Genoa C.F.C.

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Genoa

Full name

Genoa Cricket and Football Club SpA

Nickname(s)

I Rossoblu (The Red-Blues), Il Grifone (The Griffin[1]), Il Vecchio Balordo[2] (The Old Fool)

Founded

7 September 1893 (mixed sports)[3] 10 April 1897 (football)[4]

Ground

Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa, Italy (Capacity: 36,536)

President

Enrico Preziosi

Head Coach

Alberto Malesani

League

Serie A

201011

Serie A, 10th

Website

Club home page

Founding constitution. Long thought to be lost this historical document was retrieved among the papers of renowned sports journalist Gianni Brera(himself a Genoa supporter) after his death and donated back to the club by his relatives.

Genoa Cricket and Football Club, commonly referred to simply as Genoa, is a professional Italian football club based in the city of Genoa, Liguria. Although the athletics and cricket club was founded in 1893 by Englishmen as a British sporting club abroad, whose membership was allowed to British citizens exclusively;[5] the footballing section of the club was opened in 1897 by James Richardson Spensley making it the oldest existing club of its kind in Italy.[6] During their long history, Genoa have won the Italian Football Championship nine times. Genoa's first title came at the inaugural championship in 1898 and their last was in 192324. They also won the Coppa Italia once. Historically, Genoa is the fourth most successful Italian club in terms of championships won.[7] This slew of early successes may lie at the origin of the love professed for the team by the godfather of Italian sports journalists Gianni Brera (19191992), who, despite having been born nowhere near Genoa, always declared himself a supporter of the team. Brera went as far as creating the nickname Vecchio Balordo (Old Fool or Cranky Old One) for Genoa. The club has played its home games at the 36,536 capacity Stadio Luigi Ferraris[8] since 1911. Since 1946, the ground has been shared with local rivals Sampdoria. Genoa has spent most of its post-war history going up and down between Serie A and Serie B, with also a brief spell in Serie C.
Contents

[hide]

o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

1 History 1.1 Championship dominance 1.2 Garbutt revival 1.3 Genova 1893 period 1.4 Post-war period 1.5 Mixed times 1.6 European experience 1.7 Recent times 2 Players 2.1 Current squad 2.2 Out on loan 201112 2.3 Returning from loan 2.4 Youth Team 2.5 Retired numbers 2.6 Notable players 3 Presidential history 4 Managerial history 5 Colours, badge and nicknames 6 Supporters and rivalries 7 Honours 7.1 National titles 7.2 European titles 7.3 Presence in Italian professional leagues 8 References 9 External links

[edit]History
For more details on this topic, see History of Genoa C.F.C. The club was founded on 7 September 1893[3] as Genoa Cricket & Athletic Club. In its earliest years, it only competed in athletics and cricket. Since the club was set up to represent England abroad, the original shirts worn by the organisation were white, the same colour as the England

national team shirt.[3]At first Italians were not permitted to join as it was a British sporting club abroad.[3] Genoa's activities took place in the north-west of the city in the Campasso area, at the Piazza d'Armi. The men who founded the initial cricket and athletics club were;[3]

Charles De Grave

Daniel G. Fawcus Sandys E. De Thierry

Jr.

Jonathan Summerhill

Sells

S. Blake G. Green

Jonathan Summerhill

Sir Charles Alfred

Payton

W. Riley

Sr.

On 10 April 1897[4] the footballing section of the club was officially opened by James Richardson Spensley.[9] It was among the oldest in Italian football at the time, the only other founded clubs were two in Turin.[10] With the football section of the club opened, Italians were allowed to join and found a new ground in the form of Ponte Carrega. The first friendly match took place at home, against a mixed team of Internazionale Torino and FBC Torinese; Genoa lost 10.[3] Not long after, Genoa recorded its first victory away against UPS Alessandria winning 20. Friendly games also took place against various British sailors such as those from HMS Revenge.[3]

[edit]Championship

dominance

Genoa CAC in 1898, the first ever Italian Championship winners.

