A Crash Course in History: The “other” Torino Club

Ian is a History teacher at a secondary school for boys (most of whom are obsessed with football!) in Hertford, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. He is passionate about seeking ways to enrich his understanding of cultural and political history, and has found one productive (and fun!) way to do that is to immerse himself in a culture or location’s connection to history through football. Earlier, Ian wrote his reflections on the Basque context in the article Can you hear the lions roar? Here, he presents his explorations on how Torino FC attempts to forge a modern identity in the shadows of one of football’s greatest ever tragedies. 

This article is the first of a two-part report on the visit and the research.

A Detailed Look Back at the “Other” Torino Club

For those who do not call Italy home, the sun appears to be taken for granted by locals. In a city more often connected with the grey smoke of industry, majestic churches and Renaissance domes still deflect glowing rays of light onto a mixture of winding roads and modern boulevards where, every so often, the arrival of tram-taken for granted in other places-is celebrated, albeit often silently, by locals.

“I thought I was late”, I told a university student when he pointed out the 4 tram arriving in the distance. 

“Yes, but in Torino, it’s always late”, he said, a smile of resignation crossing his face. It had only been six minutes since the scheduled arrival time of the tram. I was already in a good mood after discovering that I only had to take one tram from my hotel to the Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino, where one of Italy’s most storied yet overshadowed football clubs continues to uphold a history that they are determined will not fade into mere memory. Their neighbours, Juventus, dominate media coverage, and enjoy the support of a large fanbase throughout the nation. The bianconeri, as they are known in Italy, have a history littered with names such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Alessandro Del Piero, Giampiero Boniperti, and Andrea Pirlo (to name only a few). Torino FC, however, looks back much further, to an event in 1949 which brought their golden era to an end. Although opportunities to read about 4 May, 1949 are numerous (see also: May in Football), I was eager to know how the fans of the club today would speak of the event which, still in an almost literal sense, looks down upon the club and the city from a hallowed hilltop to the north east.

A little more than 20 minutes later, I exited the tram and followed a swelling crowd in the club’s famed maroon, or as it is referred to by supporters, “granata” shirts, toward the stadium. Unlike many other clubs, there were few oppositional chants and little rambunctious behaviour. It seemed merely a gift to be able to share the experience of the club with other supporters. Antagonism for other clubs appeared superfluous and unnecessary. 

There was a surprising array of options available from the many food trucks opposite the stadium, selling far more than the standard beer and sausages one might associate with an informal snack in northern Italy. Standing slightly in front of the food trucks were two young men in the club’s granata shirts sipping beers, who I would come to know as Gabriele and Federico. They appeared not to be in much of a hurry, and, I thought, as young Torino supporters, would have perspectives on the club’s modern identity and future prospects. When asked, they spoke of a community of locals who held on to something far more sacred than the trophies of their infamous cross-town rivals.

“We sing all the time”, Federico described. “There are a lot of families. I offer a beer to one. They offered it to me. All fans are Italian. No French, nor Germans. In Milan, they only come to see the stadium”. 

Could they make an exception for a transplanted American coming from London?

“My Dad is Milan”, Gabriele told me. “He did not care that I supported Torino-as long as it was not Juventus”. 

“He was a fan of Milan”, Federico informed me, pointing at Gabriele, “but I brought him here, and now he loves every game”.

Whilst I was thoroughly enjoying their descriptions of the fan culture, I knew I had limited time. I had to ask about the most important event in the club’s history.

“Everyone here knows. Every year, on 4 May, we go to the Superga. We walk the full 10 kilometres. It is very emotional”. The manner of his description suggests that almost seventy-six years had barely lessened the impact of one of football’s worst-ever tragedies.

