Scudetto to brink of Serie C - where did it go wrong for Sampdoria?

Italy has much than its just stock of iconic shot clubs. AC Milan. Inter Milan. Juventus. Napoli. Lazio. Roma. These institutions rotation disconnected the tongue.

For galore English fans of Italian football, peculiarly those whose emotion of calcio tin beryllium traced backmost to Channel 4's 'Football Italia', Sampdoria beryllium connected that list.

In the decennary betwixt 1984 and 1994 Sampdoria won six large titles, portion Trevor Francis, Roberto Mancini, Gianluca Vialli, Ruud Gullit and David Platt each wore the club's iconic strip.

The Blucerchiati of that play acquired a taste cachet that was hard to match.

Yet aft years of turbulence Sampdoria, Serie A winners successful 1991, are 180 minutes from the unthinkable - relegation to the Italian 3rd tier for the archetypal clip successful the club's history.

Where did it each spell wrong?

Unusually for a nine with specified a ample cult following, Sampdoria are comparative newcomers to the Italian shot landscape.

The bluish Italian larboard metropolis of Genoa has a arrogant footballing practice -Sampdoria's metropolis rivals Genoa Cricket and Football Club were founded successful 1893 and are the oldest progressive squad successful Italy.

The astir caller of Genoa's 9 top-flight titles came 21 years earlier Sampdoria were formed successful 1946, pursuing a merger of middling Genoese clubs Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria.

That unification produced their iconic location shirts - the bluish represents Andrea Doria, portion the white, reddish and achromatic mid-section came from Sampierdarenese.

Sampdoria person ever shared a crushed - the Stadio Luigi Ferraris - with neighbours Genoa, but for 38 years did not bask the benignant of occurrence befitting of 1 of Italy's grandest arenas.

Everything changed successful 1984.

Before the 1984-85 season, Sampdoria's lone honour was the 1966-67 2nd part title.

Yet implicit the adjacent decennary the nine won the Coppa Italia 4 times - much than immoderate different broadside during that play - were crowned Serie A champions, won the European Cup Winners' Cup and played successful a European Cup final.

After assuming the nine presidency successful 1979, Paolo Mantovani was the antheral who turned an unfashionable mid-table squad into serial winners.

Having made his wealth successful the lipid business, Mantovani spent heavy but smartly to propel Sampdoria to unprecedented heights.

Big names similar Francis, Graeme Souness and Liam Brady were signed, but it was the recruitment of immoderate of the champion young Italian talents that truly paid off.

A 17-year-old Mancini arrived from Bologna successful 1982, followed 2 years aboriginal by a 19-year-old Vialli from Cremonese.

Nicknamed the 'goal twins' due to the fact that of their prolific attacking partnership, some scored successful the 2nd limb of the 1984-85 Coppa Italia final, the archetypal large rubric successful Sampdoria's history.

Mancini and Vialli archetypal met astatine 16 erstwhile playing for Italy's younker teams and formed a adjacent relationship that characterised the unity successful the Sampdoria squad.

"We person a narration that goes mode beyond friendship," Mancini said earlier Vialli's decease from pancreatic crab successful 2023. "He's astir similar a member to me."

Along with goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca, defender Pietro Vierchowod, attacking right-back Moreno Mannini, midfield anchor Fausto Pari and electrical winger Attilio Lombardo, the duo formed the backbone of a squad that won 3 much Coppa Italia titles - and the club's archetypal and lone Scudetto successful 1990-91 nether legendary manager Vujadin Boskov.

"Mantovani cultivated a singular camaraderie among a uniquely talented group," says Italian shot writer Stephen Kasiewicz.

"Despite much lucrative offers, the halfway of the squad stayed together."

Boskov's broadside won the European Cup Winners' Cup successful 1990, and mislaid to Johan Cruyff's Barcelona 'dream team' successful the European Cup last 2 years aboriginal astatine Wembley.

But thing lasts forever.

Mantovani's decease successful 1993 was "the opening of the extremity astatine Sampdoria", according to Italian shot writer David Ferrini.

He added: "Mantovani's reign attracted endowment and kept them blessed successful Genoa, but his passing - combined with the hangover of the Scudetto occurrence - meant that Sampdoria's champion players became premier transportation targets."

In 1992 they had mislaid Vialli to Juventus for a past satellite grounds £12m, portion Inter Milan paid £7m for Pagliuca successful 1994, a grounds for a goalkeeper astatine the time.

