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 File: Fiorentina 2 New Saints 0/Conference League

I had never heard of the Welsh side New Saints. I had to google them to discover they have won the Cymru Premiership League 16 times. They are based in Oswestry, Shropshire, and must be the first Welsh team to visit the Artemio Franch. I was anticipating an easy victory but it was anything but. [...]

October 4, 2024 // 0 Comments

Olympiakos 1 Fiorentina 0 / Conference Final

for the second year running Fiorentina lost the Conference Final in a dull , disappointing game. Our problem is a weak strike force. Nico Gonzalez was average and a mistake to prefer Bellotti to Beltran the match was played in the impressive stadium of AEK Athens and therefore the home city of [...]

May 30, 2024 // 0 Comments

Atalanta 3 Bayer Leverkusen 0

When there is talk of the great managers Gian Piero Gasperini of Atalanta is rarely mentioned – certainly less so than Alonso of Bayer Leverkusen who have won the Bumdesliga and came to the Europa League Final in the Aviva Stadium Dublin on a 51 game unbeaten run. Yet it was Gasperini’s [...]

May 24, 2024 // 0 Comments

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

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Sir Keith Park

January 21, 2025 // 0 Comments

On Monday I walked from Victoria Station to my club The Reform in Pall Mall. As a London park I prefer Regents Park, not just because of its greater amenities (the boating [...]
Smith or Smith

January 20, 2025 // 0 Comments

I followed the Radio London commentary of the Harlequins 24 Glasgow Warriors 7 match, being unwilling to lay out £25 monthly for broadcaster Premium Sports. So I cannot give [...]
The Tanner Report: Leicester City 0 Fulham 2

January 19, 2025 // 0 Comments

Though this was not the most exciting of games it was a vital one. Fulham had drawn 6 of their last 9 games and doubts existed why we fared so well against team above us [...]
Match of the Day new presenters

January 18, 2025 // 0 Comments

Alex Jay-Kerski’s (BBC Director of Sport) garlanding of the three new Match Of The Day presenters (Kelly Cates, Gabby Logan and Mark Chapman) reminded me of the line in the [...]
Ipswich 0 Brighton 2

January 17, 2025 // 0 Comments

Brighton ended their 8 match Premier run without a win with a hard-fought but unattractive victory at Portman Road. Brighton have been bedevilled by injuries: Igor, Danny [...]