Stripes But No Stars: Genoa, Bologna and ‘The Great Theft’

Ninety years ago, in 1925, Bologna and Genoa played out five frantic encounters to sort out the championship of Italy.

“A generation goes and a generation comes,” begins the book of Ecclesiastes, “but the Earth remains forever.”

The same is true of controversy in football – of pitch invasions and goal-line debates and alleged political influence and games behind closed doors. Just as all may be encountered in the modern game, each was present in as Italy decided its football champion 90 years ago.

In the days before Serie A, the peninsula was divided into two leagues – northern and southern – and each of those was split into two different divisions. The four combined through a series of playoffs at the end of the season, and more often than not, the northern teams triumphed.

By 1925, Genoa had amassed nine titles, leaving them a couple ahead of Pro Vercelli and streets ahead of anyone else. Negotiating their way through the 1925/26 season was straight-forward enough; the fans at the Stadio Comunale didn’t see their team defeated (they had lost only one home game in three seasons at this point) and the Grifone progressed to the regional final finishing a point ahead of Modena.

Should they have won another title, it would not only be their tenth, but also see them be the first side granted a star to wear above the badge on their shirt.

There they were set to meet a Bologna side who were undoubtedly on the up under president Renato Dall’Ara; since the turn of the decade, their finishes had been steadily improving – they, too, had gone unbeaten at home all season. That said, Genoa were undoubtedly favoured for the two legged final.

When Cesari Alberti opened the scoring in the first leg, against a Bologna side who had cast him aside believing his career over after suffering a meniscal injury back in 1922, it looked as though the Ligurians would be celebrating again. Indeed, after securing a 2-1 victory at the Campo Sterlino they went into the return fixture the following Saturday knowing that a draw would be enough to clinch that tenth title, and the star above their crest.

Against the tide of expectation, Bologna silenced a rowdy Genoese crowd with a Muzzioli strike although after their hosts pulled level through Santamaria, it looked as though their race was run. Yet Genoa kept pouring forward in search of a winner to appease the baying hordes. That approach meant the Felsinei were able to catch them off guard, Giuseppe Della Valle netting after a late counter-attack to secure a replay.

A week later in Milan, the contest exploded. The Viale Lombardia stadium was so packed that referee Giovanni Mauri demanded a police presence. Then, as Genoa raced into a two-goal lead by half time and looked comfortable in their quest for the title; the Grifone supporters were unable to contain their elation and repeatedly spilled onto the field, though each time, they were cleared and the game resumed.

A little after the hour mark, a shot from Bologna’s Giuseppe Muzzioli looked to have been tipped round the post by Genoa keeper Giovanni De Pra. Incensed, the Emilians surged onto the field, including a number of Blackshirts – Bologna vice president Leandro Arpinati was a noted fascist, though he remained in the stands throughout the melee. They remonstrated with the referee, claiming a goal, and that passed through a hole in the net. After 13 minutes, in which Mauri tried to escape the field, the goal was given – though with an assurance he would report the matter to authorities and award the win to Genoa.

Bologna then scored a highly contentious equaliser, and the game played to a conclusion of sorts – amidst the furore, Genoa refused to participate in extra-time. That should have been of little consequence after referee’s report. However, Mauri, almost certainly pressurised again, failed to deliver on his promise.

Both sides were livid, and eventually, there was another playoff arranged, in Turin, a month later.

Another bitterly contested match saw crowd trouble from the moment the two sets of fans arrived at Porta Nuova station; two Genoa fans were even shot. That game ended in a 1-1 draw, but after more pitch invasions and rioting, the city of Turin refused to host the third replay.

In order to ensure cordiality, there was effectively a peace meeting in Parma in mid-July, where representatives of each side shook hands and agreed to settle their disputes on the field. In early August, they did exactly that. The game went ahead at 7am, behind closed doors and in a stadium in the south of Milan that remained secret at the time.

Bologna won 2-0 and went on to claim their first national title; meanwhile Genoa only claimed a ‘Great Theft’.

“There is,” Ecclesiastes continues, “nothing new under the Sun.”

From that day to this in Genoa, there has been nothing new under the star, either.