Genoa CFC

Genoa CFC

Genoa CFC holds a distinction that no other Italian club can claim: it is the oldest football club in Italy still competing in professional football, founded on September 7, 1893, as the Genoa Cricket and Athletic Club. The club was established primarily by British expatriates living in the Ligurian port city of Genoa, and in its earliest years cricket and athletics took precedence over football. The football section gradually moved to the fore, and Genoa swiftly became a dominant force in the nascent Italian game. The club's official name, retaining the English spelling of "Genoa" rather than the Italian "Genova," is a direct legacy of its British origins and has been preserved with pride as a symbol of the club's unique heritage. The club's emblem, a griffin — il Grifone — has become one of Italian football's most recognisable symbols. Genoa's claim to historical greatness is firmly grounded in a trophy record that puts them among the most successful clubs in Italian football history. The club won the Italian Championship nine times: in 1898, 1899, 1900, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1915, 1923, and 1924. Notably, their 1898 title was Italy's very first national championship, making Genoa the original champions of Italian football. They also won the Coppa Italia once, in 1937. The fact that their nine championship wins are concentrated in the early years of Italian football speaks to their status as true pioneers of the game in the peninsula. The club shares the Stadio Luigi Ferraris with local rivals Sampdoria. The Ferraris, also known as the Marassi from the neighbourhood in which it sits, opened in 1911, making it the oldest stadium still in use for professional football in Italy. It holds approximately 33,205 spectators and carries an electric atmosphere when Genoa and Sampdoria meet in the Derby della Lanterna. In recent decades, Genoa has experienced the turbulence that often characterises clubs whose golden ages lie in the distant past, alternating between Serie A and Serie B. However, the club secured promotion back to the top flight in 2023 and have competed in Serie A in the 2024–25 season with growing confidence. A significant milestone came in November 2024, when Genoa appointed Patrick Vieira — the legendary former Arsenal and France midfielder — as head coach, replacing the dismissed Alberto Gilardino. Under Vieira's stewardship, Genoa secured their Serie A status with a dramatic 3–1 final-day victory over Bologna, ensuring survival for another season. The club is backed by the American investment group 777 Partners, under whose ownership ambitious rebuilding plans have taken shape. Players such as Mateo Retegui, the Italian-Argentine striker who developed at Genoa, have drawn attention to the club's ability to develop talent, and the fanbase — one of the most passionate in northern Italy — continues to pack the Ferraris in expectation of a return to glory worthy of this historic institution.