The Fiorentina team during the 1955–56 season in which they won their first league title
Associazione Calcio Firenze Fiorentina is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany. The club was formed on 29 August 1926 by a merger of CS Firenze and PG Libertas as Associazione Calcio Firenze, and played its first competitive match on 3 October against Pisa.[1] Renamed to Associazione Calcio Fiorentina in 1927, the club won their first piece of silverware, the 1939–40 Coppa Italia,[2] in their first season following their promotion back to Serie A after a one-season stay in the second tier.[3] Their first scudetto (league championship) was won in the 1955–56 season, losing only once in the 34-game season; this was followed by four consecutive second-place finishes.[4] On an international level, following their league win, Fiorentina took part for the first time in a European competition, becoming also the first Italian club to play in a European Cup final (losing 2–0 to Real Madrid).[5] In 1961, Fiorentina became the first Italian club to win a European competition, winning the European Cup Winners' Cup in a two-legged final against Rangers.[6]
Fiorentina's second league title win came in the 1968–69 season, with the winning team, guided by Bruno Pesaola, being dubbed as the Fiorentina Ye-Ye due to their youth.[7] In the years to follow, Fiorentina's performances deteriorated (which included near-relegation finishes), although they did win the 1974–75 Coppa Italia. In the 1980s, the club almost collected their third Serie A title in the 1981–82 season, however they lost it to Juventus in the last game of the season.[8] The decade ended with a runners-up finish in the 1989–90 UEFA Cup, losing to Juventus 3–1 on aggregate.[9]
In the 1992–93 season, after a 55-year spell in the top division, Fiorentina were relegated to Serie B, despite Gabriel Batistuta's 16 league goals.[10] Batistuta spearheaded Fiorentina's return to Serie A the following season and his career with the Florence-based side saw him finish as the club's top scorer for nine consecutive seasons. In the post-promotion years, the club added two further Coppa Italia titles (in the 1995–96 and 2000–01 seasons) and a Supercoppa Italiana win in 1996 to their trophy haul. In the wake of the 2001–02 season, the club entered administration after financial problems.[11] Re-formed initially as Florentia Viola in Serie C2, the fourth level in the Italian league football hierarchy, and then later as ACF Fiorentina, the club returned to the top-tier league in the 2003–04 season.[12]
The club has won Serie A twice, Serie B three times, the Coppa Italia six times, the Supercoppa Italiana once and the UEFA Cup Winner's Cup once. As of the end of the 2023–24 season, Fiorentina has played eighty-seven seasons in Serie A, seven in Serie B and one season in Serie D (or equivalent). This list details the club's achievements in major competitions, and the top scorers for each season. Top scorers in bold† were also the top scorers within Fiorentina's league division that season.
^Goal tallies are for the competitions listed only; friendly matches are not included. Divisions are not sorted alphabetically, but based on their placing in the Italian football league system at that time.
^From 1905 until 1993–94, two points were awarded for a win, and one for a draw. From the 1994–95 Serie A season onwards, three points have been awarded for a win.[13]
^The club filed for bankruptcy at the end of the 2001–02 season. Unable to raise sufficient funds to register in Serie B, the club had to restart in Serie C2 under the name Florentia Viola.
^With Serie B set for an expansion to 24 clubs for 2003–04, the club's owners, the Della Valle family, successfully argued that Florentia should be granted the 24th slot on the basis of "historical merits". It was widely seen as the Italian football federation compensating Florentia for being relegated two divisions instead of the normal one in case of bankruptcy. Florentia Viola also won the rights to use the original Fiorentina name, the club being renamed to ACF Fiorentina prior to the 2003–04 season.[21]
^"History". ACF Fiorentina. Archived from the original on 7 November 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
^Abbink, Dinant. "Coppa Italia 1939/40". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 31 January 2019. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
^"Romeo Menti tra viola e granata" [Romeo Menti, between viola (Fiorentina's nickname) and granata (Torino's nickname)] (in Italian). Museo Fiorentina. Archived from the original on 28 April 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
^Brera, Gianni (1998). Storia critica del calcio italiano (in Italian). Dalai Editore. p. 512. ISBN978-88-8089-544-2.
^Picchi, Sandro (26 August 2014). "Ottantotto anni di fenomeni" [Eighty-eight years of superstars]. Corriere Fiorentino (in Italian). Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
^"Emozioni Gigliate, 2 maggio 1990" [Emotional Gigliati (Fiorentina's nickname), 2 May 1990] (in Italian). Museo Fiorentina. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
^Mariani, Maurizio; Miladinovich, Misha. "Italy Championship 1992/93". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2019.
^"Il lungo calvario della Fiorentina" [Fiorentina's uphill struggle]. La Repubblica (in Italian). 13 December 2004. Archived from the original on 31 July 2018. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
^McCoy, Tom (10 September 2004). "Renaissance of Fiorentina". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 12 November 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
^Nicolucci, Marco; Mundigl, Robert. "Serie A, l'era dei 3 punti" [Serie A, the 3-points era]. La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Archived from the original on 23 February 2018. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
^"Serie B a 24 con la Fiorentina" [24-team Serie B with Fiorentina]. La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 20 August 2003. Archived from the original on 29 August 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
