Why The Former Serie A Champions Face Relegation To Serie C

Sampdoria is best remembered for winning the Italian Serie A title in the early 90s, and a European Cup Final appearance against the mighty Barcelona.

If you cast your mind back far enough, you’ll imagine Juan Sebastian Veron, Gianluca Vialli and Ruud Gullit parading around in an iconic blue kit with those red, white and black hoops.

Those were the glory days of world soccer. Serie A was widely acknowledged as the most prestigious league, one dripping with pedigree from top to bottom. Even Serie B – the Italian second division – was considered stronger than many of Europe’s domestic first divisions.

And in 2025, Serie B is where Sampdoria find themselves for a second consecutive season, locked in a battle for survival after winning just six of 31 matches.

Indeed, coach Leonardo Semplici is under intense pressure. The side he adopted sits in 17th (of 20 teams) in a competition where four of the bottom five suffer relegation.

Since U.C. Sampdoria was founded and admitted to Serie A in 1946, the Genoa-based club has never suffered a demotion lower than Serie B.

For Semplici, the struggle to avoid the drop to the third division – known as Serie C – is all too real. And after enduring an embarrassing 3-0 loss to Frosinone on Saturday, Samp fans summoned team members towards the stands where they unleashed a tirade of boos, whistles and insults.

Castigation is an Italian soccer tradition that occurs whenever a club underperforms. Big-name signings – Massimo Coda and Gennaro Tutino included – haven’t made the desired impact that sporting director Pietro Accardi expected.

In bars across the city, a volatile cocktail of panic and shame has now fueled Sampdoria’s army of loyal supporters, who are now at wits’ end.

Celebrated for filling the Gradinatas with incredible choreography, approximately 20,800 Doriani have attended each home match at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris in 2024-25, a league-high.

That could all change in the coming months should Semplici fail in his quest to keep them up. Adding to the chaos, only seven matches remain to rescue the season.

In Serie B, the clubs that finish in the bottom three (18th, 19th and 20th) are automatically demoted. Meanwhile, 16th and 17th, currently Mantova and Sampdoria, are thrown into a relegation playoff.

Imagine a sudden-death Final where the prize is merely keeping your spot in the league. The PlayOut loser subsequently becomes the fourth relegatedat witts endside. Last May, Bari secured salvation after beating Ternana 4-1 on aggregate.

The Unthinkable

During the 77-year post-war period, Sampdoria established itself as one of Serie A’s most famous clubs, with 64 seasons spent in the top flight.

Along with Juventus, Napoli, Roma, Lazio, Milan, and current champions Inter, Sampdoria is one of just seven Italian clubs that have won the coveted Scudetto over the past 35 seasons.

Losing on only three occasions throughout the 1990-91 campaign, Vujadin Boškov’s star-studded squad went 19 games unbeaten to clinch Sampdoria’s first-ever Serie A crown and qualify for the European Cup, known now as the UEFA Champions League.

Conversely, in 2024-25, the Blucerchiati are winless in 25 of 31 in Serie B.

Serie B is a notoriously tough league from which to achieve promotion. Just ask Salernitana and Frosinone, two newly-relegated teams from Serie A. Following defeat to Palermo on Sunday, the former occupies 19th position – a predicament far worse than Samp’s. Until March, Frosinone had spent 22 weeks in the drop zone until their recent four-game winning streak. The Canarini have since leapt over Sampdoria to safety.

Sampdoria’s capitulation to Frosinone is a microcosm of the past eight months. With the score tied at nil-nil, Coda has his penalty saved, awarded when Giuseppe Sibilli was brought down in the area. Heads dropped as quickly as Samp’s tenacity, leading to the concession of three goals by Ben Kone, Ilario Monterisi and Fares Ghedjemis.

The Merry-Go-Round

Understandably, coach Semplici’s tactics have been forensically investigated since taking charge. In his defence, the team’s performances have barely been affected despite three coaching changes this term.

Andrea Pirlo was sacked three games into the season. His successor, Andrea Sottil, lasted until mid-December. All three coaches instituted a variation of the 3-5-2 system.

Semplici has won only two of 15 matches, drawing nine and losing four. To compound the misery, Sampdoria have dropped 25 points from winning positions, the most of any team in the division.

In a season littered with regrets, the high point arrived early – September’s Coppa Italia victory over cross-town rival Genoa. Now that relegation could materialise, the chances of another Derby della Lanterna decrease significantly.

With the walls seemingly closing in, an array of pundits and fans are calling for the return of Pirlo, the man who led Samp’s rise from a similar position last year to the Serie B Playoffs. However, following the loss to Frosinone, Sporting Director Accardi asked for forgiveness from the fans before telling journalists he intends to stick it with his incumbent.

“I’m here today to show my face as I often do in difficult moments,” Accardi opened with. “This is truly a difficult moment for us today. We’ve probably hit rock bottom. I’m ashamed of what we’ve done.”

“I join the coach in apologising to our fans who don’t deserve games like these. Today, we got everything wrong.”

“I know well that Sampdoria is among the ten teams that have never been relegated to Serie C,” Accardi continued. “Today, we are not relegated. The championship is not over today. As I said before, there is an obligation for all of us to save Sampdoria.”

Salvation

Four of Sampdoria’s seven remaining games are away from home, starting with the Ligurian Derby against Spezia. Following that, there are six-pointers with Cittadella and Carrarese. The final day of the season could be decisive when 19th-placed Salernitana visit in early May.