Meet the Italian football club with English roots managed by an Arsenal legend… who are attracting new fans with BMX stunts, Rita Ora kit modelling, and Squid Game guards!

When Tottenham allowed masked Squid Game guards to roam their stadium before a 6-3 thrashing by Liverpool in December, the stunt didn’t go down well with a frustrated fanbase. 

The mood music was that, as they say, ‘the game has gone’. Fans typically prize tradition over modernity; uniqueness over pop culture; good, old-fashioned pies over, well, some Netflix gimmick. 

It’s all the more surprising, then, that Genoa pulled off the same stunt the day before with resounding success. 

Manager Patrick Vieira was smiling as the guards welcomed him off the coach. Kids were bolting across the pitch, imitating the infamous ‘Red Light, Green Light’ game from the Netflix series. Adults were posing in the stands with the guards for the stadium fan cam. They had found a way to make it fun.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Genoa, Italy’s oldest club, are on a mission to combine their rich history with modernity and connect with fans in a new way.

It’s an exciting venture at a time when Italian clubs need to think outside the box. Stadia across the country are in decline. TV rights are flogged for half the price Sky, TNT and others pay to show the Premier League. For Genoa, rethinking the way they connect with supporters – and catching the eyes of calcio lovers abroad – is pivotal. 

The club has partnered with celebrities such as Rita Ora to promote their jerseys 

Earlier this season, a Squid Game stunt went down well – even if it didn’t at Tottenham!

That’s why you get stunt bikers (including Kriss Kyle) riding through the stands of the Stadio Luigi Ferraris on matchday for a partnership with Red Bull. 

Or how about Rita Ora modelling the club’s shirt on its 130th anniversary and sharing it with her 16.1 million Instagram followers? 

Even world No 8 tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas has got in on the act. At a match against Roma earlier this season, fans clapped and cheered as the athlete – helpfully a supporter himself – rocked up and started taking free kicks.  

Joining forces with some of the world’s biggest brands, celebrities, and sports stars help Genoa reach a new audience, but it takes some guts to take the plunge. 

Genoa CFC are a club steeped in history. They were initially founded in 1893 as a cricket and athletics club – the first C in their name still pays tribute to the cricketing aspect – but football became the dominant section in 1897 thanks to the work of James Richardson Spensley.

Spensley, a doctor from London who also, coincidentally, worked for the Daily Mail, was the football team’s first-ever manager and is considered among the ‘Fathers of Italian Football’. English flags still adorn the stadium in homage to the club’s English heritage. 

The point is, introducing bold new ideas at a grand old club is a risk, particularly when they haven’t finish in the top half of Serie A for almost a decade, and even got relegated during that time. Why not fix the football side first?, the cynics would ask.

But it has paid off. The fans have bought into the atmosphere and, as one club source puts it, a ‘new language’ of communicating with them.

Genoa are trying to combine their rich tradition with a new way of engaging with global fans

Bringing in stunt bikers for a partnership with Red Bull provided entertainment for fans

In March they released a kit celebrating Boca Juniors’ 120th anniversary – immigrants from Genoa founded the club

The occasional English flag can still be spotted at Genoa in homage to the club’s founders

Patrick Vieira is leading the club into a new era after their instant return to Serie A 

The team’s media executives have been give free reign to joke around and peel away the layers of seriousness that can stifle football communications. 

Like Burnley have gained popularity for their wacky transfer announcement videos in England, so too have Genoa in Italy. 

Mario Balotelli’s signing in the summer was shared with a video of him as a Super Mario character.

The former Manchester City and Liverpool striker, 34, also modelled their special edition black kit over the summer as part of the ‘Golden Dark Side of Genoa’ campaign to celebrate the city’s diverse culture. 

Another project came in March when Genoa released a fourth kit celebrating the 120th anniversary of Boca Juniors, the Argentine side founded by immigrants from Genoa.   

In a footballing world where change is all around us – think super stadiums, extortionate money, competition expansion, and VAR – Genoa want to cling to their heritage while embracing the future.