Upon its formation in 1926, ACF Fiorentina wore red and white halved shirts, representative of the city of Florence (or more specifically its flag and coat of arms) as well as the two teams from which the new club was formed: Club Sportivo Firenze, who had worn white shirts, and Palestra Ginnastica Fiorentina Libertas, who had worn red. The iconic purple jerseys, used to this day, were introduced in 1929, but nobody can say exactly why. The myth that often prevails is that it was result of a laundering incident. In fact, the switch in livery was a decision made by Luigi Ridolfi, the club's then president, inspired by the kit worn by Újpest, a Hungarian football team against whom Fiorentina played a friendly match in 1928.
It was in this configuration that Fiorentina won their first scudetto in 1956: purple collared shirts, white shorts and purple socks, with a red fleur-de-lis (a stylised lily, or ‘giglio’) set against a white rhombus acting as the club's badge. The presence of a badge of any sort was quite unusual for the time, but it seems to be something Fiorentina adopted from the moment they started wearing purple shirts.
Fiorentina were champions again in 1968-69, now wearing black shorts. It is unclear what motivated this change, or when it came into effect, although the club's two Coppa Italia triumphs in 1961 and 1966 were achieved in white shorts. In any case, the next season Fiorentina were back to wearing white shorts, the fleur-de-lis appended to the corner of the scudetto that adorned the jersey.
The 1970s saw little in the way of sartorial change. Then, in 1980, construction magnate Flavio Pontello assumed
control of Fiorentina and appointed his son, Ranieri, as president. Within a
year they’d changed the club’s badge and struck a deal with the clothing
company JD Farrow’s to sponsor the kit, which was not the done thing back then.
The new circular emblem comprised of half a fleur-de-lis appended to the letter F, taking on the appearance of a
halberd, and was displayed in the middle of a red-trimmed shirt, occupying a
fair proportion of it, with the club’s sponsor transcribed above. On top of all that, the team now wore purple shorts.
Fiorentina’s new look was not popular, but when
Pontello & Son started investing in actual players opinions softened. In 1981-82,
the club finished Serie A in second place and would probably have won the championship
had a goal not been controversially disallowed against Caligari in the last
game of the season. Thereafter Fiorentina’s form was inconsistent: in 1983 they
placed fifth, in ‘84 third, and in ‘85 ninth. Meanwhile, Ennerre had taken over
as kit supplier and set about reducing the size of the club’s inflated crest,
while also accommodating car manufacturer Opel as the team sponsor.
1985-86’s strip could itself be considered iconic. The
red trim was discarded, white shorts were reintroduced, and the badge moved to the more usual position over the
left breast. This made room for Ennerre’s wonderfully minimal green insignia on
the right, while the sponsor was set against a white band wrapped around
the trunk of the shirt. Fiorentina managed a
respectable fourth place that term, although it’s worth pointing out that
they drew 13 of their 30 matches, which wouldn’t now place them quite so high (at
the time, two points were awarded for a win, inflating the value of a drawn
game). Moreover, their top scorer was the defender Daniel Passarella, prompting Inter to divest Fiorentina of the player’s
services.
For what would be club captain Giancarlo Antognoni’s final year at the club, Ennerre handed
over shirt making responsibilities to the their subsidiary brand, N2 (or 'Ennedue'), to be sponsored by the non-alcoholic aperitif Crodino. N2 reverted to issuing purple shorts, and Fiorentina finished a disappointing ninth, although new signing Ramon Diaz impressed
with 10 goals and Nicola Berti was looking like good value after his transfer from
Parma in 1985. In 1987 Sven-Goran Eriksson was drafted in as technical director, to be assisted by Sergio Santarini in the role of coach. The managerial partnership coincided with the emergence of Roberto Baggio as a force to be reckoned with after struggling with a serious knee injury the previous season. Fiorentina ended the campaign in eighth place, Diaz scoring seven leagues goals, Baggio six.
The situation for 1988-89 looked precarious. Nicola Berti and Ramon Diaz had both signed
for Trapattoni‘s Inter, while doubts still remained regarding Baggio's fitness. Incoming players included defensive-midfielder Dunga, signed
from Pisa, and striker Stefano Borgonovo, taken on loan from AC Milan. At the same time sportswear firm ABM succeeded Ennerre/N2, introducing a micro-patterned shirt utilising subtle shifts in
the fabric’s texture [65% polyester, 35% cotton] to make a pattern out of the manufacturer’s logo.
Fiorentina did all right, finishing in seventh place and reaching the quarter finals of the Coppa Italia. Fortuitously,
AC Milan went on to win the European Cup and Sampdoria the Coppa Italia,
effectively freeing up an extra place in the UEFA Cup, which went to Fiorentina
after they defeated Roma in a play-off. Even more auspicious was the fact that
Baggio and Borgonovo had formed a very effective partnership – as well as a
close friendship – scoring 15 and 14
goals respectively. Or it would have been if AC Milan didn’t then recall their
man to provide cover for Marco Van Basten.
For 1989-90, Fiorentina were furnished with white
shorts and purple socks. It is this iteration of the ABM strip that is by far
the best. Local rag La Nazione took
over as sponsor, their uppercase, serif-font emblazoned in yellow (yellow being
the complimentary colour of purple). The red parallelogram that constituted ABM’s logo
complemented the simplicity of the giglio,
as well as making its presence felt against the whiteness of the shorts.
Fiorentina replaced Borgonovo with Argentine striker
Oscar Dertycia, as well as bringing in Czech midfielder Luboš
Kubík, winger Renato Buso, and defender Giuseppe Volpecina, among others.
The results were mixed. On the one hand Fiorentina only just avoided relegation
after beating Atalanta in their final game. On the other they reached the UEFA
Cup final, controversially losing to Juventus 3-1 over two legs; Fiorentina
were forced to play their home leg in Avellino, despite having played the rest
of their European campaign in Perugia, which was far closer to home (Stadio
Artemio Franchi was undergoing refurbishment prior to the 1990 World Cup and judged
unfit for European competition). Nonetheless, the images of Roberto Baggio and
the rest of the team, resplendent in purple and white, are some of Fiorentina’s
finest.
ABM hung around for another year but reverted to
issuing purple shorts, as well as adding white trim to the neck-line. In 1991,
Lotto took over, and all was lost. Not only did the white shorts go for good but
so did Pontello’s giglio. In an era
where clubs re-design their insignias with mild regularity, one can only hope
it might one day make a return.
