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1912/13 Reports

Match facts:

Reading goals: Probably Joe Bailey (2), Ivor Brown, Jimmy Lofthouse (one report says Joe Bailey, Jimmy Lofthouse, A Burton, Ted Hanney)
Opposition goals: Attilio Fresia (2)
Half-time:
Attendance:
Weather: "Lovely"!
Referee: Willy Garbutt (manager of Genoa)

Reading line-up: Jack Smith (captain), Dr J H Burnham (goalkeeper), Joe Bailey, Ivor Brown, A Burton, Jimmy Lofthouse, Ted Hanney, Dave Willis, J Morris, plus probably Charlie Stevens and Jock Comrie
Subs: Probably not allowed, but the three travelling reserves were Fred Bartholomew, Joe Dickenson and Alan Foster
Genoa line-up: Attilio Fresia, four British players (probably four out of Hector Eastwood, John Grant, Percy Walsingham, Mitchell and MacPherson), plus six others not known

Match report:

Reports from the three local Reading papers will appear here eventually, plus any others I can find.

Match notes:

This was the first match of a five-game Italian tour. The Reading party arrived in Genoa at 6.30pm on the Saturday before the game, having left Reading early on Friday morning.

For some time it was thought that Reading's first game against foreign opposition was against a Dutch side in 1931 until a match against Canada in 1919 was unearthed. This match pushes back the date of our first game to 1913.

The match was played at Campo Morassi (also known as Campo Sportivo), which was Genoa's home ground. The stadium was on the same site as the Luigi Ferraris stadium that is the current home of both Genoa and Sampdoria. However, the pitch today is at right-angles to that of 1913 and the ground has been completely rebuilt twice since Reading's visit.

The Genoa goalscorer Attilio Fresia joined Reading during the 1913/14 season.

After the match, the travelling party attended a banquet held in their honour that evening.

Genoa Cricket and Athletic Club were formed in 1893 by a group of expatriate English businessmen. At the time they played Reading they had an English manager and five British players in the squad, so had close links to the English game. Mussolini forced the club to change their name to Genova AC during the 1930s but after the fall of fascism they reverted to the English spelling of the city's name, calling themselves Genoa 1893. In May 1994, the club played against Reading in a friendly match at Elm Park and won 4-1, but no-one realised that it was not the first meeting between the two sides.

Match preview:

Previews from the three local Reading papers will appear here eventually.

Ticket information:

Prices for the five games on the tour were generally from from the equivalent of 1s/8d to 4s. The minimum price at most games was 2 francs (1s/8d) - however, one or two were lower.

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