Football in Italy stepped up a level with the creation of the Italian Football Federation and the Italian Football Championship.[4] Genoa competed in the first Italian Championship in 1898 at Velodromo Umberto I in Turin.[4] They defeated Ginnastica Torino 21 in their first official game on 8 May, before winning the first championship later that day by beating Internazionale Torino 31 after extra time.[11] Genoa returned for the following season, this time with a few changes; the name of the club was altered to Genoa Cricket & Football Club, dropping the Athletic from its name. A change in shirt colour was also in order, as they changed to white and blue vertical stripes; known in Italy as biancoblu. Genoa won their second title on a one-day tournament which took place on 16 April 1899, by beating Internazionale Torino 31 for the second time. On their way to winning their third consecutive title in 1900 and also beat local rivals [Sampierdarenese] 70; a winning margin

which would not be bettered by any team in the league until 1910. The final was secured with a 3 1 win over FBC Torinese.[11] The club strip was changed again in 1901, Genoa adopted its famous red-navy halves and therefore became known as the rossoblu; these are the colours used even to this day as many other Italian club do as Cagliari, Bologna and an endless list of minor clubs. After a season of finishing runners-up to Milan Cricket and Football Club, things were back on track in 1902 with their fourth title. Juventus emerged as serious contenders to Genoa's throne from 1903 onwards, when for two seasons in a row Genoa beat the Old Lady in the national final.[11]

Genoa CFC championship winning side of 1904, their sixth league title.

Notably Genoa became the first Italian football team to play an international match, when they visited France on 27 April 1903 to play FVC Nice, winning the fixture 30. As well as winning the Italian championship in 1904, the year was also notable for Genoa reserves winning the first ever II Categoria league season; a proto-Serie B under the top level. From 1905 onwards when they were runners-up, Genoa lost their foothold on the Italian championship; other clubs such as Juventus, Milan and Pro Vercelli stepped up.[11] The fall in part during this period can be traced back to 1908 when FIGC agreed to Federal Gymnastics protests forbidding the use of foreign players. Since Genoa's birth they had always had a strong English contingent. They disagreed, as did several other prominent clubs such as Milan, Torino and Firenze; as thus they withdrew from official FIGC competitions that year. The following season the federation reversed the decision and Genoa was rebuilt with players such as Luigi Ferraris[12] and some from Switzerland. The rebuilding of the squad also saw the creation of a new ground in the Marassi area of Genoa, when built it had a capacity of 25,000 and was comparable to British stadiums of the time; it was officially opened on 22 January 1911.

[edit]Garbutt

revival

With the introduction of the Italian national football team, Genoa played an important part, with the likes of Renzo De Vecchi; who was azzurri captain for some time, Edoardo Mariani andEnrico Sardi earning call-ups.[13] Englishman William Garbutt was brought in as head coach to help revive the club; Garbutt was the first professional manager in Italy and he was considered to have a

strong charisma, constantly smoking his tobacco pipe.[3] He was dubbed "Mister" by the players; since then Italians have referred to coaches in general with the term.[3] Finally by 191415, Genoa had restored themselves as the top club from Northern Italy, winning the final round of the Northern section.[11] However, a national final was not played because Genoa did not have an opposition; the finals of the Southern Italian section was not decided due to the outbreak of World War I. Genoa would be awarded the title in 1919 after the end of the war, it was their first for eleven seasons.[14] The war took a harsh toll on Genoa as players Luigi Ferraris, Adolfo Gnecco, Carlo Marassi, Alberto Sussone and Claudio Casanova all died while on military duty in Italy; while footballing founder James Richardson Spensley was killed in Germany.
[14]

The last Genoa side to win the Italian Football Championship, in 1924.

