Articles by Stefano Ursolini

About Stefano Ursolini

The son of a leading Florentine art dealer, Stefano initially worked in the Uffizi Gallery. He went into journalism and soon became a popular stringer writing on Tuscan wines, art and football. Stefano lives with his partner Umberto in the Santa Croce quarter of Florence. A dedicated supporter of AC Fiorentina his elegant articles on the Viola as well as the Serie A have earned him an appreciative global audience. More Posts

Fiorentina reach Conference final

On Wednesday evening “il mio babbo” (my dad) and I settled down to watch Club Brugge play la Viola in the second leg Conference semi-final. We had a 3-2 lead but Club Brugge, who numbered Fulham’s ex Dennis Odoi and a talented striker in Thiago, would be a tough match. Indeed they [...]

May 10, 2024 // 0 Comments

Fiorentina file: Fiorentina 3 Club Brugge 2

Art business took me to West Sussex. An art collector in Petworth may be interested in selling a Giorgio di Chirico. Collectors always say they are not interested in selling but, if the price is right … The tactic is not to disclose the net price. An auction house deducts a premium, VAT and [...]

May 4, 2024 // 0 Comments

Kurt Hamrin

The passing of Kurt Hamrin this weekend was probably not covered by the British sporting medusa but he was a legend for Fiorentina and Sweden. He and Gabriel Batistuta were joint Viola capocannoniere (top scorers) with 151 goals. Kurt Hamrin – known as the ‘Little Bird’ – played [...]

February 5, 2024 // 0 Comments

Fiorentina File: Fiorentina 1 FC Basel 2 (Conference semi final)

Fiorentina were expected to beat FC Basel but lost to two late goals. A couple of months ago la Viola were storming up serie a and looked to be a real force but throughout this competition the Swiss side have been unpredictable. They took the long route to the semis and – in the last round [...]

May 12, 2023 // 0 Comments

Fiorentina File: Sporting Braga 0 Fiorentina 4 (Europa Conference League)

I cannot imagine that Fiorentina’s play-off first leg in the most junior of European competitions – the Europa Conference League – attracted much interest outside Florence. West Ham, Lazio and Nice are still in the competition so the draw could make for some interesting [...]

February 17, 2023 // 0 Comments

Fiorentina file: Hearts 0 Fiorentina 3

Last night I watched on TV with my father Fiorentina beat Hearts 3-0 at Tynecastle in the Europa Conference Tournament. The guys on the Rust sport desk told me there are already too many tournaments across sport and this one, a junior branch of the junior Europa League, seems another. Hearts [...]

October 7, 2022 // 0 Comments

Fiorentina file: Fiorentina 2 Roma 0

Fiorentina easily disposed of Roma last night. We were awarded a penalty in the opening minutes, converted by Nico Gonzalez and later Giacometti Bonaventura added a second. Roma – managed by Jose Mourinho and with some well known Premiership names in the team (Chris Smalling, Rui Patricio [...]

May 10, 2022 // 0 Comments

Fiorentina file: Torino 4 Fiorentina 0

The Italian incubo means “nightmare” and crollo “collapse” or “meltdown”. Both words are apt to describe Fiorentina’s defeat yesterday in the rearranged match at Torino. Fiorentina fielded a strong team with Italian international Castrovili alongside [...]

January 11, 2022 // 0 Comments

Fiorentina File: Fiorentina 2 Sassuolo 2

I do not follow rugby- our Italian team always seems to finish bottom in the Six Nations – but I did read the post yesterday about Harlequins with interest. Fiorentina do put winning before entertaining but you are normally assured a good game because they are so unpredictable. One person [...]

December 20, 2021 // 0 Comments

View from abroad: Fiorentina 4 Milan 3/Clermont Ferrand 1 Nice 2

Once again we saw an exciting spectacular – this time between la Viola and serie a leaders Milan. Fiorentina were at one stage leading 3-0 but Zlatan Ibrahimovic scored a hat trick for the Rossoneri and we were hanging on. Star striker 21 year old Vlahavic has a reputed £80m price tag. There [...]

November 22, 2021 // 0 Comments

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A la Colthard/The Arlington

May 18, 2024 // 0 Comments

As the saying goes: “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it …” The Arlington has the same location, decor and menu as La Caprice – the only difference is the [...]
On the trials and tribulations of modern life

May 17, 2024 // 0 Comments

Yesterday at about 3.00pm in the warm mid-afternoon sunshine – after a relatively sedentary day to that point – my “other half” and I decided to go walking at a local [...]
Beryl Cook

May 15, 2024 // 0 Comments

Many years ago I was at the National Theatre for a play I have long forgot. In the interval I went to their bookshop and came across THE WORKS by Beryl Cook. The cover alone [...]
The Tanner Report: Fulham 0 Manchester City 4

May 13, 2024 // 0 Comments

There is no disgrace in losing to Manchester City even though it was a thumping defeat containing only one Fulham attempt on goal. Nor should this defeat disguise the fact [...]
Exeter Chiefs 58 Harlequins 26

May 13, 2024 // 0 Comments

Maybe it was that gruelling Investec Cup semi -final against Toulouse – or maybe the injury to Caden Murley leading to a reshuffle with Marcus Smith going to full back [...]