Introduction and presentation of concept
Hello to any Soccer fans on this board.

A while ago, i did a Soccer/Rugby TL called The Gentleman's game as a collaboration with alternatehistory.com user @Neoteros. While i did have a lot of fun writing this TL, i've gotten a bit too ambitious with it, talking and changing many things about the world to have the results i wanted without ever thinking about the consequences and huge butterflies of said actions, not to mention i have a severe lack of knowledge about the world's history...basically, i didn't really know what i was doing.

Recently, i feel like i wanna give it a go again. This time, however, the concept is different. Instead of focusing on the world and football, i've decided to write fictional football documentaries instead. This is motivated mainly by me being more familiar and caring more about club football than national teams and international competitions. However, i might dip my toe into a specific world cup or Euro here and there.

The main inspiration for going in that direction are the brilliant documentaries made by youtube channel Balon:



Hope you'll enjoy this thread!
 
Last edited:
Looking good there, what will be the first documentary? :p
Honestly...i don't really know...the first ones i have in mind is Udinese 1997-1998 and a remake of the alternate history of Fiorentina (namely, if baggio never left for juve in 1990), one of my first football documentaries i wrote a few years ago.
 
Honestly...i don't really know...the first ones i have in mind is Udinese 1997-1998 and a remake of the alternate history of Fiorentina (namely, if baggio never left for juve in 1990), one of my first football documentaries i wrote a few years ago.
Parma might be another one, they were this close to winning the championship once. Except, the Parmalat bankruptcy that brought the team down IOTL is probably unavoidable, so the likes of Buffon and Thuram might do what they eventually did with Juventus, and stay in order to bring the team back to Serie A. :p
 
Parma might be another one, they were this close to winning the championship once. Except, the Parmalat bankruptcy that brought the team down IOTL is probably unavoidable, so the likes of Buffon and Thuram might do what they eventually did with Juventus, and stay in order to bring the team back to Serie A. :p
Well, i have a solution that probably ties with an idea i had with napoli...

I also want to do the alternate history of leeds united and marseille. the former as a kind off my own take on an unfinished TL i've read a long time ago, the latter because i'm a marseille fan. Now THAT'S a club who, just like Parma, deserved much better after their run of success. If only that idiot Tapie sent the B team instead of fixing the game against valenciennes... in fact, i could pretty much do An Alternate history of French Football as a whole, since Ligue 1 always gets the short end of the stick IRL...

Anyways, first things first, Fiorentina...i think i'll do la viola in 2 parts: the 1981-1982 team and the 90s.
 
Last edited:
Well, i have a solution that probably ties with an idea i had with napoli...

I also want to do the alternate history of leeds united and marseille. the former as a kind off my own take on an unfinished TL i've read a long time ago, the latter because i'm a marseille fan. Now THAT'S a club who, just like Parma, deserved much better after their run of success. If only that idiot Tapie sent the B team instead of fixing the game against valenciennes... in fact, i could pretty much do An Alternate history of French Football as a whole, since Ligue 1 always gets the short end of the stick IRL...

Anyways, first things first, Fiorentina...i think i'll do la viola in 2 parts: the 1981-1982 team and the 90s.

It's kind of weird, the mismatch between the French national football team and Ligue 1 when it comes to their reputation - if there's one thing I like about French football, is how well balanced the league seems to be, or at least was before the streaks of Lyon and PSG. Out of those leagues that have implemented promotion and relegation (a system that, while it allows for greater representation than the franchise system, eventually ends up favouring a few big teams) only the Japanese one might be more prone to unexpected outcomes.

1990s Fiorentina was one hell of a team. Sadly, to prevent the downfall of Serie A you'd have to change quite a lot of stuff not on the pitch, but behind the scenes, maybe even going as far as to involve actual politics.
 
1990s Fiorentina was one hell of a team. Sadly, to prevent the downfall of Serie A you'd have to change quite a lot of stuff not on the pitch, but behind the scenes, maybe even going as far as to involve actual politics.
Since you're way more knowledgable about Italy and the Serie A (at least, when it comes to the behind the scenes stuff), maybe we can talk about this in private?
 