Just after the war, Genoa remained a strong contender in the Northern section.[14] Garbutt led Genoa to championship success in 192223 where they beat Lazio 61 in the final, over the course of two legs.[11] The following season, Genoa made their way past Bologna in the Northern finals, but not without controversy; after riots in the second leg during the game in Bologna, the game was called off due to crowd rioting and FIGC awarded Genoa with a 20 victory.[14] In the national final that season, Genoa beat Savoia 41 over the course of two legs; this would be their ninth and to date final Italian championship.[7] The squad during these two championship victories included; Giovanni De Pr, Ottavio Barbieri, Luigi Burlando and Renzo De Vecchi.[7] With Genoa's championship victory in 192324 came the introduction of the scudetto patch; which means following the season which a club wins an Italian league championship, they are allowed to wear a shield shaped patch on their shirt which features the colours of the Italian flag.[3] For the rest of the 1920s, the club did not win the championship, with the highest they were able to finish being second place, like in the 1927 28 season when they finished runners-up to Torino, with striker Felice Levratto scoring 20 goals in 27 games.[15]

[edit]Genova

1893 period

Due to the strongly British connotations attached to the name, Genoa were forced to change it by the fascist government to Genova 1893 Circolo del Calcio in 1928.[16] The club competed in a proto-European Cup in the form of the Mitropa Cup, where they went out in the quarter-finals after losing heavily to Rapid Vienna. They followed this with a runners-up position back at home in the league, they finished behind Ambrosiana in the 192930 season; this would be their last top level championship runners-up spot to date.[11]

Genoa Coppa Italia winning side of 1937, celebrating in Florence.

The club's league form became highly erratic during the early 1930s, with varying league positions; it was during the 193334 season that Genova suffered their first ever relegation to Serie B, the second league of Italian football. Thankfully for the club, they were able to bounce back under the management of Vittorio Faroppa, winning promotion by finishing top of their group ahead of Novara. In 1936, the ambitious Juan Culiolo took over as president of the club; in 1936 37 they achieved a 6th place finish and also won the Coppa Italia by beating AS Roma 10 with a goal fromMario Torti.[17] During the following season Genova finished in third place, this was a particularly tight season with winners Ambrosiana-Inter finishing only three points ahead of the club. That summer Italy competed in the 1938 FIFA World Cup and won, three Genova players formed part of the triumphant squad in the form of Sergio Bertoni, Mario Genta and Mario Perazzolo.[18] The club finished the decade on a high, maintaining a top five foothold in the top level of the Italian league.[11] World War II affected dramatically the entire Italian football movement, but Genova did not recover as well as other clubs. In 1945, the club chose to revert their name to Genoa Cricket and Foot-Ball Club, the one which they had used in the very early days of the Italian championship.
[19]

In the years just after the war, the club were still popular with the fans, with people previously

associated with the club such as Ottavio Barbieri and William Garbutt returning for managerial spells.[20] Genoa also had a new rival in the form of Sampdoria, who were founded by a merger of two other clubs in 1946 and would groundshare at Stadio Luigi Ferraris.

[edit]Post-war

period

Genoa side during 195657 season.

After the Second World War the ability of Genoa to finish in the upper ranks of Serie A declined in a significant manner; throughout the rest of the 1940s the club were middle-table finishers. The 194849 saw three highly significant results, Genoa beat Inter 41, the famous Grande Torino side 30 and Padova 71.[21] The 1950s started in poor fashion for the club, they had bought Argentine Mario Boy from Boca Juniors but he stayed only one season and the club were relegated after finishing bottom of the table, but after two seasons they achieved their return after winning Serie B, ahead of Legnano.[22] Ragnar Nikolay Larsen was a noted player for the club during this period and they sustained mid-table finishes for the rest of the decade.[22] Despite suffering a relegation in 195960 and then a promotion back up to Serie A in 196162,
[22]

