Stadio Artemio Franchi
Stadio Comunale | |
Former names | Stadio Comunale |
---|---|
Location | Florence, Italy |
Owner | Municipality of Florence |
Capacity | 43,147[3] |
Surface | Grass |
Construction | |
Opened | 13 September 1931 |
Renovated | 1990, 2013, 2024[1][2] |
Architect | Pier Luigi Nervi |
Tenants | |
ACF Fiorentina (1931–present) Italy national football team (selected matches) |
The Stadio Artemio Franchi is a
The stadium was officially opened on 13 September 1931 with a match between Fiorentina and
The stadium is built entirely of reinforced concrete with a 70 metre (230 ft) tower that bears the stadium's flagstaff. The tower is called the "Tower of Marathon". Around the base of the tower, spiral ramps lead from the ground floor to the upper edge of the grandstand.[5] It was originally called the "Comunale" but was renamed after the former FIGC president, Artemio Franchi (1922–1983), in 1991. The stadium underwent renovations for the 1990 FIFA World Cup[5] which included removing the running track and increasing the seating capacity. At the World Cup, the ground hosted three matches in Group A and Argentina's penalty shootout win over Yugoslavia in the quarter-finals.[9]
The official record attendance is 58,271 on 25 November 1984, at a Serie A match between Fiorentina and Internazionale.
Concerts
National football team
The
National rugby team
The stadium has also hosted international rugby union matches. Italy played Australia on 20 November 2010, losing by a score of 14–32.[11][12] Italy beat South Africa at the stadium on 19 November 2016, defeating the Springboks for the first time in their history. The final score was 20–18.[citation needed]
1954 UFO sightings
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
It was suggested that the most likely explanation was that the silk of mass migrating spiders had agglomerated high in the atmosphere. This suggestion was however 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, don't seem to match with the spider theory:
Magnesium and calcium are fairly common elements in living bodies, boron and silicon much less so - but if these were the main elements that the white fluff contained, it doesn't sound to me as though they'd come from spiders.[14]
1934 FIFA World Cup
The stadium was one of the venues of the 1934 FIFA World Cup, and held the following matches:
Date | Team #1 | Res. | Team #2 | Round | Attendance | Referee |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
27 May 1934 | Germany | 5–2 | Belgium | First Round | 8,000 | Francesco Mattea (Italy) |
31 May 1934 | Italy | 1–1 | Spain | Quarter Finals | 35,000 | Louis Baert (Belgium) |
1 June 1934 | 1–0 | Quarter Finals (Replay) | 43,000 | René Mercet (Switzerland) |
1990 FIFA World Cup
The stadium was one of the venues of the 1990 FIFA World Cup, and held the following matches:
Date | Team #1 | Res. | Team #2 | Round |
---|---|---|---|---|
10 June 1990 | United States | 1–5 | Czechoslovakia | Group A |
15 June 1990 | Austria | 0–1 | Czechoslovakia | Group A |
19 June 1990 | Austria | 2–1 | United States | Group A |
30 June 1990 | Argentina | 0–0 (3–2 on penalties) | Yugoslavia | Quarter-finals |
References
- ^ "Info Lavori Ristrutturazione". Violachannel.tv. Archived from the original on 16 May 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
- ^ "Nuova Tribuna: via le barriere, i lavori e i nuovi rendering 3D". Violachannel.tv. 11 July 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
- ^ "ViolaChannel - Stadio Franchi". Archived from the original on 4 October 2013.
- ^ "Stadio Artemio Franchi - Fiorentina - Florence - the Stadium Guide".
- ^ ISBN 88-7743-147-4.
- ^ "Florence Rationalist".
- ^ 1960 Summer Olympics official report. Volume 1. pp. 85-6.
- ^ "Spaghetti Bowl". Americanfootballitalia.com. Retrieved 2 January 2014. Archived version
- ^ "1990 Match Schedule". PlanetWorldCup.com. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
- ^ "Stadio Comunale Artemio Franchi". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
- ^ "ITALIA v AUSTRALIA A FIRENZE IL 20 NOVEMBRE". federugby.it. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
- ^ "Wallabies back on course with 32-14 win over Italy". theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved 21 November 2010.
- ^ "The day UFOs hovered over Fiorentina's Stadio Artemio Franchi". BBC Sport.
- ^ "The day UFOs stopped play". BBC News. 24 October 2014.