1981-1982 Fiorentina
25fiorentina-palermo-franchi.jpg


Fiorentina part 1: 1981-1982: the Philosopher's legacy

On the final matchday of the 1981-1982 Serie A season, Fiorentina, led by Brazillian international Socrates and Italian and club icon Giancarlo Antognoni, and a recently Promoted Juventus, who came back from serving their punishment of spending last season in Serie B following the totonero Scandal, were both looking to win the scudetto.

Serie_A_1986-87_-_Fiorentina_vs_Juventus_-_Stefano_Carobbi_e_Massimo_Mauro.jpg

Juve vs Fiorentina earlier during the 81-82 season

Both were tied at 44 points atop the table. La Viola faced Cagliari, while the bianconeri faced Catanzaro. Both Clubs are at the peak of their powers, both are dying to fulfill their destinies.

But how did that fateful day happened? What were the events that led to Fiorentina challenging for their first Scudetto in 20 years?

This is the story of the 1981-1982 Fiorentina season, and the build-up to that particular year in italian football.

PART 1: Football in Florence: A crash Course.


Giovanni-Stradano-Gioco-del-calcio-in-piazza-Santa-Maria-Novella-1561-62-1024x721.jpg

Calcio Fiorentino, an ancient form of football...or, rather Gladiator fights disguised as football.

image.jpg

The history of football in Florence goes back longer than the birth of AFC Fiorentina. In 1898, Florence Football Club was founded. That club was dissolved some years later, instead two older sport clubs, Club Sportivo Firenze and Palestra Ginnastica Fiorentina Libertas, started football sections in the 1910s. CF Fiorentina was founded in 1926, by a merger of this two Florentine clubs – CS Firenze and PG Libertas.

Even with the hype around a new and spacious stadium being built in 1931, much of the club's next 25 years were spent in the lower divisions of Italian football. The only bright spot was winning Coppa Italia in 1940.

fiorentina-1955-56-scudetto-wp.jpg

The 50s were a lot more successful for Fiorentina. After some consistent top-table finishes in Serie A, the club won its first Scudetto in 1956 with a 12-point difference over the second-place team. The team came close to a perhaps even bigger trophy when reaching the European Cup final the subsequent season. After beating Grasshopper and Red Star, they had to face Barcelona at the Camp Nou in the final and was defeated 2-0.

On Italian ground, they also came out triumphant in 1960 and 1961, winning back to back Coppa italias and the first Cup Winners' Cup ever held, defeating Glasgow Rangers in the final, before winning their third scudetto in 1962 thanks to their striker duo Kurt Hamrin and top Scorer Aurelio Milani, whose 26 goals carried la viola to the title, along with the goalkeeping of italy keeper Enrico Albertosi [1].

After winning yet another coppa italia in 1966, the Club would spend the rest of the decade empty handed, being beaten to the 1969 title by The Grande Cagliari of Gigi Riva and Roebrto Boninsegna, with their former keeper Albertosi having joined the island club in that off-season.

Despite boasting players such as Brazillian Internationals Caju And Carlos Alberto [2], as well as Giancarlo de sisti and Luciano Chiarugi, The 70s would begin in dispapointment for La Viola, as they would be off the pace for much of the decade. The 1974-1975 season, while disappointing in the league with a 8th place finish, would end up in success, however, as the club would win the Coppa Italia that year, with Carlos Alberto showing his revolutionary attacking wingback style by delivering crosses to both Caju and Chiarugi. That season would also mark the arrival in the first team of a young attacking midfielder with great potential in Giancarlo Antognoni.


antognoni-1972.jpg


ANTOGNONI: A NEW HOPE.​

Born near Perugia, in Umbria, Antognoni first caught the eye of then Fiorentina Manager, Ex-Milan legend and Euro 1948 hero Nils Liedholm, as a 16 year old who was playing in the italian 4th division. When liedholm recruited him for quite a big sum of money for a teenager at the time, many were sceptical of his decision, especially when he immediately gave him considerable game time. The young Antognoni would repay his manager's trust, however, by playing quite well in the 20 league games he played, including scoring 2 goals as he helped la viola secure 4th place in his debut season.

