Italian Serie A Club Profile – Fiorentina; A dip in form sees the side languishing in 11th place
AFC Fiorentina, known to the world just as Fiorentina, is a professional football club that originates from Florence, Tuscany. The club was founded in 1926 through a merger and has played at its current stadium, Stadio Artemio
Franchi, since 1931. The stadium currently seats just over 47,000 spectators. Over the years the stadium has been renovated and renamed several times in order to help the club with finances.
The club had a slow start, struggling in the lower leagues to begin with but in 1931 they managed to reach the Serie A. It took them ten more years to win their first trophy, which arrived in the shape of the Coppa Italia in 1941.
Due to the World War breaking out though, Fiorentina could not manage to use their cup success to build further and win more titles.
During the 1950s, the club started to achieve some consistency as top five finishes became a fixture every season. It was not until 1956 that they won their first Serie A title. The victory in the domestic league was resounding
as Fiorentina finished 12 points clear of nearest rivals A.C. Milan. The following season it was Milan who would take the title in what would become one of many second place finishes for Fiorentina.
1961 was a very successful year for the club as they lifted the Coppa Italia again – but even more importantly, this was the year that Fiorentina won their first ever European trophy, The European Cup Winner's Cup, after defeating
the Scottish club Rangers.
Fiorentina won their second and last Serie A title in the 1968-69 season after overtaking Cagliari near the end of the title race. Despite success in the 1950's and ‘60s, Fiorentina were never really considered capable of winning
a second Scudetto but they surprised everyone in Italy with a perfect run to the end of the season, defeating formidable rivals Juventus on the way to glory.
After their second Serie A victory, Fiorentina were one of the most inconsistent sides in Italy. All of it is put in perspective perhaps by the fact that after surviving relegation on the last day of the season, the club still
had a UEFA Cup final to look forward to. It was against Juventus, and unfortunately for Fiorentina, they could not pull off an upset and Juventus took the cup.
Gabriel Batistuta was an iconic figure at the club during the 1990s. Batistuta became the top scorer at the club and his contribution to the team gave him legendary status among fans who fell in love with the Argentinean. In 1996-97,
Fiorentina won another Coppa Italia and finished 3rd in the league, one of their best performances in recent seasons.
2001 was to be an important year in the club's history. Although they won the Coppa Italia for the sixth time, financial trouble marred the club for what should have been a decent season. The club were sent into administration
and in effect ceased to exist in 2002. Under Diego Della Valle, Fiorentina was re-established and began a long journey to reach the Serie A, starting from Serie C2.
After reaching the Serie A, the club managed to retain their status in the first year, to the immense relief of fans. The following year, Fiorentina signed a number of good players, most notably the Italian striker Luca Toni, and
went on to finish 4th in the Serie A. Toni's signing would prove to be providential as he scored 31 goals in 30 appearances for the club, a feat unrivalled in the last 5 decades.
Last season started off with a lot of promise for Fiorentina but eventually faded as neither their Coppa Italia run nor the League form resulted in anything. An 11th-place finish meant no qualification for Europe for
Fiorentina. Next season, Fiorentina will be looking to the likes of Adrian Mutu and Alberto Gilardino to help the club qualify for Europe at least and a victory in the Coppa Italia for the seventh time.
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