Genoa Colors, Facts and History

Genoa history

Established in 1893 as Genoa Cricket and Football Club, Genoa is the oldest football team still active in Italy. It won the first Italian national championship in 1898 and finished with nine league titles, the last after 1923-24, plus one Coppa Italia. That total makes the club the fourth most successful in Italy by championships.

The team, nicknamed Il Grifone, has played at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris since 1911. Local rival Sampdoria uses the same stadium, and their meeting, the Derby della Lanterna, was first staged in 1946. Genoa's age earns it some unusual honors off the field. In 2011, after a request from President Xavier Tudela, it joined a list kept by the International Bureau of Cultural Capitals, which works as a sporting heritage register modeled on the UNESCO idea. Two years later, in 2013, the club joined the Club of Pioneers, a group of the world's oldest football clubs whose members include Recreativo de Huelva and Sheffield F.C.

Did you know?

• Genoa won Italy's very first national championship in 1898.
• Genoa's most recent league title came after the 1923-24 season.
• Sheffield F.C. and Genoa both belong to the Club of Pioneers.