Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from themerger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s,[1]Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria. Both the team name and colours reflect this union, the first being a combination of the names, the second taking the form of a unique kit design, predominantly blue (for Andrea Doria) with white, red and black bands (for Sampierdarenese) across the centre of the shirt, hence the nicknameblucerchiati ("blue-circled").
Sampdoria play atStadio Luigi Ferraris, capacity 33,205,[2] which they share with Genoa's older club,Genoa CFC. The fierce rivalry between the two teams is commonly known as theDerby della Lanterna, and has been contested inSerie A for most of its history.
The performance of Sampdoria in the Italian football league structure since the club's foundation in 1946.
The roots of Sampdoria are to be found in two teams born in the late 1890s:Società Ginnastica Sampierdarenese andSocietà Andrea Doria. The former was founded in 1891 and opened its football section in 1899.[1][3] The latter, named after Genoese admiralAndrea Doria, was founded in 1895.[4][5]
Andrea Doria did not join thefirst Italian Football Championship organised by theItalian Federation of Football (FIF) and played on 8 May 1898. Instead, they played in the football tournament organised by the Italian Federation of Ginnastica.[6] The first ancestor of Sampdoria to play in the Italian Football Championship was Sampierdarenese, who joined thethird edition in 1900 for their only appearance beforeWorld War One.[7]
Andrea Doria eventually joined the competition in1902, but did not win a game untilthe 1907 edition, when they beat local rivals Genoa 3–1.[7] It was not until1910–11 that the club began to show promise, finishing aboveJuventus,Internazionale and Genoa in the main tournament.[7]
After the war Sampierdarenese finally began to compete in the Italian Championship replacing another club fromBolzaneto, then an independent town in the province of Genoa, calledAssociazione del Calcio Ligure.[7] Thus, duringthe 1919-20 edition Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria met in the championship for the first time. Doria won the first-leg game (4–1 and 1–1) and finished second after Genoa in the Liguria group, qualifying for the National Round.[7]
For the 1921–22 season the Italian top league was split into two competitions,one run by the Italian Football Federation anda second one organised by the secessionistItalian Football Confederation. Sampierdarenese joined the IFF tournament, while Andrea Doria and Genoa signed up for the one organised by the Confederation. Sampierdarenese won the Liguria section and then went on to the semi-finals, finishing top out of three clubs and thus reaching the final againstNovese. Both legs of the final ended in 0–0 draws, thus a repetition match was played inCremona on 21 May 1922. The match went into extra time with Novese eventually winning the tie (and the Championship) 2–1.[7]
Byseason 1924–25, Sampdoria's ancestors were competing against each other in the Northern League; Andrea Doria finished one place above their rivals and won one match 2–1, while Sampierdarenese were victorious 2–0 in the other.[7]
A process of unification of the many professional football teams in Italy was started by the Fascist government. Particularly in 1927 multiple smaller clubs where merged into one all over the country. Among many other similar examples, four teams based in Rome merged and becameAS Roma. Similarly, at the end of the 1926–27 season Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria merged for the first time under the nameLa Dominante.[8]
Wearing green and black striped shirts, La Dominante Genova lived a short life, having played just three championships, and was not particularly successful. The team was admitted to the1927-28 Divisione Nazionale Group B, ending the season in 10th place.[7] The next season wasthe last year of Divisione Nazionale, and Dominante finished in 10th place. Finally, in 1929 Dominante competed in thefirst-ever Serie B tournament where they finished third, just missing out on promotion.[7]
Dominante then absorbed the local teamCorniglianese and competed in the1930–31 Serie B under the name ofFoot Ball Club Liguria. The team did not do well, finishing in 18th place and suffering relegation toPrima Divisione.[9]
Both Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria reverted to their previous names in 1931 as separate clubs.[5] In the span of just a few years Sampierdarenese then climbed up from Prima Divisione to Serie B and finally Serie A. Ending up second in the Girone D of the1931–32 Prima Divisione, they got promoted to Serie B. After the uneventful1932–33 Serie B season, the team proceeded to win the1933–34 Serie B championship and were promoted into Serie A for the first time.[9]
On 15 July 1937 Sampierdarenese absorbedCorniglianese andRivarolese, with the club adopting the nameAssociazione Calcio Liguria.[10] This saw them reach fifth place in Serie A in 1939.[11] In the early 1940s, the club was relegated but bounced straight back up as Serie B champions in 1941.
Sampdoria in the late 1940s
AfterWorld War II, both Andrea Doria and Sampierdarenese (the name Liguria was abolished in 1945) were competing in Serie A, but 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 occurred to createUnione Calcio Sampdoria.
The first chairman 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 fromFlorence named Giuseppe Galluzzi. To illustrate the clubs would be equally represented in the new, merged club, a new kit was designed featuring the blue shirts of Andrea Doria and the white, red and black midsection of Sampierdarenese. In the same month of the merger, the new club demanded they should share theStadio Luigi Ferraris ground with Genoa. An agreement was reached, and the stadium began hosting Genoa's and Sampdoria's home matches.
