FIORENTINA A.C.
1993-1994
Fiorentina vs Reggiana
Match Worn Shirt
Robbiati Anselmo
Did you Know?
This shirt was worn by Anselmo Robbiati during the Italy Cup game between Fiorentina and Reggiana which took place in Firenze, “Stadio Artemio Franchi”, on October 6th 1993. Fiorentina defeated Reggiana 2-0 and at the end of the game Robbiati swapped his shirt with a Reggiana’s player whom we got it from. Robbiati signed for Fiorentina in 1993, then in Serie B, being instrumental in the viola’s successful 1993–94 campaign, which saw them win the Serie B title and obtain promotion to Serie A. He stayed at Fiorentina until 1999; despite often not being featured in the starting lineup, in 1996 he won the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italiana, and he also achieved some success even at the continental level, scoring the decisive goal in the return leg of the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup Round of 16 fixture against Sparta Prague. Fiorentina were ultimately defeated by the eventual champions Barcelona FC in the semi-finals of the tournament.
FIORENTINA A.C.
1995-1996
Roma vs Fiorentina
Unwashed Match Worn Shirt
Cois Sandro
Did you Know?
This shirt was worn by Sandro Cois during the Serie A game between A.S.Roma and Fiorentina which took place in Firenze, “Artemio Franchi” Stadium, on May 5th 1996. Roma defeated Fiorentina 4-1 and at the end of the game Cois swapped his shirt with a Roma’s player whom we got it from. Cois joined Fiorentina in 1994 where he won over the fans with his tireless running and tenacious play, becoming important to the side as the less glamorous foil to playmakers like Rui Costa and Domenico Morfeo. With the club he won two Coppa Italia trophies in 1996 and 2001, and a Supercoppa Italiana in 1996, also helping Fiorentina to two third-place finishes in Serie A in 1996 and 1999.
Did you Know?
While playing for Argentina in the 1991 Copa América, the vice-president of Fiorentina was impressed by Batistuta’s skills and signed him. He had a fine start in Serie A, scoring 13 goals in his debut season. However, the following season, in 1992–93, Fiorentina lost in the relegation battle and were demoted to Serie B, despite Batistuta’s 16 league goals. The club returned to Serie A after one season in Serie B, with the contribution of 16 goals from Batistuta and the management of Claudio Ranieri, as Fiorentina captured the 1993–94 Serie B title. At Fiorentina, Batistuta found his best form. He was the top scorer of the 1994–95 Serie A season with 26 goals, and he broke Ezio Pascutti’s 32-year-old record by scoring in all of the first 11 matches of the season. In the 1995–96 season, Batistuta, alongside Rui Costa and Francesco Baiano, helped the club to go on a 15-match unbeaten run, as they eventually ended the season with a fourth-place league finish. Fiorentina also won the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana over A.C. Milan; in the two-legged Coppa Italia final against Atalanta, Batistuta scored a goal in each fixture as Fiorentina won 3–0 on aggregate. The next season was less successful, as Fiorentina finished in a disappointing ninth place in the league, although the team managed to reach the semi-finals of the 1996–97 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, losing out to eventual champions Barcelona, despite scoring a goal in a 1–1 away draw in the first leg. Scoring over 20 league goals in each of the next three seasons – made all the more impressive given Serie A was the strongest league in the world and the hardest to score in with the best defences – as well as spectacular powerful strikes against Arsenal and Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League, Batistuta came third for FIFA World Player of the Year in 1999. Batistuta and Ronaldo were the two best strikers in Serie A, with their duels the most anticipated in Italy. After his failure to win the Italian championship with Fiorentina, Batistuta started considering a transfer to a bigger team. In an effort to keep Batistuta, Fiorentina hired Giovanni Trapattoni as coach and promised to do everything to win the Scudetto. After an excellent start to the season, Batistuta suffered an injury that kept him out of action for more than a month. Losing momentum, Fiorentina lost the lead and finished the season in third place, although the result enabled them to participate in the Champions League the following season. In addition to the fans erecting a life-size bronze statue of him in Florence, Bastituta was inducted into the club’s hall of fame in 2014. An emotional Batistuta told the audience at the ceremony: “From the moment I arrived at Fiorentina I wanted a place in the history of the club – and now I can say I have succeeded.”
Things to Know:
This shirt was worn by Gabriel Batistuta during the Serie A’s game between Vicenza and Fiorentina which took place in Vicenza, “Stadio Romeo Menti”, on September 20th 1998. Fiorentina defeated Vicenza 2-1 and Batistuta scored the first goal after one minute of the first half. The shirt was was swapped with a Vicenza’s player who we got it from.
