U.C. Sampdoria

Unione Calcio Sampdoria is an Italian association football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria. Both the team name and jersey do reflect this, the first being a combination of the former names, the second incorporating the former teams' colours (blue-white and red-black) in a single design.

Sampdoria currently compete in the Italian Serie B. The team's colours are blue with white, red and black hoops , hence the nickname blucerchiati. Sampdoria play at Stadio Luigi Ferraris, capacity 36,536,^[1] which it shares with Genoa's other club, Genoa Cricket and Football Club. The derby between the two teams is commonly known as the Derby della Lanterna.

Sampdoria have won the scudetto only once in their history, in the 1991 season. The club has also won the Coppa Italia four times (1985, 1988, 1989, and 1994) and one Italian Super Cup. Their biggest European success came when they won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1990. They also reached the European Cup final in 1992 only to lose against the Spanish side FC Barcelona with an 1–0 score after extra time.

History

The Ginnastica Sampierdarenese was founded in 1891, opening its football section in 1899. Also around this time, a club named Society Andrea Doria was founded in 1895, and began to increase their focus on dedicating itself to football.

Andrea Doria: early league participation

Andrea Doria did not participate in the first Italian Football Championship which was organized by the Italian Federation of Football (F.I.F.) since instead they had enrolled themselves into a football tournament which was organized by the Italian Federation of Ginnastica. The club eventually joined the competition for the Italian Football Championship 1903, but did not win a game in the tournament until 1907 when they beat local rivals Genoa 3–1.

It was not until 1910–11 that the club began to show promise; during that season's tournament they finished above Juventus, Internazionale and Genoa in the Piedmont-Lombardy-Liguria section.

Post-World War I

After World War I, Sampierdarenese finally began to compete in the Italian Championship, after they bought a pre-war club of Genoa province: Pro Liguria of Bolzaneto. So, Samp and Doria met in the championship for the first time; Doria won in first-leg game (4–1 and 1–1), and they also arrived at second place after Genoa in Ligurian Championship, qualifying for the National Round.

With the 1921–22 season, the Italian top league was split into two competitions; both of the clubs in Sampdoria's history were in separate competitions that year too. Sampierdarenese played in the F.I.G.C. run competition, whereas Andrea Doria played in the C.C.I. variation.

Sampierdarenese won the Ligura section and then went onto the semi-finals, finishing top out of three clubs; this lead them to the final against Novese. Both legs of the final ended in 0–0 draws, thus a repetition match was played in Cremona on 21 May 1922. Still intensely difficult to separate, the match went into extra time with Novese eventually winning the tie (and the Championship) 2–1.

After the league system in Italy was brought back into one item, Sampierdarenese remained stronger than Andrea Doria by qualifying for the league. By 1924–25 the clubs were competing against each other in the Northern League; Doria who finished one place above their rivals won one game 2–1, while Sampierdarenese were victorious 2–0 in the other. At the end of the 1926–27 season, the clubs merged by fascist authorities under the name La Dominante.

La Dominante Genova split: 1930s

Wearing green and black striped shirts, La Dominante Genova were admitted to the first ever season of Serie B, where they finished 3rd just missing out on promotion. The next season, under the name Liguria they had a disastrous year, finishing bottom of the table and were relegated.

Because of this, both Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria reverted to their previous names as separate clubs. Sampierdarenese were back in Serie B for the 1932–33 season and finished in the upper part; the following year they were crowned champions and were promoted into Serie A for the first time. Andrea Doria on the other hand, battled out the 1930s down in Serie C.

The 15 July 1937 saw Sampierdarenese, melting itself with Corniglianese and Rivarolese with the club using the name Associazione Liguria Calcio; this saw them reach 5th place in Serie A during 1939. In the early 1940s, the club was relegated, but bounced straight back up as Serie B champions in 1941.

Merger

After World War II, both clubs were competing in Serie A; in a reverse of pre-war situations, Andrea Doria were now the top club out of the two. However on 12 August 1946 a merger took place that would stick for the two teams, together they formed Unione Calcio Sampdoria. The first president of this new club was Piero Sanguineti, but the ambitious entrepreneur Amedeo Rissotto soon replaced him, while the first team coach during this period was a man from Florence named Giuseppe Galluzzi. In the same month of the merger, the new club demanded that they should share the Stadio Luigi Ferraris ground with Genoa; the agreement was carried off without problems. Consequently, the stadium was prepared to accommodate the games of both clubs.

As if to further show that the merger really was equal parts of both previous clubs, a new football kit was designed for the club; it implemented the blue shirts of Andrea Doria with the white, red and black mid-section of Sampierdarenese.

European and domestic successes

In 1979 the club, then playing Serie B, was acquired by oil businessman Paolo Mantovani, who invested in the team in order to bring Sampdoria to the top flights. In 1982 Sampdoria made their Serie A return, and they won their first Coppa Italia three years later. In 1986 Vujadin Boskov was appointed as new head coach; the club won their second Coppa Italia in 1988, being admitted to the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1988-89, where they reached the final, being defeated 2–0 by Barcelona.^[2][3] A second consecutive triumph in the Coppa Italia gave Sampdoria a spot in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1989-90, which they finally won defeating Anderlecht after extra time in the final. This was followed only one year later by their first (and, as of 2010, only) scudetto, being crowned as Serie A champions with a five points advantage to second-placed Inter Milan. The winning team featured several notable players, such as Gianluca Pagliuca, Gianluca Vialli, Roberto Mancini, Toninho Cerezo, Pietro Vierchowod and Attilio Lombardo, with Vujadin Boskov as head coach. In the following season, Sampdoria reached the European Cup final, and was defeated again by Barcelona at the Wembley Stadium.