Genoa had a respectable amount of cup success in the first half of the 1960s. The club won the

anecdotique 'Coppa delle Alpi in 1962; it was the first time the competition had been competed between club teams instead of international ones, the final was played at home while Genoa beat French club Grenoble Foot 38 by 10 with a goal from Nizza.[23] Genoa won the same competition again two years later, the final was held at the Wankdorf Stadium in Berne, Switzerland; Genoa defeated Catania 20, with both goals from Giampaolo Piaceri to take the trophy.[24] The celebrations for the club did not last long however, as the year following their last cup success they were relegated down to Serie B again. This time their stay at the second tier of the Italian football system would be far longer than previous relegations, the club was unstable as it changed manager each season.[20] Genoa even experienced their first relegation toSerie C in 1970, financially the club fell into difficulties and had several ownership changes.[25]

[edit]Mixed

times

Throughout the 1970s, Genoa would mostly play in second league. Under the management of Arturo Silvestri the club made its way back to Serie A for the 197374 season, but they were relegated straight back down. For the return of Il Grifone to Serie A a couple of seasons later, the squad featured the likes of Roberto Rosato, Bruno Conti and a young Roberto Pruzzo. This time they stuck it out in the top division for two seasons before succumbing to relegation in 197778; the relegation was particularly cruel as the side above them Fiorentinasurved on goal-difference of

just a single goal, the two teams had played each other on the final day of the season ending in a 00 draw.[26]

First Genoa side of the 1980s.

The relegation was bad for the club in more ways than one, they lost some of their top players who could have offered them a swift return; such as Roberto Pruzzo's move to AS Roma where he would go on to have great success.[27] After a couple of middle-table finishes in Serie B, Genoa earned promotion during the 198081 season under manager Luigi Simoni, the club finished as runners-up behind only AC Milan who had been relegated the previous season for their part in the Totonero betting scandal.[28] Still with Simoni at the helm as manager, Genoa were able to survive in Serie A for their returning season, finishing just one point ahead of the relegated AC Milan. In a dramatic last day of the season, Genoa were trailing 21 to SSC Napoli with five minutes left, until on the 85th minuteMario Faccenda scored the goal that secured the point needed by Genoa, starting a owing friendship between the two club's fans.[29] A couple of seasons later in 198384 Genoa would not be so lucky, despite beating champions Juventus on the final day of the season, the club were relegated even though they finished the season with the same number of points as surviving Lazio; this was because Lazio had recorded better results in matches against Genoa.[30]

[edit]European

experience

The club was purchased by Calabrese entrepreneur Aldo Spinelli in 1985 and despite no longer having Simoni as manager, Genoa were finishing in the top half of Serie B. After a slip in form during 198788 (failing to be promoted by a mere point in 198687, then having to struggle not to be retroceded the following season, being spared that fate again by a mere point), Genoa refocused their energy and were able to achieve promotion back into Serie A in 198889, finishing as champions ahead of Bari.[11] Genoa, with an experienced trainer as Osvaldo Bagnoli who knew how to make the best out of underdog teams (he managed to win a championship at the helm of Hellas Verona in the eighties) and with a team sporting the talents ofPato Aguilera and Tom Skuhrav among others achieved highs during the 199091 season where they finished fourth, remaining undefeated at home for the entire campaign, winning games against all the big sides

including Juventus, Inter, Milan, Roma, Lazio, Fiorentina, Napoli, as well as their local rivals Sampdoria who won the title that season.[31]

Signorini had the #6 shirt retired for him.