The 1974-1975 season would be the year where Antognoni solidified himself as a future cornerstone of fiorentina. Partnered by Caju behind Chiarugi in Liedholm's flexible 4-3-3/4-3-2-1 tactic, Antognoni acumulated the assists and started doing what would become his trademark: his dominance on the left wing. The Coppa Italia win that year, with goals by Caju and Chiarugi, both on antognoni assists, further cemented the young man's arrival on the national scene.

1975-1978: UNCERTAINTY

The 1975 Coppa Italia win would prove to be the last hurrah for liedholm's short, but successful tenure at la viola, as the swedish legend would then join AS Roma, where he would build one of the greatest sides italian and european football has ever seen. Liedholm wasn't the only one who left, however, as both brazilians, Caju and Carlos Alberto, would also quit the club, Caju to Marseille, where he would win the 1977 1978 french title along with Didier Six, and Carlos Alberto to Milan, respectively.

Despite losing those strong players, la Viola saw this as an opportunity to start a new era with Antognoni as the focal point of the team. In comes new Manager Carlo Mazzone, who earned a lot of praise for guiding lowly Ascoli from the third division all the way to Serie A. Mazzone quickly gave full confidence towards the young number 10, and he would repay his new coach's trust with excellent performances, forming a deadly duo with Chiarugi, the two pacey, skilled players being perfect for Mazzone's hard-pressing style.

mazzone1.jpg

Mazzone in the heat of the action during a Serie A match.

Unfortunately, Mazzone's first season behind the sidelines saw the club being way off the pace of the leaders, with Torino being the eventual winners of 1975-1976, with a narrow defeat against reigning Serie A Champions Napoli in the Coppa Italia Semi-final being a heartbreaking moment.

The following season saw a vast improvement from Mazzone and La Viola, as the team finished a distant 3rd behind The two turinese clubs, with Torino once again winning the title by 1 point over Juventus. In the Coppa Italia, Antognoli and Chiarugi carried la Viola all the way to the final, upsetting Inter in a memorable 3-2 comeback win in the semis. A showdown awaited fiorentina against the Cup team of the decade: Nereo Rocco's AC Milan, featuring many veterans of the 1968 scudetto and 1969 Champions Cup winning sides, such as Fabio Capello, Romeo Benetti, Roberto Rosato, Angelo Anquiletti, Pierino Prati and The Great Gianni Rivera, along with new boys Elias Figueroa, Aldo Maldena, Alberto Bigon and Wlodimierz Lubanski.

Gianni_Rivera3.jpg

Gianni Rivera, AC Milan Legend

Despite a valiant effort, La Viola was no match for the battle-hardened Rossoneri, as Milan would win the final 2-0, sending out their retiring Legendary manager Rocco on top, becoming the winningest manager in AC Milan history at that point.

1977-1978 season was the all in year for Mazzone and antognoli. The former must win a trophy, or else he'll be fired, while the latter wants to prove that he is a winner.
To help their cause, The club would sign Argentine Defender Daniel Passarella [3] and Milan Striker Pierino Prati to form an attacking trio with Antognoni behind him and Chiarugi. Meanwhile, the team would promote young goalkeeper Giovanni Galli as the new starter.

kaiser_crop1595382281250.jpg_1402874324.jpg

Giovanni-Galli-0004-202cmx25cm-scaled.jpg

Passarella and Galli, two key players for fiorentina in the 80s.
While the club would once again be off the pace in the league, finishing 9th behind Roma, they would achieve a formidable run in the coppa Italia, with highlights include beating Bologna in the quarters and a memorable game where Passarella turned into a star by containing Inter's new star playmaker Michel Platini [4], while The trio of Antognoli, Prati and Chiarugi ran rampant on the Inter defense, winning 2-0 as la Viola went to the final, where Napoli awaits.

