Genoa Cricket and Football Club, commonly referred to simply as Genoa (Italian pronunciation), is a professional Italian football and cricket club based in the city of Genoa, Liguria.
During their long history, Genoa have won the Serie A nine times. Genoa's first title came at the inaugural championship in 1898 and their last was in 1923–24. They also won the Coppa Italia once. Historically, Genoa is the fourth most successful Italian club in terms of championships won.
This slew of early successes may lie at the origin of the love professed for the team by the godfather of Italian sports journalists Gianni Brera (1919–1992), who, despite having been born nowhere near Genoa, always declared himself a supporter of the team. Brera went as far as creating the nickname Vecchio Balordo (Old Fool or Cranky Old One) for Genoa.
The club has played its home games at the 36,536 capacity Stadio Luigi Ferraris since 1911. Since 1946, the ground has been shared with local rivals Sampdoria. Genoa has spent most of its post-war history going up and down between Serie A and Serie B, with two brief spells in Serie C.
Stadio Comunale Luigi Ferraris, also known as the Marassi from the name of the neighbourhood where it is located, is a multi-use stadium in Genoa, Italy. It opened in 1911 and is one of the oldest stadiums still in use for football and other sports in Italy. Aside from football, the stadium has hosted meetings of rugby in the Italian national team and, more rarely, some concerts.
It was originally built by Genoa C.F.C. in 1909, and maintained as their private property. In 1933, the stadium was named after the former Genoa captain, Luigi Ferraris. During World War II it was passed to municipal ownership. It is currently used for football matches for Genoa and (since 1946) Sampdoria. It also plays host to rugby union matches. It holds 36,703 spectators.