Stadio Artemio Franchi#1954 UFO sightings
{{Short description|Football stadium in Florence, Italy}}
{{About|the football stadium in Florence|the stadium in Siena|Stadio Artemio Franchi – Montepaschi Arena}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox venue
| stadium_name = Stadio Artemio Franchi
| nickname = Stadio Comunale
| image = 250px
| location = Florence, Italy
| opened = 13 September 1931
| renovated = 1990, 2013, 2024{{cite news|url=http://it.violachannel.tv/info-lavori-ristrutturazione.html|title=Info Lavori Ristrutturazione|work=Violachannel.tv|access-date=23 July 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130516041612/http://it.violachannel.tv/info-lavori-ristrutturazione.html|archive-date=16 May 2013}}{{cite news|url=http://it.violachannel.tv/dettaglio-news/items/nuova-tribuan-via-le-barriere-i-lavori-e-i-nuovi-rendering-3d.html|title=Nuova Tribuna: via le barriere, i lavori e i nuovi rendering 3D|date= 11 July 2013|work=Violachannel.tv|access-date=23 July 2013}}
| record_attendance = {{formatnum: 58271}} (Fiorentina–Internazionale, 25 November 1984)
| expanded =
| closed =
| demolished =
| owner = Municipality of Florence
| operator =
| surface = Grass
| construction_cost =
| architect = Pier Luigi Nervi
| former_names = Stadio Comunale
| tenants = ACF Fiorentina (1931–present)
Italy national football team (selected matches)
|}}
The Stadio Artemio Franchi is a football stadium in Florence, Italy. It is currently the home of ACF Fiorentina. The old nickname of the stadium was "Comunale". When it was first constructed, it was known as the Stadio Giovanni Berta, after Florentine fascist Giovanni Berta.
The stadium was officially opened on 13 September 1931 with a match between Fiorentina and Admira Wien (1–0), though it took until 1932 for the stadium to be completely finished and currently holds 47,282.{{Cite web|url=http://www.stadiumguide.com/artemiofranchi/|title = Stadio Artemio Franchi - Fiorentina - Florence - the Stadium Guide}} The architect is Pier Luigi Nervi{{cite book | first=Guido | last=Zucconi | year=1995 | title=Florence: An Architectural Guide | edition=2001 Reprint | publisher=Arsenale Editrice | location=San Giovanni Lupatoto (Vr) | isbn=88-7743-147-4 | page=131}} (known for the Nervi Hall in the Vatican) and it is one of the most relevant examples of 20th-century architecture in the city.{{cite web|url= http://www.firenzemadeintuscany.com/en/arts/articles/florence-rationalist/|title= Florence Rationalist}} It hosted some of the matches of the 1934 World Cup, as well as football preliminaries for the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome.{{Cite report |url=http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1960/OR1960v1.pdf |title=Games of the XVII Olympiad, Rome 1960 : the official report of the Organizing Committee Organizing Committee of the Games of the XVII Olympiad, v. 1 |volume=1 |pages=85-86 |access-date=23 May 2025 |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230929200313/https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll8/id/20106/rec/26}} In 1945, it hosted the Spaghetti Bowl between American service teams.{{cite web |url=http://www.spaghettibowl.americanfootballitalia.com/game.html |title=Spaghetti Bowl
|publisher=Americanfootballitalia.com |access-date=2 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304000800/http://www.spaghettibowl.americanfootballitalia.com/game.html |archive-date=4 March 2016}}
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. 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 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.{{cite web|title=1990 Match Schedule|url=http://www.planetworldcup.com/CUPS/1990/wc90index.html|publisher=PlanetWorldCup.com|access-date=10 March 2014}}
The official record attendance is 58,271 on 25 November 1984, at a Serie A match between Fiorentina and Internazionale.
Concerts
David Bowie performed at the stadium 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.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}} 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.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}} 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.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}
National football team
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.{{cite web|title=Stadio Comunale Artemio Franchi|url=http://eu-football.info/_venue.php?id=1790|publisher=EU-Football.info|access-date=10 March 2014}} 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.
National rugby team
{{See also|Italy national rugby union team}}
The stadium has also hosted international rugby union matches. Italy played Australia on 20 November 2010, losing by a score of 14–32.{{cite web | publisher=federugby.it|title=ITALIA v AUSTRALIA A FIRENZE IL 20 NOVEMBRE|url=http://www.federugby.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1745:italia-v-australia-a-firenze-il-20-novembre-il-vice-sindaco-nardella-una-grande-occasioneq&catid=109:italia&Itemid=415|access-date=22 July 2010}}{{cite web | publisher=theaustralian.com.au|title=Wallabies back on course with 32-14 win over Italy|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/wallabies-back-on-course-with-32-14-win-over-italy/story-fn6aueer-1225957652615|access-date=21 November 2010}} 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|date=March 2020}}
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 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.{{cite news|title=The day UFOs hovered over Fiorentina's Stadio Artemio Franchi|work=BBC Sport|url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/20917594}}
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:
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.{{cite news|title=The day UFOs stopped play|work=BBC News|date=24 October 2014|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-29342407}}
1934 FIFA World Cup
The stadium was one of the venues of the 1934 FIFA World Cup, and held the following matches:
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| width="100%" class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:left" | ||||||
| Date
!Team #1 !Res. !Team #2 !Round !Attendance !Referee | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 May 1934 | {{fb|GER|1933}} | style="text-align:center"|5–2 | {{fb|BEL}} | First Round | 8,000 | Francesco Mattea (Italy) |
| 31 May 1934 | rowspan="2" |{{fb|ITA|1861}} | style="text-align:center"|1–1 | rowspan="2" |{{fb|ESP|1931}} | Quarter Finals | 35,000 | Louis Baert (Belgium) |
| 1 June 1934 | style="text-align:center" |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:
{{clear}}
| width="100%" class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:left" | ||||
| Date
!Team #1 !Res. !Team #2 !Round | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 June 1990 | {{fb|USA}} | style="text-align:center"|1–5 | {{fb|TCH}} | Group A |
| 15 June 1990 | {{fb|AUT}} | style="text-align:center"|0–1 | {{fb|TCH}} | Group A |
| 19 June 1990 | {{fb|AUT}} | style="text-align:center"|2–1 | {{fb|USA}} | Group A |
| 30 June 1990 | {{fb|ARG}} | style="text-align:center"|0–0 (3–2 on penalties) | {{fb|YUG}} | Quarter-finals |
References
{{Commons category|Stadio Artemio Franchi (Florence)}}
{{Reflist}}
{{ACF Fiorentina}}
{{Serie A venues}}
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{{Coord|43|46|51|N|11|16|56|E|type:landmark|display=title}}
Category:Venues of the 1960 Summer Olympics
Category:Rugby union stadiums in Italy
Category:Sports venues in Florence
Category:Sports venues completed in 1931
Category:American football venues in Italy
Category:1931 establishments in Italy