The 1922 Coppa Italia was the first edition of the national domestic tournament cup in Italian football. Thirty-seven teams entered the tournament, which ran between 2 April and 16 July 1922. Vado win in the final, the only national domestic title in its history.
Background Proposals for an Italian football cup were made many times before WWI, without a tournament coming to pass. In 1921, when all major clubs resigned from the FIGC to establish the country's first football league, FIGC as a response decided to create a cup competition to recognize the championship.
The fixture assignments for the first Coppa Italia were difficult, given the number of teams admitted to the tournament (37), which did not allow for a normal knockout format. As a result, it was necessary to award several teams with byes. Almost every team was from Northern Italy, with Livorno being the southernmost club allowed to participate.
With the victory of the outsider Vado which competed in the Promozione, the Ligurians became the first club to win the country's premier national domestic tournament cup. The club won the competition despite not playing in the top division; an achievement that has only ever been equaled on one other occasion in the tournament's history, by Napoli in the 1961–62 Coppa Italia.
The cup was not considered a distinguished tournament at the time, as the top clubs did not take part and only clubs from Northern Italy participating. Many of the participating clubs withdrew from the competition to avoid disrupting their regular season.
Reunification of the Football Association and the Football League caused the tournament not to resume until the 1935-36 edition.
Participating teams The teams retired from the competition before the first round are marked in italics.
Prima Categoria and Coppa Giulia Piedmont
Novese Pastore US Torinese Valenzana
Ligury
Rivarolese Calcio Sestrese Speranza Genoa Spes GenovaLombardy
A.C. Libertas Enotria Goliardo Juventus Italia Saronno Trevigliese
Veneto
Treviso UdineseEmilia
Carpi Parma US Mantovana Virtus Bologna
Tuscany
C.S. Firenze Libertas Firenze Lucchese Pro LivornoVenezia Giulia The most important Julian teams took part in a regional tournament called "Coppa Giulia", separated from the national Prima Categoria Edera Trieste Triestina
Promozione Piedmont
Aeronautica Torino Vercellesi Erranti
Ligury
Fiorente Genova Molassana Boero VadoLombardy
Crema RC Codogno Fanfulla
Veneto
Union FeltreseEmilia
Forlì F.C. Casalecchio
Tuscany
Audace Livorno
First round Treviso received a bye due to a drawing; Libertas Firenze and Pro Livorno received byes due to fixture congestion.
Home team Score Away teamAudace Livorno 0-2Federal decision.Molassana Casalecchio 0-2CarpiCrema 4-1CodognoFanfulla 2-1 Libertas MilanoForti e Liberti Forlì 3-0MantovanaJuventus Italia 2-0 Enotria GenovaLucchese 9-0 CS FirenzeNovese 6-0 Aeronautica TorinoRivarolese 2-0Sestrese Spes Genova 0-1Speranza Savona Trevigliese 0-1 (aet)Saronno Triestina 0-2 Edera TriesteUdinese 4–0 FeltreseVado 4-3 (aet) FiorenteValenzana 2-1 Pastore Torino Vercellese 0-1US TorineseVirtus Bologna 1-0Parma
Second round Libertas Firenze and Pro Livorno received byes due to fixture congestion.
Home teamScoreAway teamCrema1-2Speranza SavonaFanfulla1-4NoveseForti e Liberti Forlì4-0TrevisoJuventus Italia3-0US TorineseLucchese5-0RivaroleseVado5-1MolassanaValenzana1-0SaronnoVirtus Bologna1-0CarpiEdera Trieste0-4Udinese
Third round Libertas Firenze, Novese, Pro Livorno and Speranza Savona received byes due to fixture congestion; Udinese received a bye due to the absence of competitors.
Home teamScoreAway teamLucchese4-0Virtus BolognaVado2-0Juventus ItaliaValenzana3-0Forti e Liberti Forlì
Quarter-finals Home teamScoreAway teamLibertas Firenze2-0ValenzanaNovese0-2UdineseSperanza Savona1-2LucchesePro Livorno0-1Vado
Semi-finals Home team Score Away teamVado 1-0 (aet) Libertas FirenzeUdinese 1–0Lucchese
Final
Top goalscorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Ernesto BoninoLucchese62 Virgilio LevrattoVado53 Gian Antonio MaggiJuventus Italia4
References
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