There was nothing pretty about Sampdoria last season but they have produced a real thing of beauty to celebrate an important date in their history.

With their Serie B status secured for another campaign – after the most dramatic and controversial finish to 2024-25 – the Blucerchiati have delved into the annals for something far more uplifting, releasing a limited-edition kit to mark the 40th anniversary of their 1985 Coppa Italia triumph, the club’s first trophy.

Produced by Macron, the shirt is inspired by the one they wore in the final against AC Milan, with its distinctive v-neck collar and the Coppa Italia winners’ badge. The date July 3, 1985 is stitched on the back of the collar.

Only 500 have been produced and the jersey, which comes in a special box, is available on the Sampdoria and Macron websites and at the SampCity store in Genoa.

“You never forget the first time, and it deserves to be celebrated properly,” the club said in a statement. “We cannot go back in time, but we can make an instant last forever. Forty years ago, on July 3, Sampdoria lifted the first trophy in their history into the Marassi sky: the 1984-85 Coppa Italia.

“On July 3, 2025, the Blucerchiati are unveiling a special kit to commemorate that success, which effectively marked the beginning of Paolo Mantovani’s ‘Golden Samp’ era of victories.”

Graeme Souness scored the only goal of the game as Sampdoria won the first leg at the San Siro against Milan on June 30, before Roberto Mancini put the Blucerchiati ahead from the spot shortly before half-time three days later.

Gianluca Vialli added a second on the hour mark and although Milan pulled one back five minutes later through Pietro Paolo Virdis, the Blucerchiati ran out 3-1 winners on aggregate.

It was the beginning of an era of extraordinary success for Mantovani, who had bought the club six years earlier from Glauco Lolli Ghetti, a fellow oil magnate.

A Rome native, Genoa always seemed to be in Mantovani’s destiny from the moment a Genoese company, Carmeli Petroli, hired him aged 18. Seven years later, Mantovani was offered a position as broker in the firm’s Ligurian headquarters.

As he accepted the offer, little did Mantovani know it would prove a sliding-doors moment, not just for him but for Italian football as a whole.

Just over two decades after swapping the Eternal City for the Ligurian Sea, Mantovani joined Sampdoria as press officer, famously keeping a file on every journalist covering the team, rating their articles.

He left in 1976 and by the time he returned three years later he had built an empire.

With Sampdoria approaching their third consecutive season in Serie B and faltering under the weight of 35bn lira worth of debt, he brought the club back on an even keel and embarked on a drastic overhaul in his first two seasons in charge.

Sampdoria sold 16 players and signed just as many, cycling through four different managers before Renzo Ulivieri restored them to Serie A at the first time of asking.

As far as Mantovani was concerned, it was merely the start.

“For many years now at Sampdoria, we have been specialists in suffering,” he said after Doria beat Genoa in the Derby della Lanterna in 1983. “Now, we’re trying to specialise in joy.”

Mantovani stayed true to his word. In their first four seasons back in the top flight, Sampdoria welcomed a dazzling list of talent to Genoa.

In 1982, Liam Brady and Trevor Francis arrived from Juventus and Manchester City respectively, while Souness joined from reigning European champions Liverpool in 1984.

But there was more to Sampdoria sporting director Paolo Borea than flashy signings, specifically an eye for youth which translated in the arrivals of a 17-year-old Mancini in 1982 and a 20-year-old Vialli two years later.

By then Eugenio Bersellini had replaced Ulivieri, returning to Marassi seven years after leaving Genoa. Seventh in Serie A in Ulivieri’s last two seasons in charge, Sampdoria finished fourth in Bersellini’s first campaign and topped their group in the qualifying phase of the Coppa Italia.

Two goals from Vialli secured a 2-1 win at Pisa in the first leg of the round of 16, before Fausto Pari and Evaristo Beccalossi sealed a comfortable 2-0 victory at Marassi.

In the following round, a goalless draw at Torino was followed by a thrilling affair in Genoa. Pietro Vierchowod opened the scoring for Samp in the first half before Francis converted a penalty to seemingly put them in the semi-finals, only for Giovanni Francini and Antonio Comi to score twice in two minutes as the Granata drew level.

No sooner had Torino celebrated their second than Francis put Sampdoria ahead again, before Mancini put the game to bed late on.

Francis was again on target in the semi against Fiorentina, converting a penalty to double the advantage after an own goal from Leonardo Occhipinti. Vialli added a third before Claudio Pellegrini’s consolation saw Sampdoria progress to the final 3-1 on aggregate.

Then came Milan and Sampdoria’s first trophy. Six more would follow in the next decade, most famously the Scudetto in 1991.

“The perhaps utopian aspiration that inspires our club today is to make it strong, very strong in all its structures, so that once this reality takes off, it can be maintained for the future as well,” Mantovani once reflected.

For a decade at least, that utopia turned into reality. As Sampdoria said on Thursday, you’ll never forget the first time.