With Mazzone's job and Antognoni's reputation on the line, La Viola would play their best match of the season. Two goals from Prati and Passarella was enough as Fiorentina beat Napoli 2-1 to win the Coppa Italia once again, their first trophy in the Mazzone Era!

Antognoni was a winner at last, and Carlo Mazzone kept his job, receiving a 4-year contract extension. The former would be called to the Azzura's squad for the 1978 world cup.

While Florence was celebrating in the streets, it was only the beginning of good news for the La Viola faithful.

1978: PONTELLO ARIVES

image_original.jpg

During the 1977-78 off-season, the club announce that it has a new owner. Flavio Pontello, a real estate mogul, has bought the club, and promised to spend heavily to turn Fiorentina into a scudetto challenger heading into the new decade. His first move as owner was to change the club's logo and anthem, much to the fans's anger. He knew he had to do something to appease them, and quick. Thankfully, Through Passarella and italian scouts sent to Argentina for that year's world cup, he managed to get into contact with one of the superstars of the tournament. A complete midfielder, whose intelligence both on and off the pitch is unparalleled.

fiorentina.jpg


SOCRATES: FOOTBALL'S PYTHAGOR.​

Socrates's arrival in italy coincidated with a huge shift in power in the footballing world. The oil crisis in the united states, followed by the economic downturn, meant that south americans moved to European clubs en masse instead of the American Soccer league despite the latter being closer to home. The Brazillian midfielder's 5-year contract with Fiorentina made him the highest-paid footballer in the world at the time. Socrates, combined with the arrival of Argentine winger Daniel Bertoni from Independiente, showed just how serious Pontello was about the club's ambition.

dcaade9cd642f44bfd173c301e8ef72a.jpg

Daniel Bertoni
Expectations were high heading into the 1978 1979 season. Socrates's adaptation to european football was seamless, the Brazilian international didn't took very long to become Fiorentina's midfield general, orchestrating play and linking up well with Antognoni and Bertoni.

However, the 78-79 season would be marked by turmoil on and off the field, as Striker Luciano Chiarugi, already known for having a short temper, was becoming more and more erratic in his behaviour, frequently arguing with Coach Mazzone and butting heads with teammate Passarella. All this season-long drama reached its peak when, during a Coppa Italia round of 16 game against Juventus, Chiarugi got hit on the head by an elbow from Juve defender Claudio Gentile while contesting a header. The referee didn't call any foul on the play, which frutrated Chiarugi to no end. The tension between him and Gentile only got worse as the game went on.

And then, at the 54th minute, on a Juve Corner, Gentile was marking Chiarugi again. This time, however, the viola striker prepared something sinister...

While Gentile was approaching Chiarugi to mark him, the latter karate kicked him in the groin, sending the Juve hard man on the ground in pain and kickstarting a huge brawl both on the pitch and in the stands between the Juve and Fiorentina fans. The game would be suspended as members of the police flooded the stadium to aprehend both teams tifosis. In the end, Juve would win the match, and go on to win the Coppa, their second trophy under Giovanni Trappatoni, while this fateful match would later be known as the Massacre at Florence. The photo of Socrates and Scirea looking apathetically at the brawl became one of football's most well known and evocative images.


Chiarugi would be suspended for the rest of the season for his actions, and eventually sold to Sampdoria after the season. Despite this major setback, the team had a newfound focus, as they would finish the league campaign in a 9 game-unbeaten streak, barely beating torino for 5th place as Perugia, just like the paolo rossi-led Vicenza the year before, would surprise everybody by beating Milan for the title, going undefeated as well, albeit with lots of draws.

Despite the 5th place finish, La Viola management and fans knew that, with the amount of money and the quality players at their disposal, that they greatly underachieved, and Pontello knew that the squad needed a lot more than that to compete with the rising Juve, Inter and Roma squads.

