One of the professional football teams competing to win the Italian league, Serie A is Unione Calcio Sampdoria otherwise known as UC Sampdoria. The club which was founded in 1946 is based in Genoa.
The club came to be after two existing sports clubs, Sampierdarenese and Andrea Doria merged. Sampdoria also has three nicknames which are I Blucerchiati (The Blue-circled), La Samp and Il Doria. The club’s colors are blue with white, red and black hoops.
The chairman of the club is Massimo Ferrero while the cub is being managed by former Leicester City manager Claudio Ranieri. Sampdoria shares their home ground Stadio Luigi Ferraris with Genoa. It has a capacity of 36,536, The derby between the two teams is known as the Derby della Lanterna.
Sampdoria has won the Scudetto once in their history, in 1991. They have also won the Coppa Italia four times, in 1985, 1988, 1989 and 1994, and the Supercoppa Italiana once, in 1991. Their biggest European success was when they won the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1990.
Sampdoria supporters are mainly from the city of Genoa. The biggest group of fans are called the Ultras Tito Cucchiaroni,(named after an Argentinian left winger who played for Sampdoria). The group was founded in 1969, making it one of the oldest ultra groups in Italy.
The club has won the Scudetto once in their history, in 1991. The club has also won the Coppa Italia four times, in 1985, 1988, 1989 and 1994, and the Supercoppa Italiana once, in 1991. Their biggest European success came when they won the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1990. They also reached the European Cup final in 1992, losing the final 1–0 to Barcelona after extra time.
In 1979, the club, then playing Serie B, was acquired by oil businessman Paolo Mantovani (1930–1993), who invested in the team to bring Sampdoria to the top flights. In 1982, Sampdoria made their Serie A return and won their first Coppa Italia in 1985. The club won their second Coppa Italia in 1988, being admitted to the 1988–89 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, where they reached the final, losing 2–0 to Barcelona.
A second consecutive triumph in the Coppa Italia gave Sampdoria a spot in the 1989–90 Cup Winners’ Cup, which they won after defeating Anderlecht after extra time in the final. This was followed only one year later by their first (and, as of the 2017–18 season, only) Scudetto, being crowned as Serie A champions with a five-point advantage over second-placed Internazionale.
The winning team featured several notable players, such as Gianluca Pagliuca, Gianluca Vialli, Roberto Mancini, Toninho Cerezo, Pietro Vierchowod and Attilio Lombardo. In the following season, Sampdoria reached the European Cup final and was defeated once again by Barcelona, at Wembley Stadium.
Since this period, Sampdoria has made a limited number of appearances in European cup competitions. During the 1994–95 campaign, they reached the semi-finals of the 1994–95 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup before being eliminated on penalties in a memorable tie against Arsenal. The club also participated in the 1997–98 UEFA Cup but was eliminated by Athletic Bilbao in the first round.
The 2005–06 season also proved to be a significant one, with Sampdoria returning to European competition for the first time since their promotion back to Serie A, with the club narrowly missing out on the UEFA Champions League qualification, instead of entering the UEFA Cup. During this campaign, the team was minutes away from qualification to the round of 32 when Lens eliminated them following a 2–1 defeat.
The club also took part in the 2007–08 UEFA Cup, entering via the UEFA Intertoto Cup. However, it was a short and disappointing campaign, with Sampdoria being eliminated on the away goals rule by Aalborg BK in the first round. Participation in recent seasons in the UEFA Europa League was marked by several defeats by Metalist Kharkiv and a lack of consistent play.
The highest-paid player in Sampdoria is striker and club captain Fabio Quagliarella. The Italian international earns €43,000 per week.
UC Sampdoria Players Salaries 2020
Player Name | Age | Weekly Salary | Contract Until |
Fabio Quagliarella | 26 | €43,000 | 2020 |
Albin Ekdal | 30 | €39,000 | 2021 |
Gaston Ramirez | 28 | €39,000 | 2021 |
Omar Colley | 26 | €34,000 | 2022 |
Emil Audero | 22 | €29,000 | 2023 |
Jakub Jankto | 23 | €29,000 | 2023 |
Emiliano Rigoni | 26 | €27,000 | 2020 |
Jeison Murillo | 27 | €27,000 | 2023 |
Manolo Gabbiadini | 27 | €27,000 | 2023 |
Gianluca Caprari | 26 | €27,000 | 2022 |
Ronaldo Viera | 21 | €27,000 | 2023 |
Nicola Murru | 24 | €25,000 | 2022 |
Edgar Barreto | 35 | €21,500 | 2020 |
Gonzalo Maroni | 20 | €18,500 | 2020 |
Federico Bonazzoli | 22 | €18,000 | 2021 |
Karol Linetty | 24 | €18,000 | 2021 |
Vasco Regini | 29 | €18,000 | 2021 |
Bartosz Bereszynski | 27 | €16,000 | 2023 |
Alex Ferrari | 25 | €14,500 | 2023 |
Morten Thorsby | 23 | €12,000 | 2023 |
Julian Chabot | 21 | €11,000 | 2024 |
Fabio Depaoli | 22 | €10,500 | 2024 |
Mehdi Leris | 21 | €10,000 | 2024 |
Tommaso Augello | 25 | €9,000 | 2020 |
Andrea Seculin | 29 | €6,500 | 2020 |
Wladimiro Falcone | 24 | €3,000 | 2020 |
Kaique Rocha | 18 | €2,000 | 2024 |