Subsequently the club gained entry to the UEFA Cup in the 199192 season. Genoa had a good run, making it to the semi-finals before getting knocked out byAjax, the final winners of the competition; notably Genoa did the double over Liverpool in the quarter-finals becoming the first Italian side to beat the reds atAnfield. Unfortunately for Genoa, this success was soon followed by a 'dark age' following the departure of Osvaldo Bagnoli (who chose to move away from Genoa to spend more time with his daughter, whose health was rapidly declining) and the failure of the management to replace key players as they grew old or were ceded to other teams.[32] Noted Genoa players during this period included Gianluca Signorini, Carlos Aguilera, Stefano Eranio, Roberto Onorati and John van 't Schip.[33] It has to be said that chairman Spinelli had a very different management approach from that of most businessmen turned football team owners. While his colleagues saw football as a marketing and public relation investment and were quite ready to siphon funds out of their main business to keep their teams afloat and replenish their player roster Spinelli saw Genoa as another business whose main aim was that of generating revenue for its owner (namely, himself) and so was more than happy to sell esteemed players for hefty revenues of which just a minimal fraction was then re-invested in the team, often for the acquisition of lesser-valued replacements or virtual unknowns. Thus he proved all-too-eager to sell Uruguayan striker Carlos Aguilera and to replace him with the markedly inferior Kazuyoshi Miura from the Japanese Yomiuri Verdy (a deal that especially pleased him since the Japanese sponsors were actually paying him to let Miura play in Italian Serie A). The same season as their UEFA Cup run, they finished just one place above the relegation zone; in the seasons following Genoa remained in the lower half of the table.[11] During the 199495 season, Genoa were narrowly relegated; they finished level on points with Padova after the normal season period. This meant a relegation play-out was to be played

between the two in Florence. The game was tied 11 at full time and went to a penalty shootout. Genoa eventually lost the shoot-out 54.[11] While back down in Serie B, the club had another taste of international cup success when they became the final winners of the Anglo-Italian Cup by beating Port Vale 52 with Gennaro Ruotolo scoring a hat-trick.[34] Chairman Spinelli sold Genoa in 1997, moving onto other clubs (Alessandria[35] and, currently Livorno). The late 1990s and early 2000s would be the most trying time in the history of the club, with constantly changing managers, a poor financial situation and little hope of gaining promotion, outside of a decent 6th place finish in 199900.[11] From 1997 until 2003, Genoa had a total of three different owners and four different chairmen, before the club was passed on to the toys and games tycoon from Irpinia Enrico Preziosi, already chairman of Como football club he previously owned.[25]

[edit]Recent

times

Preziosi took over in 2003, when Genoa should have been relegated to C1 series after a dismal season, but was instead "saved" along with Catania and Salernitana by the football federation's controversial decision to extend Serie B to 24 teams.[36] Things started to look up for Genoa; they won Serie B in 200405. However, allegations were raised that the club had fixed a match on the last day of the season between themselves and Venezia. The 32 victory in the match saw Genoa win the league, with a draw having been good enough to maintain its position in the end. The Disciplinary Committee of FIGC saw fit to instead place Genoa bottom of the league and relegate them down to Serie C1 on 27 July 2005. For their season in Serie C1 for 200506, Genoa were hit with a six point penalty from the previous season. After leading for much of they season, they eventually finished as runners-up and were entered into the play-offs, beating Monza 21 on aggregate to achieve promotion back into Serie B.[22] During the summer break Gian Piero Gasperini was brought in as the new manager, he helped the club to gain promotion during the 200607 season, it was ensured on the last day of the season where they drew a 00 with Napoli, both clubs were happily promoted back into Serie A.[37] The first Serie A championship played by Genoa in 12 years saw it finishing at a respectable tenth place, right after the "big ones" of Italian football. A careful summer market session saw president Preziosi strengthening the core of the team while parting from some players on favourable economical terms (for example selling striker Marco Borriello to Milan for a hefty sum).[38] Genoa's aims for the 20082009 season were set on a UEFA Cup spot. This was achieved after a strong season which saw the team besting traditional powerhouses likeJuventus F.C., Roma and Milan, and winning both derbies against Sampdoria, with Diego Milito finishing among the top scorers of the championship. Genoa lost Milito and midfielderThiago Motta to Inter, but was able to bring