The 1979-1980 season would be a lot more competitive for Fiorentina. The squad was boosted massively thanks to the Arrival of Torino Striker Francesco Graziani and Free Agent Defender Antonello Cuccuredu. The club would be in the title race for much of the season, Carlo Mazzone's side proposing slick, attacking football, with Socrates, Bertnoni, Antognoni and Graziani forming a very good attacking quartet, which produced great results such as a 3-0 win against Inter and 4-1 against Juve in a heated match.

150px-Francesco_Graziani%2C_Fiorentina.jpg

Cuccureddu-Fiorentina-1.jpg

Graziani and Cuccureddu

However, it won't be long before teams started exposing the side's glaring weakness: namely, a lack of defensive solidity. Despite the best efforts of goalkeeper giovanni Galli, La Viola let goals through like a leaking ship. The first sign of trouble came early in the season in the first round of the UEFA Cup when, despite leading 2-0 at half-time, The club let 2 unanswered goals from Bayern Munich's Karl-Heinz Rumenigge through to force extra time, eventually losing to the bavarian club on penalties. Finally, their high-flying run to the Coppa italia came to a scratching halt in the semi-finals, where they were dominated by eventual winners Roma, led by Bruno Conti, Ancelotti, Socrates's countryman Paulo Falcao and former Fiorentina coach Liedholm.

In the league, the team would lose steam at the worst possible moment, losing their last 3 games, including the title-sealing game for the Inter side led by Platini, Lato, luque, beppe baresi and Altobelli. They would even miss out on a podium finish, as Mazzone's former club, Ascoli, would surprise everybody by finishing as runner-ups to the nerazzuri. La Viola would eventually end up in 3rd place and qualified for the UEFA Cup, however, following a series of events that would change Italian Football forever...


unnamed-2.jpg


1980: THE TOTONERO SCANDAL.​

In March of 1980, two Roman Shopkeepers, Massimo Cruciano and Alvaro Trinca, confessed to the press that a handful of the biggest clubs in Italy assembled at Trinca's restaurant to illegally fix the outcome of individual matches, with some players even betting against their own teams. Clubs as prestigious as Napoli, Lazio, Bologna, AC Milan and Juventus were found guilty of match fixing by the international anti-match fixing board, an organism created in the aftermatch of the 1966 World cup match fixing scandal in order to crack down on match fixing of all kind.


As such, the punishments given were very harsh. All Guilty clubs would be relegated to the tier below, which meant that Juve, Milan, Lazio and Napoli would play in Serie B for the 1980-1981 season.

This meant that Fiorentina had a golden opportunity to win the scudetto. With only Roma, Inter, Torino and a rising Udinese led by Socrates's countryman Zico as challengers, la viola had a golden opportunity. As such, they immediately went to the transfer market to upgrade the leaky defense. In came Torino defensive Midfielder Eraldo Pecci and Splashing big bucks on the most promising Defender in Italy: Pietro Vierchowod, son of a Ukranian soldier, who, at 21 years of age, have already played almost 100 matches for his original club, Como.

The 1980-1981 season started well for Fiorentina, as they won their opening 9 league games. Pecci brought some much needed solidity in the midfield, while Vierchowod lived up to his price tag, forming a great partnership at center half with Passarella. However, while they were very good at home, their away form was below average, drawing and losing games when they should have won.

And once again, Fiorentina had to play second fiddle to their former coach Nils Liedholm and Roma. Since Liedholm joined Roma in 1975, La Viola never won against the Giallorossi, who turnd into one of the best teams in italy under the swedish manager. The capital club continued their dominance over the florence side, beating them 1-0 in the coppa italia quarter-finals thanks to a thunder strike by Former Lazio Star striker Delio Onnis (the Giallorossi would end up retaining the cup) before drawing both matches against them in the league, and the GialloRossi would then dominate the rest of the season to win only their second ever scudetto.

