It was in this era that the squad from Florence found the recipe for success: efficient, fast flowing football, some clever signings and a dash of South American talent is all it took for them to finally challenge the hegemony over the Serie A enjoyed by the bigger clubs. Up until then, Fiorentina’s only claim to fame was winning the Italian Cup in 1940. With the fall of Torino, the playing field in Italy was more level and the Violets took the opportunity to achieve greatness. Enrico Benfani took presidency of the club, a man with as much money as ideas. He bought several promising names to Fiorentina. Defender Cervato, goalie Sarti and striker Virgili were signed, before the club went shopping in South America and picked up Argentine forward Montouri and the Brazilian Julinho Botelho. Fiorentina were now ready to fight for the Scudetto.

 

Bernardini set the team up in an offensive WM formation that was also equipped with a strong defence, and they ended the 1953-54 championship with the leagues best defensive record. Even with all these great players on board, nobody believed that Fiorentina could challenge for the title, and they didn’t arouse much excitement among their fans. But after a few rounds of play, their doubters soon realised that the championship dream might indeed be possible, especially after a 4-0 thrashing of Juventus in Turin, a 2-0 win over a Milan side that starred Schiaffino and Liedholm and a 3-1 beating of Inter in a packed San Siro. Fiorentina emerged as AC Milans challengers for the title, and it all came down to the 29th round when a 1-1 draw gave them an unattainable lead at the top with five rounds to go. They had won the Scudetto, with one of the best records in the history of Italian football: 20 wins, 13 draws and only 1 defeat. This earned them a spot in the 1956-57 European Cup.

 

In their very first European Cup adventure, Fiorentina made it all the way the final where they played Real Madrid. The Violets were not intimidated by the 120,000 strong Spanish crowd that included General Franco who was watching the game very, very closely, or by their opponents who were the greatest team on the planet with names like Di Stefano, Kopa and Gento, and they fought gallantly but went down 2-0. After the European Cup, the team struggled to convert their ever increasing goal tallies to league championships, and they ended as runners-up to three separate teams in the subsequent three seasons.

 

In 1956, a homesick Julinho Botelho returned to Brazil, which was a huge loss for the club, but he was replaced by the brilliant Swede, Kurt Hamrin. By the dawn of the 60’s many other new players came to the club to replace aging stars, and thanks to them the rejuvenated club won the first ever European Cup Winners Cup, and became the first Italian team to win a European tournament, and a few days later, they added the Italian Cup to their trophy cabinet as well. In 1965-66, Fiorentina took out both the Italian and Miropa Cups, bringing to a close a sensational era in their history, although another Serie A title would follow by the end of the decade.

Acheivements: Serie A – Champions x2 Runners up x3
                              Coppa Italia – Winners x2
                              European Cup – Runners up x1
                              UEFA Cup Winners Cup – Winners x1 Runners up x1
                              Coppa Grasshoppers – Winners x1
                               Mitropa Cup – Winners x1 Runners up x1

​

Star player: Kurt Hamrin, DoB 19 November 1934, Stockholm, Sweden, nickname: L’uccelino (The Little Bird)

Prolific in front of goal and known for his incredible two-footed dribbling ability, Hamrin is the Serie A’s 8th highest goal scorer of all time. Playing as a winger, he was fast, creative, courageous and technically gifted. His professional career began at home when he joined AIK in the 1952-53 season. Swedish players were flavour of the month in Italy at the time, and Hamrin was loaned out to Italian club Padova (who at the time were managed by Nereo Rocco) where he drew the attention of Fiorentina. After signing with the Florence club, Hamrin remained in the purple kit for 289 Serie A games, in which he scored 150 times. He collected the Coppa Italia in 1961 and 1966 before moving to AC Milan, leaving behind a legacy as one of Fiorentina’s greatest ever players. He won the Serie A with Milan in 1968 and scored both goals in that clubs 2-0 European Cup Winners Cup final victory over Hamburg SV. He next played for Napoli and then returned to Sweden, ending his playing days with IFK Stockholm. He also had a successful national team career, making 32 appearances for Sweden including the 1958 World Cup final on home soil. He had scored the winning goal in the semi-final against West Germany which got Sweden a spot in the final. At 83 years of age as of 2018, Hamrin still lives in Florence and is a huge fan of his hometown club AIK – he travels to Sweden every summer to catch some of their games.