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ACF Fiorentina
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Full name ACF Fiorentina SpA[1]
Nickname(s) Viola (Purple)
Gigliati (Lilies)
Founded August 26, 1926 (AC Fiorentina)
2002 (ACF Fiorentina)
Ground Stadio Artemio Franchi,
Florence, Italy
(Capacity: 47,282)
President
Andrea Della Valle
Manager
Cesare Prandelli
League Serie A
2007-08 Serie A, 4th
Home colours
Away colours
Third colours
Current season
ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as simply Fiorentina, is a professional Italian football club from Florence, Tuscany. Founded by a merger in 1926, Fiorentina have played at the top level of Italian football for the majority of their existence; only four clubs have played in more Serie A seasons. After climbing back up the Italian football system in the early 2000s, Fiorentina are currently competing in the 2008–09 Serie A season.
Fiorentina have won Serie A twice, in 1955–56 and again in 1968–69, as well as winning six Coppa Italia trophies. On the European stage Fiorentina won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1960–61, they finished runners-up in the UEFA Cup 1989–90 and also came close to winning the biggest European prize, finishing as runners-up in the European Cup during 1956–57.
Since 1931 the club have played at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, which currently has a capacity of 47,282. The stadium has used several names over the years and has undergone several renovations. Fiorentina are known widely by the nickname Viola; a reference to their distinctive purple colours.
History
From beginning to World War II
Associazione Calcio Fiorentina was founded in the autumn of 1926 by noble and local National Fascist Party member Luigi Ridolfi,[2], who initiated the merger of two older Florentine clubs; CS Firenze and PG Libertas. The purpose of the merger was to give Florence a strong club to rival those of the more dominant Italian Football Championship sides of the time from North-West Italy. Also influential was the cultural revival and rediscovery of Calcio Fiorentino, an ancestor of modern football which was played by members of the Medici family.[2]
The club reached Serie A for the first time in 1929. After a rough beginning and three seasons in lower championships, Fiorentina reached Serie A in 1931. That same year saw the opening of the new stadium, originally named Giovanni Berta, after a prominent fascist and now known as Franchi. At the time the stadium was a masterpiece of engineering, and its inauguration was monumental. To compete with the best teams in Italy, Fiorentina strengthened their team with some new players, notably the Uruguayan Pedro Petrone, nicknamed el Artillero. Despite having a good season and finishing in fourth place, Fiorentina were relegated the next year, although they would return quickly to Serie A. In 1941 they won their first Coppa Italia, but in 1940s the team could manage nothing better, both because of World War II and for other troubles.
First scudetto and '50-'60s
It was in 1950 that Fiorentina started to achieve consistent top-five finishes in the domestic league. They formed a good team consisting of great players like the well-known goalkeeper Giuliano Sarti, Sergio Cervato, Francesco Rosella, Guido Gratton, Giuseppe Chiappella and above all the attacking duo of Brazilian Julinho and Argentinian Miguel Montuori. This team won Fiorentina's first scudetto (Italian championship) in 1955-56 after a triumphal ending. The following year they finished runners-up behind AC Milan, but more significantly they became the first Italian team to play in a European Cup final, when a disputed penalty led to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of by Alfredo Di Stefano's Real Madrid. Fiorentina were runners-up again in the three subsequent seasons. In the 1960-61 season the club won the Coppa Italia again and was also successful in Europe, winning the first Cup Winners' Cup against Rangers.
After several years of runner-up finishes, in the 1960s Fiorentina dropped away slightly, bouncing from 4th to 6th place, although the club won the Coppa Italia and the Mitropa Cup in 1966.
Second scudetto and '70s
While the 1960s had held some trophies and good Serie A finishes for Fiorentina, nobody believed that the club could compete for the title. Serie A 1968-69 started with AC Milan leading the way, but on matchday 7 they lost against Bologna FC and were overtaken by Gigi Riva's Cagliari Calcio. Fiorentina, after a not brilliant start, moved to the top of the Serie A, but the first half of their season finished with a 2-2 draw against Varese, leaving Cagliari as outright league leader. The second half of the season was a three-way battle between the three contending teams, Milan, Cagliari and Fiorentina. Milan fell away, instead focusing on the European Cup, and it seemed that Cagliari would retain top spot, but they lost against Juventus and Fiorentina took over at the top. The team then won all of their remaining matches, beating rivals Juventus in Turin on the penultimate matchday to seal their second, and last, national title. In the European Cup competition the following year Fiorentina had some good results, including a win in the USSR against Dynamo Kiev. But they were eventually knocked out in the quarter finals after a 3-0 defeat in Glasgow by the brilliant Glasgow Celtic team of that period.
Viola players began the 1970s decade with scudetto sewed on their breast, but the period was not particularly fruitful. After a 5th place in 1971, they finished in mid-table almost every year, even flirting with relegation in 1972 and 1978. The Viola did the Anglo-Italian League Cup in 1974 and won the Coppa Italia again in 1975. The team consisted of young talents like Vincenzo Guerini and Moreno Roggi, who had the misfortune to suffer bad injuries, and above all Giancarlo Antognoni, who would become later an idol of Fiorentina's fans. The young average age of the players led to the team being called Fiorentina Ye-Ye.
Pontello era
In 1980 Fiorentina was bought by Flavio Pontello, from a rich house-builder family. He soon changed the team's anthem and logo, causing some complaints by the fans, but he started to bring in high-quality players such as Francesco Graziani and Eraldo Pecci from Torino, Daniel Bertoni from Seville, Daniele Massaro from Monza and a young Pietro Vierchowod from Sampdoria. The team was built around Giancarlo Antognoni, and in Serie A 1981-82 Fiorentina were embroiled in an exciting duel with their rival Juventus. After a bad injury to Antognoni, the league title was decided on the final day of the season, when Fiorentina were denied a goal against Cagliari and were unable to win. Juventus won the title with a disputed penalty, and the rivalry between the two teams exploded.