Shoe boss kicks-off for Fiorentina

DIEGO Della Valle, founding father of Italian luxury shoe brands Tod's, Hogan and Fay, has acquired an interest in football boots. The sports-mad millionaire has pledged e7.5m (£4.8m) to rescue fallen Fiorentina. The Florence-based club was relegated from the top division last season and has now been thrown out of the second tier before kicking a ball after becoming insolvent.

The yacht-racing fanatic, who also sits on the board of racing-car maker Ferrari, has signed a deal to take control of Fiorentina from film producer Vittorio Cecchi Gori and has already stumped up the cash to enable the team to play in the third division and Italian Cup.

Since floating Tod's, one of the most profitable Italian luxury groups, on the Milan stock exchange in November 2000, with a e1bn valuation, he has become an active investor in up-and-coming businesses.

His backing for Fiorentina is decidedly counter-cyclical. Shares in Turin club Juventus, floated by the Agnelli family last December, have slipped this year, together with those of Roman outfits Lazio and Roma. But it will take success on the field, as well as Della Valle's commercial magic, to set Fiorentina to rights.