TmaMvoCoWEvmZJRl5OEniAg204zQP1Pma-fs8Lv6-W-eTHFXNpfDTV8JVwcDCW7tOuu-0fUlHm5-JjHiZL6AJKJtJySu2d-N7yXva2TtTx-h


Now La Viola's fatefuls are getting impatient with Mazzone and Pontello. All this money spent on top class players, a severely weakened Serie A, and they blew it! Next season was the make or break year for Mazzone and the side. This summer, there were many dead weight being shipped out and Only one arrival, young striker Daniele Massaro, to provide cover for Graziani.

They weren't the only ones who signed any players. Roma, already a strong team, were now even better after Adding Paulo Falcao's midfield partner in the selecao Toninho Cerezo and young defender Sebastiano Nela from Bologna, while Juventus, now hungry for revenge after being promoted back to Serie A, signed Arsenal no.10 Liam Brady and Polish forward Zbigniew Boniek. Inter also boosted its ranks, With Bayern Superstar Karl-Heinz Rumenigge playing in front of Michel platini and austrian Herbert Prohaska as the nerazzuri's foreign attacking trio, while even smaller clubs like Udinese managed to attract talent, with countryman Edinho and Juve Strikers Pietro Virdis and Franco Causio joining Brazilian Superstar Zico At the little zebras, Torino bringing in Brazilian left back leo junior and dutchman michel van de korput and even Ascoli managed to grab Nottingham forest striker Trevor Francis.

The stage was set for a season to remember. A season full of drama, twists and turns. A season which marked the beginning of the golden age of Italian Football...

DCvYm0aXYAIB9nL.jpg

Cuccureddu, Pecci and Bertoni

FIORENTINA TACTICS AT THE START OF THE 1981-82 SEASON

Galli

Contratto Passarella Vierchowod Cuccuredu

Pecci

Casagrande Socrates

Bertoni Antognoni (C)

Graziani​


During the first three games of the season, La Viola didn't really look like title challengers. Casagrande's goal proved to be the only positive in an average performance against Vierchowod's former club Como, while draws against a rebuilding Milan and Ascoli showed a worrying lack of bite up front. The following game against Catanzaro would see Vierchowod score from a header, while barley a minute later, Socrates would deliver a brilliant pass to Bertoni, who calmly finishes to have the club win 2-0.

The following week, against avellino, would see the team fall back to its complacent ways, with only Graziani's 1st minute goal the only difference between the two sides. No one was satisfied with how the team was performing. the players, management, Ownership and the fans, absolutely no one. While at Rome in the stadio olimpico to face their dreaded bogeyman in the Giallorossi, the team looked like they didn't want to be here, which pissed off antignoni and Socrates. Despite both men's best efforts to rally their teammates, it was all in vain. As usual since 1975, the Florentines were thrashed by the Roman Legions 3-0, with onnis, Di Bartolomei and Pruzzo having a field day against a defense that looked like deers lost in headlights. The midfield lost almost every bits and piece of possesion to the Romans, Falcao, cerezo and Ancelotti bossing everyone in the midfield as if they were the Corleones running rampant in the capital's boroughs.

This was humiliating. And the fans had enough. A petition was launched to have Mazzone fired, and players such as Bertoni, Vierchowod and Socrates were being mocked for their high salaries. Of course, the Brazilian doctor wisely ignored those fools's insults, but he, Antognoni and Mazzone knew that the team needed a shake up. During training camp, Socrates and the manager assembled the team and started talking to each other, telling each other their current thought about the clubs, their relationship with one another and what was going on with their mediocre performances.

Whatever Socrates, antognoni and the boss told the ayers,it seemed to have worked wonders, as the team would be back in form, winning 2-1 against torino and findng a last minute draw against cesena before palying what would eventually end up being a crucial fixture against Genoa.

It was a crazy game of Football, with twists and turns in every minute. Bertoni opened the score with a header from a beautiful cross by antognoni, only for genoa to equalise 10 minutes later with fabrizio gorin scoring.

Antognoni would then score a penalty after a foul inside the box. And then, the unthinkable happened.

