Here’s how the city of Florence saved Fiorentina three times

There is a thread running through a hundred years of Florentine history, and it is purple. Leonardo Domenici sees it above all in memory. Having served as mayor for ten years, he has long reflected on how "civil, political, cultural, economic and social history" can foster a sense of belonging. This applies to Florence, to those born there and to those who have moved there. And it applies to football too. “A team’s history is deeply intertwined with the city’s history,” begins Domenici. Fiorentina’s centenary, therefore, could be more than just a celebration. It could be an exercise in remembrance. The team’s history, when viewed through its official names, tells the story of the city.

The first turning point came in 1926. On 1 May, the general meetings of Sporting Club Firenze and Libertas convened and voted in favour of a merger. On 29 August, the formal deed was drawn up by the notary: the Associazione Fiorentina del Calcio was born. This was the first turning point. And, as Domenici observes, it bore ‘a strong stamp of fascism’. The City Council, through the mayor (later podestà) Antonio Garbasso, pushed the two rival clubs to join forces. “Fascism tended to fascistise everything, and sport in particular.” That merger, imposed by the regime, would also prove beneficial to the city. “Florence,” notes Domenici, “does not have the critical mass of Milan, Rome or Turin to easily support two major teams.”

The second turning point came after the war. On 11 August 1944, Florence was liberated from Nazi-Fascist occupation and ‘the first post-war mayor, the socialist Gaetano Pieraccini, entrusted the Christian Democrat lawyer Arrigo Paganelli with the task of re-establishing Fiorentina as part of the city’s reconstruction’. On 22 October, AC Fiorentina was founded. It was the post-war club, until its bankruptcy.

The third turning point is the one Domenici experienced first-hand. August 2002: AC Fiorentina no longer existed and there was a risk that Florence would lose its professional football team. On 1 August, the mayor went to the notary Cavallina with Eugenio Giani and Carlo Paolini. The club was to be called simply Fiorentina 1926. Then came the news: that name had already been registered, probably in Perugia. “There were quite a few vultures circling over the corpse of Fiorentina,” he recalls. A name was therefore needed that no one else had already taken: Fiorentina 1926 Florentia. “There were some strange manoeuvres afoot,” says Domenici. “We had to preserve the Fiorentina that would be born after the bankruptcy.” Thus began the search for the man who would lead it. Domenici had been talking to businesspeople and football figures for some time. He recalls the collaboration of Franco Carraro, then president of the Federation, and Francesco Ghirelli, the general secretary. He also asked Massimo Moratti, who was the first to mention Diego Della Valle: “He told me: ‘He’s very liquid’.”

Three candidates remain: Della Valle, Enrico Preziosi and a Tuscan consortium led by Egiziano Maestrelli. It is at this point that Domenici makes a statement that amounts to a news story: "I can tell Il Foglio something that I have only ever said during small, private meetings or to close friends." It is the most detailed account he has so far given publicly of the choice between Della Valle and Preziosi, including D’Alema’s role. We know the final decision; Domenici is not looking for excuses: “I take full responsibility”. On Saturday 3 August, he set off for Cannes with his solicitors Morbidelli and Traina. Almost no one knew about it; he took his solicitors with him and, to throw the journalists off the scent, sent Eugenio Giani to the Federation in Rome to deliver some documents. For Sunday, he also had a ‘back-up’ meeting arranged with Preziosi, in case Cannes didn’t work out. Instead, it did. Domenici calls to say the meeting is no longer needed. "Preziosi was convinced I’d done it for political reasons, but in reality that had nothing to do with it." No D’Alema? "The story is much simpler. Before contacting me, Della Valle rang him to ask for assurances about my reliability. D’Alema’s role ends there." A guarantor, not a mastermind. "I felt that Della Valle was a more prominent name and much more marketable for Fiorentina." And so the new club became Florentia Viola. At that moment, a break with the past was necessary. Then came the Federation’s recognition of sporting continuity, and Fiorentina changed its name once again: ACF Fiorentina was born. Three names, three eras. And three times the local council has been part of the story: Garbasso in 1926, Pieraccini in 1944, Domenici in 2002. The former mayor thus views the centenary as an opportunity for a historical and critical re-examination of the team and the city through the prism of Fiorentina. “When the supporters in the stands shout ‘Florence’, it goes beyond the team. There’s an overlap of identity that’s less evident elsewhere,” he recalls. That’s why we must never forget that Fiorentina is bigger than its supporters. And even bigger than its various owners.

The stadium issue remains. A hundred years on, and still no stadium of its own. For Domenici, it is another chapter in the same story: “The inability to think in terms of the wider area and on a metropolitan scale” is one of the city’s weaknesses. During the final phase of his term as mayor, he himself had proposed a new stadium in the Castello area. He had his sights set on the north-western suburbs. “I was practically the victim of a public and media lynching and had to give in.” Meanwhile, Domenici hopes that the Franchi will become “stunning” and that the work will be completed soon. But he continues to believe that Florence must look further ahead. Meanwhile, on 29 August, he won’t be at the stadium. He’ll be in Brussels, where he spends part of his time. "I already knew I wouldn’t be able to attend, but in any case I didn’t receive any invitations." In 1926, the city council helped found Fiorentina; in 1944, it helped revive the club; and in 2002, it helped prevent its demise. Three times, in the space of a century, the city has made its mark on the history of its team. It is a story that the centenary should remember, even before celebrating it.