Did you Know?
After three seasons at Benfica, in which he scored over 60 goals in over 100 appearances, his Euro 2000 exploits earned Gomes a €17 million move to ACF Fiorentina in the season 2000-2001. He won the Coppa Italia over Parma F. C. in his first year, scoring in a 1–1 draw in the second leg of the final at home, which allowed his team to clinch the title 2–1 on aggregate; however, his second season was less successful, as financial collapse by the Viola and their subsequent relegation precipitated a 2002 return to his previous club.
Did you Know?
Toldo joined Fiorentina in 1993, and became the Viola club’s starter for eight seasons, winning the Coppa Italia twice, the Supercoppa Italiana, and playing in one edition of the UEFA Champions League. In 2000, Toldo was named the Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year for his performances. One year before Fiorentina faced bankruptcy, Toldo and Rui Costa were sold to Parma for a combined 140 billion lire in June 2001 (55 billion lire for Toldo; about €28.4 million in fixed exchange rate). It made the club a net profit in 2000–01 financial year, instead of a net loss. However, both players refused to join. Toldo himself would be the replacement of departing goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, whom Toldo refused to live under the expectation of. Eventually, Toldo joined Internazionale instead of Parma for the same fee; Parma signed Sébastien Frey from Inter instead of Toldo; Buffon joined Juventus from Parma; and Edwin van der Sar went to Fulham from Juventus.
FIORENTINA A.C.
2001-2002
75th Anniversary
Match Worn Shirt
Baronio Roberto
Things to Know:
This season the team lost the Italian Supercup against Roma A.S. and due the 18th position at the end of the season it went down to Serie B. An unhappy way to celebrate the 75th team’s anniversary
Things to Know:
In 1999, Angelo Di Livio moved to Fiorentina, where he captained the team to win the Coppa Italia during the 2000–01 season. In 2002, when AC Fiorentina went bankrupt and was reborn as Florentia Viola in Serie C2, Di Livio showed his dedication by being the only player to stay with the team, as he played through the depths of Italian football on the climb back to Serie A in 2004, finally retiring after the conclusion of the 2004–05 Serie A season.
Did you Know?
Florentia Viola was the newly founded club that replaced bankrupt A.C. Fiorentina A.C. in the Italian domestic league system. Playing at Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence, Florentia retained the support Fiorentina had had, and set Serie C2 spectator records due to the interest from fans accustomed to see Gabriel Batistuta, Rui Costa and a team challenging Italy’s top clubs. With Serie B set for an expansion to 24 clubs for 2003-04, owner family Della Valle 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 compensated Florentia for being relegated two series instead of the normal one in case of bankruptcy. Florentia also won the rights to use the original Fiorentina name, the club being renamed ACF Fiorentina’ prior to the 2003-04 season.
Did you Know?
This shirt was worn by Fabrizio Miccoli during the Serie A game between Fiorentina and Lecce which took place in Firenze, “Artemio Franchi” Stadium, on October 31st 2004. Fiorentina defeated Lecce 4-0 and at the end of the game Miccoli swapped his shirt with a Lecce’s player whom we got it from. Miccoli joined Fiorentina in the summer of 2005. Half of his registration rights was sold to the team for €7 million. Once in Florence, Miccoli showed his good qualities once again, helping Fiorentina to salvation on the last day of the season, scoring a goal to send Brescia to Serie B. At the end of the season, there was a blind auction between Fiorentina and Juventus to decide his ownership, and Juventus won it by a lump sum of approximately €6.7 million for three players (Miccoli (€2.39M), Enzo Maresca (€7,000) and Giorgio Chiellini (€4.3 million)). Therefore, Miccoli had to return to Turin, but he was sent on loan to Benfica. Juventus also had to pay agent fee of €250,000 for Miccoli’s new three-year contract.
