Our history is not yet safe.

[metlika 0]

If Rangers are reformed as a newco with "Rangers" somewhere in the name, then I don't think there is any doubt that we retain the history; as I've said a number of times on here if you check the UEFA web site you will see that AC and ACF Fiorentina are regarded as the same club with the same history.

 

http://www.uefa.com/teamsandplayers/teams/club=52817/profile/index.html

 

 

 

But if we were to buy another club (East Stirling were mentioned some time ago) and rename it then I think the comparisons with Airdrie & Airdrie Utd are accurate. Airdireonians died and a new club was born.

 

Whilst I don't think that is ilkely, equally it is not an impossible scenario; if the SFL do not vote to admit us at all.

 

Laws and Rules are different in Italy but was it 2 or 3 years before Fiorentina bought back the history and started playing in Purple again?

[BrahimHemdani 1]

Laws and Rules are different in Italy but was it 2 or 3 years before Fiorentina bought back the history and started playing in Purple again?

 

MTK, I don't think you can ever "buy back your history" but it would appear that they bought the rights to the name one year after going bankrupt, although they used a version of it incorporating "e Florentia Viola " in 2002/03 which might tend to suggest that they were still widely known by the nickname Viola, even if they weren't playing in purple. However, it is not clear from the article if it was the shirt colour or the badge or some other aspect of the design that is meant by "famous shirt design". I don't see how anyone could stop them playing in whatever colour they wanted, the badge is another matter. I did a bit of googling and found a team picture from 2002/03 in white strips with a purple band but that could have been an away strip. There is also an image of a match ticket in purple with what appears to be the normal logo.

 

I have edited this a little from Wikipedia:

 

The year 2001 heralded major changes for Fiorentina, as the terrible state of the club's finances was revealed: they were unable to pay wages and had debts of around USD 50 million. The club's owner, Vittorio Cecchi Gori, was able to raise some more money, but even this soon proved to be insufficient resources to sustain the club. Fiorentina were relegated at the end of the 2001–02 season and went into judicially controlled administration in June 2002. This form of bankruptcy (sports companies cannot exactly fail in this way in Italy, but they can suffer a similar procedure) meant that the club was refused a place in Serie B for the 2002–03 season, and as a result effectively ceased to exist.

 

The club was promptly re-established in August 2002 as Associazione Calcio Fiorentina e Florentia Viola with shoe and leather entrepreneur Diego Della Valle as new owner, and was admitted into Serie C2, the fourth tier of Italian football. The only player to remain at the club in its new incarnation was Angelo Di Livio, whose commitment to club's cause further endeared him to the fans. Helped by Di Livio and 30-goal striker Christian Riganò, the club won its Serie C2 group with considerable ease, which would normally have led to a promotion to Serie C1. However, due to the bizarre Caso Catania (Catania Case) the club skipped Serie C1 and was admitted into Serie B, something that was only made possible by the Italian Football Federation's decision to resolve the Catania situation by increasing the number of teams in Serie B from 20 to 24 and promoting Fiorentina for "sports merits."[5] In the 2003 off-season, the club also bought back the right to use the Fiorentina name and the famous shirt design, and re-incorporated itself as ACF Fiorentina.

The club's unusual double promotion was controversial, with some suggesting that Fiorentina did not deserve it. The club, however, remained in Serie B and managed to finish the 2003–04 season in sixth place. This put the Viola in a two-legged playoff against Perugia (the 15th-place finisher in Serie A) for a top-flight place during the next season. Fiorentina completed their remarkable comeback by winning the match 2–1 on aggregate, with both goals scored by Enrico Fantini, to gain promotion back to Serie A. In their first season back in Italian football's top flight, the club struggled to avoid relegation, only securing survival on the last day of the season and only avoiding a relegation playoff based on their head-to-head record against Bologna and Parma. In 2005, Della Valle decided to appoint Pantaleo Corvino as new sports director.

 

In 2005–06, Fiorentina hired Cesare Prandelli as their new head coach and made several signings during the summer transfer market, most notably Palermo's 20-goal striker Luca Toni and French goalkeeper Sébastien Frey. The combination of captain Dario Dainelli and Czech international regular Tomáš Ujfaluši in defence, Cristian Brocchi as midfield ball winner, Martin Jorgensen on the wing, Stefano Fiore as playmaker and key marksman Toni, with Frey in goal, proved to be an outstanding force in Serie A, giving them a fourth place finish with 74 points and qualifying the team for the third qualifying round of the Champions League. Toni scored 31 goals in 38 appearances, the first player to pass the 30-goal mark since Antonio Valentin Angelillo in the 1958–59 season, for which he was awarded the European Golden Boot.

 

On 14 July 2006, however, Fiorentina were relegated to Serie B due to their involvement in the 2006 Serie A match fixing scandal and given a 12-point penalty. The team was reinstated to the Serie A on appeal, but with a 19-point penalty for the 2006–07 season. The team's UEFA Champions League place was also rescinded. After the start of the season, Fiorentina's penalization was reduced from 19 points to 15 on appeal to the Italian courts.

Despite starting the 2006–07 season with a 15-point penalty, Fiorentina nevertheless managed to secure a place in the 2007–08 edition of the UEFA Cup. The combination of Toni and Adrian Mutu proved to be one of Serie A's most proficient strike partnerships, scoring 31 goals between them.

 

While many doubted the potential of the Viola in the 2007–08 season due to Toni's departure, Fiorentina had a sensational start to the season and were tipped by Marcello Lippi and other prominent names in football as a surprise challenger for the Scudetto. This form tailed off towards the middle of the season, however, with several disappointing losses in connection with a grievous family loss suffered by club manager Prandelli. The club reached the semi-final of the UEFA Cup, where they were ultimately defeated by Rangers on penalties after two 0–0 ties. The season ended on a high note as Fiorentina defeated Torino 1–0 on the final day of the season to secure a Champions League spot at the expense of Milan. That campaign ended in the group stages, however, with the club finishing third and securing a path to the UEFA Cup instead.