Artemio Franchi

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Lore & Background

The stadium's identity is tied to its original name, Stadio Giovanni Berta, after Florentine fascist Giovanni Berta. It was later called the "Comunale" before being renamed after former FIGC president Artemio Franchi (1922–1983) in 1991. The architect Pier Luigi Nervi designed the stadium entirely of reinforced concrete, with a 70 metre (230 ft) tower called the "Tower of Marathon" that bears the stadium's flagstaff. Spiral ramps around the base lead from the ground floor to the upper edge of the grandstand. The stadium hosted matches of the 1934 World Cup and football preliminaries for the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. In 1945, it hosted the Spaghetti Bowl between American service teams. The official record attendance is 58,271 on 25 November 1984, at a Serie A match between Fiorentina and Internazionale. The stadium also hosted international rugby union matches: Italy lost to Australia 14–32 on 20 November 2010, and beat South Africa 20–18 on 19 November 2016, defeating the Springboks for the first time in their history.

In Their Own Story

On 27 October 1954, a reserve game between Fiorentina and nearby rivals Pistoiese was under way at the Stadio Artemio Franchi when a group of UFOs traveling at high speed abruptly stopped over the stadium. The stadium became silent as the crowd of around 10,000 spectators witnessed the event and described the UFOs as cigar shaped. The sighting went on for several minutes, before "silvery glitter" fell down and covered the entire stadium. The substance was also seen falling elsewhere the same day, whereafter "shiny balls" had been observed. It was suggested that the most likely explanation was that the silk of mass migrating spiders had agglomerated high in the atmosphere. However, this suggestion was contradicted by the chemical analysis of the substance that was undertaken at the Institute of Chemical Analysis at University of Florence, which found it to contain boron, silicon, calcium and magnesium, which according to science writer Philip Ball, did not seem to match with the spider theory.

Reader's Guide

The stadium has hosted major concerts. David Bowie performed during his Glass Spider Tour on 9 June 1987. Madonna performed, with Level 42 as her opening act, the final show of her Who's That Girl World Tour at the stadium on 6 September 1987. This performance was filmed and later released on VHS and DVD, titled Ciao, Italia! – Live from Italy. She performed at the stadium again 25 years later on 16 June 2012 to a sold-out crowd of 42,434 people during her MDNA Tour. Bruce Springsteen performed on 8 June 2003 at the stadium during his The Rising Tour and on 10 June 2012 for the Wrecking Ball World Tour, in front of 42,658 people. It rained throughout the 2012 concert. The Italy national football team has played at the stadium, the first occasion being on 7 May 1933 in a 2–0 win over Czechoslovakia. The national team played only one game there between 1982 and 2006; a 2–0 friendly win against Mexico on 20 January 1993. On 1 March 2006, they played a friendly against Germany and won 4–1. The stadium hosted two matches in Euro 2012 qualifying: a 5–0 win over the Faroe Islands, and a 1–0 win over Slovenia on 6 September 2011 which was its most recent international hosting. During the match with Faroe Islands on 7 September 2010, Fabio Quagliarella (a member of Juventus at the time) scored a goal. Because Fiorentina fans have such a strong rivalry with Juventus, the fans at the stadium booed Quagliarella.

Did You Know?

• The stadium was originally named after Florentine fascist Giovanni Berta.
• The official record attendance is 58,271 on 25 November 1984, at a Serie A match between Fiorentina and Internazionale.
• On 27 October 1954, a UFO sighting occurred during a reserve game between Fiorentina and Pistoiese, witnessed by around 10,000 spectators.
• Italy beat South Africa at the stadium on 19 November 2016, defeating the Springboks for the first time in their history, final score 20–18.
• Madonna's 1987 concert at the stadium was filmed and released as Ciao, Italia! – Live from Italy.