striker Hernan Crespo. Howewer, they invested the considerable revenue (circa 40 millions Euro) in a great expansion of its ranks. Things however didn't go as planned, with the injury-plagued team eliminated in the early stages of Europa League and Coppa Italia and reaching a rather disappointing 9th place in Serie A. 2010-2011 saw Genoa, whose ranks had been revolutionised once again save for some longserving players, struggle along in the mid-positions of the League; a slew of questionable results early in the season led President Preziosi to fire trainer Gian Piero Gasperini (which had led the team since 2007-2008) and to select Davide Ballardini as his successor. The newcomer, despite not securing memorable successes, kept the team steadily afloat in the "left part" of the ranking, managing to win two consecutive derbys against U.C. Sampdoria in December and May.

[edit]Players [edit]Managerial

history

Genoa have had many managers and trainers, some seasons they have had comanagers running the team, here is a chronological list of them from 1896 when they became a football club, onwards.[20]

Name

Nationality Years

Name

Nationality Years

James Richardson Spensley

1896 07

Arturo Silvestri

1970 74

Technical Commission

1907 12

Guido Vincenzi

1974 75

William Garbutt

1912 27

Gigi Simoni

1975 78

Renzo De Vecchi

1927 30

Pietro Maroso then Ettore Puricelli then Gianni Bui

1978 79

Gza Szkny

1930 31 Gianni Di Marzio 1979 80

Luigi Burlando

1931

Guillermo Stbile

32

Gigi Simoni

1980 84

Karl Rumbold

1932 33

Tarcisio Burgnich

1984 86

Jzsef Nagy

1933 34

Attilio Perotti

1986 87

Vittorio Faroppa then Renzo De Vecchi

1934 35

Gigi Simoni then Attilio Perotti

1987 88

Gyrgy Orth

1935 36

Franco Scoglio

1988 90

Hermann Felsner

1936 37

Osvaldo Bagnoli

1990 92

William Garbutt

1937 39

Ottavio Barbieri William Garbutt

1939 40

Bruno Giorgi then Luigi Maifredi then Claudio Maselli

1992 93

Ottavio Barbieri

1940 41

Claudio Maselli then Franco Scoglio

1993 94

Guido Ara

1941 43

Ottavio Barbieri then Jzsef Viola

1945 46

Franco Scoglio then Giuseppe Marchioro then Claudio Maselli

1994 95

William Garbutt

1946 48

Gigi Radice then Gaetano Salvemini

1995 96

Federico Allasio

1948 49

Attilio Perotti

1996 97

John David Astley then John David Astley and Federico Allasio then Manlio Bacigalupo

Gaetano Salvemini 1949 50 Claudio Maselli

1997

1997

Manlio Bacigalupo

1950 51

Tarcisio Burgnich

1997 98

Imre Senkey then Valentino Sala and Giacinto Ellena

Giuseppe Pillon 1951 52 Luigi Cagni

1998

1998

Giacinto Ellena

1952 53

Delio Rossi

1999 00

Gyrgy Srosi then Lino Bonilauri

1953 55

Bruno Bolchi

2000

Renzo Magli

1955 58

Guido Carboni Alfredo Magni

2000 01

Annibale Frossi

1958 59

Bruno Bolchi

2001

Claudio Onofri Antonio Busini Gipo Poggi then Jesse Carver then Annibale Frossi 1959 60

2001

Franco Scoglio

2001

Annibale Frossi

1960 61

Edoardo Reja

2001 02

Claudio Onofri Renato Gei 1961

2002

63

Vincenzo Torrente Rino Lavezzini

2003

Beniamino Santos

1963 64 Roberto Donadoni 2003

Paulo Amaral then Roberto Lerici

1964 65 Luigi De Canio 2004

Luigi Bonizzoni

1965 66

Serse Cosmi

2004 05

Giorgio Ghezzi then Paolo Tabanelli

1966 67

Francesco Guidolin

2005

Livio Fongaro then Aldo Campatelli

1967 68

Aldo Campatelli then Aldo Campatelli and Maurizio Bruno

1968 69

Giovanni Vavassori then Attilio Perotti then Giovanni Vavassori

2005 06

Franco Viviani then Maurizio Bruno and Lino Bonilauri then Aredio Gimona and Lino Bonilauri

Gian Piero Gasperini 1969 70 Davide Ballardini

2006 2010

2010 2011

Alberto Malesani [edit]Colours,

2011-

badge and nicknames

A previous badge.

