Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the merger 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 nickname blucerchiati ("blue-circled").
The roots of Sampdoria are to be found in two teams born in the late 1890s: Ginnastica Sampierdarenese and Società Andrea Doria. The former was founded in 1891 and opened its football section in 1899.[3][4] The latter, named after Genoese admiral Andrea Doria, was founded in 1895.[5][6]
Andrea Doria did not join the first Italian Football Championship organized by the Italian Federation of Football (FIF) and played on May 8, 1898. Instead, they played in the football tournament organized by the Italian Federation of Ginnastica.[7] The first ancestor of Sampdoria to play in the Italian Football Championship was Sampierdarenese, who joined the third edition in 1900 for their only appearance before World War One.[8]
Andrea Doria eventually joined the competition in 1902, but did not win a game until the 1907 edition, when they beat local rivals Genoa 3–1.[8] It was not until 1910–11 that the club began to show promise, finishing above Juventus, Internazionale and Genoa in the main tournament.[8]
After the war Sampierdarenese finally began to compete in the Italian Championship replacing another club from Bolzaneto, then an independent town in the province of Genoa, called Associazione del Calcio Ligure. [8] Thus, during the 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.[8]
For the 1921–22 season the Italian top league was split into two competitions, one run by the Italian Football Federation and a second one organized by the secessionist Italian Football Confederation. Sampierdarenese joined the IFF tournament, while Andrea Doria and Genoa signed up for the one organized 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 against Novese. Both legs of the final ended in 0–0 draws, thus a repetition match was played in Cremona on 21 May 1922. The match went into extra time with Novese eventually winning the tie (and the Championship) 2–1.[8]
By season 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.[8]
From La Dominante to Sampdoria (1927–1946)
At the end of the 1926–27 season, Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria merged for the first time under the name La Dominante by fascist authorities.[citation needed]
Wearing green and black striped shirts, La Dominante Genova were admitted to the first-ever season of Serie B, where they finished third, just missing out on promotion.[citation needed] The next season, under the name Foot Ball Club Liguria, they had a disastrous year, finishing bottom of the table and suffering relegation.[citation needed]
Because of this, both Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria reverted to their previous names as separate clubs.[citation needed] Sampierdarenese were back in Serie B for the 1932–33 season and finished in the upper part.[citation needed] The following year, they were crowned champions and were promoted into Serie A for the first time.[citation needed] Andrea Doria, on the other hand, battled out the 1930s down in Serie C.[citation needed]
On 15 July 1937 Sampierdarenese absorbed Corniglianese and Rivarolese, with the club adopting the name Associazione Calcio Liguria.[citation needed] This saw them reach fifth place in Serie A in 1939.[citation needed] In the early 1940s, the club was relegated but bounced straight back up as Serie B champions in 1941.[citation needed]
After World 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.[citation needed] However, on 12 August 1946, a merger occurred to create Unione Calcio Sampdoria.[citation needed]
Sampdoria in the late 1940s
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 from Florence named Giuseppe Galluzzi.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] In the same month of the merger, the new club demanded they should share the Stadio Luigi Ferraris ground with Genoa.[citation needed] An agreement was reached, and the stadium began hosting Genoa's and Sampdoria's home matches.[citation needed]
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.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed]
Serbian Vujadin Boškov, pictured as a Sampdoria player in 1961, managed the team to their only Serie A title in 1991.
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 first Coppa Italia in 1985. In 1986, Yugoslav Vujadin Boškov was appointed as the new head coach. The club won their second Coppa Italia in 1988, being admitted to the 1988–89 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, where they reached the final, losing 2–0 to Barcelona.[9][10] A second consecutive triumph in the Coppa Italia gave Sampdoria a spot in the 1989–90 Cup Winners' Cup, which they won after defeating Anderlecht after extra time in the final.[11]
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.[citation needed]
Decline and resurgence and decline again (1993–present)
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 third 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 internationals Juan Sebastián Verón and Ariel Ortega, and international midfielders Clarence Seedorf and Christian Karembeu.[11] In April 1995 Sampdoria reached the semi-final stage of the Cup Winners' Cup, losing out to Arsenal on penalties after two legs.[citation needed]
Luigi Delneri managed Sampdoria to fourth place and Champions League qualification in 2010.
