Acf Fiorentina

ACF 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 always played at the top level of Italian football but six seasons, since Serie A was created; only four clubs have played in more Serie A seasons.

Fiorentina
Acf Fiorentina
Full nameACF Fiorentina S.r.l.
Nickname(s)I Viola (The Purples / The Violets)
I Gigliati (The Lilies)
Founded29 August 1926; 97 years ago (29 August 1926), as Associazione Calcio Fiorentina
1 August 2002; 21 years ago (1 August 2002), as Florentia Viola then ACF Fiorentina
GroundStadio Artemio Franchi
Capacity43,147
OwnerNew ACF Fiorentina S.r.l.
ChairmanRocco B. Commisso
Head coachVincenzo Italiano
LeagueSerie A
2022–23Serie A, 8th of 20
WebsiteClub website
Acf Fiorentina Current season
Acf Fiorentina
The performance of Fiorentina in the Italian football league structure since the first season of a unified Serie A (1929–30)

Fiorentina has won two Italian league titles, in 1955–56 and again in 1968–69, as well as six Coppa Italia trophies and one Supercoppa Italiana. On the European stage, Fiorentina won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1960–61 and lost the final one year later. They finished runners-up also in the 1956–57 European Cup (the first Italian team to reach the final in the top continental competition), the 1989–90 UEFA Cup and the 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League.

Fiorentina is one of fifteen European teams that have played in the finals of all three major continental competitions (the European Cup/Champions League, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Cup/Europa League) and in 2023, by reaching the UEFA Europa Conference League final, Fiorentina became the first team to reach all four major European club competition finals (excluding the one-off match of the UEFA Super Cup).

Since 1931, the club have played at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, which currently has a capacity of 43,147. 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

Foundation prior to World War II

Acf Fiorentina 
1940–41 Fiorentina team

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 of the time from Northwest Italy. Also influential was the cultural revival and rediscovery of Calcio Fiorentino, an ancestor of modern football that was played by members of the Medici family.

After a rough start and three seasons in lower leagues, Fiorentina reached the Serie A in 1931.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] At the time, the stadium was a masterpiece of engineering, and its inauguration was monumental.[tone][citation needed] To be able to compete with the best teams in Italy, Fiorentina strengthened their team with some new players, notably the Uruguayan Pedro Petrone, nicknamed el Artillero.[citation needed] Despite enjoying a good season[tone] and finishing in fourth place, Fiorentina were relegated the following year, although they would return quickly to Serie A.[citation needed] 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 and other troubles.[clarification needed]

First scudetto and '50–'60s

Acf Fiorentina 
The first Italian champion Fiorentina, 1955–56 season

In 1950, Fiorentina started to achieve consistent top-five finishes in the domestic league.[citation needed] The team consisted of players such as well-known goalkeeper Giuliano Sarti, Sergio Cervato, Francesco Rosella, Guido Gratton, Giuseppe Chiappella, Aldo Scaramucci, Brazilian Julinho, and Argentinian Miguel Montuori.[citation needed] This team won Fiorentina's first scudetto (Italian championship) in 1955–56, 12 points ahead of second-place Milan.[citation needed] Milan beat Fiorentina to top spot the following year.[citation needed] Fiorentina 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 Alfredo Di Stéfano's Real Madrid.

Fiorentina were runners-up again in the three subsequent seasons.[citation needed] 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 Scottish side Rangers.

After several years of runner-up finishes, Fiorentina dropped away slightly in the 1960s, bouncing from fourth to sixth place, although the club won the Coppa Italia and the Mitropa Cup in 1966.

Acf Fiorentina 
Kurt Hamrin scored 150 goals for Fiorentina when he represented the club 1958–1967. This means that he is in second place for most goals in the club's history.

Second scudetto and '70s

While the 1960s did result in some trophies and good Serie A finishes for Fiorentina, nobody believed that the club could challenge for the title. The 1968–69 season started with Milan as frontrunners, but on matchday 7, they lost to Bologna and were overtaken by Gigi Riva's Cagliari. Fiorentina, after an unimpressive start, then 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 their efforts on the European Cup, and it seemed that Cagliari would retain top spot. After Cagliari lost against Juventus, however, Fiorentina took over at the top. The team then won all of their remaining matches, beating rivals Juve 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 Soviet Union against Dynamo Kyiv, but they were eventually knocked out in the quarter-finals after a 3–0 defeat in Glasgow to Celtic.

Viola players began the 1970s decade with scudetto sewed on their breast,[clarification needed] but the period was not especially fruitful for the team. After a fifth-place finish in 1971, they finished in mid-table almost every year, even flirting with relegation in 1972 and 1978.[citation needed] The Viola did win the Anglo-Italian League Cup in 1974 and won the Coppa Italia again in 1975.[citation needed] The team consisted of young talents[tone] like Vincenzo Guerini and Moreno Roggi, who suffered bad injuries, and above all Giancarlo Antognoni, who would later become an idol to Fiorentina's fans.[according to whom?][citation needed] 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, who came from a rich house-building family.[citation needed] He quickly changed the team's anthem and logo, leading to 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 Sevilla; Daniele Massaro from Monza; and a young Pietro Vierchowod from Como.[citation needed] The team was built around Giancarlo Antognoni, and in 1982, Fiorentina were involved in an exciting duel with rivals Juventus.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] Juventus won the title with a disputed penalty and the rivalry between the two teams erupted.[tone]

The following years were strange for Fiorentina,[tone] who vacillated between high finishes and relegation battles.[citation needed] Fiorentina also bought two interesting[according to whom?] players, El Puntero Ramón Díaz and, most significantly,[why?] the young Roberto Baggio.

