Geo Davidson

Pentecost, certificates and championship pennant from Geo Davidson in the Museo della Storia del Genoa

George "Geo" Davidson (born September 6, 1865 in Letham , United Kingdom , † February 21, 1956 in Rapallo ) was an Italian cyclist , sports official, pioneer of Italian cycling and football and entrepreneur.

Cycling career

Geo Davidson was born in Scotland and came to Genoa with his family in 1873 when he was eight . He was a versatile athlete and did cycling, fencing and athletics in the Società Ligure Ginnastica Cristoforo Colombo , the oldest sports club in Genoa, of which he was also chairman. In 1886 he was on the unicycle Italian champion in the road race . Davidson was also president of the Italian cycling federation Unione Velocipedistica Italiana from 1915 to 1927 and as such a member of the competition court at the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris .

In Rapallo, where Davidson spent the last years of his life, the name of the cycling club Società Ciclistica Geo Davidson still reminds of him today .

Activities in football

From 1913 to 1920 Geo Davidson was President of the Genoa Cricket & Football Club (CFC Genoa), which was founded by several British in 1893 and is considered the oldest Italian football club still in existence. The club's venue was initially the Velodromo delle Gavette cycling track , which belonged to the Società Ligure Ginnastica Cristoforo Colombo . Determined Davidson began to expand the infrastructure and the team of players of the club; The Englishman William Garbutt had previously been signed as coach .

Davidson recruited players from other clubs, such as the national player Renzo De Vecchi , with a hand money forbidden. This came about because two of these Davidson players cashed checks signed by Davidson at a bank teller belonging to rival club SG Andrea Doria who reported the incident. There was a lawsuit before the Italian football association Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC), which, however, ended in an acquittal for Davidson and his club. The two players were suspended for two years and had to pay a fine; the lock was later reduced to half. This judgment was a landmark decision: It is seen as the beginning of professional football in Italy and its scope is compared to the Bosman decision of 1995.

Villa Davidson and Asilo Infantile Adelina Davidson

From 1909 to 1910 Davidson had an Art Nouveau summer villa built for his family (wife Adelina and two daughters) in Borgo Fornari by the well-known Italian architect and sculptor Gino Coppedè , which is considered to be architecturally significant and is still privately owned today.

Not far from Villa Davidson , the family had a kindergarten built at almost the same time, which was originally called Asilo Regina Elena . The architect of this building was also Gino Coppedè, who was based on the style of the family villa. During the Second World War , the building served as the general headquarters for the German Wehrmacht . The kindergarten was later renamed Asilo Infantile Adelina Davidson after Geo Davidson's wife Adelina Davidson, who died during the war . Above the entrance door of the kindergarten are two figurines of playing girls, which represent Geo Davidson's daughters Giorgina and Helen.

As early as 1904, Coppedè had created a tomb, the Tomba Davidson , for the family in the British part of the Staglieno monumental cemetery ; Geo Davidson is also buried there.

References and comments

1. ↑ Davidson was a co-owner of the ship equipment company Davidson & Rhode . See: [1] and [2] The son of co-founder Alan Rhode married a daughter of Geo Davidson. The company existed until 1993.
2. ↑ When the Italian Cycling Federation was founded in 1884, Davidson is listed as a representative of this club. See: Archive link ( Memento of the original from February 20, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Official report of the 1924 Summer Olympics (PDF; 23.0 MB)
4. ↑ terrediportofino.eu ( Memento of the original dated December 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Ital.) In 2011 this association was involved in the organization of the festivities for the third stage of the Giro d'Italia 2011 . See: [3] However, the celebrations were canceled because the Belgian cyclist Wouter Weylandt had a fatal accident on this stage . The club also organizes the Milan-Rapallo race , which was held for the 53rd time in 2011. The association is chaired by Davidson's great-granddaughter Isabella Rhode.  
5. ↑ fondazionegenoa.com (ital.)
6. ↑ Uncovering Italy - The Origins Of Calcio And The Tale Of William Garbutt on thehardtackle.com v. 9 November 2011 (Engl.)
7. ↑ tuttomercato.web ( Memento of the original from February 5, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
8. ↑ rsssf.com (Engl.)
9. ↑ altavallescrivia.it (ital.)
10. ↑ liguria.beniculturali.it (PDF; 94 kB)
11. ↑ piazzadellafiera.altervista.org  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  

Web links

• Geo Davidson in the Radsportseiten.net database
• History of the Genoa Cricket & Football Club (ital.)
• Photo by Geo Davidson on vegiazena.it (ital.)