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This shirt was worn by Luca Toni during the Serie A game between Lecce and Fiorentina which took place in Lecce, “Ettore Giardiniero – Via del Mare” Stadium, on September 21st 2005. Fiorentina defeated Lecce 3-1 and Toni scored the third goal and at the end of the game he swapped his shirt with a Lecce’s player whom we got it from. Toni’s move to Fiorentina was marked by controversy as Palermo fans dubbed him a traitor for his departure. I Viola paid €10 million to sign him. During his first season in Florence he scored 31 goals, only five shy of the single season record by one player. This was the first time in 50 years that a Serie A player had scored 30 or more goals in the league, a feat which cemented his status as one of the most prolific Serie A strikers in history. Toni was awarded the European Golden Shoe for his achievement and is first Italian player to win this award. His goal scoring ability brought Fiorentina to heights never seen since Gabriel Batistuta’s days in the late 1990s. They finished the season fourth in the league and qualified for the Champions League. This league position, however, was revoked in the courts during the Calciopoli scandal. Fiorentina was found guilty of influencing the Italian Referee’s Association and as a result had to start the 2006–07 season with a 19-point deduction. Toni expressed his desire to leave the team several times during the summer to the press, but was eventually convinced by club President Andrea Della Valle to stay. The following season was plagued by injury, limiting Toni’s contributions to 16 goals. He would leave during the summer after promising Della Valle not to sign for any Italian rivals.
Did you Know?
This shirt was issued for Josip Iličić for the Serie A game between Sampdoria and Fiorentina which took place in Genova, “Stadio Luigi Ferraris”, on November 8th 2015. Fiorentina played with the away white kit, but the home kit was issued for the game and at the end of the game Iličić gave his shirt to a Sampdoria’s team member whom we got it from. On 23 July 2013, Palermo officially confirmed the sale of Iličić to Serie A rivals Fiorentina on their website. Later, the deal was officially announced by Fiorentina on their website. The transfer fee was undisclosed, reported to be in the sum of €9 million including add-ons. He scored six goals in his first season at Fiorentina. The 2014–15 season was more successful for him, finishing as the club’s top scorer with ten goals in all competitions, along with Mario Gómez.
Did you Know?
On 4 August 2015, Astori signed on loan for Fiorentina until the end of the season with an obligation to buy. He made his Fiorentina debut on 23 August in the 2–0 victory against Milan, coming on as a substitute for Facundo Roncaglia in the 59th minute. Astori’s first game after signing for the club on a permanent basis came in the opening game of the season, starting the whole game, in a 2–1 loss against Juventus. This was followed up by keeping a clean sheet in the next three matches. However, he suffered a muscle injury that kept him out for two matches. It wasn’t until on 2 October 2016 when Astori returned to the starting line–up against Torino and started the match, as Fiorentina lost 2–1. Three weeks later on 26 October 2016, he scored his first goal for the club, in a 1–1 draw against Crotone. Following his return, Astori continued to regain his first team place, playing in the centre–back position for the next three months. This lasted until he missed one match for picking up five yellow cards and served a suspension against Pescara on 1 February 2017. After serving a one match suspension, Astori returned to the starting line–up, in a 4–0 loss against Roma on 7 February 2017. He then helped the club keep four consecutive clean sheets between 3 March 2017 and 2 April 2017. Astori then played an important role in the UEFA Europa League, setting up two goals for Fiorentina that saw the club progress to the knockout stage. However, they were eliminated in the knockout stage after losing 4–3 to Borussia Mönchengladbach in the UEFA Europa League Round of 32. He then scored his second goal of the season, in a 5–4 win against Inter Milan on 22 April 2017. Despite being suspended on two occasions later in the 2016–17 season, including a second bookable offence against Palermo on 30 April 2017, Astori went on to make forty appearances and scoring two times in all competitions.
Did you Know?
At the beginning of 2017–18 season, Astori was appointed as the team captain following the departure of Gonzalo Rodríguez. He captained his first match at Fiorentina, starting the whole game, in a 3–0 loss against Inter Milan in the opening game of the season. Three weeks later on 10 September 2017, Astori scored his first goal of the season, in a 5–0 win against Hellas Verona. Since the start of the 2017–18 season, he continued to regain his first team place, playing in the centre–back position. Astori then helped the club’s defence keep four league consecutive clean sheets between 3 December 2017 and 22 December 2017. Since the start of the 2017–18 season, he started in every match until he missed one match for picking up five yellow cards and served a suspension against Sampdoria on 21 January 2018. After serving a one match suspension, Astori returned to the starting line–up, in a 4–1 loss against Hellas Verona on 28 January 2018. On 25 February 2018, Astori made his final appearance for the club, playing the full match in a 1–0 home win over Chievo; six minutes into the match, Astori made a run forward, joining the attack, and passed the ball to Cristiano Biraghi, who scored the only goal with a long-range shot.
Did you Know?