In 1990, Fiorentina fought to avoid relegation right up until the final day of the season, but did reach the UEFA Cup final, where they again faced Juventus.[citation needed] The Turin team won the trophy, but Fiorentina's tifosi once again had real cause for complaint: the second leg of the final was played in Avellino (Fiorentina's home ground was suspended), a city with many Juventus fans, and emerging star[tone] Roberto Baggio was sold to the rival team on the day of the final.[citation needed] Pontello, suffering from economic difficulties, was selling all the players and was forced to leave the club after serious riots in Florence's streets.[citation needed] The club was then acquired by the famous[tone] filmmaker Mario Cecchi Gori.

Cecchi Gori era: from Champions League to bankruptcy

Acf Fiorentina 
Gabriel Batistuta, the most prominent Fiorentina player of the 1990s

The first season under Cecchi Gori's ownership was one of stabilisation, after which the new chairman started to sign some good[according to whom?] players like Brian Laudrup, Stefan Effenberg, Francesco Baiano and, most importantly,[according to whom?] Gabriel Batistuta, who became an iconic[according to whom?] player for the team during the 1990s. In 1993, however, Cecchi Gori died and was succeeded as chairman by his son, Vittorio. Despite a good start to the season, Cecchi Gori fired the coach, Luigi Radice, after a defeat against Atalanta, and replaced him with Aldo Agroppi. The results were dreadful: Fiorentina fell into the bottom half of the standings and were relegated on the last day of the season.[tone]

Claudio Ranieri was brought in as coach for the 1993–94 season, and that year, Fiorentina dominated Serie B, Italy's second division.[citation needed] Upon their return to Serie A, Ranieri put together a good team centred around new top scorer Batistuta, signing the young talent Rui Costa from Benfica and the new world champion Brazilian defender Márcio Santos.[citation needed] The former became an idol to Fiorentina fans, while the second disappointed and was sold after only a season.[citation needed] The Viola finished the season in tenth place.

The following season, Cecchi Gori bought other important[according to whom?] players, namely Swedish midfielder Stefan Schwarz.[citation needed] The club again proved its mettle[tone] in cup competitions, winning the Coppa Italia against Atalanta and finishing joint-third in Serie A.[citation needed] In the summer, Fiorentina became the first non-national champions to win the Supercoppa Italiana, defeating Milan 2–1 at the San Siro.

Fiorentina's 1996–97 season was disappointing[tone] in the league, but they did reach the Cup Winners' Cup semi-final by beating Gloria Bistrița, Sparta Prague and Benfica.[citation needed] The team lost the semi-final to the eventual winner of the competition, Barcelona (away 1–1; home 0–2).[citation needed] The season's main signings were Luís Oliveira and Andrei Kanchelskis, the latter of whom suffered from many injuries.

At the end of the season, Ranieri left Fiorentina for Valencia in Spain, with Cecchi Gori appointing Alberto Malesani as his replacement.[citation needed] Fiorentina played well but struggled against smaller teams, although they did manage to qualify for the UEFA Cup.[citation needed] Malesani left Fiorentina after only a season and was succeeded by Giovanni Trapattoni.[citation needed] With Trapattoni's expert guidance and Batistuta's goals, Fiorentina challenged for the title in 1998–99 but finished the season in third, earning them qualification for the Champions League.[citation needed] The following year was disappointing in Serie A, but Viola played some historical[clarification needed] matches in the Champions League, beating Arsenal 1–0 at the old Wembley Stadium and Manchester United 2–0 in Florence.[citation needed] They were ultimately eliminated in the second group stage.

At the end of the season, Trapattoni left the club and was replaced by Turkish coach Fatih Terim.[citation needed] More significantly,[why?] however, Batistuta was sold to Roma, who eventually won the title the following year.[citation needed] Fiorentina played well in 2000–01 and stayed in the top half of Serie A, despite the resignation of Terim and the arrival of Roberto Mancini.[citation needed] They also won the Coppa Italia for the sixth and last time.

The year 2001 heralded[tone] major changes for Fiorentina, as the terrible[tone] state of the club's finances was revealed: they were unable to pay wages and had debts of around US$50 million.[citation needed] The club's owner, Vittorio Cecchi Gori, was able to raise some more money, but this soon proved to be insufficient to sustain the club.[citation needed] Fiorentina were relegated at the end of the 2001–02 season, and went into judicially-controlled administration in June 2002.[citation needed] This form of bankruptcy (sports companies cannot exactly fail in this way in Italy, but they can suffer a similar procedure) meant that the club was refused a place in Serie B for the 2002–03 season, and as a result effectively ceased to exist.

Della Valle era: from fourth tier to Europe (2000s and 2010s)

The club was promptly[tone] re-established in August 2002 as Associazione Calcio Fiorentina e Florentia Viola with shoe and leather entrepreneur Diego Della Valle as new owner and the club was admitted into Serie C2, the fourth tier of Italian football. The only player to remain at the club in its new incarnation was Angelo Di Livio, whose commitment to the club's cause further endeared him to the fans. Helped by Di Livio and 30-goal striker Christian Riganò, the club won its Serie C2 group with considerable ease, which would normally have led to a promotion to Serie C1. Due to the bizarre Caso Catania (Catania Case), the club skipped Serie C1 and was admitted into Serie B, something that was only made possible by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC)'s decision to resolve the Catania situation by increasing the number of teams in Serie B from 20 to 24 and promoting Fiorentina for "sports merits". In the 2003 off-season, the club also bought back the right to use the Fiorentina name and the famous shirt design, and re-incorporated itself as ACF Fiorentina.[citation needed] The club finished the 2003–04 season in sixth place and won the playoff against Perugia to return to top-flight football.

