Love letter to Sampdoria's jersey

When there are just a few hours left to the Derby, a quiet silence, almost a surreal silence, starts to lower on the city of Genoa. It keeps going for half a day and then explodes in a roar of chants and colors when the two teams take the pitch, with the supporters at the Luigi Ferraris that starts one of the best shows you can possibly see in a stadium. Saturday night, after a half day of surreal silence, there will be the kickoff of the 116th Derby Della Lanterna and nss sports wanted to ask Riccardo, a Sampdoria supporter, which are the best shirts he can remember in the history of the Blucerchiati, as the team is acknowledged worldwide for its shirts. Here what he has to say: 

1991/92, Home

When you talk about 1991, a tear runs on every Sampdoria fan’s face. The Tricolore on Vialli and Mancini’s chest remains one of the most moving and romantic pages of Italian football. It’s the year of the extraordinary and unimaginable run to the Champions League final, lost against Barcelona, when the “Goal Twins”, managed by Boskov, had to surrender to the missile free-kick by Ronald Koeman. Without any doubt, this is The Sampdoria Shirt and there’s a reason if it’s considered the most beautiful in the world.

1995/96, Home

It was the 1995/96 season, and Sampdoria could praise some characters like Walter Zenga, Sinisa Mihajlovic, and of course, Roberto Mancini, within the squad, with a couple of quite interesting youngsters, that in a few years would’ve proven themselves worthy in the football world, like Clarence Seedorf, Christian Karembeu, and a devastating Enrico Chiesa. It looked like a great team, that unfortunately didn’t hold up on expectations, just reaching the 8th place in the league. But the famous shirt branded by Asics and sponsored by “Nuova Tirrenia” is surely one of the most beloved by Blucerchiati supporters.

1998/99, Away

The 1998/99 season is one of the worst ever for all Blucerchiati supporters, without any doubt. The team managed by Luciano Spalletti, that had some players like Ariel Ortega and Vincenzo Montella, starts and end its season against Bologna. It starts with the elimination from the Intertoto Cup and ends with the relegation to Serie B, with the sadly famous penalty from Ingesson at the 94th minute. But even with the sad outcome of Sampdoria’s season, all the supporters associate that team with this beautiful away kit, embellished by a massive blue “Baciccia” on the back, with the numbers inside. It’s unlikely that any Samp supporters won’t love this “melancholically wonderful” jersey.

2002/03, Home

It’s the year of the superb promotion to the Serie A after four years in the second tier. It’s the 2002/03 season, Riccardo Garrone had just created a great team, managed by Walter Novellino and led by the “New Goal Twins”. It will be a triumphal run, ended with the 3-1 victory at “Marassi” against Cagliari, with the goals scored by the two leaders themselves, Francesco Flachi and Fabio Bazzani. The usual Asics brand will feature the appreciated return of the “ERG” sponsor on the chest, while a particularity will be the thin perpendicular white stripes with the Blucerchiate ones. A massive jersey for our colors.

2006, 60th Anniversary shirt

To celebrate its 60th anniversary, Samp chose to wear a nice vintage kit, also with white laces on the neck collar, during a friendly match played at Luigi Ferraris against Peñarol. It was the first time with the Blucerchiati for a young Fabio Quagliarella, that that day started to show some of his talents to the “Doriani”. It was the year of his explosion, between goals from the midfield and amazing bicycle goals.