Serie A Rightful Home for Fiery Fiorentina

Joshua Fowler

Thirteen managers, bankruptcy and a trip to the Serie C2 later, it would seem the Viola have finally managed to return to the pinnacle of Italian football. Sitting pretty in 4^th place the fans and players alike must be suffering altitude sickness having been slumped in the lower echelons of the Italian leagues since their devastating financial problems in 2001 that saw the team from Florence effectively cease to exist.

Having not won the Serie A since 1969, it can be argued that Fiorentina perhaps cannot be expected to compete with the two giants of Milan, however the Viola had a proud reputation throughout Europe with players such as Gabriel Batistuta striking fear into the hearts of defenders around the world. What had seemed to us football lovers across Europe as a thriving club with the potential to dominate the Italian game, became a club battling not only for their place in the Serie A but for a way to overcome their enormous debt.  With fans everywhere willing the club on, their fingers slipped from the ledge of Italian greatness and the club began a fall which some would argue was inevitable.

Fans and players alike were optimistic of their chances of bouncing straight back from Serie B, a hope that was never allowed to become reality as Fiorentina went into judicially controlled administration, a form of bankruptcy which prevented Viola from entering the second tier of Italian football. However the worst was yet to come, with the team declared bankrupt and denied a place in Serie B, the club ceased to exist.

Like a phoenix from the flames, Fiorentina rose again to begin the accent up the leagues of Italian football, this time under name Florentina Viola. With new owner Diego Della Valle at the helm the club entered the Serie C2, led by Angelo Di Livio, the only player left of the former Fiorentina and a firm fans favourite for such a show of loyalty. Major controversy would follow as Florentina Viola won the league with ease, ordinarily resulting in promotion to Serie C1, the third tier of Italian football. However, due to what is now referred to as the ‘Catania Case’, the Viola jumped a league and entered Serie B, a league which had expanded from 20 to 24. Having claimed Siena fielded an ineligible player in a game that resulted in their relegation, Caso Catania fought their relegation and ended up being the reason Serie B was expanded, allowing not only them to stay in the league but resulting in Florentina Viola getting a boost in the right direction.

During the summer of 2003 the Viola purchased back the right to their famous purple kit and the name AFC Fiorentina, a true sign and a warning to Serie A that the boys from Florence were on their way. Serie B had been postponed a short time due to protests from clubs fighting the expansion of the league and the subsequent entry of Fiorentina, however this didn’t hinder the Viola as they finished 6^th. A playoff place meant that Fiorentina had two legs to overcome Perugia, 15^th place finishers in Serie A, re-staking their place in the top league. A hard fought 2-1 victory ensured Fiorentina had completed their comeback, giving the fans something to cheer about and making manager Emiliano Mondonico a hero.

What seemed like a fairy tale ending was soon to be tainted as the match fixing scandal in 2006 saw Fiorentina relegated along with Juventus and Lazio into Serie B. However, after an appeal Fiorentina were reinstated into Serie A, albeit with a 15 point deficit before playing any game. Despite this, Fiorentina still managed to reach the UEFA Cup spots, led by Luca Toni and Adrian Mutu who combined extremely well to score a combined 31 goals and lucrative spot in Europe, a chance to prove that after a decade of misfortune and misery, AFC Fiorentina are once again a force in Italian football.