Acf Fiorentina 
Cesare Prandelli, the club's longest-serving manager (2005–2010, 2020–2021)

In their first season back in Serie A, the club struggled to avoid relegation, only securing survival on the last day of the season on head-to-head record against Bologna and Parma. In 2005, Della Valle decided to appoint Pantaleo Corvino as new sports director, followed by the appointment of Cesare Prandelli as head coach in the following season. The club made several signings during the summer transfer market, most notably Luca Toni and Sébastien Frey. This drastic move earned them a fourth-place finish with 74 points and a Champions League qualifying round ticket. Toni scored 31 goals in 38 appearances, the first player to pass the 30-goal mark since Antonio Valentin Angelillo in the 1958–59 season, for which he was awarded the European Golden Boot. On 14 July 2006, Fiorentina were relegated to Serie B due to their involvement in the Calciopoli scandal and given a 12-point penalty. The team was reinstated to the Serie A on appeal, but with a 19-point penalty for the 2006–07 season. The team's 2006–07 Champions League place was also revoked. After the start of the season, Fiorentina's penalisation was reduced from 19 points to 15 on appeal to the Italian courts.[citation needed] In spite of this penalty, they managed to[tone] secure a place in the UEFA Cup.

Despite Toni's departure to Bayern Munich, Fiorentina had a strong start to the 2007–08 season and were tipped by Italy national team head coach Marcello Lippi, among others, as a surprise challenger for the scudetto, and although this form tailed off towards the middle of the season, the Viola managed to qualify for the Champions League.[citation needed] In Europe, the club reached the semi-final of the UEFA Cup, where they were ultimately defeated by Rangers on penalties.[citation needed] The 2008–09 season continued this success, a fourth-place finish assuring Fiorentina's spot in 2010's Champions League playoffs.[citation needed] Their European campaign was also similar to that of the previous run, relegated to the 2008–09 UEFA Cup and were eliminated by Ajax in the end.

In the 2009–10 season, Fiorentina started their domestic campaign strongly before steadily losing momentum and slipped to mid-table positions at the latter half of the season.[citation needed] In Europe, the team proved to be a surprise dark horse: after losing their first away fixture against Lyon, they staged a comeback with a five-match streak by winning all their remaining matches (including defeating Liverpool home and away).[citation needed] The Viola qualified as group champions, but eventually succumbed[tone] to Bayern Munich due to the away goals rule.[citation needed] This was controversial due to a mistaken refereeing decision by Tom Henning Øvrebø, who allowed a clearly offside goal for Bayern in the first leg.[citation needed] Bayern eventually finished the tournament as runners-up, making a deep run all the way to the final.[citation needed] The incident called into attention[by whom?] the possible implementation of video replays in football.[citation needed] Despite a good European run and reaching the semi-finals in the Coppa Italia, Fiorentina failed to[tone] qualify for Europe.

During this period, on 24 September 2009, Andrea Della Valle resigned from his position as chairman of Fiorentina, and announced all duties would be temporarily transferred to Mario Cognini, Fiorentina's vice-president until a permanent position could be filled.

Acf Fiorentina 
Former manager Vincenzo Montella (2012–2015, 2019)

In June 2010, the Viola bid farewell to long-time manager Cesare Prandelli, by then the longest-serving coach in the team's history, who was departing to coach the Italy national team. Catania manager Siniša Mihajlović was appointed to replace him. The club spent much of the early 2010–11 season in last place, but their form improved and Fiorentina ultimately finished ninth. Following a 1–0 defeat to Chievo in November 2011, Mihajlović was sacked and replaced by Delio Rossi. After a brief period of improvements, the Viola were again fighting relegation, prompting the sacking of Sporting Director Pantaleo Corvino in early 2012 following a 0–5 home defeat to Juventus. Their bid for survival was kept alive by a number of upset victories away from home, notably at Roma and Milan. During a home game against Novara, trailing 0–2 within half an hour, manager Rossi decided to substitute midfielder Adem Ljajić early. Ljajić sarcastically applauded him in frustration, whereupon Rossi retaliated by physical assaulting his player, an action that ultimately prompted his termination by the club. His replacement, caretaker manager Vincenzo Guerini, then guided the team away from the relegation zone to a 13th-place finish to end the turbulent[tone] year.

To engineer a resurrection of the club after the disappointing season, the Della Valle family invested heavily in the middle of 2012, buying 17 new players and appointing Vincenzo Montella as head coach.[citation needed] The team began the season well, finishing the calendar year in joint third place and eventually finishing the 2012–13 season in fourth, enough for a position in the 2013–14 Europa League.

The club lost fan favourite Stevan Jovetić during the middle of 2013, selling him to English Premier League club Manchester City for a €30 million transfer fee.[citation needed] They also sold Adem Ljajić to Roma and Alessio Cerci to Torino, using the funds to bring in Mario Gómez, Josip Iličić and Ante Rebić, among others.[citation needed] During the season, Fiorentina topped their Europa League group, moving on to the round of 32 to face Danish side Esbjerg fB, which Fiorentina defeated 4–2 on aggregate.[citation needed] In the following round of 16, however, they then lost to Italian rivals Juventus 2–1 on aggregate, ousting Fiorentina from the competition.[citation needed] At the end of the season, the team finished fourth again in the league, and also finishing the year as Coppa Italia runners-up after losing 3–1 to Napoli in the final.

