvaldo Bagnoli who knew how to make the best out of underdog teams (he managed to win a championship at the helm of Hellas Verona in the eighties) and with a team sporting the talents of Pato Aguilera and Tomáš Skuhravý among others achieved highs during the 1990–91 season where they finished fourth, remaining undefeated at home for the entire campaign, winning games against all the big sides including Juventus, Inter, AC Milan, Roma, Lazio, Fiorentina, SSC Napoli, as well as their hated local rivals Sampdoria who won the title that season.[30]

Subsequently the club gained entry to the UEFA Cup in the 1991–92 season, Genoa had a good run, making it to the semi-finals before getting knocked out by Ajax; notably Genoa did the double over Liverpool in the quarter-finals becoming the first Italian side to beat the reds at Anfield.[31] Noted Genoa players during this period included Gianluca Signorini, Carlos Aguilera, Stefano Eranio, Roberto Onorati and John van 't Schip.[32] Back in Serie A however, the same season as their UEFA Cup run, they finished just one place above the relegation zone; in the seasons following Genoa remained in the lower half of the table.[10]

During the 1994–95 season Genoa were narrowly relegated, they finished level on points with Padova after the normal season period. This meant a relegation play-out was to be played between the two in Florence, the game was tied 1–1 at full time and went to a penalty shootout, Genoa eventually lost the shoot-out 5–4.[10] While back down in Serie B, the club had another taste of international cup success when they became the final winners of the Anglo-Italian Cup by beating Port Vale 5–2 with Gennaro Ruotolo scoring a hat-trick.[33] Chairman Spinelli sold Genoa in 1997, moving onto Livorno. The late 1990s and early 2000s would be the most trying time in the history of the club, with constantly changing managers, a poor financial situation and little hope of gaining promotion, outside of a decent 6th place finish in 1999–00.[10] From 1997 until 2003, Genoa had a total of three different four different chairmen, before the club was passed on to Enrico Preziosi.[34]

Recent times

Preziosi took over in 2003, when Genoa should have been relegated to C1 series after a dismal season, but was instead "saved" along with Catania and Salernitana by the judicial decision to relegate other teams instead of the ones mentioned. Things started to look up for Genoa; they won Serie B in 2004–05. However, allegations were raised that the club had fixed a match on the last day of the season between themselves and Venezia. The 3–2 victory in the match saw Genoa win the league, if they had lost they would have finished behind three other teams. The Disciplinary Committee of FIGC saw fit to instead place Genoa bottom of the league and relegate them down to Serie C1 on 27 July 2005.[35]

For their season in Serie C1 for 2005–06, Genoa were hit with a six point penalty from the previous season. After leading for much of they season, they eventually finished as runners-up and were entered into the play-offs, beating Monza 2-1 on aggregate to achieve promotion back into Serie B.[21] During the summer break Gian Piero Gasperini was brought in as the new manager, he helped the club to gain promotion during the 2006–07 season, it was ensured on the last day of the season where they drew 0–0 with Napoli, both sleeping giants were promoted back into Serie A.[36]

The first serie A championship played by Genoa in 12 years saw it finishing at a respectable tenth place, right after the "big ones" of Italian football. A careful summer market session saw president Preziosi strenghtening the core of the team while parting from some players on favourable economical terms. Genoa's aims for the 2008-2009 season should see it strive for a UEFA Cup spot.

Players

Current squad

As of 2008-09-17 [37][38][39]

