Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, founded through a merger in August 1926 and refounded in August 2002 following bankruptcy. The club plays at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, which has a capacity of 43,147, and currently competes in Serie A. Fiorentina has won two Italian league titles (1955–56 and 1968–69), six Coppa Italia trophies, one Supercoppa Italiana, and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1960–61. The club is widely known by the nickname Viola, a reference to their distinctive purple colors, and holds the unique distinction of being the first team to reach all four major European club competition finals.
History
Overview
General information about the club
Associazione Calcio Firenze Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina, is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the current club was refounded in August 2002 following bankruptcy. Fiorentina have played at the top level of Italian football for the majority of their existence, with only four clubs having played in more Serie A seasons. The club is one of fifteen European teams that have played in the finals of all three major continental competitions and became the first team to reach all four major European club competition finals in 2023.
Most recent season and achievements
Under coach Vincenzo Italiano, who arrived in 2021, Fiorentina reached and lost two consecutive finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League, in the 2022–23 and 2023–24 editions. The club became the first to record two consecutive final appearances in the competition's history and the first team to lose two consecutive European finals since Benfica in 2013 and 2014 UEFA Europa League finals.
History
Early years
Associazione Calcio Fiorentina was founded in the autumn of 1926 by local noble and National Fascist Party member Luigi Ridolfi Vay da Verrazzano, who initiated the merger of two older Florentine clubs, CS Firenze and PG Libertas. The aim of the merger was to give Florence a strong club to rival those of the more dominant Italian Football Championship sides from Northwest Italy. After a rough start and three seasons in lower leagues, Fiorentina reached Serie A in 1931. That same year saw the opening of the new stadium, originally named after Giovanni Berta, a prominent fascist, but now known as Stadio Artemio Franchi. To compete with the best teams in Italy, Fiorentina strengthened their team with players like the Uruguayan Pedro Petrone, nicknamed el Artillero. In 1941, they won their first Coppa Italia, but the team were unable to build on their success during the 1940s due to World War II.
Successful period
In 1950, Fiorentina started achieving consistent top-five finishes in the domestic league. The team consisted of players such as goalkeeper Giuliano Sarti, Sergio Cervato, Francesco Rosella, Brazilian Julinho, and Argentinian Miguel Montuori. This team won Fiorentina's first scudetto in 1955–56, 12 points ahead of second-place Milan. Fiorentina became the first Italian team to play in a European Cup final, suffering a 2–0 defeat to Alfredo Di Stéfano's Real Madrid in 1957. In the 1960–61 season, the club won the Coppa Italia again and was successful in Europe, winning the first Cup Winners' Cup against Scottish side Rangers.
The 1968–69 season saw Fiorentina claim their second and last national title. After an unimpressive start, they moved to the top of Serie A in a three-way battle with Milan, Cagliari, and themselves. The team won all remaining matches, beating rivals Juventus in Turin on the penultimate matchday to seal the title. The 1970s period was not especially fruitful, though they won the Anglo-Italian League Cup in 1974 and the Coppa Italia again in 1975. The team featured young talents like Giancarlo Antognoni, who would become an idol to Fiorentina's fans, and was nicknamed "Fiorentina Ye-Ye" due to the young average age of the players.
Crisis and recovery
In 1980, Fiorentina was bought by Flavio Pontello, who brought in high-quality players such as Francesco Graziani, Daniel Bertoni, and a young Roberto Baggio. The team was built around Giancarlo Antognoni, and in 1982, Fiorentina were involved in an exciting title duel with Juventus. After a bad injury to Antognoni, the league title was decided on the final day when Fiorentina were denied a goal against Cagliari and Juventus won with a disputed penalty.
In 1990, Fiorentina reached the UEFA Cup final but faced Juventus again, with the Turin team winning the trophy. Notably, emerging star Roberto Baggio was sold to Juventus on the day of the final. Pontello, suffering from economic difficulties, was forced to leave after serious riots in Florence's streets, and the club was acquired by filmmaker Mario Cecchi Gori.