As Genoa was a British club the first ever colours of the club were those of the England national football team.[3] Not long into the club's footballing history, the kit was changed to white and blue stripes in 1899; the blue was chosen to represent the sea as Genoa is a port city. In 1901 the club finally settled for their most famous red and blue halves shirt, this gained them the nickname of rossoblu together with Bologna, Cagliari and many more minor clubs.[42] One of the nicknames of Genoa is Il Grifone which means "the griffin"; this is derived from the coat of arms belonging to the city of Genoa. The coat of arms features two golden griffins, either side of the St George's Cross.[43] The presence of the St. George's Cross on the crest does not reflect the club's English founders; rather, the cross is present on both the flag and coat of arms of the city of Genoa. The actual club badge of Genoa Cricket and Football Club is heavily derived from the city coat of arms, but also incorporated the club's red and blue colours.

[edit]Supporters

and rivalries

Genoa CFC has the bulk of its fans in Liguria, however they are also popular in Piedmont and the Aosta Valley.[44] The seafaring traditions of the Genoese and the presence of Genoese communities in distant countries did much to spread the appeal of Genoa some further than just Italy, and immigrants founded fan clubs in Buenos Aires,Amsterdam, Tokyo, Toronto, New York, San Francisco, Barcelona, Iceland and other places.

Genoa fans in June 2007 atPiazza de Ferrari, celebrating their return to Serie A.

The most significant and traditional rivalry for Genoa, is the inner-city one with the club whom they share a ground with; Sampdoria. The two clubs compete together in the heated Derby della Lanterna ("Derby of the Lantern"); a reference to the Genoa lighthouse.[45] Genoa's supporters also have a strong distaste for AC Milan, after a clash between opposing supporters in January 1995 resulted in the death by stabbing of genoese Vincenzo Spagnolo knifed to death by milanese Simone Barbaglia, member of an informal group of football holigans dubbed "The Barbour[disambiguation needed]Ones", who used to routinely carry bladed weapons to matches (a practice made possible by the leaky security measures of the time).[46] Conversely, the fans of Genoa have long standing friendships with Napoli (which goes back to the 1982 last match of the season).[47] On the last day of the 200607 season, Genoa and Napoli drew a practical 00 ensuring both were promoted back into Serie A; Genoa ultras could be seen holding up banners saying "Benvenuto fratello napoletano", meaning, "Welcome, Neapolitan brother," and the two sets of fans celebrated together in a warm and ever-cooperating manner.[48] On the other hand the amicable relationship with the red-and-yellow supporters of AS Roma, fostered by the cession of striker Roberto Pruzzo in 1979 and lasting for most of the 80s has, in recent years, cooled up a bit while another strong fraternity, which saw genoese football fans on friendly terms with Torino (since the exchange of Gigi Meroni between the two clubs at the end of the 196364 season and his untimely death on 15 October 1967 [49]) has perhaps fouled-up for good during the Torino-Genoa match of season 20082009. Starved for points and risking an humiliating relegation (one of many in a troubled recent history) the turinese fans expected a friendly treatment from Genoa, which, in the heat of a pitched battle with Fiorentina for the fourth place (which could have won a Champions League spot for the team) could not comply, soundly beating Torino and to many effects sealing its fate. When during early August 2009 Genoa did schedule a friendly match with OGC Nice in southern Piedmont many turinese hooligans traveled to the match location with the precise intention of starting trouble and disorder to "get even" with Genoa and its fans.