Socrates delivered a killer ball over the heads of the Genoa defenders, straight towarda antognoli. After an awkward bounce, Giancarlo tried to head it, but goalkeeper Silvano Martina jumps and Tiger Knees the Viola Captain, knocking him out instantly.

199d0114-341a-4038-afa5-696a1a9135c3.jpeg

Silvano Martina...also known as Sagat
the entire Artemio Frachi fell in silence as bith teams started brawling. people feared for the worst, the fact Fiorentina won the Match didn't matter.

And it did get worse. Antognoni stopped showing any sign of life. Genoa Captain Claudio Onofri immediately called for both teams doctors. After 30 seconds of intensive reanimation, Antognoni was breathing again, saved by the Genoa Doctor untwisting his tongue...yes, it's as gross as it sounds.

Now deprived of their captain, La viola thought that they would say goodbye to their title hopes, that the team would crumble. That's not knowing what kind of men Socrates and Carlo Mazzone are. Socrates took the captain's armband and rallied the players around him, putting their feelings towards one another aside and using their incapacitated Teammate as a rallying point, while Mazzone tweaked his lineup, Using a new 4-2-2-2 tactic with Bertoni and Socrates acting as two Attacking midfielders behind Graziani and youngster Daniele Massaro, who would get his first starting minutes as a fiorentina player.

The first post-injury test for fiorentina was against none other than Juventus. It was a hard game, bkth teams not shying away from doing bone-crunching tackles. Daniele Massaro would repay Mazzone's faith in him by scoring a great volley from a long ball by Socrates to give La Viola the gritty 1-0 win.

What followed was extraordinary. Carried by its defense, Socrates's genius and Massaro's emergence, la Vioal would win their next 8 games in a row, becoming the Serie A winter champions, their only non-wins were two against Ascoli and Torino.

For the rest of the season, Fiorentina were unbeaten, and when Antognoni returned, he quickly slotted into the left wing position, with socrates becoming a box-to-box midfielder beside Pecci, showcasing his versatility, while Massaro would continue showing that he is potentially the striker of the future for Fiorentina.

FIORENTINA TACTICS FOR THE REST OF 1981-1982 SEASON

Galli

Contratto Passarella Vierchowod Cuccureddu

Bertoni Pecci Socrates Antognoni

Massaro Graziani
Normally, spending the second half of the season unbeaten is enough for any team to secure the title...however, when you're facing a club as incredibly consistent as Juventus, the title is never secured. Indeed, Juve matched La Viola's pace almost to the step. Everything clicked with Juve: Trappatoni's tactics, Dino Zoff playing like he was 28, that incredible defense, Prandelli and Liam Brady passing the ball to Boniek and Paolo Rossi, Trap's Juve were at the peak of their powers, and then some. Ill-fated draws from Fiorentina meant that the title would be decided on the final day.

Fiorentina knew that they have the key to destiny in their own hands...but first, they had to exorcise their demons.

La Viola had a dominant run to the Coppa Italia final, winning by at least 2-3 goals in every match they played. Now, they faced the ultimate challenge: Their bogeyman, AS Roma.

While La Viola did beat the giallorossi in their away league fixture, many felt that this cup final was the real test for Fiorentina, to see if they had what it takes to possibly win the Scudetto.

The first half was closely fought, with the midfield quatuor of Falcao, Cerezo, Ancelotti and Conti having both the numerical and statistical advantage over the purple midfield 2. Both defense were equally strong, with Galli and Tancredi being imperial in front of net. The first half ended 0-0.

For the second half, Mazzone switched tactics, puttng socrates in midfield as a deep-lying playmaker, with Graziani suprisingly being taken off for Casagrande to have better numbers in midfield, leaving young massaro alone up front.

The move, while questioned by many, proved to be the decisive moment of the match. Fiorentina would keep possession alot more, and looked more dangerous in the final third. Finally, the floodgates opened, as Bertoni scored on a pass by Massaro. Then, Delio Onnis the inevitable equalised shortly after.

That's where la viola fans are inevitably preparing for the worst...

