History of Genoa CFC

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Main article: Genoa CFC
Founding constitution. Long thought to be lost this historical document was retrieved among the papers of renowned sports journalist Gianni Brera (himself a Genoa supporter) after his death and donated back to the club by his relatives.

The club was founded on 7 September 1893

athletics and cricket. Association football was secondly practised.[2] 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 initially dealt the management of the club were;[1]

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

On 10 April

1897[3] the footballing section of the club, already existing from 1893, became predominant thanks to James Richardson Spensley.[2] It was amongst the oldest in Italian football as at the time, the only other founded clubs were four in Turin.[4]
Italians were allowed to join and they found a new ground in the form of Ponte Carrega. The first friendly match took place at home, against a mixed team of
UPS Alessandria winning 2–0. Friendly games also took place against various British sailors such as those from HMS Revenge.[1]

Historical outline

Championship dominance

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

Football in Italy stepped up a level with the creation of the

extra time.[5]

Genoa returned for the

FBC Torinese.[5]

The club strip was changed again in

1903 onwards, when for two seasons in a row Genoa beat the Old Lady in the national final.[5]

Notably Genoa became the first Italian football team to play an international match, when they visited France on 27 April 1903 to play

Pro Vercelli stepped up.[5]

The fall in part during this period can be traced back to

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

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.[5] 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.[8] 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.[8]

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.

Savoia 4-1 over the course of two legs; this would be their ninth and to date final Italian championship.[9]

The squad during these two championship victories included;

Felice Levratto scoring 20 goals in 27 games.[10]

Genova 1893 period

Due to the strongly British connotations attached to the name, Genoa were forced to change it by the

1929–30 season; this would be their last top level championship runners-up spot to date.[5]

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

AS Roma 1–0 with a goal from Mario Torti.[12]

During the

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.[13] The club finished the decade on a high, maintaining a top five foothold in the top level of the Italian league.[5]

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 Football Club, the one which they had used in the very early days of the Italian championship.

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

Legnano.[17] 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.[17]

Despite suffering a relegation in

Catania 2–0, with both goals from Giampaolo Piaceri to take the trophy.[19]

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.[15] Genoa even experienced their first relegation to Serie C in 1970, financially the club fell into difficulties and had several ownership changes.[20]

Mixed times

Throughout the 1970s, Genoa would play the role of a

1977–78; the relegation was particularly cruel as the side above them Fiorentina survived 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.[21]

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

AC Milan who had been relegated the previous season for their part in the Totonero betting scandal.[23]

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.[24]
A couple of seasons later in
Lazio; this was because Lazio had recorded better results in matches against Genoa.[25]

European experience

The club was purchased by

Sampdoria who won the title that season.[26]

Subsequently, the club gained entry to 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.[27] Noted Genoa players during this period included Gianluca Signorini, Carlos Aguilera, Stefano Eranio, Roberto Onorati and John van 't Schip.[28] Back in Serie A however, due to a limited roster of first-line players the team suffered heavily from the very success they enjoyed in the UEFA competition (which meant more matches to be played for the same athletes and fatiguing trips to Spain, Romania -twice-, England and the Netherlands), so Genoa finished just one place above the relegation zone; in the seasons following Genoa remained in the lower half of the table.[5]

During the

1999–00.[5] From 1997 until 2003, Genoa had a total of three different four different chairmen, before the club was passed on to Enrico Preziosi.[20]

Recent times

After the take-over in 2003, things started to look up for Genoa; they won

Serie C1 on 27 July 2005.[30]

For their season in Serie C1 for

Napoli, both sleeping giants were promoted back into Serie A.[31]

In the recent 2008-2009 championship Genoa started out with a defeat in the sicilian away match with Catania but was then graced with the comeback of Argentinian forward Diego Milito a talent which played with Genoa in second division and was then sold after the team had been relegated to third division despite finishing at the division's top due to an alleged combine.
Milito was glad to come back to Genoa and play in Italy's Serie A and greatly contributed to a very successful season which saw the red and blue genoese griffins finishing fifth and securing a UEFA placement, while winning both derbies against the striped

Inter
Genoa has now 40 million euro to invest in suitable replacements to maintain a high standing in the coming Serie A season and to compete successfully in the UEFA cup.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Genoa Cricket & Football Club - Short Historical Overview 1893-1960". RSSSF.com. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  2. ^ a b "1893 VS. 1897 Le Origini (a cura di Aldo Padovano)". genoacfc.it. Archived from the original on 2015-06-27. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c "Storia del Genoa - Part 1". EnciclopediaDelCalcio.com. Archived from the original on 2016-02-01. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  4. ^ "Edoardo Bosio and Football in Turin". Life in Italy. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Modena, Panini Edizioni (2005). Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004.
  6. ^ "Genoa All-Time XI". Channel4.com. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  7. ^ "Club Profiles - Genoa". Forza Azzurri. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  8. ^ a b c d "Il Genoa leggendario". La storia del Genoa. Archived from the original on 2007-08-13. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  9. ^ a b "Campionato Serie A - Albo D'oro". Lega Calcio. Archived from the original on 2007-08-24. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  10. ^ "Levratto - Profile". Encilopedia Del Calcio. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  11. ^ "Storia del Genoa - Part 4". EnciclopediaDelCalcio.com. Archived from the original on 2007-08-19. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  12. ^ "Italy - Coppa Italia History". RSSSF.com. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  13. ^ "Genoa - Contributions to the Italian national team". Forza Azzurri. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  14. ^ "Genoa". Weltfussballarchiv. Archived from the original on 2007-10-25. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  15. ^ a b "Mister Genoani". Genoa1983.org. 27 August 2007. Archived from the original on 10 May 2007.
  16. ^ "Italy 1948–49". RSSSF.com. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  17. ^ a b c d "I campionati". GenoaDomani.it. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  18. ^ "Cup of the Alps 1962". RSSSF.com. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  19. ^ "Cup of the Alps 1964". RSSSF.com. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  20. ^ a b "Presidenti Genoa". Genoa 1893. 23 June 2007. Archived from the original on 20 May 2007.
  21. ^ "Italy Championship 1977-78". RSSSF.com. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  22. ^ "Roberto "Bomber" Pruzzo". ASR Talenti. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  23. ^ "Totonero: Le foot italien retient son souffle". LexPress.fr. Archived from the original on 2008-10-08. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  24. ^ "Genoa - Napoli". FootballData.it. Archived from the original on 2008-02-16. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  25. ^ "Italy Championship 1983-84". RSSSF.com. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  26. ^ "Italy Championship 1990-91". RSSSF.com. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  27. ^ "The XI at 11: Liverpool home defeats in Europe". Setanta.com. Archived from the original on 2008-05-14. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  28. ^ "Storia del Genoa: 1986 - 1995". MaggioAntonio.it. Archived from the original on 2008-02-18. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  29. ^ "Anglo-Italian Cup 1995-96". RSSSF.com. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  30. ^ "Genoa demoted after match-fixing". BBC.co.uk. 28 July 2005. Retrieved September 1, 2007.
  31. ^ "Serie B - Playoff no, playout sì". Eurosport. 24 June 2007.
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