There are two football teams in Genova. They both play here. The teams are called Sampdoria and Genoa. I have decided to support Genoa, because of the many parallels to Palace:

• Palace play in red and blue. Genoa play in red and blue. And white.
  
• Genoa is the oldest football club in Italy. Crystal Palace are the only founder members of the FA still playing in the league under their original name.
  
• Both clubs were founded by Englishmen
  

Actually, the divide here works pretty much along the lines of man city/man u. The locals in the city almost all support Genoa, and Sampdoria are supported by people from the surrounding area, and further afield, who just want to support a side that wins a lot. Having said that, Samp. have had a pretty poor time recently. When I last saw them, in the last game of the season last year against Venice, they were rubbish, but it has since become clear that Venice bought that game to make sure they stayed in serie B. That happens a lot in Italian football.

Didn't get to the gig last night - Claudio, my lift into town, pulled out of going.