In 2014–15, during the 2015 winter transfer window, the team club sold star winger Juan Cuadrado to Chelsea for €30 million but were able to secure the loan of Mohamed Salah in exchange, who was a revelation in the second half of the season. Their 2014–15 Europa League campaign saw them progress to the semi-finals, where they were knocked-out by Spanish side Sevilla, the eventual champions. In the 2014–15 domestic season, Fiorentina once again finished fourth, thus qualifying for the 2015–16 Europa League. In June 2015, Vincenzo Montella was sacked as manager after the club grew impatient with the coaches inability to prove his commitment to the club, and was replaced by Paulo Sousa, who lasted until June 2017 and the appointment of Stefano Pioli. Club captain Davide Astori died suddenly at the age of 31 in March 2018. Astori had suffered a cardiac arrest while in a hotel room before an away game. The club subsequently retired Astori's kit number, 13. Fiorentina suffered during the 2018–19 Serie A campaign and ended the season on a 14 match winless streak, finishing in 16th place with only 41 points, 3 points from the relegation zone. On 9 April 2019, Pioli resigned as manager and was replaced by Montella.

Commisso era

On 6 June 2019, the club was sold to Italian-American billionaire Rocco Commisso for around 160 million euros. The sale marked the end of the Della Valle family's seventeen-year association with the club. Vincenzo Montella was confirmed as coach for the first season of the new era despite the team's poor end to the previous campaign, which saw them finish only three points clear of the relegation zone. Fiorentina continued their struggles from the previous year, spending the majority of the season in lower midtable.[citation needed] Montella was sacked on 21 December after a 7 match winless run which left the club in 15th place, and was replaced by Giuseppe Iachini.

In November 2020 Cesare Prandelli returned to Fiorentina, replacing Giuseppe Iachini as coach.

Players

Current squad

    As of 1 February 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Acf Fiorentina  ITA Pietro Terracciano
2 DF Acf Fiorentina  BRA Dodô
3 DF Acf Fiorentina  ITA Cristiano Biraghi (captain)
4 DF Acf Fiorentina  SRB Nikola Milenković
5 MF Acf Fiorentina  ITA Giacomo Bonaventura (vice-captain)
6 MF Acf Fiorentina  BRA Arthur Melo (on loan from Juventus)
7 FW Acf Fiorentina  ITA Riccardo Sottil
8 MF Acf Fiorentina  FRA Maxime Lopez (on loan from Sassuolo)
9 FW Acf Fiorentina  ARG Lucas Beltrán
10 FW Acf Fiorentina  ARG Nicolás González
11 FW Acf Fiorentina  FRA Jonathan Ikoné
16 DF Acf Fiorentina  ITA Luca Ranieri
17 MF Acf Fiorentina  ITA Gaetano Castrovilli
18 FW Acf Fiorentina  ANG M'Bala Nzola
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 MF Acf Fiorentina  ARG Gino Infantino
20 FW Acf Fiorentina  ITA Andrea Belotti (on loan from Roma)
22 DF Acf Fiorentina  ITA Davide Faraoni (on loan from Hellas Verona)
28 DF Acf Fiorentina  ARG Lucas Martínez Quarta
30 GK Acf Fiorentina  ITA Tommaso Martinelli
32 MF Acf Fiorentina  GHA Alfred Duncan
33 DF Acf Fiorentina  ITA Michael Kayode
37 DF Acf Fiorentina  ITA Pietro Comuzzo
38 MF Acf Fiorentina  ITA Rolando Mandragora
40 GK Acf Fiorentina  ITA Tommaso Vannucchi
53 GK Acf Fiorentina  DEN Oliver Christensen
65 DF Acf Fiorentina  ITA Fabiano Parisi
72 MF Acf Fiorentina  CZE Antonín Barák
99 FW Acf Fiorentina  CIV Christian Kouamé

Out on loan

    As of 2 February 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
DF Acf Fiorentina  ITA Christian Dalle Mura (at Ternana until 30 June 2024)
DF Acf Fiorentina  ROU Eduard Duțu (at Virtus Francavilla until 30 June 2024)
DF Acf Fiorentina  ITA Gabriele Ferrarini (at Feralpisalò until 30 June 2024)
DF Acf Fiorentina  ITA Davide Gentile (at Fiorenzuola until 30 June 2024)
DF Acf Fiorentina  BUL Dimo Krastev (at Feralpisalò until 30 June 2024)
DF Acf Fiorentina  ITA Lorenzo Lucchesi (at Ternana until 30 June 2024)
DF Acf Fiorentina  ITA Edoardo Pierozzi (at Cesena until 30 June 2024)
DF Acf Fiorentina  ITA Niccolò Pierozzi (at Salernitana until 30 June 2024)
DF Acf Fiorentina  ITA Bruno Prati (at Grosseto until 30 June 2024)
MF Acf Fiorentina  ITA Vittorio Agostinelli (at Virtus Francavilla until 30 June 2024)
MF Acf Fiorentina  ITA Lorenzo Amatucci (at Ternana until 30 June 2024)
MF Acf Fiorentina  MAR Sofyan Amrabat (at Manchester United until 30 June 2024)
No. Pos. Nation Player
MF Acf Fiorentina  ITA Alessandro Bianco (at Reggiana until 30 June 2024)
MF Acf Fiorentina  ITA Costantino Favasuli (at Ternana until 30 June 2024)
MF Acf Fiorentina  MAR Abdelhamid Sabiri (at Al-Fayha until 30 June 2024)
MF Acf Fiorentina  ITA Mattia Fiorini (at Recanatese until 30 June 2024)
FW Acf Fiorentina  ITA Ciro Capasso (at Sorrento until 30 June 2024)
FW Acf Fiorentina  ITA Filippo Distefano (at Ternana until 30 June 2024)
FW Acf Fiorentina  ITA Destiny Egharevba (at Recanatese until 30 June 2024)
FW Acf Fiorentina  RUS Aleksandr Kokorin (at Aris Limassol until 30 June 2024)
FW Acf Fiorentina  ROU Louis Munteanu (at Farul Constanța until 30 June 2024)
FW Acf Fiorentina  ALB Eljon Toçi (at Pro Sesto until 30 June 2024)
FW Acf Fiorentina  CRO Josip Brekalo (at Hajduk Split until 30 June 2024)
FW Acf Fiorentina  ITA Filippo Guidobaldi (at Recanatese until 30 June 2024)

