Hi all! I thought I'd post here as a friendly Fiorentina fan from Glasgow, given our connection in this year's Conference.
Although I support Scotland (no comments necessary!), my family moved around the UK a lot, so I never felt affinity with a domestic side. However, you might be interested to know that I have a Chelsea connection my late father's cousin was the Scot John Boyle from Motherwell who played in your midfield in the '60s/'70's.
I've supported La Viola since 1991 since watching the likes of Batistuta, Baggio and Rui Costa on Channel 4's Football Italia. Over time, I have frequently visited the city on holiday, attended games, learnt (a bit of the language) and made friends, so I consider it my 'second home'. Eventually, it has led to me attending pre-season training, meeting the team and club legends (goalkeeper Sebastien Frey and Giancarlo Antognoni) and even being interviewed on local radio and the official club TV channel!
We (I assume like you) really hope that we can soon get back to the Champions League where we feel we belong, and if not, that we can win either the Italian cup or Conference after two unlucky attempts. With a new dynamic manager, virtually a whole new squad (inc. De Gea, Gosens, Gudmundsson, Adli, Dodo, Kean and others that have started well) plus our new world-class training campus/academy and stadium reconstruction, we hope there's exciting times ahead. If Chelsea weren't in it this year our fans would feel more confident, but football is unpredictable and who knows what will happen or if either of us ends up prioritizing the league?
Please feel free to ask me any questions about Fiorentina or related stuff as this season pans out.
Cheers,
Stuart