23.8.14

Genoa Cricket & Athletic Club



When Genoa Cricket & Athletic Club won the first of its national championships in 1898 it retained many features of its origins as an English institution. The club jerseys for example, were white, and the manager was an Englishman- Dr James Richardson Spensley.  Dr Spensley's association with the club began in  1897, effectively heralding its beginnings as a serious football club (from the foundation in 1893 the football had been casual, secondary to cricket and athletics). Initially membership of the club had been open only to Englishmen (I'm assuming this covered all Britons), but by 1898 there was a more cosmopolitain air- the championship winning side being made up as follows:

William Baird
England
Ernesto De Galleani
Italy
Fausto Ghigliotti
Italy
Edoardo Pasteur
Italy
James R. Spensley
England
Ettore Wallys Ghiglione
Italy
Robert Al Leaver
England
Giovanni Bocciardo
Italy
Henri Arthur Dapples
Switzerland
Silvio Pietro Bertollo
Italy
John Quertier Le Pelley
Guernsey