Fiorentina Youth

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
50 DF Acf Fiorentina  ITA Christian Biagetti
51 FW Acf Fiorentina  ITA Maat Daniel Caprini
No. Pos. Nation Player
52 FW Acf Fiorentina  SEN Fallou Sene

Notable players

Retired numbers

Management staff

Position Staff
Head coach Acf Fiorentina  Vincenzo Italiano
Assistant coach Acf Fiorentina  Daniel Niccolini
Athletic coach Acf Fiorentina  Piero Campo
Acf Fiorentina  Mirko Balestracci
Acf Fiorentina  Ivano Tito
Acf Fiorentina  Damir Blokar
Goalkeeping coach Acf Fiorentina  Marco Savorani
Technical coach Acf Fiorentina  Marco Turati
Acf Fiorentina  Stefano Firicano
Match analyst Acf Fiorentina  Paolo Riela
Head of medical staff Acf Fiorentina  Luca Pengue
Club doctor Acf Fiorentina  Giovanni Serni
Acf Fiorentina  Niccolò Gori
Rehab coach Acf Fiorentina  Stefano Dainelli
Sporting director Acf Fiorentina  Daniele Pradè
Technical director Acf Fiorentina  Nicolás Burdisso
Physiotherapist Acf Fiorentina  Simone Michelassi
Acf Fiorentina  Andrea Giusti
Acf Fiorentina  Simone Mazzei
Acf Fiorentina  Filippo Nannelli
Acf Fiorentina  David Petrangeli
Nutritionist Acf Fiorentina  Cristian Petri
Kit manager Acf Fiorentina  Riccardo Degl'Innocenti
Acf Fiorentina  Leonardo Marchetti
Acf Fiorentina  Hamid Tali
Secretary Acf Fiorentina  Luigi Curradi

Managerial history

Fiorentina have had many managers and head coaches throughout their history. Below is a chronological list from the club's foundation in 1926 to the present day.

 
No Name Nationality Years
1 Károly Csapkay Acf Fiorentina  1926–28
2 Gyula Feldmann Acf Fiorentina  1928–30
3 Gyula Feldmann Acf Fiorentina  1930–31
4 Hermann Felsner Acf Fiorentina  1931–33
5 Wilhelm Rady Acf Fiorentina  1933
6 József Ging [it] Acf Fiorentina  1933–34
7 Guido Ara Acf Fiorentina  1934–37
8 Ottavio Baccani [it] Acf Fiorentina  1937–38
9 Ferenc Molnár Acf Fiorentina  1938
10 Rudolf Soutschek Acf Fiorentina  1938–39
11 Giuseppe Galluzzi Acf Fiorentina  1939–45
12 Guido Ara Acf Fiorentina  1946
13 Renzo Magli [it] Acf Fiorentina  1946–47
14 Imre Senkey Acf Fiorentina  1947
15 Luigi Ferrero Acf Fiorentina  1947–51
16 Renzo Magli [it] Acf Fiorentina  1951–53
17 Fulvio Bernardini Acf Fiorentina  1953–58
18 Lajos Czeizler Acf Fiorentina  1958–59
19 Luigi Ferrero Acf Fiorentina  1959
20 Luis Carniglia Acf Fiorentina  1959–60
21 Giuseppe Chiappella Acf Fiorentina  1960
22 Nándor Hidegkuti Acf Fiorentina  1960–62
23 Ferruccio Valcareggi Acf Fiorentina  1962–64
24 Giuseppe Chiappella Acf Fiorentina  1964–67
25 Luigi Ferrero Acf Fiorentina  1967–68
 
No Name Nationality Years
26 Andrea Bassi [it] Acf Fiorentina  1968
27 Bruno Pesaola Acf Fiorentina  1968–71
28 Oronzo Pugliese Acf Fiorentina  1971
29 Nils Liedholm Acf Fiorentina  1971–73
30 Luigi Radice Acf Fiorentina  1973–74
31 Nereo Rocco Acf Fiorentina  1974–75
32 Carlo Mazzone Acf Fiorentina  1975–77
33 Mario Mazzoni Acf Fiorentina  1977–78
34 Giuseppe Chiappella Acf Fiorentina  1978
35 Paolo Carosi [it] Acf Fiorentina  1978–81
36 Giancarlo De Sisti Acf Fiorentina  1981–85
37 Ferruccio Valcareggi Acf Fiorentina  1985
38 Aldo Agroppi Acf Fiorentina  1985–86
39 Eugenio Bersellini Acf Fiorentina  1986–87
40 Sven-Göran Eriksson Acf Fiorentina  1 July 1987 – 30 June 1989
41 Bruno Giorgi Acf Fiorentina  1 July 1989 – 25 April 1990
42 Francesco Graziani (int.) Acf Fiorentina  26 April 1990 – 30 June 1990
43 Sebastião Lazaroni Acf Fiorentina  1 July 1990 – 30 September 1991
44 Luigi Radice Acf Fiorentina  1 October 1991 – 5 January 1993
45 Aldo Agroppi Acf Fiorentina  6 January 1993 – 30 April 1993
46 Luciano Chiarugi (int.) Acf Fiorentina  1 May 1993 – 30 June 1993
47 Claudio Ranieri Acf Fiorentina  1 July 1993 – 30 June 1997
48 Alberto Malesani Acf Fiorentina  1 July 1997 – 30 June 1998
49 Giovanni Trapattoni Acf Fiorentina  1 July 1998 – 30 June 2000
50 Fatih Terim Acf Fiorentina  1 July 2000 – 25 February 2001
 
