Stadio Artemio Franchi: ACF Fiorentina
By Andrzej Otrębski (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons
The Stadio Artemio Franchi has been home to Fiorentina ever since it opened in 1931. Designed by the architect Pier Luigi Nervi, it had a connection that the football club is not to proud of nowadays as it was named after a Florentine facist called Giovanni Berta. Though it was opened in 1931 the building of it wasn’t actually finished until the following year.
As for the stadium’s tenants, ACF Fiorentina is in the unusual position of being able to celebrate two birthdays. The club was originally founded on the 29th of August 1926 but was re-founded after it went bankrupt in 2002. Even so, only four clubs in Italian football have spent longer in the top-tier than the Viola.
Stats
| Stadio Artemio Franchi Stats | |
|---|---|
| Year Opened | 1931 |
| Capacity | 43147 |
| Average Attendance | 26031 |
| Record Attendance | 58271 (Fiorentina v Internazionale (1984)) |
| Pitch Size | 105 x 68 (7140) |
| Nickname | Stadio Comunale |
| Former Name | Stadio Giovanni Berta |
| Owner | ACF Fiorentina |
| Sponsor | Municipality of Florence |
| Clubs Hosted | ACF Fiorentina |
| First Fixture | Fiorentina v Admira Wien (13/09/1931) |
| ACF Fiorentina Stats | |
|---|---|
| Year Founded | 1926 |
| Nickname | Viola (Purple), Gigliati (Lilies) |
| Club Mascot | Lion |
| Rivals | Empoli |
| Kit | Purple (Home) / White (Away) / Yellow (Third) |
| Training Ground | Centro Sportivo Campini |
| Shirt Sponsor | Media.com |
| Team Owner | New ACF Fiorentina S.r.l. |
| Record Goalscorer | Gabriel Batistuta (168) |
| Record Appearances | Manuel Pasqual (356) |
Stadio Artemio Franchi Photos
By Giaccai (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0]
By Sailko (Own work) [CC BY 3.0]
See page for author [Public domain or Public domain]
By Paul Burani (originally posted to Flickr as firenze-viola02) [CC BY-SA 2.0]
Marco Bellucci / Flickr.com
James Evans / Flickr.com
Stadio Artemio Franchi Seating Plan and Where to Sit
The stadium has something of an odd design, with extra room in between the end stands and the pitch giving it a stretched out look. There’s a top-tier of continuous seating that stands above smaller, broken up stands that are on each edge of the pitch. The most ardent fans tend to occupy the Curva Fiesole, whilst away supporters are housed in the Curva Ferrovia. This is also known as The Railway End owing to how close it is to nearby train tracks.
ACF Fiorentina Ticket Prices
Ticket prices range from as low as €20 through to as high as €200, but you will likely be looking at around €70 for a decent seat. It all depends on where about you’d like to sit in the ground and what kind of experience you expect from your day. Thy don;t make this info easy to come by, but basically, the better the seats and the ‘posher’ the experience, the higher the price. Funny that.
How To Get ACF Fiorentina Tickets
Tickets are available from the club’s ticket office at the stadium, over the phone, online or from one of numerous Fiorentina Point Stores located around the city.
Where to Buy
Getting To Stadio Artemio Franchi
Train – It will take you around twenty hours to get the train to Florence, going via Paris, Geneva & Milan. Once there you’ll want to get an internal train to Firenze Campo di Marte, which is less than 500 metres from the ground.
Bus – Buses 7, 17 and 20 will take you to the stadium from either Santa Maria Novella or San Marco Square stops in the city centre.
Car – Take the A1 motorway between Milan and Naples and leave at the ‘ Firenze Sud exit. Drive along the Marco Polo viaduct and keep an eye out for signs to the ground from there.
By Air – Florence Airport is just outside the city and is known to locals as Peretola. Pisa Airport is about an hour and a quarter from Florence and is serviced by a number of low budget airlines.
Taxi – A taxi from somewhere central, such as the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, out to the stadium will cost you about €14 and should take around fifteen minutes. If it takes longer owing to traffic it will cost more.
Parking Near Stadio Artemio Franchi
Parking in Italy is always a fun experience as drivers aren’t overly concerned with leaving each other plenty of room. You can park near the ground for free but do be aware that it will likely be a hairy experience.
Useful Resources
Stadio Artemio Franchi Hotels
People love going to Italy. Of course they have hotels. And beautiful ones at that; far too beautiful for rowdy football fans, but there you go.
Hotel Masaccio Florence - £50+
Hotel Ungherese - £78+
Hotel Meridiana - £90
Pubs and Bars Near Stadio Artemio Franchi
It’s not all about wine over here, there are actually some really good beer pubs and bars around the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
Bar Maratona
Moonshine Bar
The Friends Pub
Hospitality
There are a number of decent hospitality options at your disposal at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, with an entirely new section built in order to comply with UEFA regulations for their competitions. From Sky Boxes to The Viola Lounge via Business Seats in the different stands, you won’t be disappointed if you’re hoping for a top-notch experience watching Fiorentina strut their stuff.
Private Hire
As with many top-class football venues, the various lounges and private boxes of Stadio Artemio Franchi are available for hire if you’re in need of a decent space in which to do business in Florence. Your best bet is to contact the club.
Stadium Tours & Museum
If the stadium offers tours then they keep that fact a closely guarded secret, as we couldn’t find any information on it. We will look again and update this section if we dig anything up.
About ACF Fiorentina
The history of Associazione Calcio Fiorentina is a slight embarrassment to the club nowadays. It was formed by a local fascist named Luigi Ridolfi who merged to local Florence-based clubs named CS Firenze and PG Libertas. The hope was that the club would be able to represent the city in the footballing battle against the more popular and successful clubs from North-West Italy. It sort of worked. They’ve won two Serie A titles and have finished runners-up five times to date.
The club’s darkest period in recent times came after the turn of the millennium. Having endured a mixed period during the 1990s, when they were relegated, promoted back to Serie A and then qualified for the Champions League, trouble enveloped the club in 2001. They had run up debts of nearly £50 million and were unable to pay their players. They were relegated at the end of the 2001-2002 season and went into administration. This meant that they were refused admission to Serie B and so essentially ceased to exist. In August of 2002 they were re-formed as Associazione Calcio Fiorentina e Florentia Viola.
Stadio Artemio Franchi History
The architect of the stadium, Pier Luigi, is also known for designing the Nervi Hall in the Vatican – not a bad thing to have on your CV. Made entirely of reinforced concrete, it has a large tower known as the Tower of Marathon that hosts the club’s flag. Originally known simply as the Comunale, it was renamed after a former president of the FIGC, Artemio Franchi, in 1991.
As well as hosting Fiorentina matches the stadium has also been the home of some high-profile events. Some of the games of the FIFA World Cup of 1934 were held there, as were preliminary matches of the 1960 Summer Olympics. There were numerous renovations made to it before it was a host stadium during the 1990 FIFA World Cup and it was also used to host some of Italy’s Six Nations matches from 2012.
Future Developments
There have been recent changes to the cub’s hospitality areas. More changes are coming too, as architects are currently bidding for the contract to reconstruct the stadium as of early 2022. This means any work is still a long way off, but we can expect something to happen in the next few years.