Genoa C.F.C.

Genoa

Full name

Genoa Cricket and Football Club SpA

Nickname(s)

I rossoblu (The red-blues),
Il Grifone (Griffin),
Il vecchio balordo (Old Fool)

Founded

7 September 1893 (mixed sports)^[1]
10 April 1897 (football)^[2]

Ground

Stadio Luigi Ferraris,
Genoa, Italy

Capacity

36,536

Chairman

Giambattista Pastorello

Manager

Gian Piero Gasperini

League

Serie A

2006-07

Serie B, 3rd (promoted)





Home colours





Away colours

Genoa Cricket and Football Club (IPA: ['dʒɛnoa], pronounced JEH-noa) 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;^[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 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,^[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 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.

Players

As of 8 September, 2007^[8]

No.	Position	Player
1	GK	Damián Lanza
3	DF	Cesare Bovo
4	DF	Francesco Bega
5	MF	Manuel Coppola
7	MF	Marco Rossi
8	MF	Danilo
9	FW	Luciano Figueroa
11	MF	Julio César de León
14	FW	Giuseppe Sculli
15	MF	Silvano Raggio Garibaldi (from youth team)
16	DF	Alessandro Lucarelli
19	MF	Matteo Paro
20	FW	Papa Waigo

No.	Position	Player
21	FW	Marco Di Vaio
22	FW	Marco Borriello
23	DF	Tommaso Ghinassi
24	MF	Abdoulay Konko
25	DF	Gaetano De Rosa
28	MF	Ivan Jurić
29	MF	Fabiano
33	DF	Gleison
34	DF	Andrea Masiello
73	GK	Alessio Scarpi
77	MF	Omar Milanetto
83	GK	Rubinho

For 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^[9]

12 – The fans of Gradinata Nord, the twelfth man.^{[citation needed]}

Notable players

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

For a list of all former and current Genoa players with a Wikipedia article, see Category: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.^[10]

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.^[11]

Name	Nationality	Years
James Richardson Spensley		1896–1907
Technical Commission		1907–1912
William Garbutt		1912–1927
Renzo De Vecchi		1927–1930
Gèyza Szekany		1930–1931
Luigi Burlando Guillermo Stábile		1931–1932
Karl Rumbold		1932–1933
József Nagy		1933–1934
Vittorio Faroppa		1934–1935
Gyorgy Orth		1935–1936
Hermann Felsner		1936–1937
William Garbutt		1937–1939
Ottavio Barbieri William Garbutt		1939–1940
Ottavio Barbieri		1940–1941
Guido Ara		1941–1943
Ottavio Barbieri		1945–1946
William Garbutt		1946–1948
Federico Allasio		1948–1949
John David Astley		1949–1950
Manlio Bacigalupo		1950–1951
Imre Senkey		1951–1952
Giacinto Ellena		1952–1953
György Sárosi		1953–1955
Renzo Magli		1955–1958
Annibale Frossi		1958–1959
Antonio Busini Gipo Poggi		1959–1960
Annibale Frossi		1960–1961
Renato Gei		1961–1963
Beniamino Santos		1963–1964
Paulo Amaral		1964–1965
Luigi Bonizzoni		1965–1966
Giorgio Ghezzi		1966–1967
Livio Fongaro		1967–1968
Aldo Campatelli		1968–1969
Franco Viviani		1969–1970

Name	Nationality	Years
Arturo Silvestri		1970–1974
Guido Vincenzi		1974–1975
Gigi Simoni		1975–1978
Pietro Maroso		1978–1979
Gianni Di Marzio		1979–1980
Gigi Simoni		1980–1984
Tarcisio Burgnich		1984–1986
Attilio Perotti		1986–1987
Gigi Simoni		1987–1988
Franco Scoglio		1988–1990
Osvaldo Bagnoli		1990–1992
Bruno Giorgi		1992–1993
Claudio Maselli		1993–1994
Franco Scoglio		1994–1995
Gigi Radice		1995–1996
Attilio Perotti		1996–1997
Gaetano Salvemini		1996–1997
Claudio Maselli		1997
Tarcisio Burgnich		1997–1998
Giuseppe Pillon		1998
Luigi Cagni		1998
Delio Rossi		1999–2000
Bruno Bolchi		2000
Guido Carboni Alfredo Magni		2000–2001
Bruno Bolchi		2001
Franco Scoglio		2001
Edoardo Reja		2001–2002
Claudio D'Onofrio		2002
Vincenzo Torrente Rino Lavezzini		2003
Roberto Donadoni		2003
Luigi De Canio		2004
Serse Cosmi		2004–2005
Francesco Guidolin		2005
Giovanni Vavassori		2005–2006
Gian Piero Gasperini		2006–present

Colours, badge and nicknames

A previous badge.

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.^[12]

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 cross of St. George.^[13] 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.^[14] The appeal of Genoa has stretched further than just Italy, as there are fan clubs in Amsterdam, Tokyo, Toronto, New York, 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.^[15] 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 visiting Milan fan.^[16]

Conversely, the fans of Genoa have a long standing friendship with Napoli^[17] 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.^[18]