Il Grifone (The Griffin)
Founded: 1893, Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Capacity: 36,599
Genoa Cricket and Football Club was founded in 1893 by British business-men. It is Italy’s oldest football team and the oldest Italian football team still active. In 2011 Genoa was included in the “International Bureau of Cultural Capitals” (a sort of historical sporting heritage of humanity, in line with that of UNESCO. In 2013 was also admitted to the “Club of Pioneers”, an association that brings together the oldest football clubs in the world which already included Sheffield FC and Recreativo de Huelva. The club dominated Italian Football in the first quarter of the twentieth century, winning nine league titles. Genoa play their home matches in the Stadio Communale Luigi Ferraris, commonly known as the Marassi after the neighborhood it’s located in. First opened in 1911, it’s one of the oldest stadiums still in use in Italy. They share the stadium with their biggest rivals Sampdoria with whom they play the “Derby della Lanterna” (Derby of the Latern), a derby with a fierce rivalry. The logo for Genoa C.F.C features a gold griffin on the background of a shield. The shield features the flag of Genoa in the top quarter – a red cross on a white background in reference to St George. The bottom three quarters are half blue and half red, in a vertical stripe. This design has led to Genoa being nicknamed Il Grifone, or the Griffin.