Vierchowod joined Juventus 12 months aboriginal earlier Mancini followed Sven-Goran Eriksson - who had replaced Boskov arsenic manager successful 1992 - to Lazio successful 1997.

Experienced stars Gullit and Platt joined for little spells, but Sampdoria nary longer had the aforesaid entreaty they erstwhile did.

Enrico Mantovani took implicit arsenic president but failed to replicate his father's occurrence - and a dependable diminution followed the Coppa Italia triumph of 1993-94. In 1999 the nine were relegated to Serie B.

Things improved nether the presidency of section entrepreneur Riccardo Garrone, who guided them backmost to Serie A successful 2003 and signed aboriginal cult heroes Fabio Quagliarella and Antonio Cassano.

Yet the highlights of the 21st Century person been losing the Coppa Italia last successful 2008-09 and a fourth-place league decorativeness the pursuing year.

Outspoken movie shaper Massimo Ferrero bought the nine successful 2014 - taking connected its increasing debts - but what followed was 7 years of selling their champion players, spending small connected replacements and flirting with relegation connected a regular basis.

"He seemed much acrophobic with bolstering his ain image, arsenic the bizarre prima of his ain one-man world shot show, than making definite Samp prospered," says Kasiewicz.

In December 2021 Ferrero was arrested and enactment successful jailhouse arsenic portion of an probe into firm crimes and bankruptcy, unrelated to the club. He resigned arsenic president.

"The nine efficaciously ceased to function. It's been similar a location of cards," says Nima Tavallaey, Italian shot writer and co-host of the Italian Football Podcast.

With nary funds disposable and Ferrero refusing to relinquish control, Sampdoria narrowly avoided relegation from Serie A successful 2022. But successful 2023 they did spell down, amid reports of unpaid subordinate wages.

With the nine staring down the tube of bankruptcy and demotion to the 4th tier, a consortium led by erstwhile Leeds United proprietor Andrea Radrizzani and London-based financier Matteo Manfredi - and his institution Gestio Capital - bought the club, though Radrizzani has since divested his shares.

Gestio Capital and its investors power 99.96% of the club, with concern conveyance Kickoff Ventures owning 58% of the shares.

Kickoff Ventures is owned by Singaporean businessman Joseph Tey Wei Jin.

Italian World Cup victor Andrea Pirlo was hired arsenic manager successful 2023-24.

After a dismal commencement to the campaign, his broadside won 7 of their last 11 games to unafraid a seventh-place decorativeness successful Serie B and a spot successful the promotion play-offs, wherever they mislaid 2-0 to Palermo successful the preliminary round.

Gestio invested astir £45m during their archetypal season, but things person not gone according to program this term.

In the period earlier Sampdoria's play-off exit, Manfredi had described Pirlo arsenic "a cardinal portion of the project" - yet 3 games into the existent run helium was dismissed pursuing 2 defeats and a draw.

Andrea Sottil replaced him and, though helium oversaw a Coppa Italia punishment shootout triumph against Genoa successful the archetypal Derby della Lanterna successful 2 years, helium was jettisoned excessively aft conscionable 4 wins successful 14 games.

Leonardo Semplici arrived successful December but, with the nine successful the driblet zone, a 3-0 location decision by Frosinone astatine the extremity of March was the tipping constituent for the fans arsenic patience with Semplici ran out.

The squad autobus carrying Semplici and his Sampdoria players was pelted by stones and flares by aggravated supporters aft the lucifer astatine the Luigi Ferraris stadium.

Semplici was relieved of his duties successful April, with Alberico Evani - the club's 4th manager of the play - tasked with keeping them up.

Things began promisingly for Evani with nine fable Attilio Lombardo successful arsenic adjunct and different Sampdoria icon successful Roberto Mancini helping successful an unofficial capacity.

Evani began with a 1-0 triumph implicit chap strugglers Cittadella, but 3 draws, a decision and conscionable 1 triumph since past did not look similar being capable to support them up.

Sampdoria were fixed a lifeline erstwhile Brescia - who finished the play successful the relegation play-off places - were deducted 4 points implicit fiscal irregularities and relegated successful Sampdoria's place, pending appeal.

It means Sampdoria volition person to bushed Salernitana implicit a two-legged relegation play-off to debar the drop.

For Tavallaey, Sampdoria indispensable present commencement again with a "proper project" successful spot to instrumentality the nine to its erstwhile glories.

He said: "They person to physique a due task with a due sporting directorship and a due manager to assistance them backmost to Serie A. They're a sleeping beauty."

This nonfiction was archetypal published successful March 2025.