The Beginnings of Il Toro

Before the modern Torino FC became a symbol to many of what it truly means to be a local in the Piemonte capital, another beloved institution, Club Torinese, had become very well established in the city. In 1898, as well drawing 115 spectators for a match and producing gate receipts of 229 lire (considered a very high number at the time), no less than five of its players represented Italy in a match against Switzerland-a match, although not recorded, that is commonly considered to be the Italian national team’s first ever match. However, financial difficulties caused the club to withdraw from the fledgling Italian championship altogether. Whilst Juventus now ruled the football landscape in Torino, disagreements between its directors caused some to break away and, on 3 December, 1906, form Torino Calcio Football Club (see also: Vittorio Pozzo). 

Juventus now had a formidable rival, the debts of the previous Club Torinese had been dealt with, and the players of that club now had an opportunity to continue playing football ¹ . The difficulties now past, they could focus on the challenges ahead, much like their famed mascot, Il Toro (“the bull”) ² . The drama of Torino’s sporting landscape, however, was just beginning, and in the eyes of the modern supporters of Il Toro, it will never be concluded – lest it be forgotten.

Roughly two decades later, the first scudetto for the supporters of Torino FC came in the 1926-1927 season. Unfortunately, as in so many other situations, the black and white stripes of their eternal enemy Juventus were involved in destroying their moment of glory. Bribery allegations immediately surfaced involving Juventus fullback Luigi Allemandi and Torino director Dr. Guido Nani, with claims that the Bianconeri player had been paid to assist Torino in achieving victory in a June derby match. 

Whilst these accusations were never convincingly proven, they were considered enough to strip Torino FC of the title. Faced with what their players and fans almost universally considered a grave injustice, the bull of Torino showed the indomitable identity which still permeates all aspects of the club today. They stormed to the 1927-1928 title, finally surging past a Genoa FC team which had dominated Italian football in the era to claim-and keep-their first ever scudetto ³ . It was a small preview to what would be a glorious run of titles-although they would have to wait almost a further two decades to see that take place.

After a period of crisis in the 1930s, one of the most innovative characters in the history of club football took the mantle of club president in 1939. A man of little footballing ability himself (which had been made clear when he joined the club at 16 years old as a fullback) but endowed with supreme confidence, his perpetually slicked black hair was always seemingly parted exactly in line with his elongated nose, which he would look down the length of at others. Ferrucio Novo understood the financial gap between Torino FC and Juventus ⁴ , who enjoyed the backing of the exceedingly wealthy Agnelli family and their Fiat car empire and had won five consecutive scudetti between 1931 and 1935. He therefore decided that strategy and infrastructure, rather than the poisoned chalice of free spending, were what was necessary to compete and win consistently. The era of the Grande Torino was about to begin.

Il Grande Torino: The Opening Act

The baron. The elephant. The velvet leg. Even their nicknames suggest a team which combined grace and power, strength and skill, tenacity and class. Goalkeeper Alfredo Bodoira (owner of the nickname “forceps”), forwards Romeo Menti and “il barone” Guglielmo Gabetto, the first signing of the era, Franco Ossola, an 18-year-old purchased from Serie C side Varese, and Felice Borel, who claimed the moniker “little butterfly” due to the aesthetic beauty of his running, were a strong team in the 1941-1942 season, but had to play the role of bridesmaid to champions Roma. It was then that three further names that would be revered to this day in Italian football history were acquired: Ezio Loik, Valentino Mazzola, and Giuseppe Grazar. These players fit beautifully into what, at the time, was a highly innovative “WM” system, effectively a 3-4-3 in today’s game. It allowed fullbacks to more tightly monitor opposing wingers, freedom of movement for central midfielders, and constant linking between the attacking midfielders, wing players, and the centre-forward ⁵ . Few combinations of players and systems would prove more successful in football history. 

The first Scudetto of the team that became known as Il Grande Torino would arrive in the 1942-1943 season. Whilst the triumph was duly recognised as the culmination of an abundance of dedication and skill, celebrations were not in order. On the exact same day as Il Toro confirmed themselves as champions of Italy, troops of the Allied forces brought the citizens of Sicily face to face with the horrors of the Second World War. Many Italian cities now faced air raids, with a staircase at Torino FC’s Filadelfia neighbourhood facility succumbing to an aerial bomb. 