No. Position Player
1 Flag of Italy GK Eugenio Lamanna (from youth team)
3 Flag of Italy DF Alessandro Potenza
4 Flag of Italy DF Domenico Criscito
5 Flag of Argentina MF Nicolás Domingo
7 Flag of Italy MF Marco Rossi (captain)
8 Flag of Uruguay MF Marcel Román
10 Flag of Italy FW Raffaele Palladino
11 Flag of Uruguay FW Rubén Olivera (on loan from Juventus)
13 Flag of Italy DF Matteo Ferrari
14 Flag of Italy FW Giuseppe Sculli
15 Flag of Greece DF Sokratis Papastathopoulos
16 Flag of Ghana MF Issac Cofie
17 Flag of Serbia FW Boško Janković (on loan from Palermo)
18 Flag of Italy FW Andrea Gasbarroni
19 Flag of Italy MF Matteo Paro
20 Flag of Italy MF Giandomenico Mesto
No. Position Player
22 Flag of Argentina FW Diego Milito
23 Flag of Italy MF Francesco Modesto
25 Flag of Italy DF Giuseppe Biava
26 Flag of Italy DF Salvatore Bocchetti
27 Flag of Italy DF Matteo D'Alessandro (from youth team)
28 Flag of Croatia MF Ivan Jurić
29 Flag of Italy MF Davide Brivio (on loan from Vicenza)
32 Flag of Italy MF Matteo Perelli Travaglia
45 Flag of Italy MF Nicholas Costantini
68 Flag of Belgium MF Anthony Vanden Borre
73 Flag of Italy GK Alessio Scarpi
77 Flag of Italy MF Omar Milanetto
83 Flag of Brazil GK Rubinho
88 Flag of Brazil MF Thiago Motta
Flag of Ecuador GK Damian Lanza

Out on loan

No. Position Player
Flag of Brazil DF Fabiano (at Celta Vigo)
Flag of Italy GK Danilo Russo (at Pergocrema)
Flag of Italy MF Paolo Facchinetti (at Pergocrema)
Flag of Italy FW Michele Tarallo (at Pergocrema)
Flag of Italy FW Salvatore Aurelio (at Crotone)
Flag of Italy DF Andrea Ranocchia (at Bari)
Flag of Portugal FW Diogo Tavares (at Frosinone)
Flag of Italy FW Alessandro Di Maio (at Massese)
Flag of Italy MF Vincenzo Rennella (at Lugano)
No. Position Player
Flag of Uruguay FW Matías Masiero (at Pisa)
Flag of Portugal DF Tiago Pires (at Potenza)
Flag of Italy FW Giuseppe Greco (at Pisa)
Flag of Italy MF Silvano Raggio Garibaldi (at Pisa)
Flag of Italy FW Marco Di Vaio (at Bologna)
Flag of Italy MF Stefano Botta (at Vicenza)
Flag of Argentina MF Emmanuel Ledesma (at QPR)
Flag of Italy FW Davide Di Gennaro (at Reggina)
Flag of Italy DF Mariano Stendardo (at Grosseto)
9 Flag of Argentina FW Luciano Figueroa (at Boca Juniors)

For all transfers and loans pertaining to Genoa for the current season, please see; List of Italian football transfers summer 2008.

Retired numbers

Main article: Retired numbers in football

Notable players

Main article: List of Genoa C.F.C. players

Presidential history

Below is the presidential history of Genoa, from when the club was first founded playing cricket and athletics, until the present day.[42]

 
Name Years
Charles De Grave Sells 1893–1897
Hermann Bauer 1897–1899
Daniel G. Fawcus 1899–1904
Edoardo Pasteur 1904–1909
Vieri A. Goetzloff 1909–1910
Edoardo Pasteur 1910–1911
Luigi Aicardi 1911–1913
Geo Davidson 1913–1920
Guido Sanguineti 1920–1926
Vincent Ardissone 1926–1933
Aldo Tarabini 1933–1934
Alfredo Costa 1934–1936
Juan Culiolo 1936–1941
Nino Bertoni 1941–1942
 
Name Years
Giovanni Gavarone 1942–1943
Nino Bertoni 1943–1944
Aldo Mairano 1944–1945
Antonio Lorenzo 1945–1946
Edoardo Pasteur 1946
Giovanni Peragallo 1946
Massimo Poggi 1946–1950
Ernesto Cauvin 1951–1953
Ugo Valperga 1953–1954
Presidential Committee 1954–1958
Fausto Gadolla 1958–1960
Presidential Committee 1960–1963
Giacomo Berrino 1963–1966
Ugo Maria Failla 1966–1967
 