The Cecchi Gori era brought stability and notable signings like Brian Laudrup, Stefan Effenberg, and most importantly, Gabriel Batistuta, who became iconic during the 1990s. However, in 1993, Mario Cecchi Gori died and was succeeded by his son Vittorio. Despite good acquisitions, poor coaching decisions led to relegation on the last day of the 1993 season.
Claudio Ranieri was brought in as coach for the 1993–94 season, and Fiorentina dominated Serie B. Upon return to Serie A, Ranieri assembled a good team around Batistuta, signing young talent Rui Costa from Benfica. The club proved its mettle in cup competitions, winning the Coppa Italia and becoming the first non-national champions to win the Supercoppa Italiana, defeating Milan 2–1.
Under Giovanni Trapattoni's guidance and Batistuta's goals, Fiorentina challenged for the title in 1998–99 but finished third, earning Champions League qualification. They played memorable matches in the Champions League, beating Arsenal 1–0 at Wembley and Manchester United 2–0 in Florence. However, financial troubles emerged in 2001, with debts of around US$50 million. Fiorentina were relegated at the end of the 2001–02 season and went into administration in June 2002, effectively ceasing to exist.
Current period
The club was re-established in August 2002 as Associazione Calcio Fiorentina e Florentia Viola with shoe and leather entrepreneur Diego Della Valle as new owner, admitted into Serie C2, the fourth tier. The only player to remain was Angelo Di Livio. Helped by Di Livio and 30-goal striker Christian Riganò, the club won its Serie C2 group and skipped Serie C1 to be admitted into Serie B due to the Caso Catania situation.
In their first season back in Serie A, the club struggled but secured survival on the last day. In 2005, Della Valle appointed Pantaleo Corvino as sports director, followed by Cesare Prandelli as head coach. Notable signings included Luca Toni and Sébastien Frey, earning them fourth place and Champions League qualification. Toni scored 31 goals, winning the European Golden Boot.
The Calciopoli scandal in 2006 initially relegated Fiorentina to Serie B with a 12-point penalty, but they were reinstated to Serie A with a reduced 15-point penalty. Despite this setback, they managed to secure a UEFA Cup place. The 2007–08 season saw strong performance under Prandelli, reaching the UEFA Cup semi-final where they lost to Rangers on penalties.
During the 2010s, the club experienced managerial changes with Siniša Mihajlović, Delio Rossi, and Vincenzo Montella. The team made significant investments in 2012, buying 17 new players and appointing Montella as head coach, finishing fourth in 2012–13. They sold key players like Stevan Jovetić to Manchester City and brought in Mario Gómez and others. Club captain Davide Astori died suddenly in March 2018, and the club retired his number 13.
On 6 June 2019, the club was sold to Italian-American billionaire Rocco Commisso for around 160 million euros, ending the Della Valle family's seventeen-year association. Under coach Vincenzo Italiano, arriving in 2021, Fiorentina reached two consecutive UEFA Europa Conference League finals in 2022–23 and 2023–24, losing both but making history as the first club to achieve consecutive final appearances in the competition.
Achievements and Honors
Domestic competitions
Fiorentina has achieved significant success in Italian domestic competitions throughout their history. The club has won the Serie A title twice, claiming their first scudetto in 1955–56, finishing 12 points ahead of second-place Milan, and their second in 1968–69. They have also been runners-up five times in Serie A (1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, and 1981–82).
In cup competitions, Fiorentina has been particularly successful in the Coppa Italia, winning the tournament six times: 1939–40, 1960–61, 1965–66, 1974–75, 1995–96, and 2000–01. They have also been runners-up five times in this competition. Additionally, the club won the Supercoppa Italiana in 1996, becoming the first non-national champions to claim this trophy by defeating Milan 2–1, and were runners-up in 2001.
Continental and global competitions
Fiorentina has a distinguished history in European competitions, being one of fifteen European teams to have played in the finals of all three major continental competitions. Their greatest European triumph came in 1960–61 when they won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, defeating Scottish side Rangers in the final.
The club has also reached several other European finals, though with less fortunate outcomes. They were runners-up in the 1956–57 European Cup, becoming the first Italian team to reach the final of the top continental competition, where they lost 2–0 to Real Madrid. They also finished as runners-up in the 1961–62 Cup Winners' Cup and the 1989–90 UEFA Cup, losing the latter to Juventus.
