Sampdoria

Unione Calcio Sampdoria is an Italian football club based in the city of Genoa. They currently feature in the Italian Serie A and are relatively a new club in Italy and have won the scudetto only once in their history, the Coppa Italia four times and the Cup Winners’ Cup once.

Unione Calcio Sampdoria were formed on August 12 1946 after a merger between two top clubs in Genoa. The club did not make much headway for the three decades and played mostly in the Italian Serie B.

In 1979, oil businessman Paolo Mantovani took control of the club and took Sampdoria to the Italian Serie A in 1982. In 1982 the club won the Coppa Italia and that triggered a series of success for the club in the 1980s.

Sampdoria went on to win the Coppa Italia further in 1988,1989 and 1994. The club won its first and so far only scudetto in the ? season and also won the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1990.

In 1992 Sampdoria reached the final of the UEFA Champions League but lost to FC Barcelona 1-0 in the final at the Wembley Stadium.

But soon after that Sampdoria went into a decline and were relegated from the Italian Serie A in May 1999 and did not come back to the Italian top flight until 2002. But since their return, Sampdoria have been very much consistent in the Serie A and have featured in the UEFA Cup a number of times.

Sampdoria play their home matches at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, which can hold 36,536. They share the stadium with their local rivals Genoa. Sampdoria are popularly known as the Blucerchiati(blue-ringed).

Among Sampdoria’s main accomplishments are:

• 1 Serie A champions (1991)
• 2 Serie B champions
• 4 Coppa Italia
• Champions League final
• 1 UEFA Cup Winners Cup