On 4 March 2018, Astori died in his sleep while staying in a hotel in Udine prior to Fiorentina’s match against Udinese, proven to be caused by cardiac arrest determined from an autopsy conducted two days later. A club statement said “Fiorentina are profoundly shaken and forced to announce that their captain Davide Astori has died.” His former Cagliari teammate and coach Diego López and former Fiorentina teammate Carlos Sánchez collapsed to the ground after hearing the news of his death. All Serie A and Serie B matches scheduled for 4 March were postponed. His death had caused shock across the footballing world, and many coaches and players paid their respects. UEFA later announced on Twitter that a minute’s silence was to be observed before every European match scheduled for that week. Cagliari and Fiorentina both retired the number 13 jersey worn by Astori in his honour (Astori wore this number as it was the number that his idol, Alessandro Nesta, had also worn throughout his career). He was buried at San Pellegrino Terme cemetery on 8 March 2018. Fiorentina’s next home game against Benevento, on 11 March, was paused for 60 seconds at the 13 minute mark in his honour, while children from both teams entered wearing Astori’s jersey to pay tribute to him; Fiorentina won the match 1–0, with the only goal coming from Vitor Hugo, who celebrated after scoring by saluting a T-shirt bearing Astori’s image. Later that month, Fiorentina announced that they would rename their training ground “Centro Sportivo Davide Astori” after Astori. Also later that month, in Italy’s friendly with Argentina on 23 March, as well as Italy’s friendly against England on 27 March, the Italy squad shirts were embossed with, under the crest, “Davide sempre con noi”, Italian for “Davide always with us”, with the number 13 below. Although Serie A introduced a new ruling ahead of the 2018–19 Serie A season, which introduced a standardised armband for all club captains, Fiorentina’s new captain, Germán Pezzella, was granted an exemption by the league, and was allowed to wear a personalised captain’s armband in tribute to Astori. Later that year, Astori was inducted into the Fiorentina Hall of Fame. To commemorate one year since his death, all Serie A matches were stopped at the 13th minute mark on 2 and 3 March 2019. In April 2019 it was reported that Astori’s contract would be renewed for life with all the money going to his wife and child, but it was later revealed to be a hoax. In May 2019, during the 2018 ceremony for new members being inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame, a Fair Play Award in memory of Astori was also awarded for the first time ever; the recipient of the award was Igor Trocchia. On 2 April 2021, Giorgio Galanti, a former Fiorentina sports consultant, was put on trial for culpable homicide in Astori’s death. Galanti had signed off on two different certificates of fitness for Astori to practice football in July 2016 and in July 2017 despite stress tests showing cardiac arrhythmias that should have induced doctors to carry out more in-depth diagnostic tests. On 3 May 2021, Galanti was given a one-year suspended jail sentence, and ordered to pay provisional compensation for damages in the total amount of €1,090,000, of which €250,000 is paid to Astori’s partner Francesca Fioretti, €240,000 to his daughter Vittoria, and the remaining €600,000 to his parents Renato and Giovanna, and his brothers Marco and Bruno. During a reception hosted by the President of Italy Sergio Mattarella at the Quirinal Palace following Italy’s victory in the UEFA Euro 2020, team captain Giorgio Chiellini in his speech on behalf of his team mates dedicated their victory to Davide Astori, whom the team “would have liked to have here with us today”.
Did you Know?
This Fiorentina’s captain armband usually worn by the captain German Pezzella was a big matter of controversy at the beginning of the season. Since 2018-2019 season all of the Italian Serie A teams had to use the same captain armband with “CAPITANO” printed on it, without brands printed on and without any player’s customizations like many players used to do in the past seasons. But Fiorentina team in order to commemorate Davide Astori, the Fiorentina former captain that passed on March 4th 2018, released for the season 2018-2019 a special commemorative captain armband with “DA13” (Davide Astori 13) printed, together with the logos of the four Firenze’s districts as Astori was used to wear while he was playing. But the Italian “Lega Calcio” didn’t allow the Fiorentina’s captain German Pezzella to use the band. Pezzella anyway wore the armband and both him and the team were fined. After a big controversy came up with all of the other Serie A teams involved to support Fiorentina, the team has been given an exception to use this special commemorative armband.
FIORENTINA A.C.
2022-2023
Internazionale vs Fiorentina
Unwashed Match Worn Shirt
Igor
Did you Know?
This shirt was worn by Igor during the Serie A game between Internazionale and Fiorentina which took place in Milan, “Giuseppe Meazza” Stadium on April 1st 2023. Fiorentina defeated Internazionale 1-0. Igor worn the shirt in the first half. The shirt is kept unwashed and it was auctioned directly from the Club. On 31 January 2020, Igor joined Fiorentina on a two-year loan with an obligation to buy.
