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Fiorentina’s stadium first opened on 13th September 1931 with a friendly match against Austrian Side Admira Wien. Initially named in honour of Giovanni Berta who was regarded by the far right as a “martyr of the fascist revolution”, the stadium was constructed during the era of Mussolini, and was used to stir national pride. Hosting matches of the 1934 World Cup which Italy went on to win, nationalists would have argued that it was a great success however immediately after the culmination of the Second World War, fascism fell out of fashion, and the ground was renamed to simply Stadio Communale. Extensively renovated for Italia 90, the second Italian World Cup gave Florence’s Communale Stadium it’s current form, most notably the removal of the athletics track and the expansion in seated places. Prior to this the official attendance record was set at 58,271 on 25th November 1984 during a match against Internazionale. Renamed to Stadio Artemio Franchi in 1991 in honour of the former FIGC president, the existence of Marathon Tower is perhaps the only obvious relic of Il Dulce’s reign. A popular architectural piece of their day, towers were included in the design of many Italian stadiums in the 1920s including Bologna’s Renato Dall’Ara, and Torino’s Stadio Olimpico. Since 2012 the club have been in talks with the city of Florence to construct a state-of-the-art 40,000 capacity stadium within the Mercafir Area of the city. Expected to cost over €300m, the iconic helix staircases and other prime examples of Italian Rationalism may not be around for much longer!

DRIVING The address for satnav is as follows: Artemio Franchi Stadium, Viale Manfredo Fanti, 4, 50137 Firenze, Italy From the city centre a taxi will take around 15 minutes and will likely set you back anywhere between €10.00 – €20.00. Car Parks Parking around the immediate environs of the stadium is free, however unless you’re use to driving in Italy it can be a very stressful experience as cars typically don’t leave much room between spaces. Make sure you get there early to make it easier for yourself, and failing this you can find parking garages as you get close to the city centre. TRAIN The closest station “Firenze Campo di Marte” is only 400 meters away from Fiorentina’s stadium and can be caught from Santa Maria Novella station in the city centre less than 10 minutes away from The Duomo. BUS From either Santa Maria Novella or San Marco Square stops take number 7, 17 or 20 to get to the stadium. Taking approximately 20 minutes, the bus is relatively cheap and has the added bonus of extra services being put on for matchdays. AIRPORTS AND FLYING The closet airport to Florence is the Aeroporto di Firenze-Peretola, located less than 5km away which makes planning a weekend away pretty easy. Once you have landed you can catch a bus service which departs every 30 minutes or so. If you are travelling with a low cost airline double check whether or not you will be landing here or at Pisa International Airport (Galileo Galilei Airport) as it is sometimes marketed as Florence. This is around 1 hour away from the stadium and requires you to catch a train service which whilst not the end of the world, is definitely worth avoiding if possible!