Sampdoria

When telling the story of a kit, there is usually a good amount of interpretation involved. How did the club arrive at such a colour scheme and design? Where does their crest come from? Why are they sponsored by this particular organisation? These are all questions that need to be answered, and answering them takes effort. However, Sampdoria’s 2017/18 kit requires little by way of research. In many ways, the kit tells its own story, and simply by looking at it from a few different angles one can easily gleam information about the club’s past and present.

Origins of the Sampdoria Colour Scheme

The most visually striking element of the kit is the colour scheme. It’s well-known, and it’s the height of football fashion. The base colour of the shirt is a dark blue, with a thick white horizontal stripe across the midriff. Within that stripe are two more horizontal stripes – one red, one black. These colours are both style and substance – they look good, and they also hint at the club’s origins.

29th September 2017. By Edward Stratmann.
Going into their intriguing contest with AC Milan on the weekend, Sampdoria manager, Marco Giampaolo, spoke of how his team would need to produce their best to defeat Vincenzo Montella's expensively assembled squad.

Having done his due diligence and in his words "hammered" his team with video analysis of how to combat the Rossoneri, Giampaolo was absolutely delighted that his team put in such a fantastic performance to dismantle their highly fancied opposition 2-0.

So pleased was the Swiss manager, in fact, that he even described the victory as the finest from his time at the helm of the Blucerchiati. "This was the best performance since I've been here," he gleamed after the game. "The match was excellent from every point of view.

"I'm pleased for everybody, the players, the club and our fans. Can we compete against the big clubs? There's still time and I'm looking for even more improvements. We were consistent throughout the whole game today, which

21st October 2016. By Edward Stratmann.
Having spent the best part of 10 years with his boyhood club, Lech Poznan, highly talented starlet, Karol Linetty, knew it was time to test himself in one of Europe's big five leagues.

Although the 21-year-old had attracted interest from the likes of Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Club Brugge, Sampdoria were the ones who jumped in first to sign the Polish international. Moving to a club like Samp was without doubt a logical choice for his development, for had he gone to a bigger club, he knew his playing time would've been dramatically effected.

Poznan vice president, Piotr Rutkowski, was quick to wish Linetty all the best for the future, whilst also noting what a tremendous talent he's grown into, saying: "We are proud that our pupil has found favor in the eyes of many Western clubs. Karol is a professional in every way, well aware of this at what stage of his career is now and where he wants to be in a few years. They trust him also at Sampdoria

In the past few years, the power dynamic in the Italian Serie A has shifted noticeably. Of course, Juventus have stayed on top with little trouble, but the decline of both Inter Milan and AC Milan-major football clubs that won league titles as recently as 2010 and 2011 (respectively)-has left something a vacuum near the top of the table. A number of football clubs have spent the past two or three seasons jockeying for position and trying to worm their way into the top five, from AS Roma to Lazio and Fiorentina.

UC Sampdoria have also been pulling out all of the stops in recent years, though the Genoa-based soccer club hasn't yet seen as much success as Roma, Lazio or Fiorentina. Still, while Sampdoria haven't found their way into the Serie A top five just yet (they finished seventh for the 2014 2015 season), their narrative arc has still been impressive to watch. So what are Sampdoria prospects for 2015 - 2016? Can they edge into the Serie A top 5?

A Rise from the Ashes

Even since then,