By Olaitan Ibrahim
Sampdoria dropped down to the third tier of Italian football for the first time on Tuesday after a goalless draw with Juve Stabia consigned them to the lowest point in their history.
Italian champions in 1991 and European Cup finalists the following year, Samp finished 18th and in the direct relegation zone for Serie C after collecting 41 points from 38 games.
Tuesday’s draw allowed Salernitana to leapfrog Samp into one of two relegation play-off places with a 2-0 win at Cittadella.
Samp, who posted a loss of 40.7 million euros in their 2024 accounts, have spent the last few seasons dealing with serious financial problems and have spent this season sinking towards the drop after making the Serie B play-offs last season.
The club’s majority shareholder is Singaporean businessman Joseph Tey.
Club icons Alberico Evani and Attilio Lombardo were hired as coaches in April in an attempt to save Samp from the drop after significant transfer market activity both last summer and in January.
Evani is Samp’s fourth head coach of the season after Andrea Pirlo, Andrea Sottil and Leonardo Semplice.