ACF Fiorentina was founded on 29 August 1926 in Florence, born from the merger of two local clubs — Libertas and Club Sportivo Firenze — on the initiative of Marquis Luigi Ridolfi. The distinctive purple shirts (viola), unusual in Italian football, were adopted in 1929 and gave rise to the club's enduring nickname "La Viola." The Stadio Artemio Franchi has been Fiorentina's home since the 1930s.
Fiorentina's two Serie A titles arrived in 1955-56 and 1968-69, the first under coach Fulvio Bernardini with a side built around Giuliano Sarti, Sergio Cervato and Miguel Montuori. The 1960-61 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup made Fiorentina the first Italian club to lift a European trophy of any kind. The club's most beloved modern era spanned the 1990s, when Gabriel Batistuta, Rui Costa, Stefan Effenberg and goalkeeper Francesco Toldo carried La Viola back into European competition. Batistuta's 207 goals remain a club record.
The 2002 financial collapse forced Fiorentina into bankruptcy and a forced demotion to Serie C2 — the club had to rebuild from the fourth tier. They returned to Serie A by 2004 under the Della Valle family. American owner Rocco Commisso took over in 2019 and has overseen back-to-back UEFA Europa Conference League final appearances in 2022-23 and 2023-24, both unfortunately lost. The club's distinctive lily emblem and purple identity, paired with the rich cultural heritage of Florence, give Fiorentina one of European football's most singular brands. The fierce rivalry with Juventus is the club's defining national fixture.