Fiorentina Football Club

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In order to get to know deep inside the grumpy and polemic Florentines, we must know something about Fiorentina, the city soccer club. Florentines have always argued about everything, but there is only one thing they always agree about: the boundless passion for Fiorentina soccer club. The bond between a city and its soccer club can be felt in Florence more than anywhere else. A strong bond between the purple-shirt players (the Viola) and the red lily sewed on their heart: Florence is Fiorentina, and Fiorentina is Florence.
The Associazione Calcio Fiorentina (ACF) was founded on August 29, 1926, when the Marquis Luigi Ridolfi Vay from Verrazzano wanted a merger between Club Sportivo Firenze and Palestra Ginnastica Libertas, the two most important sports club of the city by that time.
From that day on, a story of joys and defeats, passion and participation began. They day of the match is sacred to Fiorentina fans, when they go to Fiorentina’s home stadium “Artemio Franchi”, located in the Campo di Marte area, at the foot of the hills of Fiesole.
A fun fact about the official purple color of the “Gigliati” (lilies). Purple was an unusual chromatic choice among professional soccer clubs. Initially, during the first two seasons, the club shirts were half red and half white, the two traditional colors of Florence. This until 1929/1930, when the purple shirts made their debut. According to a popular belief, purple was the result of a mistake during the washing of the red and white shirts.
What is clear, though, is that a mistake of that kind would have resulted into a pale pink. Moreover, the chairman Luigi Ridolfi was too careful about tradition and culture to allow the color to be determined by a mistake in the washing.
Marquis Ridolfi, a very creative and proactive man, made the decision about the color of the shirts. Purple was not only an innovative color, but it also had different meanings: it was associated to magic; in Greek and Roman culture, it symbolized wealth and abundance; it was the color of emperors; but most of all purple was linked to the symbol of Florence, the lily. This symbol originated from the iris, a noble and purple flower.
Analyzing sport facts is not our duty here, but we would like to talk briefly about some of the champions that made the history of Fiorentina and of sport in general:
– Francesco Rosetta (1948-1957), defender and historical captain, he won the first “scudetto” (championship shield).
– Julinho (1955-1958), he too was playing when Fiorentina won the first “scudetto”. He was the first Brazilian to wear the purple shirt and he was probably the best right winger ever.
– Miguel Montuori (1955-1961), Argentine forward with exceptional skills. He was playing when the club won its first “scudetto”. He also played in the Italian National Team and he was the first Italo-argentine captain.
– Kurt Hamrin (1958-1967), from Sweden, he was called “Uccellino” (little bird). He is the highest goalscorer of all times in the Fiorentina soccer club, with 208 goals scored. Hamrin was playing when the club won Coppa Italia (Italy Cup, also known as Tim Cup) in 1961 and 1966 and Coppa dell Coppe.
– Giancarlo De Sisti (1965-1974), midfielder and captain when Fiorentina won its second “scudetto”. He was playing in the Italian National Team in 1968, when the team won the Euro 1968 championship.
– Giancarlo Antognoni (1972-1987), midfielder and captain between the 70s and the 80s. He holds the record of appearances in Fiorentina, the only professional team he played in.
– Roberto Baggio (1985-1990), nicknamed “Il Divin Codino” (the divine ponytail); he is acknowledge by many as the greatest footballer of all times. He began playing for Fiorentina as heir of historical captain Giancarlo Antognoni. He never won while playing in the team. However, he had such a good relation with the city that, when he was sold to one of Fiorentina’s rivals, Juventus, riots broke out in the streets of Florence. He was awarded the Golden Ball in 1993.
– Gabriel Omar Batistuta (1991-2000), better known as “Il Re Leone” (the lion king), is one of the greatest players in the history of soccer. He was striker and captain of the Viola club in the 90s. Best Serie A goalscorer in purple shirt (151 goals scored); together with Messi, he is the leading goalscorer in the Argentina National Team (54 goals scored). In Serie A, he holds the record of consecutive matches where he scored a goal (11 matches). When he was playing in Fiorentina, the team won one Italian Cup and one Italian Super Cup. With Argentina National Team, he won two America’s Cups and one Confederations Cup.
– Manuel Rui Costa (1994-2001), nicknamed “O Maestro” (the master); he is considered to be one of the best attacking midfielders ever. When in Florence, he won two Italian Cups and one Italian Super Cup. He was Fiorentina’s most expensive transfer of all times, when the club sold him to AC Milan (43 million euros). He won the under-20 World Cup with Portugal National Team.
– Giuliano Sarti (1954-1963), Enrico Albertosi (1958-1968), Giovanni Galli (1977-1986), and Francesco Toldo (1993-2001), the fantastic four, are the four greatest goalkeepers of the history of Fiorentina. They kept the goal for 40 years, playing in Fiorentina and in the Italian National Team.
To conclude, we want to show you a picture that connects sport to our best breeding ground: art. The picture you see below is not a proper work of art. It shows the love, sense of belonging and creativity of a people who is very much attached to its traditional colors. April 6, 1991: the Curva Fiesole (the part of Fiorentina’s home stadium that is behind the goal), created a choreography with white and purple colored cards during the historical match against Juventus. The choreography showed the skyline of the city and it is now considered as part of the history of Florence and one of the best choreographies ever seen in a stadium.
Yes, the link between sports and art is precisely this: arousing emotions.

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