Most recently, under coach Vincenzo Italiano, Fiorentina reached consecutive finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League in 2022–23 and 2023–24, losing both but making history as the first club to record two consecutive final appearances in the competition. This achievement also made Fiorentina the first team to reach all four major European club competition finals.
Symbols and Colors
Current logo and logo history
The official emblem of the city of Florence, a red fleur-de-lis on a white field, has been the staple in the all-round symbolism of the club. Over the course of the club's history, they have had several badge changes, all incorporating Florence's fleur-de-lis in some way. The first logo was simply the city's coat of arms, a white shield with the red fleur-de-lis inside, which was soon changed to a very stylised fleur-de-lis, always red, and sometimes without the white field.
The most common symbol, adopted for about 20 years, featured a white lozenge with the flower inside. During championship seasons, the lozenge disappeared and the flower was overlapped with the scudetto. The logo introduced by owner Flavio Pontello in 1980 was particularly distinct and controversial, consisting of one-half of Florence's emblem and one-half of the letter "F" for Fiorentina. People disliked it, believing it was a commercial decision and because the symbol resembled a halberd more than a fleur-de-lis.
Until the 2022–23 season, the logo was a kite-shaped double lozenge bordered in gold. The outer lozenge had a purple background with the letters "AC" in white and "F" in red, while the inner lozenge was white with a gold border and the red Giglio of Florence. Diego Della Valle acquired this logo in a judicial auction for €2.5 million, making it the most expensive logo in Italian football. The club unveiled a new, stylistically simplified badge for the 2022–23 season.
Traditional home and away kits colors
When Fiorentina was founded in 1926, the players wore red and white halved shirts derived from the color of the city emblem. The more well-known and highly distinctive purple kit was adopted in 1928 and has been used ever since, giving rise to the nickname La Viola ("The Purple team"). Tradition has it that Fiorentina got their purple kit by mistake after an accident washing the old red and white colored kits in the river.
The away kit has always been predominantly white, sometimes with purple and red elements, sometimes all-white. The shorts were purple when the home kit featured white shorts. In the 1995–96 season, the away kit was all-red with purple borders and two lilies on the shoulders. The red shirt has been the most worn third kit by Fiorentina, although they also wore rare yellow shirts in 1997–98, 1999–2000, and 2010–11 seasons, and a sterling version mainly in the Coppa Italia in 2000–01.
For the 2017–18 season, the club used five kits for the first time in its history: one home kit (all-purple) and four away kits, each representing a historic quartiere of Florence: all-blue (Santa Croce), all-white (Santo Spirito), all-green (San Giovanni), and all-red (Santa Maria Novella).
Traditional club anthem
"Canzone Viola" (Purple Song), nowadays better known as "Oh Fiorentina," is the title of Fiorentina's anthem. It is the oldest official football anthem in Italy and one of the oldest in the world. Dating from 1930 and created only four years after the club's foundation, the song was written by a 12-year-old child, Enzo Marcacci, and musically arranged by maestro Marco Vinicio. It was published for the first time by publisher Marcello Manni, who later became the owner of the rights.
The song achieved notoriety thanks to the printed media and the Ordine del Marzocco, a sort of original viola-club, which printed the lyrics and distributed them at a home match on November 22, 1931. The song was recorded by Narciso Parigi in 1959 and again in 1965; the latter version replaced the original edition as the Fiorentina anthem. Narciso Parigi himself acquired ownership of the rights, which he donated in 2002 to the supporter club Collettivo Autonomo Viola.
Traditional Rivals
Juventus
The rivalry between Fiorentina and Juventus is one of the most intense in Italian football, stemming from several controversial encounters throughout their history. The rivalry erupted particularly in 1982 when Fiorentina were denied the league title on the final day of the season. After a bad injury to club legend Giancarlo Antognoni, Fiorentina were denied a goal against Cagliari and were unable to win, while Juventus won the title with a disputed penalty. This incident intensified the animosity between the two clubs and their supporters.