In May 1999 Sampdoria were relegated from Serie A and did not return to the top flight until 2003. During this time, Sampdoria was acquired by Riccardo Garrone, an Italian oil businessman. Sampdoria returned to Serie A in 2003 led by talisman Francesco Flachi, and ended their first season in eighth place. After several more top-half finishes, manager Walter Novellino gave way to Walter Mazzarri in 2007.[14]
With the signings of forwards Antonio Cassano from Real Madrid,[15] and Giampaolo Pazzini in January 2008, Sampdoria ended the 2007–08 season in sixth position and qualified for the 2008–09 UEFA Cup.[16] The following season, they came fourth and qualified for the UEFA Champions League play-offs under manager Luigi Delneri, who left for Juventus.[17] With the departures also of CEO Giuseppe 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 to Palermo in May 2011.[18] In the following season June 2012, Sampdoria won promotion back to Serie A after defeating Varese 4–2 on aggregate in the play-off final.[19]
Following the death of Riccardo Garrone the previous year, the club was purchased from the Garrone family in June 2014 by the film producer Massimo Ferrero [it]. After sixth-placed rivals Genoa in the 2014–15 season failed to obtain a UEFA license for the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League, seventh-placed Sampdoria took their spot.[20] The club built a solid foundation in Serie A for the next seven years. Notable managerial appointments were Marco Giampaolo and Claudio Ranieri, as well as the steady flow of goals from talismanic striker Fabio Quagliarella. Growing tensions however surrounded Ferrero's presidency, fuelled by his well-known and public support of AS Roma. Several attempts were made to sell the club, including to a consortium led by club legend Gianluca 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.[21] On 27 December, former player Marco Lanna was appointed President.[citation needed] In January 2022 the club welcomed back former manager Marco Giampaolo after a disappointing start to the season under Roberto D'Aversa.[citation needed] On 6 February in his first home game back in charge, Sampdoria defeated Sassuolo 4-0.[citation needed] Results however began to dwindle, and after eight games and a winless start to the 2022–23 season the club parted company with Giampaolo.[citation needed] On 6 October former Serie A player legend Dejan Stanković was appointed to the role with the task of steering the club clear of the relegation zone.[citation needed] Samp was later relegated in the 2022/23 season from Serie A to Serie B and in later May 2023 former Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani reached an agreement with previous owner Massimo Ferrero to buy Sampdoria and prevent it from bankruptcy.[citation needed]
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 with Saint-George cross.[23]
The club crest features a sailor in profile known by the old Genoese name of Baciccia, which translates to Gio-Batta in Ligurian, Giovanni Battista in Italian or John-Baptist in English. The image of a sailor is appropriate due to Sampdoria being based in the port city of Genoa. The precise design of the Baciccia came from a Disney-licensed and Panini-published comic, Topolino, in 1980. Since 1980, the Baciccia has appeared on the shirts of Sampdoria, mostly on the chest but occasionally on the sleeve.[24]
Sampdoria fans in the Gradinata Sud of the Stadio Luigi Ferraris
Sampdoria supporters come mainly from the city of Genoa.[citation needed] The biggest group are Ultras Tito Cucchiaroni, named after an Argentinian left winger who played for Sampdoria.[citation needed] The group were founded in 1969, making it one of the oldest ultra groups in Italy.[citation needed] They are apolitical, although there are smaller groups like Rude Boys Sampdoria, who are left-wing, but today this group is no longer active.[citation needed] The main support with flags and flares comes from the southern Curva, Gradinata Sud.[citation needed]