No Name Nationality Years
51 Luciano Chiarugi Acf Fiorentina  2001
52 Roberto Mancini Acf Fiorentina  26 February 2001 – 14 January 2002
53 Ottavio Bianchi Acf Fiorentina  14 January 2002 – 31 March 2002
54 Luciano Chiarugi (int.) Acf Fiorentina  1 April 2002 – 30 June 2002
55 Eugenio Fascetti Acf Fiorentina  June 2002 – July 2002
56 Pietro Vierchowod Acf Fiorentina  1 July 2002 – 29 October 2002
57 Alberto Cavasin Acf Fiorentina  29 October 2002 – 10 February 2004
58 Emiliano Mondonico Acf Fiorentina  10 February 2004 – 25 October 2004
59 Sergio Buso Acf Fiorentina  25 October 2004 – 25 January 2005
60 Dino Zoff Acf Fiorentina  25 January 2005 – 30 June 2005
61 Cesare Prandelli Acf Fiorentina  1 July 2005 – 3 June 2010
62 Siniša Mihajlović Acf Fiorentina  4 June 2010 – 7 November 2011
63 Delio Rossi Acf Fiorentina  8 November 2011 – 2 May 2012
64 Vincenzo Guerini (int.) Acf Fiorentina  3 May 2012 – 11 June 2012
65 Vincenzo Montella Acf Fiorentina  11 June 2012 – 8 June 2015
66 Paulo Sousa Acf Fiorentina  21 June 2015 – 6 June 2017
67 Stefano Pioli Acf Fiorentina  6 June 2017 – 9 April 2019
68 Vincenzo Montella Acf Fiorentina  10 April 2019 – 21 December 2019
69 Giuseppe Iachini Acf Fiorentina  23 December 2019 – 9 November 2020
70 Cesare Prandelli Acf Fiorentina  9 November 2020 – 23 March 2021
71 Giuseppe Iachini Acf Fiorentina  24 March 2021 – 30 June 2021
72 Vincenzo Italiano Acf Fiorentina  30 June 2021 – present

Colours and badge

Badge

Acf Fiorentina 
The badge used by Florentia Viola, consisting solely of the fleur-de-lis of Florence
Acf Fiorentina 
Former crest of Fiorentina, used until 2022

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 of which incorporated Florence's fleur-de-lis in some way. The first one was nothing more than the city's coat of arms, a white shield with the red fleur-de-lis inside. It was soon changed to a very stylised fleur-de-lis, always red, and sometimes even without the white field. The most common symbol, adopted for about 20 years, had been a white lozenge with the flower inside. During the season they were Italian champions, the lozenge disappeared and the flower was overlapped with the scudetto.

The logo introduced by owner Flavio Pontello in 1980 was particularly distinct, consisting of one-half of the city of Florence's emblem and one-half of the letter "F", for Fiorentina. People disliked it when it was introduced, believing it was a commercial decision and, above all, because the symbol bore more of a resemblance to a halberd than a fleur-de-lis.

Until the 2022–23 season, when the club unveiled a new, stylistically simplified badge, 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 the letter "F" in red, standing for the club's name. The inner lozenge was white with a gold border and the red Giglio of Florence. This logo had been in use from 1992 to 2002, but after the financial crisis and resurrection of the club the new one couldn't use the same logo. Florence's comune instead granted Florentia Viola use of the stylised coat of arms used in other city documents. Diego Della Valle acquired the current logo the following year in a judicial auction for a fee of €2.5 million, making it the most expensive logo in Italian football.

Kit and colours

Acf Fiorentina 
Gabriel Batistuta holding his old Fiorentina jersey at a 2014 ceremony inducting him into the club's Hall of Fame

When Fiorentina was founded in 1926, the players wore red and white halved shirts derived from the colour 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)").[citation needed] Tradition has it that Fiorentina got their purple kit by mistake after an accident washing the old red and white coloured kits in the river.[citation needed]

The away kit has always been predominantly white, sometimes with purple and red elements, sometimes all-white. The shorts had been purple when the home kit was with white shorts.[citation needed] In the 1995–96 season, it was all-red with purple borders and two lilies on the shoulders. The red shirt has been the most worn 3rd shirt by Fiorentina, although they also wore rare yellow shirts ('97–'98, '99–'00 and '10–'11) and a sterling version, mostly in the Coppa Italia, in 2000–01.

For the 2017–18 season and the first time in its history, the club used five kits during the season, composing of one home kit (all-purple) and four away kits, each one representing one historic quartiere of the city of Florence: all-blue (Santa Croce), all-white (Santo Spirito), all-green (San Giovanni) and all-red (Santa Maria Novella).

Anthem

"Canzone Viola" (Purple Song) is the title of the Fiorentina'a song, nowadays better known as "Oh Fiorentina". It is the oldest official football anthem in Italy and one of the oldest in the world.[citation needed] Dated 1930 and born only four years after the creation of the club, the song was written by a 12-year-old child, Enzo Marcacci, and musically arranged by maestro Marco Vinicio.[citation needed] It was published for the first time by the publisher Marcello Manni, who later became the owner of the rights.[citation needed] It soon achieved notoriety thanks to the printed media and the Ordine del Marzocco, a sort of original viola-club, which printed the lyrics of the song and distributed it to 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.[citation needed] Subsequently, Narciso Parigi himself acquired the ownership of the rights, which he donated in 2002 to the supporter club Collettivo Autonomo Viola.

Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors

Kit manufacturer

  • Until 1959: In-House
  • 1960-1961: Sorelle Tortelli
  • 1961-1962: In-House
  • 1962-1966: Sorelle Tortelli
  • 1966-1967: In-House
  • 1967-1970: Sorelle Tortelli
  • 1971-1972: In-House
  • 1974-1977: Sorelle Tortelli
  • 1977-1979: In-House
  • 1979–1981: Adidas
  • 1981–1983: J.D.Farrow's
  • 1983–1986: Ennerre
  • 1986-1988: Ennedue
  • 1988–1991: Abbigliamento Sportivo
  • 1991–1993: Lotto
  • 1993–1995: Uhlsport
  • 1995–1997: Reebok
  • 1997–2000: Fila
  • 2000–2001: Diadora
  • 2001–2002: Mizuno
  • 2002–2003: Mizuno[citation needed], Garman[citation needed], Puma
  • 2003–2005: Adidas
  • 2005–2012: Lotto
  • 2012–2015: Joma
  • 2015–2020: Le Coq Sportif
  • 2020–present: Kappa

Shirt sponsors

Official partners

Honours

National titles

European titles

Other titles

Divisional movements

Series Years Last Promotions Relegations
A 84 2022–23 Acf Fiorentina  3 (1938, 1993, 2002)
B 5 2003–04 Acf Fiorentina  4 (1931, 1939, 1994, 2004) bankruptcy
C 1 2002–03 Acf Fiorentina  1 (2003) never
90 years of professional football in Italy since 1929

Fiorentina as a company

A.C. Fiorentina S.p.A. was unable to register for 2002–03 Serie B due to financial difficulties, and then the sports title was transferred to a new company thanks to Article 52 of N.O.I.F., while the old company was liquidated. At that time the club was heavily relying on windfall profit from selling players, especially in pure player swap or cash plus player swap that potentially increased the cost by the increase in amortisation of player contracts (an intangible assets). For example, Marco Rossi joined Fiorentina for Lire 17 billion in 2000, but at the same time Lorenzo Collacchioni moved to Salernitana for Lire 1 billion, meaning the club had a player profit of Lire 997 million and extra Lire 1 billion to be amortised in 5-years. In 1999, Emiliano Bigica also swapped with Giuseppe Taglialatela, which the latter was valued for Lire 10 billion. The operating income (excluding windfall profit from players trading) of 2000–01 season was minus Lire 113,271,475,933 (minus €58,499,835). It was only boosted by the sales of Francesco Toldo and Rui Costa in June 2001 (a profit of Lire 134.883 billion; €69.661 million). However, it was alleged they were to transfer to Parma for a reported Lire 140 million. The two players eventually joined Inter Milan and A.C. Milan in 2001–02 financial year instead, for undisclosed fees.[citation needed] Failing to have financial support from the owner Vittorio Cecchi Gori, the club was forced to windup due to its huge imbalance in operating income.[citation needed]

Since re-established in 2002, ACF Fiorentina S.p.A. are yet to self-sustain to keep the team in top division as well as in European competitions. In the 2005 financial year, which cover the first Serie A season, the club made a net loss of €9,159,356, followed by a net loss of €19,519,789. In 2006 (2005–06 Serie A and 2006–07 Serie A), Fiorentina heavily invested on players, meaning the amortisation of intangible asset (the player contract) had increased from €17.7 million to €24 million. However the club suffered from the 2006 Italian football scandal, which meant the club did not qualify for Europe. In 2007 Fiorentina almost broke-even, with a net loss of just €3,704,953. In the 2007 financial year the TV revenue increased after they qualified to the 2007–08 UEFA Cup. Despite qualifying to the 2008–09 UEFA Champions League, Fiorentina made a net loss of €9,179,484 in 2008 financial year after the increase in TV revenue was outweighed by the increase in wage. In the 2009 financial year, Fiorentina made a net profit of €4,442,803, largely due to the profit on selling players (€33,631,489 from players such as Felipe Melo, Giampaolo Pazzini and Zdravko Kuzmanović; increased from about €3.5 million in 2008). However it was also offset by the write-down of selling players (€6,062,545, from players such as Manuel da Costa, Arturo Lupoli and Davide Carcuro).

After the club failed to qualify to Europe at the end of 2009–10 Serie A, as well as lack of player profit, Fiorentina turnover was decreased from €140,040,713 in 2009 to just €79,854,928, despite the wage bill also falling, la Viola still made a net loss of €9,604,353. In the 2011 financial year, the turnover slipped to €67,076,953, as the club's lack of capital gains from selling players and 2010 financial year still included the instalments from UEFA for participating 2009–10 UEFA Europa League. Furthermore, the gate income had dropped from €11,070,385 to €7,541,260. The wage bill did not fall much and in reverse the amortisation of transfer fee had sightly increased due to new signings. La Viola had savings in other costs but counter-weighted by huge €11,747,668 write-down[vague][clarification needed] for departed players, due to D'Agostino, Frey and Mutu, but the former would counter-weight by co-ownership financial income, which all made the operating cost remained high as worse as last year.[vague][clarification needed] Moreover, in 2010 the result was boosted by acquiring the asset from subsidiary[clarification needed] (related to AC Fiorentina) and the re-valuation of its value[clarification needed] in separate balance sheet.[vague] If deducting that income (€14,737,855), 2010 financial year was net loss 24,342,208 and 2011 result was worse with €8,131,876 only in separate balance sheet.[vague][clarification needed] In 2012, the club benefited from the sales of Matija Nastasić and Valon Behrami, followed by Stevan Jovetić and Adem Ljajić in 2013. In 2014, due to €28.4 million drop from the windfall profit of selling players, the club recorded their worst financial results since re-foundation, despite the fact the club maintained the same level of windfall profit, the result was still worse than in 2013. Moreover, Fiorentina also revealed that the club had a relevant football net income of minus €19.5 million in the first assessment period of UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations in the 2013–14 season (in May 2014). (aggregate of 2012 and 2013 results), which within[vague][clarification needed] the limit of minus €45 million, as well as minus €25.5 million in assessment period 2014–15 (aggregate of 2012, 2013 and 2014 results). However, as the limit was reduced to minus €30 million in assessment period 2015–16, 2016–17 and 2017–18 season, the club had to achieve a relevant net income of positive €5.6 million in 2015 financial year. La Viola sold Juan Cuadrado to Chelsea in January 2015 for €30 million fee, to make the club eligible for the 2016–17 edition of UEFA competitions.