Football still carried on, however, until the armistice on 8 September, 1943, which divided Italy into two parts, north and south. Football resumed in 1944, with the Alta Italia tournament attempting to provide some normality to the predictably chaotic situation Italy found itself in during the latter stages of World War II. Torino FC would spectacularly fall in the final round to a team of firemen representing VF Spezia, who had been accommodated at a convent the night before in Milan, whereas Torino players had only arrived in Lombardia hours before the match was to be played. Torino would recover to defeat Venezia 5-2 four days later, but the damage had been done. Il Grande Torino had been proven to be mortal for the first time. Their mortality would be confirmed in the most tragic circumstances possible four years later, and would make them immortal in the memories of granata-clad supporters forever thereafter.

The city of Torino was liberated on 25, April, 1945, which, coincidentally, was precisely two years since Torino FC had last been crowned champions of Italy. Less than a month earlier, Juventus and Torino had played a match which had resulted in multiple brawls that saw pistols fired in the area of the players, causing them to lie down on the pitch for their own safety. The match, ironically organised by the two clubs in order to provide the population a chance to put aside the endless troubles caused by war, became known as the “Derby of Pistols”. The match would end-extraordinarily- with Torino talisman Valentino Mazzola and former Torino player Felice Borel walking off the pitch in relative harmony after spending a significant portion of the match throwing punches at each other. A far more friendly encounter was arranged by Ferrucio Novo two days after victory in Europe was confirmed. Il Toro won convincingly against a team of South African soldiers, without pistols and in the midst of 8,000 gleeful supporters ⁶ . As the world looked forward to a new dawn in the wake of fascism’s defeat (in no place more so than Italy), Torino FC would take the mantle of not only club success but the Italian national team forward into an era of unprecedented triumph.  

Il Grande Torino: The Brilliance of the “Blonde Devil”

Never one to rest on past laurels, Novo prepared the club for the 1945-1946 season by once again acquiring significant talent, including goalkeeper Valerio Bacigalupo and defender Aldo Ballarin. A physically strong side endured an inconsistent season, with their powerful potential shown in flashes, such as seven-goal wins against both Roma and Napoli, but a six-goal loss against Internazionale in Milan.

It was the final day, however, that would decide the destination of the title, as both teams had won their home derby 1-0. The mid-summer air of Piemonte’s capital was thick with tension on 28 July, 1946 as Il Toro walked onto the pitch to face Pro Livorno, tied with Juventus on 20 points from 13 matches. Juventus was in Napoli, and Torino knew they had to both secure their own win, and hope for Napoli to get a result on the south coast of Campania. Beloved Novo ally Ippolito Civalleri, who had routinely invited Torino players to his home at the base of the Superga hills during the war for groceries, had a direct phone line reserved and made sure the number of the Stadio Filadelfia, 65595, could be called immediately at the end of proceedings in Naples. Il Toro secured their victory against Pro Livorno early in their own match, but it was not until news travelled up the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea that celebrations could begin: “They’ve drawn, Napoli held their ground, it ended 1-1”. Torino FC were the champions of Italy. Their years of glory had well and truly begun.

The exceptional talent of the entire side was undoubted, but the superlative performances of one Valentino Mazzola were especially required to lift Torino FC to the heights of Italian football in the 1946-1947 season, most famously including a hat-trick in just three minutes against Vicenza on 20 April, 1947. He played all 38 matches, whereas all other players, with the exception of Ballarin, played a maximum of 31. He was the league’s top scorer with 29 goals, despite playing in midfield, and was the unquestioned “Capitano” of a side that made their local rivals question what their very eyes were seeing. 

I once headed the ball past the goalkeeper…I was about to start celebrating, when a devil with blond hair appeared out of nowhere and cleared the ball out of the goal…Barely ten seconds had passed when I looked up and saw the same blonde devil was scoring against us on the other side of the pitch.

– Giampiero Boniperti, Juventus forward and eventual CEO of the club in 1971, and deputy of the European Parliament from 1994-1999 ⁷ .

