Why you should follow...Fiorentina

While Italian football lies dormant, it’s time to continue with our series helping folks find their team. We began with Genoa, the oldest club in the country and now we’re moving south to Tuscany. 

It’s Fiorentina, the coolest team to ever play in purple. Probably. 

History 

Fiorentina is the result of a 1926 merger between Centro Sportivo Firenze and a gymnastics club based inside the basilica of Santa Maria Novella’s convent.  

Their story begins after World War II with an ambitious president Enrico Befani splashing the cash to sign Brazilian winger Julinho and Argentine attacker Miguel Montuori to give some goalscoring power to his manager, Fulvio Bernardini. 

A footballing intellectual, Bernardini delivered an emphatic first scudetto to Florence in 1956, winning Serie A with five matches to play. A year later, Fiorentina lost to a great Real Madrid side in the European Cup final. 

They won the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1961 and another league title followed in 1969, which might give you the impression that they’re a trophy-laden club, but their fans would argue they’re incredibly unlucky. 

Robbed by hunchbacks 

Luck is synonymous with Juventus in Italian football. They would argue it’s much like how everyone thinks New Zealand rugby union are lucky, or the New York Yankees, in that the best team always has luck on its side. Because it’s the best. 

But neither of those sides had the Calciopoli scandal, nor did they ‘rob’ Fiorentina of a scudetto. Fiorentina needed to win on the final day of 1981/82 Serie A season, a third scudetto awaited if they did. 

Fiorentina had a goal disallowed — incorrectly they say — against Cagliari, while Juventus received a ‘fortunate’ penalty which Liam Brady scored. Juve won, la Viola drew and the title went to the black-and-white shirted gobbi — or hunchbacks — as they are known. It’s an Italian thing. Hunchbacks are seen as lucky there. 

Eight years later, Juve ‘stole’ Roberto Baggio from Fiorentina and the city rioted at the loss of their greatest player. They did the same with Federico Bernardeschi, Dusan Vlahovic and Nico Gonzales in recent years, but thankfully the riot police were not required. 

The sense of theft means there will always be a great rivalry between Fiorentina and Juventus, even if it’s only felt strongly in Florence. 

Football in a UNESCO World Heritage Site (again) 

Just like our first team, Genoa, la Viola play in a city whose centro storico (historic town centre) is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

You can immerse yourself in what was the beating heart of the Renaissance during the day, then go to Stadio Artemio Franchi in the evening and see that vaunted purple jersey shine under the lights. 

When you wander through Florence’s streets, it’s easy to see why Rui Costa cried when he returned after being sold to Milan in 2001. The city has a syndrome named after itself by French writer Stendhal. Its symptoms? Exposure to great beauty, specifically works of art.  

Mind you, the Viola fans might argue that you’re not likely to contract it at the Franchi anytime soon. 

An architectural…marvel? 

Stadio Artemio Franchi was built in 1931, designed in the rationalist style by architect Pier Luigi Nervi, best known for the Nervi Hall in the Vatican. 

It features helical staircases and a large Torre di Maratona (Marathon Tower) and blends the Italo-standard concrete jungle with considered architecture to create a mad house. Its atmosphere is up there with the best in the country, led by the vociferous and relentless fans of Curva Fiesole, the stand that Fiorentina attack in the second half of matches. 

A matchday at the Franchi is best experienced by taking the five-minute train to Campo di Marte from town, or a thirty-minute walk — which, of course, is predictably picturesque. 

Stop outside the ground for a lampredotto sandwich and a beer, if meat and beer are your thing. Lampredotto is the fourth stomach of a cow — stay with us here — and is a Florentine staple. Try it with salsa verde and chilli oil. You won’t regret it. 

Batigol 

While the likes of Giancarlo Antognoni and Kurt Hamrin may have a greater grip on Fiorentina history, there’s no player who defines Fiorentina and that purple jersey quite like Gabriel Batistuta, a.k.a. Batigol. 

Long sleeves, upturned collar and hair somewhere between Kurt Cobain and Jesus, the affable Batistuta arrived in Tuscany in 1991, already a league winner in Argentina and he immediately settled in, scoring thirteen times in his first Serie A season. 

Fiorentina were relegated to Serie B unexpectedly in 1993 despite being 2nd in mid-December. The club president Mario Cecchi Gori’s son Vittorio sacked Fiorentina coach Luigi Radice and the team slid down the table, finishing third bottom. 

Batistuta ensured an immediate return to A with sixteen goals on their way to the title, then won a Coppa Italia in 1996 and helped Fiorentina reach the Champions League.  

Batigol left the club in 2000 for Roma having scored over 200 goals and coming short of bringing a scudetto to Florence despite threatening to on a few occasions. To compound Florentine misery, Batistuta won the league in his first season with Roma, while Fiorentina were declared bankrupt in 2002 and had to restart in the fourth tier. 

What to do in Florence? 

The better question might be to ask what not to do in Florence. An intensely beautiful, walkable city, it offers something for everyone. 

Art, food, shopping, history, music, food, art, gelato. Food, lots of it. Though most people flock to see Michelangelo’s David in the Accademia Gallery — and they should — the Uffizi Gallery offers a display of art like no other.  

Go to Piazza Santa Croce and visit the basilica where many famous Florentines are buried, then pop out the back to the leather school and treat yourself to something of the city’s greatest export. Well, one of them. 

Some would argue that gelato was invented here by Bernardo Buontalenti in the sixteenth century and its gelaterias would reflect that. La Sorbettiera is worth a try. 

Head across the river to Oltrarno, meaning the other side of the river Arno. There you’ll find an incredible selection of restaurants, bars and yet more sights to see, like Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens.  

If time is on your side, visit the market in Sant’Ambrogio, the area considered the last place in the city not to be changed by tourism.  

And get yourself to Dolce Vita Vintage Lab and marvel at the classic football shirts.  

That’s a decent start to your Florence trip, but you’ll have to come back. 

What to expect following Fiorentina?  

Argentina continues to run through Fiorentina today, though striker Lucas Beltran can’t even be discussed in the same sentence as…well.  

‘Fiorentina’ has meant many things in the 21st century. Underachiever, Champions League team, plucky underdog, selling club. 

The current side find themselves in a state of flux, stuck somewhere between dining with the elite and mid-table purgatory. 

Despite finishing 6th in 2024/25, head coach Raffaele Palladino left the club and Stefano Pioli will return to the bench for next year.  

Fiorentina lost consecutive Europa Conference League finals in 2022 and 2023, also losing the Coppa Italia final in the latter. 

But these are somewhat good complaints to have. Gone are the days of financial instability and finishing in lower mid-table.  

The feeling is that Fiorentina are back, albeit not completely. It would take a strong project, both on and off the pitch, to elevate them back into the Champions League, but nothing is impossible in Italian football right now. Well, except Fiorentina winning a cup final, apparently.