Early years and the achievements in the Mantovani era (1946–1993)
For about thirty years the Genoese played constantly in Serie A, with mixed results, the best of which was in the 1960–1961 season, in which they obtained fourth place in the championship. In the 1965–1966 season Sampdoria finished sixteenth, relegating to Serie B for the first time in its history; however, the following year they won the second-tier championship and immediately returned to Serie A.
In 1979, the club, then playing Serie B, was acquired by oil businessman Paolo Mantovani (1930–1993), who invested in the team to bring Sampdoria to the top flight. In 1982, Sampdoria made their Serie A return and won their firstCoppa Italia in1985. In 1986, YugoslavVujadin Boškov was appointed as the new head coach. The club won their second Coppa Italia in1988, being admitted to the1988–89 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, where they reachedthe final, losing 2–0 toBarcelona.[12][13] Asecond consecutive triumph in the Coppa Italia gave Sampdoria a spot in the1989–90 Cup Winners' Cup, which they won after defeatingAnderlecht afterextra time in the final.[14]
Gianluca Vialli, Sampdoria's number 9 in the golden years between late 1980s and early 1990s.
This was followedonly one year later by their first and onlyScudetto, being crowned as Serie A champions with a five-point advantage over second-placed Internazionale. The winning team featured several notable players, such asGianluca Pagliuca,Gianluca Vialli,Roberto Mancini,Toninho Cerezo,Pietro Vierchowod andAttilio Lombardo, with Boškov as head coach.[15] In the following season, Sampdoria reached theEuropean Cup final and were defeated once again by Barcelona, atWembley Stadium.[16]Vujadin Boškov is recognised as one of Sampdoria's most successful managers winning a record amount of trophies and thus further establishing the club's reputation in Europe.
On 14 October 1993, Paolo Mantovani died suddenly and was replaced by his son Enrico. During his first season (1993–94), Sampdoria won one more Coppa Italia and placed fourth in Serie A. During the following four seasons, many players from his father's tenure left the club but many important acquisitions were made which kept Sampdoria in the top tier Serie A. This included the likes of Argentine internationalsJuan Sebastián Verón andAriel Ortega, and international midfieldersClarence Seedorf andChristian Karembeu.[14] In April 1995 Sampdoria reached the semi-final stage of the Cup Winners' Cup, losing out toArsenal on penalties after two legs.
In May 1999 Sampdoria were relegated from Serie A and did not return to the top flight until 2003.
Luigi Delneri managed Sampdoria to fourth place and Champions League qualification in 2010.
In 2002 Sampdoria was acquired byRiccardo Garrone, an Italian oil businessman. Sampdoria returned to Serie A in 2003 led by talismanFrancesco Flachi, and ended their first season in eighth place. After several more top-half finishes, managerWalter Novellino gave way toWalter Mazzarri in 2007.[17]
With the signings of forwardsAntonio Cassano fromReal Madrid,[18] andGiampaolo Pazzini in January 2008, Sampdoria ended the 2007–08 season in sixth position and qualified for the2008–09 UEFA Cup.[19] The following season, they came fourth and qualified for theUEFA Champions League play-offs under managerLuigi Delneri, who left for Juventus.[20] With the departures also of CEOGiuseppe Marotta, and both Cassano and Pazzini, and the squad being stretched by Champions League football, Sampdoria were relegated to Serie B after a 2–1 loss at home toPalermo in May 2011.[21] In the following season June 2012, Sampdoria won promotion back to Serie A after defeatingVarese 4–2 on aggregate in the play-off final.[22]
In 2013, following the death of his father, Edoardo Garrone took over the presidency of Sampdoria, but his main goal was to sell it as soon as possible to free himself of the debts that the company had incurred over the previous years.[23][24]The sale of Sampdoria to Massimo Ferrero was widely contested by Sampdoria fans.[25] A sell-off, which even after years, some fans continue to reproach in 2023.[26][27]In 2023, after Massimo Ferrero's arrest in 2021 and the continuous protests from the fans, he clarified that the sale was a mistake due to pressure from his family to sell Sampdoria as soon as possible. A further wrong choice defined by Garrone because it was sold to an unreliable person.[28]
In June 2014 the club was purchased by the film producerMassimo Ferrero.[29][30] After sixth-placed rivals Genoa in the2014–15 season failed to obtain a UEFA licence for the2015–16 UEFA Europa League, seventh-placed Sampdoria took their spot.[31] The club built a solid foundation in Serie A for the next seven years. Notable managerial appointments wereMarco Giampaolo andClaudio Ranieri, as well as the steady flow of goals from talismanic strikerFabio Quagliarella. Growing tensions however surrounded Ferrero's presidency, fuelled by his well-known and public support ofAS Roma. Several attempts were made to sell the club, including to a consortium led by club legendGianluca Vialli. On 6 December 2021 Massimo Ferrero was arrested by Italian police as part of ongoing investigations into corporate crimes and bankruptcy. He resigned from his position as President of Sampdoria with immediate effect, whilst a club statement assured fans that the affairs of the football club were not a part of the investigations.[32] On 27 December, former playerMarco Lanna was appointed president. In January 2022 the club welcomed back former manager Marco Giampaolo after a disappointing start to the season underRoberto D'Aversa. On 6 February in his first home game back in charge, Sampdoria defeatedSassuolo 4–0. Results however began to dwindle, and after eight games and a winless start to the 2022–23 season the club parted company with Giampaolo. On 6 October former Serie A player legendDejan Stanković was appointed to the role with the task of steering the club clear of the relegation zone. Sampdoria were later relegated in the 2022–23 season from Serie A to Serie B.