The 1946-1947 season is not only remembered for performances on the pitch, but also the return of vital character Ernest Erbstein as Technical Director. Erbstein had been the Manager of Torino in 1938-1939 before being stripped of his right to work due to his Jewish heritage (a result of the infamous “Manifesto of Race” implemented in Italy in 1938). After narrowly avoiding being sent to Auschwitz, he returned to where he had always wanted to be in 1946, now known as Ernesto Egri Erbstein (see also: Italian Footballers against fascist regime). Such international influences were welcomed by Il Toro, and were part of the club’s wider ambition as it entered the 1947-1948 season, having secured the Italian title in each of the previous two years. Trips abroad, however, were to lead the club to an unimaginably tragic ending.

International Influence: Torino Flies

In the fall of 1947, Torino visited Barcelona for a friendly match. Trips abroad were made, as one might expect, by plane, but plane travel was altogether far less common than it is today. However, for a club that had supplied the azzurri with ten of its eleven starting players earlier that same year in a match against Hungary, plane travel was considered a reasonable accommodation. Il Toro was, effectively, the Italian national team. On 7 September 1947, 35,000 eager spectators turned out to see Il Toro perform in their signature shirts worn when playing abroad: a granata coloured polo and a white collar ⁸ .

The granata, another moniker used affectionately by locals for the club, would essentially walk to the Italian Championship in the 1947-1948 season. This season appeared to be encapsulated by their match against Alessandria on 2 May 1948, which, despite a 4-0 halftime lead, Torino would win 10-0. This was followed by an ominous headline in the May edition of the newspaper La Stampa Sera: “Il Torino vola” (“Torino flies”) ⁹ . 367 days later, the devastating irony in this statement would be firmly planted in the minds of the people of Piemonte’s capital forever.

In July of 1948, Il Toro visited Brazil, which would host the 1950 World Cup, in an international tour that had an almost customary feel to it. Four matches were played, on the 18^th, 21^st, 25^th, and 28^th, and Torino returned to Italy with two draws, a win and a loss ¹⁰ . More important, however, was that much of the presumed Italian national team that would travel to the World Cup in two years’ time would now have had the experience of playing in Brazil. A month later, in August, Valentino Mazzola narrowly escaped at least serious injury when his car was caught between another car and a tram. Although his vehicle (he was one of the few Torino players to own one) had suffered damage, he had escaped without injury ¹¹ . This was viewed at the time as a sign that he was indeed protected by some sort of supernatural force, and that he was, much like the team he so ably led, invincible. 

The Plan To Go to Lisbon

The 1948 season saw the introduction of further international influence in the form of English coach Leslie Lievesey, who had been the coach of the youth team the previous year before being promoted to work under the guise of Technical Director Erbstein (Lievesley had also served as conditioning coach for Italy at the 1948 Summer Olympics). Although player injuries provided challenges, an invitation by Racing Club de Bruxelles for a friendly match on 11 November was accepted by the Italian champions, whose fame had spread to the Belgian capital. 45,000 fans flocked to see Torino defeat their “intoxicated” Belgian counterparts 3-0. Such intoxication was not solely reserved for an international audience, however. On 5 January, 1949, when Il Toro travelled by train to Palermo, Sicily, crowds waited to get even the smallest glimpse of them at every stop. When the train eventually stopped in Palermo, police had to intervene to stop the onrushing Sicilians who had waited for their chance for an autograph. Upon entering their hotel, Torino FC players were advised they had best stay inside ¹² .

