THE SARTORIAL ELEGANCE OF SERIE A: GENOA C.F.C. 1990-94 [ERREA]

 

Genoa Cricket and Football Club is the oldest surviving football club in Italy. Founded in 1893 by a consortium of British businessmen, it was originally known as Genoa Cricket and Athletic Club. Football was a mere sideline initially, played at the Piazza d'Armi del Campasso on Saturdays against whichever group of British merchant sailors happened to be in town. Shirts were white to reflect the organisation’s English heritage.

In 1886 an English doctor named James Richardson Spensley arrived in Genoa to provide medical care for those same sailors passing through the Mediterranean, by way of the Suez Canal, to and from India. Prior to his emigration, he’d been employed as a medical advisor for a maritime insurance company in Sunderland, and in between offshore assignments had put together a football team with players drawn from his father’s congregation. Spensley played in goal and would later qualify as a referee, all the time fostering more obscure interests, such as studying oriental religion or learning Sanskrit.

This background was of great benefit when Spensley joined the Genoa Cricket and Athletic Club and set about persuading its conservative membership into taking football more seriously. He successfully petitioned the board to allow ‘foreigners’ in on the act – local Italians, as well as Swiss and Austrian expatriates – and within a couple of years Spensley’s cosmopolitan outfit was competing against teams from Turin in the first ever Campionato Italiano di Football. What’s more, they were victorious. Buoyed by their success, the club renamed itself the Genoa Cricket and Football Club and changed its colours to blue and white vertical stripes. Genoa won the Campionato again in 1899 and 1900 before losing the final to Milan in 1901. At this point, Genoa CFC took on the red and dark blue halved shirts they wear to this day.

It’s worth going over all of this because there appears to be no reason why Genoa decided upon the colours that they did. The intermediate blue and white stripes may have been a nod to Genovese’s coastal prominence but could also have been symbolic of Spensley’s effort to de-Anglicise the institution. The red and dark blue configuration adopted in 1901 might equally have been an attempt to reconcile the two. After all, Genoa’s badge made no secret of its Anglo-Saxon origins.
 

Notwithstanding the club’s resurgence during the 1920s, Genoa have never met with the level of success they experienced in those halcyon days prior to the First World War. Their last trophy of note was 1937’s Coppa Italia, although it would be another twenty years before the rot really set in. The 1960s and ‘70s were generally spent playing in Serie B, with a brief incursion into Serie C in 1970-71. Promotion in 1981 preceded a three year spell in Serie A, followed by five consecutive seasons occupying Italian football’s second tier.

In 1988-89, Genoa won Serie B and thus promotion back into Serie A. They did this wearing gear manufactured by Errea, breaking a six year association with Adidas. Adidas had good form producing shirts for Italian teams (Torino, Hellas Verona, Bari) but the strip they provided for Genoa came up short. In truth, the shirts that the newly signed captain Gianluca Signorini and his squad wore in 1988-89 weren’t much better. Errea replaced the iconic Adidas stripes running down the arms with their own interpretation, incorporating their logo repeated in red set against a white background, but it looked dated and clashed with the overly stylised typeface of the sponsor (hosiery manufacturer Levante).

Ahead of Genoa’s return to the top flight, they brought in three Uruguayans: midfielders Rubén Paz and José Perdomo, and the accomplished forward Carlos Aguilera. Meanwhile, Mita took over as sponsor, dispensing a more modest, albeit italicised font more suited to the shirt. Genoa finished the season in 11th place, just two points clear of the relegation zone.

In 1990, Errea ditched the white trim, incorporated micro-patterned pinstripes, and suddenly Genoa looked the business. Osvaldo Bagnoli replaced Francesco Scoglio as coach and brought in Brazilian defender Branco, Czech striker Tomáš Skuhravý, and Italian midfielder Mario Bortolazzi who would stay with the club for next eight years. Genoa finished fourth in the league, qualifying for the UEFA Cup, with Aguilera and Skuhravý scoring 15 goals apiece.

1991-92’s shirt remained much the same, save for alterations to the collar and badge. Genoa’s existent crest consisted of a (modern French) shield depicting a golden griffin against a red and blue background surmounted by the cross of St. George – no text. The redesigned badge featured a more intricately drawn griffin against a blue background, flanked by two draping flags breaking the sides of the (heater-shaped) shield with ‘GENOA’ printed along the curved, upper edge and ‘1893’ towards the shield’s apex. The club ended their campaign in a disappointing 14th place, although they did make it to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, bowing out honourably to Ajax who then went on to beat Torino in the final.

For the next season, SAIWA (Società Accomandita Industria Wafer Affini) replaced Mita as sponsor. This probably wouldn’t have made too much difference to the jersey if Errea hadn’t decided to tamper with the micropattern. The new motif could be described as kaleidoscopic, and the sturdier, upper-case font used by SAIWA was more conducive. Meanwhile, Bagnoli moved to Inter, Aguilera was sold to Torino, John van't Schip joined from Ajax, and Genoa finished in 13th place.

For 1993-94, Genoa wore the same shirt save for a small emblem attached to the left arm celebrating the club’s centenary. They improved upon the previous season’s performance, finishing eleventh. Thereafter, Kenwood replaced SAIWA as club patron, Errea added superfluous white trim to the sleeves and collar, and Genoa were relegated.
 

1993-94

It took more than ten years for Genoa to claw their way back into Serie A. When they finally made it, Errea were still supplying the kit and had reverted to using the club's traditional insignia. At the time of writing, Genoa wear Kappa, bringing to an end a seven-year affiliation with Lotto.