In late May 2023 formerLeeds United ownerAndrea Radrizzani and the businessman Matteo Manfredi[33] reached an agreement with previous owner Massimo Ferrero to buy Sampdoria and prevent it frombankruptcy. On 27 June 2023, former Italy and Serie A legendAndrea Pirlo was appointed as the manager.[34]
The change in ownership, however, has not led to an improvement of fortunes for the club, and financial hardship continued well into the2023–24 season: although they finished their first season back in the second tier with qualification to the promotion playoffs, they were eliminated byPalermo in the first round. The2024–25 season was meant to feature an even stronger push for promotion with the acquisition of players likeMassimo Coda andM'baye Niang, but the club started out with two losses and a draw on the first three games on the season. Results were never delivered despite four managerial changes, and as a result, Sampdoria placed 18th, which implied its first ever relegation toSerie C, the third tier of Italian football.[35] However, Brescia's four-point deduction at the end of the regular season meant that the club was thrown one final lifeline not to drop down to Serie C, as the subsequent shuffling of placements signified that they would play a relegation play-out match againstSalernitana.[36] They went on to win the play-off 5–0, Serie B officials awarded them a 3–0 win over Salernitana in the second leg of the playoff after it was abandoned.[37]
Genoa graffiti depicting a fish from Sampdoria colours by Filippo Biagioli.
The white, blue, red and black colours represent the club's origins with a merger between two teams, Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria, who wore respectively red/black and white/blue jerseys with a shield withSaint George's Cross.[38]
The club crest features asailor in profile known byGenoese name ofBaciccia, a diminutive ofLigurianGio-Batta, ItalianGiovanni Battista, i.e.John-Baptist. The image of a sailor is used due to Sampdoria being based in theport city of Genoa.
The precise design of the Baciccia came from aDisney-licensed comic,Topolino, in 1980.
Since 1980, the Baciccia has appeared on the shirts of Sampdoria, mostly on the chest but occasionally on the sleeve.[39]
Since 1946, the club have played at theStadio Luigi Ferraris, also known as theMarassi from the name of the neighbourhood where it is located, which has a capacity of 33,205.[40] It is the ninth-largest stadium in Italy by capacity. The stadium is named afterLuigi Ferraris (1887–1915), an Italian footballer, engineer and soldier who died duringWWI.[41]
Sampdoria fans in the Gradinata Sud of the Stadio Luigi Ferraris
Sampdoria supporters come mainly from the city of Genoa. The biggest group are Ultras Tito Cucchiaroni, named after an Argentinian left winger who played for Sampdoria. The group were founded in 1969, making it one of the oldest ultra groups in Italy. They are apolitical, although there are smaller groups like Rude Boys Sampdoria, who are left-wing, but today this group is no longer active. The main support with flags and flares comes from the southernCurva, Gradinata Sud.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
SerbianVujadin Boškov, former Sampdoria player in the early 1960s, became the longest serving and most successful manager in the club's history, and managed the team to their only Serie A title in 1991.
^abOssola, Franco; Tavella, Renato (1997).Cento anni di calcio italiano. Rome: Newton & Compton. p. 226.ISBN8881837854.
^Ossola, Franco; Tavella, Renato (1997).Cento anni di calcio italiano. Rome: Newton & Compton. pp. 16–17.ISBN8881837854.
^abcdefghijAlmanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004. Modena: Panini Edizioni. 2005.
^Papa, Antonio; Panico, Guido (2002).Storia sociale del calcio in Italia. Italy: Il Mulino. p. 136.ISBN9788815087645.
^abAlmanacco Illustrato del Calcio 2007. Modena, Italy: Panini S.p.A. 2006. p. 97.
^Dellachà, Gino (2016).Una storia biancorossonera. Il calcio a San Pier d'Arena dal tempo dei pionieri del Liguria alla Sampdoria. Genova: Sportmedia. p. 175.ISBN9788887588385.
^Dellachà, Gino (2016).Una storia biancorossonera. Il calcio a San Pier d'Arena dal tempo dei pionieri del Liguria alla Sampdoria. Genova: Sportmedia. p. 189.ISBN9788887588385.
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