The rivalry was further inflamed in 1990 when Fiorentina faced Juventus in the UEFA Cup final. The Turin team won the trophy, but Fiorentina's supporters had real cause for complaint as the second leg was played in Avellino (due to Fiorentina's ground suspension), a city with many Juventus fans. Most controversially, emerging star Roberto Baggio was sold to Juventus on the very day of the final, adding insult to injury for the Viola faithful.
Club Traditions and Behind the Scenes
Sponsors
Fiorentina has maintained various sponsorship partnerships throughout their modern history. Current official partners include EA Sports as their football video gaming partner, Montezemolo as fashion partner, Gruppoaf as official partner, Sammontana as official ice cream partner, Synlab as health partner, and OlyBet.tv as infotainment partner. The club has had various kit suppliers and shirt sponsors over the years, reflecting the commercial evolution of modern football.
Nicknames
Fiorentina is widely known by the nickname "Viola," a direct reference to their distinctive purple colors that have been the club's hallmark since 1928. This nickname has become synonymous with the club's identity and is used by supporters, media, and the football community at large. The term "La Viola" (The Purple team) is commonly used when referring to the club, emphasizing the deep connection between the team's visual identity and its popular recognition.
During the 1970s, the team was also nicknamed "Fiorentina Ye-Ye" due to the young average age of the players, featuring talents like Vincenzo Guerini, Moreno Roggi, and Giancarlo Antognoni.
Ownership and finances
Fiorentina's ownership has undergone significant changes throughout its history. The club was founded by Luigi Ridolfi Vay da Verrazzano in 1926, and later came under the ownership of Flavio Pontello in 1980, followed by filmmaker Mario Cecchi Gori and subsequently his son Vittorio Cecchi Gori. The Cecchi Gori era ended in bankruptcy in 2002, leading to the club's dissolution.
The club was refounded in 2002 under the ownership of Diego Della Valle, a shoe and leather entrepreneur, who guided the team from Serie C2 back to Serie A and European competitions. The Della Valle family's seventeen-year association with the club ended in June 2019 when Italian-American billionaire Rocco Commisso purchased the club for around 160 million euros.
Throughout various periods, the club has faced financial challenges, particularly during the late Cecchi Gori era when debts reached around US$50 million. The financial difficulties were so severe that the club was unable to pay wages and was forced into administration. Since the refounding under Della Valle and later under Commisso, the club has worked to achieve financial stability while maintaining competitive ambitions.
Traditions and culture
Fiorentina's traditions are deeply rooted in the cultural heritage of Florence and its distinctive identity. The club's connection to the city is symbolized through the red fleur-de-lis of Florence, which has been incorporated into every version of the club's badge throughout its history. The cultural revival and rediscovery of Calcio Fiorentino, an ancestor of modern football played by members of the Medici family, was influential during the club's foundation.
The club has a strong tradition of developing and showcasing talented players, from early stars like Pedro Petrone and Giancarlo Antognoni to modern icons like Gabriel Batistuta and Roberto Baggio. The tragic death of club captain Davide Astori in March 2018 led to the retirement of his number 13, demonstrating the club's respect for its players and their contributions.
The supporter culture is passionate and loyal, with groups like the Collettivo Autonomo Viola maintaining club traditions, including ownership of the club's historic anthem rights. The distinctive purple colors have created a unique visual identity that sets Fiorentina apart from other Italian clubs.
Stadium
Since 1931, Fiorentina has played at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, which currently has a capacity of 43,147. Originally named after Giovanni Berta, a prominent fascist, the stadium was later renamed to honor Artemio Franchi, a former president of UEFA and the Italian Football Federation. At the time of its inauguration, the stadium was considered a masterpiece of engineering, and its opening was monumental for the club and the city of Florence.
The stadium has used several names over the years and has undergone several renovations to maintain its status as a modern football venue. Its distinctive architecture and historical significance make it one of the notable stadiums in Italian football. The venue has hosted numerous memorable matches throughout Fiorentina's history, including European competition games and domestic cup finals, serving as the fortress for the Viola and their passionate supporters.