Name Years
Renzo Fossati 1967–1970
Virgilio Bazzani 1970
Angelo Tongiani 1970–1971
Gianni Meneghini 1971–1972
Giacomo Berrino 1972–1974
Renzo Fossati 1974–1985
Aldo Spinelli 1985–1997
Massimo Mauro 1997–1999
Gianni E. Scerni 1999–2001
Luigi Dalla Costa 2001–2003
Stefano Campoccia 2003
Enrico Preziosi 2003–2007
Giambattista Pastorello 2007–present

Managerial history

Genoa have had many managers and trainers, some seasons they have had co-managers running the team, here is a chronological list of them from 1896 when they became a football club, onwards.[43]

 
Name Nationality Years
James Richardson Spensley Flag of England 1896–1907
Technical Commission Flag of England 1907–1912
William Garbutt Flag of England 1912–1927
Renzo De Vecchi Flag of Italy 1927–1930
Gèza Székány Flag of Hungary 1930–1931
Luigi Burlando
Guillermo Stábile
Flag of Italy
Flag of Argentina
1931–1932
Karl Rumbold Flag of Austria 1932–1933
József Nagy Flag of Hungary 1933–1934
Vittorio Faroppa Flag of Italy 1934–1935
György Orth Flag of Hungary 1935–1936
Hermann Felsner Flag of Austria 1936–1937
William Garbutt Flag of England 1937–1939
Ottavio Barbieri
William Garbutt
Flag of Italy
Flag of England
1939–1940
Ottavio Barbieri Flag of Italy 1940–1941
Guido Ara Flag of Italy 1941–1943
Ottavio Barbieri Flag of Italy 1945–1946
William Garbutt Flag of England 1946–1948
Federico Allasio Flag of Italy 1948–1949
John David Astley Flag of England 1949–1950
Manlio Bacigalupo Flag of Italy 1950–1951
Imre Senkey Flag of Hungary 1951–1952
Giacinto Ellena Flag of Italy 1952–1953
György Sárosi Flag of Hungary 1953–1955
Renzo Magli Flag of Italy 1955–1958
Annibale Frossi Flag of Italy 1958–1959
Antonio Busini
Gipo Poggi
Flag of Italy
Flag of Italy
1959–1960
Annibale Frossi Flag of Italy 1960–1961
Renato Gei Flag of Italy 1961–1963
Beniamino Santos Flag of Argentina 1963–1964
Paulo Amaral Flag of Brazil 1964–1965
Luigi Bonizzoni Flag of Italy 1965–1966
Giorgio Ghezzi Flag of Italy 1966–1967
Livio Fongaro Flag of Italy 1967–1968
Aldo Campatelli Flag of Italy 1968–1969
Franco Viviani Flag of Italy 1969–1970
 
Name Nationality Years
Arturo Silvestri Flag of Italy 1970–1974
Guido Vincenzi Flag of Italy 1974–1975
Gigi Simoni Flag of Italy 1975–1978
Pietro Maroso Flag of Italy 1978–1979
Gianni Di Marzio Flag of Italy 1979–1980
Gigi Simoni Flag of Italy 1980–1984
Tarcisio Burgnich Flag of Italy 1984–1986
Attilio Perotti Flag of Italy 1986–1987
Gigi Simoni Flag of Italy 1987–1988
Franco Scoglio Flag of Italy 1988–1990
Osvaldo Bagnoli Flag of Italy 1990–1992
Bruno Giorgi Flag of Italy 1992–1993
Claudio Maselli Flag of Italy 1993–1994
Franco Scoglio Flag of Italy 1994–1995
Gigi Radice Flag of Italy 1995–1996
Attilio Perotti Flag of Italy 1996–1997
Gaetano Salvemini Flag of Italy 1996–1997
Claudio Maselli Flag of Italy 1997
Tarcisio Burgnich Flag of Italy 1997–1998
Giuseppe Pillon Flag of Italy 1998
Luigi Cagni Flag of Italy 1998
Delio Rossi Flag of Italy 1999–2000
Bruno Bolchi Flag of Italy 2000
Guido Carboni
Alfredo Magni
Flag of Italy
Flag of Italy
2000–2001
Bruno Bolchi Flag of Italy 2001
Franco Scoglio Flag of Italy 2001
Edoardo Reja Flag of Italy 2001–2002
Claudio Onofri Flag of Italy 2002
Vincenzo Torrente
Rino Lavezzini
Flag of Italy
Flag of Italy
2003
Roberto Donadoni Flag of Italy 2003
Luigi De Canio Flag of Italy 2004
Serse Cosmi Flag of Italy 2004–2005
Francesco Guidolin Flag of Italy 2005
Giovanni Vavassori Flag of Italy 2005–2006
Gian Piero Gasperini Flag of Italy 2006–present