But then again, they forgot about Massaro.

A header from Passarella clears the ball over the midfield, where socrates did a no-look backheel to pecci, who immediately passed forward to antognoli, who beats cerezo and nela, crosses to the center, and Massaro is there and heads it in!

The away section erupts into cheers, the players are fist pumping the air and Carlo Mazzone is hugging his assitant as Fiorentina wins the Coppa italia and finally beats Roma and liedholm.

Now, they are ready to win the scudetto...

On the final matchday of the 1981-1982 Serie A season, Fiorentina, led by Brazillian international Socrates and Italian and club icon Giancarlo Antognoni, and a recently Promoted Juventus, who came back from serving their punishment of spending last season in Serie B following the totonero Scandal, were both looking to win the scudetto.


Both were tied at 44 points atop the table. La Viola faced Cagliari, while the bianconeri faced Catanzaro. Both Clubs are at the peak of their powers, both are dying to fulfill their destinies. Antognoni would feed the flames as he publically called Juventus cheaters and that he wouldn't be surprised if they did something shady behind the scenes, while trappatoni did his usual trash talking. Socrates, ever the classy gentleman, simply sticked to the usual Politically correct answers.

Football fans all over italy watched both games with immense scrutiny, especially the anti-match fixing agents. Everything was going rather dully until Francesco Graziani scored the first goal. Despite complaints fron cagliari about graxiani pushing the keeper, the referee allowed the goal, which gave immense pressure to Juve.

Thing awould go from bad to worse for the Bianconeri, as Catanzaro would be awarded a penalty, which they would convert. Now, Juve was in the hot seat, wave after wave of attacks followed. Finally, Liam Brady was pulled down inside the box, awarding juve a penalty, much to the anger of non-turinese everywhere. Brady himself would convert it to level the acore, though la Viola was leading in both their game and at the top of the table. Juve needed to score another goal to win the game, finish level on points with fiorentina and win the scudetto on goal difference.

As for la Vioal, Mazzone knew they needed to defend that 1-0 lead, especially against a cagliari side playing with the energy of despair as they desperately tried to avoid relegation.

Wave of balls followed, not a single one finding the back of the net. Juve were reletless, but catanzaro held firm, and the game finished 1-1 for juve. Now their only hope was for la Viola to concede a goal and they would win on goal difference.

Unfortunately for the old lady, this time, luck was not on their side. Vierchowod, Passarella and Galli played a perfect game, shutting out Cagliari as the Artemio Franchi stadium came alive at the final whistle.

Finally, after 20 years of up and downs, underachievement and losing to Roma, Fiorentina are champions of Italy!

Antognoni with an incredible comeback from a near death experience.

Vierchowod and Massaro revealing themselves as future stars of italy.

Socrates, the philosopher and leader of men

passarella and Galli, the rocks at the back, Bertoni and Pecci, the workhorses.

Carlo Mazzone, the coach who proved everybody wrong, twice!

a dramatic finish.

and, in the end...

a historic Double!

CRYRFKLUEAAY_nS.jpg

Fiorentina, 1981-1982 Double winners. Pretend Socrates is in the photo.


[1] IRL, AC Milan won it, while milani scored only 21 goals.
[2] ITTL, A massive players protest/strike forced the FIGC to cancel their proposal of banning foreign players in italian Football, meaning the 3 foreign players rule never left.
[3] Passarella only joined during the 1981-1982 season
[4] IRL, he was linked to inter in the 70s, even during the ban on foreign players during that decade.
 
Last edited:
So, the Totonero scandal hits even harder than it did IOTL, nice. :p

Since you stated that this would be the beginning of a golden age, here's hoping the people in charge do a more competent job at cleaning house than they did IOTL after Calciopoli, that basically sent the league into a decline it's only starting to recover from just now - even though I don't really follow any sport closely, the fact that teams like Atalanta are now challenging the likes of Real Madrid with a fraction of their budget could teach a lot of people, a lot of things, even outside the pitch. :p
 
Top