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 Naples in the 1961–62 Coppa Italia.
The cup was not a distinguished tournament at the time, the prestigious clubs not participating and clubs limited to Northern Italy. Many clubs involved in the championship forfeited their continued participation in the tournament to avoid disturbing their season.
Reunification of the Football Association and the Football League caused the tournament not to resume until the 1935-36 edition.
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