Everything about Genoa C F C totally explained
Giambattista Pastorello |
manager =
Gian Piero Gasperini |
league =
Serie A |
season =
2007-08 |
position =
Serie A, 10th |
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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 in
Italy. Although the
athletics and
cricket club was founded in
1893 by
Englishmen; 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.
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 they won the league was in
1923–24. They have also won the
Coppa Italia once. Historically, Genoa are the tenth most successful club in
Italian football, however they're the fourth most successful in terms of championships won.
The club has played its home games at the 36,536 capacity
Stadio Luigi Ferraris since 1911. Since 1946, the ground has been shared with local rivals
Sampdoria. Genoa have often bounced between the top two divisions of Italian football;
Serie A and
Serie B since the
1960s. After a recent promotion, Genoa are playing in Serie A again for the first time since
1995.
History
» For more details on this topic, see History of Genoa C.F.C.
The club was founded on
7 September,
1893 as
Genoa Cricket & Athletic Club. In its earliest years, they only competed in
athletics and
cricket. Since the club was set up to represent
England abroad, the original shirts worn by the organisation was white, the same colour as the
England national team shirt. At first Italians were not permitted to join as it was a private club. 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;
| |
- Charles De Grave Sells
- S. Blake
- G. Green
- W. Riley
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Daniel G. Fawcus
Sandys
E. De Thierry
Jonathan Summerhill Sr.
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Jonathan Summerhill Jr.
Sir Charles Alfred Payton
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On
10 April 1897 the
footballing section of the club was officially opened by
James Richardson Spensley. It was amongst the oldest in
Italian football as at the time, the only other founded clubs were two in
Turin. With the football section of the club opened, Italians were allowed to join and they found a new ground in the form of
Ponte Carrega.
The first friendly match was participated at home, against a mixed team comprised of
Internazionale Torino and
FBC Torinese; Genoa lost 1–0. Not long after, Genoa recorded their first victory away against
UPS Alessandria winning 2–0. Friendly games also took place against various British sailors such as those from
HMS Revenge.
Championship dominance
Football in Italy stepped up a level with the creation of the
Italian Football Federation and the
Italian Football Championship. Genoa competed in the first Italian Championship in
1898 at
Velodromo Umberto I in Turin. 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.
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 wouldn't be bettered by any team in the league until 1910. The final was secured with a 3–1 win over
FBC Torinese.
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.
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.
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'd 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 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. 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. He was dubbed "Mister" by the players; since then Italians have referred to coaches in general with the term.
Finally by
1914–15, Genoa had restored themselves as the top club from
Northern Italy, winning the final round of the Northern section. However, a national final wasn't played due to the fact that Genoa didn't have an opposition; the finals of the Southern Italian section wasn't 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. 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.
Just after the war, Genoa remained a strong contender in the Northern section. Garbutt led Genoa to championship success in
1922–23 where they beat
Lazio 6–1 in the final, over the course of two legs. 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. 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.
The squad during these two championship victories included;
Giovanni De Prà,
Ottavio Barbieri,
Luigi Burlando and
Renzo De Vecchi. 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're allowed to wear a
shield shaped patch on their shirt which features the colours of the
Italian flag. For the rest of the
1920s, the club didn't 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.
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. 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.
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.
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. The club finished the decade on a high, maintaining a top five foothold in the top level of the Italian league.
World War II affected dramatically the entire Italian football movement, but Genova didn't 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'd used in the very early days of the Italian championship. 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. 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
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. The
1950s started in poor fashion for the club, they'd 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.
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.
Despite suffering a relegation in
1959–60 and then a promotion back up to Serie A in 1961–62, 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. 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.
The celebrations for the club didn't 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. Genoa even experienced their first relegation to
Serie C in 1970, financially the club fell into difficulties and had several ownership changes.
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.
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'd go on to have great success. 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.
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.
A couple of seasons later in
1983–84 Genoa wouldn't 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.
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. 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.
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. Noted Genoa players during this period included
Gianluca Signorini,
Carlos Aguilera,
Stefano Eranio,
Roberto Onorati and
John van 't Schip. 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.
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. 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. 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. From 1997 until 2003, Genoa had a total of three different four different chairmen, before the club was passed on to Enrico Preziosi.
Recent times
After the take-over in 2003, 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'd lost they'd 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
July 27, 2005.
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. 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.
Players
Current Squad
As of 2008-02-01For all transfers and loans pertaining to Genoa for the current season, please see;
2007–08 transfers.
Retired numbers
» Main article:
Retired numbers in football
6 – Gianluca Signorini, sweeper, 1988–1995
12 – The fans of Gradinata Nord, "the twelfth man".
Notable players
Maurizio Ramon Turone (Italy)
Bruno Conti (Italy)
Morris Pagniello (Australia)
Presidential history
Below is the presidential history of Genoa, from when the club was first founded playing cricket and athletics, until the present day.
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| 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've had co-managers running the team, here's a chronological list of them from 1896 when they became a football club, onwards.
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. 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.
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. 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're also popular in Piedmont and the Aosta Valley. 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.
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. 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.
Conversely, the fans of Genoa have a long standing friendship with Torino F.C. and Napoli 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.
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
Coppa Italia: 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 » * Semifnalists: 1991-92
Mitropa Cup: » * Runners-up: 1990
*Quarter-finalists: 1929
Coppa delle Alpi: 3 » *Winners: 1962, 1964, 1991
Anglo-Italian Cup: 2 » *Winners: 1996
Spagnolo Trophy: 5 » *Winners: 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006
Further Information
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