In 1996, I was 15-years-old and knew very little about Italy, football and nothing about a little team called Genoa Cricket and Football Club.
Seventeen years later life is much, if not completely different than those salad days growing up in the USA.
The significance of 1996, though I didn’t know it at the time, it was the last time Genoa would lift a European trophy.
The cup that Genoa lifted may not have been the most glamorous or the most prestigious, but the now defunct Anglo-Italian Cup has a place in the heart of many football fans of a certain generation in Britain and on the peninsula.
By the time I became fully aware of football, which occurred slowly after World Cup 1994 and into the late-90s thanks to cheap readily available satellite TV, Genoa were cruising to the cup Anglo Italian Cup Final. The club were led by striker Vincenzo Montella, the same Montella that coaches Fiorentina currently, who tallied a fantastic 21 goals in 34 matches in 1995/96. Interestingly, Montella would sign for city rivals Sampdoria after the season.
The year before Genoa soared to the Anglo-Italian Cup Final, the club had been relegated to Serie B after losing a relegation tie-breaker with Padova. The club were on the wrong side of a penalty shootout that saw a 12 year exodus from Serie A.
Serie A was a much different league in the mid-90s. At the time Serie A was considered the best in the world and was able to attract the world’s best players, and as it does today, produced the best coaches. Unfortunately, Serie A has been knocked off of that mantel and replaced – for now – by the English Premier League; though its production of top classes coaches pales in comparison to Serie A or even the Bundesliga at the moment. Serie A is still the best defensive league in the world and the leader as far as tactics go, too.
In that year only 18 teams contested the Scudetto while four teams were relegated to Serie B and four were promoted to Serie A. A trend that would change in the future with only three teams being relegated and 20 teams contesting the Scudetto. Meanwhile, Genoa would not return to Serie A until the 2007/2008 season after finishing third in Serie B the season before.
In the group stages of the cup Genoa were placed in Group A alongside fellow Italian teams Cesena, Perugia and Ancona; and British teams Birmingham, Port Vale, Oldham and Luton Town. In the group stages the Italian teams played their British rivals with Genoa scoring two wins and two draws, allowing them to finish top of their table. A winner take-all Italian semi-final against Salernitana saw the Grifone go through on penalties before an Italian regional final 4-1 aggregate score in February allowed Genoa to qualify for the cup final.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98y-CceWtdU[/youtube]
Just over a month later, Genoa defeated English side Port Vale – a team they had drawn with in the group stage – 5-2 at Wembley Stadium. The Grifone were on top the entire match as the team tallied five goals before Port Vale pulled one back in the 68th minute. The cup win was Genoa’s first outside the peninsula since 1964 when the club hoisted the Coppa delle Alpi. It was also the last regular season trophy the team have won. Prior to the Anglo-Italian Cup, Genoa’s last trophy was the Serie B trophy in 1989.
In the last few seasons Genoa have needed to emphasize Serie A safety over other matters. And though the Anglo-Italian Cup was a minor trophy to some – much like the Europa League is to Europe’s Champions League snubs – it was still a trophy. A domestic cup run next season or a run at a Europa League place would be refreshing to see as a Genoa fan, and with Gian Piero Gasperini as coach that may not be out of the realm of possibility. Hopefully it won’t be and the Grifone will enjoy a season of winning.
Follow Drew Farmer on Twitter @CalcioFarmer. Drew Farmer is ForzaItalianFootball.com’s Genoa correspondent and can be heard on the Club Focus podcast.