Since this period Sampdoria have made a limited number of appearances in European cup competitions. During the 1994/1995 campaign they reached the semi-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup before being eliminated on penalties in a memorable tie against Arsenal. The club also participated in the 1997/1998 UEFA Cup but were eliminated by Atletico Bilbao of Spain in the First Round. The 2005/2006 season also proved to be a significant one, with Sampdoria returning to European competition for the first time since their promotion back to Serie A, with the club narrowly missing out on Champions League qualification and entering the UEFA cup. During this campaign, the team was minutes away from qualification to the last 32 when Lens of France eliminated them by beating them 2–1. The club recently also took part in the 2007/2008 UEFA Cup, entering via the Intertoto cup. However it was to be a short and disappointing campaign, with Sampdoria being eliminated on away goals by AaB of Denmark in the First Round. Participation in recent seasons of Europa League was marked by constant defeats by Metalist Kharkiv and lack of consistent play.

Decline and resurgence

On 14 October 1993 Paolo Mantovani suddenly died; he was replaced by his son Enrico. During Enrico Mantovani's first season (1993/94) Sampdoria won one more Italian Cup and placed 3rd in the national championship. During the following four seasons many players from his father's team left the club but many important acquisitions were made which kept Sampdoria in the top tier of the Italian Serie A. The likes of Enrico Chiesa, Argentine internationals Juan Sebastian Veron and Ariel Ortega, loan signing Vincenzo Montella and international midfielders Clarence Seedorf and Christian Karembeu.

Despite this, in May 1999 Sampdoria were relegated from Serie A, and did not return to the top flight until 2002. Around this time Sampdoria was acquired by Riccardo Garrone, an Italian oil businessman. Two of Garrone's most important initial moves were to inject new cash into the club and to appoint Walter Novellino as new head coach. Sampdoria returned to Serie A in 2003 lead by talisman Francesco Flachi, and ended their first season in eighth place. In the Serie A 2004-05 they lost a spot in the UEFA Champions League to Udinese in the final matchdays of the season, ending in fifth place. This was followed by a poor season; despite this, Novellino was confirmed for one more season and Sampdoria ended the 2006–07 Serie A campaign in ninth place. As the 8th placed team in Serie A were not granted a UEFA licence, Sampdoria was able to enter the UEFA Intertoto Cup 2007 as a result. Novellino announced his farewell to Sampdoria soon after, with Walter Mazzarri unveiled shortly after as his replacement.

The 2007–08 campaign started very early for Sampdoria due to qualifying rounds. They defeated Cherno More Varna in the Intertoto Cup and Hajduk Split in the second qualifying round of UEFA Cup, before being eliminated in the First Round proper by AaB on away goals. The club took actively part in the transfer market, persuading Vincenzo Montella to make a comeback at Samp and signing Antonio Cassano from Real Madrid on a loan basis. Having had such a successful loan period, Sampdoria have made the move permanent from the 2008-09 season. During the winter transfer window, Giampaolo Pazzini was signed and formed one of Serie A's most effective partnerships. Sampdoria ended the season in sixth place of the Italian Serie A and qualified for the UEFA Cup 2008-09. The following season, they qualified for the Champions League play-offs.

With the departure of Director of Sport Giuseppe Marotta, coach Luigi Delneri, both of whom were credited with Samp's recent successes and club top scorers Cassano and Pazzini and the squad being stretched by Champions League football, Sampdoria embarked on a miserable run of results and were relegated from Serie B after loss 2-1 at home to Palermo in May 2011.

Players

Current squad

As of 12 August 2011^[4][5]

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Youth Players

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Capped players

Had international caps for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Sampdoria.

Managerial history

Colours, badge and nicknames

The club crest features a sailor in profile known by the old Genoese name of Baciccia, which translates to Giovanni Battista in Italian or John-Baptist in English. The image of a sailor is appropriate due to Sampdoria being based in the port city of Genoa.

The white, blue, red and black colours within the crest represent the clubs origins of a merger between two teams, Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria, who wore respectively red/black and white/blue jerseys.^[6]

Supporters and Rivalries

U.C Sampdoria supporters come mainly from the city of Genova. The biggest group is Ultras Tito Cucchiaroni, named after an Argentinian left winger who played for Sampdoria. The group was founded in 1969, making it one of the oldest ultra groups in Italy. Ultras Tito Cucchiaroni are apolitical, although there are smaller groups like Rude Boys Sampdoria, who are left wing. The main support with flags and flares comes from the southern Curva, Gradinata Sud.

U.C Sampdoria biggest rivals is Genoa C.F.C.^[7]

Honours

Serie A: 1

• Winners: 1990–91
• Runners-up (1): 1921–22 (F.I.G.C. as Sampierdarenese)

Serie B: 2

• Winners: 1933–34, 1966–67
• Runners-up (2): 1981–82, 2002–03

Coppa Italia: 4

• Winners: 1984–85, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1993–94
• Runners-up (3): 1985–86, 1990–91, 2008–09

Supercoppa Italiana: 1

• Winners: 1991
• Runners-up (3): 1988, 1989, 1994

European Cup/Champions League

• Runners-up (1): 1991–92

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1

• Winners: 1989–90
• Runners-up (1): 1988–89

References

External links

• Sampdoria's official website
• Unofficial Sampdoria Website
• Sampdoria statistics
• The story told through UC Sampdoria collectables