Colours, badge and nicknames

As Genoa was founded by Englishmen the first ever colours of the club resembled that of the England national football team.[1] Not long into the club's footballing history, the kit was changed to white and blue stripes in 1899; the blue was chosen to represent the sea as Genoa is a port city. Finally the club settled for their most famous red and blue halves shirt, this gained them the nickname of rossoblu.[44]

One of the nicknames of Genoa is Il Grifone which means "the griffin"; this is derived from the coat of arms belonging to the city of Genoa. The coat of arms features two golden griffins, either side of the St George's Cross.[45] The presence of the St. George's Cross on the crest, unlike it's presence on the crest of FC Barcelona, does not reflect the club's English founders; rather, the cross is present on both the flag and coat of arms of the city of Genoa. The actual club badge of Genoa Cricket and Football Club is heavily derived from the city coat of arms, but also incorporated the club's red and blue colours.

Supporters and rivalries

Genoa have around a million fans in Italy, mostly from Liguria, however they are also popular in Piedmont and the Aosta Valley.[46] The seafaring traditions of the genoese and the presence of genoese communities in distant countries did much to spread the appeal of Genoa much further than just Italy, as there are fan clubs in Buenos Aires, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Toronto, New York, San Francisco, Iceland and other places.

Genoa fans in 2007, celebrating their return to Serie A.

The most significant and traditional rivalry for Genoa, is the inner-city one with the club whom they share a ground with; Sampdoria. The two clubs compete together in the heated Derby della Lanterna ("Derby of the Lantern"); a reference to the Genoa lighthouse.[47] The ultras of Genoa also have a strong distaste for AC Milan, after a tragedy in January 1995 when Genoa fan Vincenzo Spagnolo was stabbed to death by a Milanese hooligan.[48]

Conversely, the fans of Genoa have a long standing friendship with Torino and Napoli[49] which goes back to 1982. On the last day of the 2006–07 season, the clubs drew 0–0 ensuring both were promoted back into Serie A; Genoa ultras could be seen holding up banners saying "benvenuto fratello napoletano", meaning, "Welcome, Neapolitan brothers," and the two sets of fans celebrated together.[50]

Honours

National titles

Italian Football Championship / Serie A: 9

  • Champions: 1898; 1899; 1900; 1902; 1903; 1904; 1914–15; 1922–23; 1923–24
  • Runners-up: 1901; 1905; 1927–28; 1929–30

Italian Cup: 1

  • Winners: 1936–37
  • Runners-up: 1939-40

Serie B: 6

  • Champions: 1934–35, 1952–53, 1961–62, 1972–73, 1975–76, 1988–89
  • Runners-up: 1980–81
  • Promoted: 2006–07

Serie C / Serie C1: 1

  • Champions: 1970–71
  • Runners-up: 2005–06

Palla Dapples: 13

  • Winners: 1903–1909

European titles

UEFA Cup

  • Semi-finalists: 1991-92

Mitropa Cup:

  • Runners-up: 1990
  • Quarter-finalists: 1929

Coppa delle Alpi: 3

  • Winners: 1962, 1964, 1991

Anglo-Italian Cup: 1

  • Winners: 1996

Spagnolo Trophy: 5

  • Winners: 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006

References

  1. 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 "Genoa Cricket & Football Club - Short Historical Overview 1893-1960". RSSSF.com. Retrieved on August, 2007.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Storia del Genoa - Part 1". EnciclopediaDelCalcio.com. Retrieved on August, 2007.
  3. "Genoa", FourFourTwo.com (23 June 2007). 
  4. "Storia", GenoaCFC.it (23 June 2007). 
  5. "Italy -All-Time Table 1898-2002". RSSSF.com. Retrieved on July 2007.
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External links