Fiorentina
separate financial statements
Financial year Turnover Result Total assets Net assets Re-capitalization
A.C. Fiorentina S.p.A. (PI 0039250485) exchange rate €1 = Lire 1936.27
1999–2000 €85,586,138# €5,550,939 €184,898,223 €13,956,954
2000–01 Acf Fiorentina  €61,698,625# Acf Fiorentina  €9,557,318 Acf Fiorentina  €219,996,389 Acf Fiorentina  €23,514,272 €0
2001–02 Not available due to bankruptcy
ACF Fiorentina S.p.A. (PI 05248440488) startup capital: €7,500,000
2002–03 (€6,443,549) Acf Fiorentina  €5,256,451 €4.2 million
2003 (Jul–Dec) Acf Fiorentina  (€3,885,968) Acf Fiorentina  €6,370,483 Acf Fiorentina  €5 million
2004 €33,336,444 Acf Fiorentina  (€10,259,252) €99,357,403 Acf Fiorentina  €11,019,231 Acf Fiorentina  €14.908 million
2005 Acf Fiorentina  €57,646,361 Acf Fiorentina  (€9,159,356) Acf Fiorentina  €107,504,630 Acf Fiorentina  €35,951,875 Acf Fiorentina  €34.092 million
2006 Acf Fiorentina  €60,961,502 Acf Fiorentina  (€19,519,789) Acf Fiorentina  €123,327,412 Acf Fiorentina  €51,132,086 Acf Fiorentina  €34.7 million
2007 Acf Fiorentina  €88,627,385 Acf Fiorentina  (€3,704,953) Acf Fiorentina  €142,484,422 Acf Fiorentina  €67,427,133 Acf Fiorentina  €20 million
2008 Acf Fiorentina  €108,521,983 Acf Fiorentina  (€9,179,484) Acf Fiorentina  €171,220,969 Acf Fiorentina  €78,247,649 Acf Fiorentina  €20 million
2009 Acf Fiorentina  €140,040,713 Acf Fiorentina  €4,442,803 Acf Fiorentina  €173,675,641 Acf Fiorentina  €92,690,451 Acf Fiorentina  €10 million
2010 Acf Fiorentina  €79,854,927 Acf Fiorentina  (€9,604,352) Acf Fiorentina  €178,314,364 Acf Fiorentina  €83,086,099 Acf Fiorentina  €0
2011 Acf Fiorentina  €67,076,953 Acf Fiorentina  (€32,474,084) Acf Fiorentina  €156,972,324 Acf Fiorentina  €50,612,014 Acf Fiorentina  €0
2012 Acf Fiorentina  €109,060,686 Acf Fiorentina  €1,155,691 Acf Fiorentina  €182,081,303 Acf Fiorentina  €75,667,705 Acf Fiorentina  €23.9 million
2013 Acf Fiorentina  €121,044,126 Acf Fiorentina  €1,448,376 Acf Fiorentina  €217,891,659 Acf Fiorentina  €92,216,081 Acf Fiorentina  €15.1 million
2014 Acf Fiorentina  €94,339,505 Acf Fiorentina  (€37,023,231) Acf Fiorentina  €188,847,357 Acf Fiorentina  €77,192,851 Acf Fiorentina  €22 million
Aggregate (€134,207,148) / / €203.9 million
Average (€10,736,572) €58,149,609 €16.312 million
Note: #Windfall profit from selling players excluded
Italian accounting standards were changed over the years[quantify][vague][why?][clarification needed]

League history

  • 1926–1928 Prima Divisione (2nd tier)
  • 1928–1929 Divisione Nazionale (1st tier)
  • 1929–1931 Serie B (2nd tier) – Champions: 1931
  • 1931–1938 Serie A (1st tier)
  • 1938–1939 Serie B (2nd tier) – Champions: 1939
  • 1939–1943 Serie A (1st tier)
  • 1943–1946 no contests (WW II)
  • 1946–1993 liga 1 (1st tier) – Champions: 1956, 1969
  • 1993–1994 Serie B (2nd tier) – Champions: 1994
  • 1994–2002 Serie A (1st tier)
  • 2002–2003 Serie C2 (4th tier) – Champions: 2003
  • 2003–2004 Serie B (2nd tier)
  • 2004–present Serie A (1st tier)

References

Tags:

Acf Fiorentina HistoryAcf Fiorentina PlayersAcf Fiorentina Managerial historyAcf Fiorentina Colours and badgeAcf Fiorentina Kit suppliers and shirt sponsorsAcf Fiorentina HonoursAcf Fiorentina Divisional movementsAcf Fiorentina Fiorentina as a companyAcf Fiorentina League historyAcf Fiorentina

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