Genoa CFC

Genoa
	logo
Full name	Genoa Cricket and; Football Club SpA
Nickname(s)	Grifoni
Founded	1893
Ground	Stadio Luigi Ferraris,; Genoa, Italy
Capacity	40,122
Chairman	Enrico Preziosi
Manager	Francesco Guidolin
League	Serie A
2004-05	Serie B, 1st
Home colours	Away colours

Genoa Cricket and Football Club is a football club based in Genoa, Italy. Genoa, was the second Italian football club after the Pro Vercelli. The club currently play at Stadio Luigi Ferraris, which has a seating capacity of 40,122.

The name, while English in origin, is pronounced according to Italian rules, therefore JEH-noa (IPA: 'dʒɛnoa).

On September 7, 1893, Charles De Grave Sells, S. Blake, G. Green, W. Riley, D.G. Fawcus, Sandys, E. De Thierry, Jonathan Summerhill Senior and Junior and the British diplomat Sir Charles Alfred Payton started Genoa Cricket & Athletic Club.

Since the club were set up to represent England abroad, the club's shirts were originally white, the same colour as the England football team's shirt. Oddly, Italians were not allowed into the team. The first field for the club was the Piazza d'Armi of the Campasso.

Between 1893 and 1895, the club played cricket against the crews of various British ships that docked in the harbour from time to time. In 1898, some of the club's early football matches were against the HMS Clementine crew and the crew of HMS Revenge. In 1896, Mr. James Richardson Spensley, considered to be the founder of Italian football, arrived and set up the football team. He played as a goalkeeper for a while, but wasn't particularly good. In 1897, not unreasonably, Italian players were allowed to join and a new field was found. The following year, Genoa played their first friendly game, losing 1-0 to a team made up of players from International Torino and FBC Torinese.

On May 8, 1898, Genoa became the first ever Italian champions. In 1899, the club changed its name to Genoa Cricket & Football Club, dropping 'Athletic' from its name. The shirt also changed, from white, to white and blue vertical stripes. On April 16 of that year, the club won the Italian title again. Genoa would do so again in 1900.

In 1901, the club changed strip again to its famous garnet-blue halves and therefore became known as the Rossoblu. From 1902, Genoa were to win three titles in a row, after setting up the II Categoria Tournament, which was won by the reserve team in its first season (1904).

In 1915, the club was to win its first title for eleven years. Little did this successful club know, but its title of 1924 would be its last (at time of writing). The club won the Coppa Italia in 1937, which was to be its last major trophy up to now.

In recent years, Genoa have played mostly in Serie B, so the glory days may not return for some time, although in the early '90s Genoa managed a fourth-place finish in Serie A, and a UEFA Cup semifinal. Current players include Diego Milito, Christian Abbiati and Nicola Caccia.

On July 27, 2005, Genoa was condemned to relegation in Serie C1 because of an alleged fraud for the last match of 2004-2005 Serie B, played against Venezia, and won 3-2, which ensured the promotion to Serie A for the team. On August 8, 2005, the appeal against the conviction was finally turned down by the Italian football courts, and Genoa will play their football in Serie C1 in 2005-2006.