It was not, however, this level of popularity that brought Torino to Lisbon in May of 1949. After the Azzuri played an international match against Portugal in February of that same year (winning 4-1), Mazzola, a man whose personal honour meant almost as much to him as his footballing ability, was enthused about the idea of having Torino play a testimonial against Benfica in honour of Portuguese footballing great Francisco Ferriera, who was due to retire shortly after. He knew that the wages of Italian players were far beyond those of their Portuguese counterparts, and that the revenue generated by a visit from the heralded Italian champions would generate a significant amount of money for Ferreira’s retirement ¹³ . Club President Ferrucio Novo, however, would take some persuading, initially rejecting the idea before finally agreeing to let the squad go as long as they did not lose their quintessential fixture against Internazionale, which had to be moved forward a day to accommodate the trip. 36,000 spectators watched the two sides battle to a 0-0 draw on the last day of April, with Mazzola looking on as he was suffering from the flu.

The Granata in Portugal

The next day, with Novo’s approval, the team departed at midday from Milan, first stopping over in Barcelona to refuel before landing in the Portuguese capital at 4:30 pm. On 2 May, a casual training session was followed by the opportunity to explore Lisbon as tourists. Players bought souvenirs and presents for loved ones back home, which would be presented upon their return shortly after those same loved ones would receive the post cards that were purchased alongside them.  On the morning of the match, the team passed hundreds of fans who had gathered outside to see Italy’s champions leave the Hotel du Parque.

The match finally kicked off at 6:00 pm in front of 40,000 fans. Unbeknownst to anyone there, Il Grande Torino would never take the field after this occasion, and the line-up of their final match has become its own tragic legend: Bacigalupo, Ballarin, Martelli, Grezar, Rigamonti, Castigliano, Menti, Loik, Gabetto, Mazzola, Ossola. Looking on was coach Lievesly and technical director Erbstein, though not Novo, who was recovering from a minor operation and had stayed in Torino. The end result, of little importance to either side, was 4-3 in favour of Benfica, and proceedings ended with a dinner party afterward in which Ferreira presented Torino FC with two large boxes of tuna fish and a box of sardines as a thank you gift ¹⁴ . By the late evening, the players of Il Toro were undoubtedly looking forward to returning home the next day.   

La Stampa wrote enthusiastically about the spectacle that took place in Portugal, exclaiming that there had been “joy and disappointment for the Granata in Portugal”. Far more important to the paper, and the people of Torino, however, would be the return of their beloved Il Grande Torino, which would happen the next day. “May the clouds and the wind be favourable to us and not shake us too much” ¹⁵ . 

These words would haunt Italian football forever more.

“The Heroes Are Always Immortal in the Eyes of Those Who Believed in Them”

The Piemonte sky seemed to signal foreboding on the morning of 4 May 1949. The sun which so often appears to permanently favour the Italian peninsula had, on this day, been replaced by a grey blanket over the region’s capital. This gave way to light rain and a thick mist that prompted weather warnings and gradually more concern as the plane carrying Il Grande Torino players approached the city. At 5:02, a message was relayed to the Aeritalia field that all was well and the initial descent would soon begin. The airfield immediately responded that weather conditions were awful, to which pilot Pierluigi Meroni replied that everything was under control. However, at 5:05, those at the airfield began to worry frantically, as beyond that message, nothing more had been communicated. This should not have been the case for a flight approaching its initial descent. 

It was at this now-infamous time of five minutes past five that a nearby construction worker first noticed a plane descend directly downwards toward the hill of the Superga. The Basilica di Superga atop the hill was home to a number of monks, who regularly heard the sound of planes flying overhead. However, they were not used to shaking walls and thunderous noise, which sounded far too close, accompanied by an “intense sparkling light”. At first, thinking the plane had hit the church dome, they rushed outside, where clergyman Tancredi Ricca was the first to notice aeroplane parts strewn across the hill. The monks did not know the plane was carrying the city’s beloved Grande Torino. A discarded suitcase was opened, and then an all-too-familiar granata shirt was spotted, bearing the tricolour shield, the Scudetto of the Grande Torino ¹⁶ . Rumours quickly began to spread through the Piazza San Carlo, which were shortly confirmed as the most tragic truth imaginable. “The plane crashed. The players are dead” ¹⁷ . 

On 6 May, between 500,000 and 700,000 people attended the funeral of the eighteen players, six coaches and backroom staff, three journalists, and four crew members. Thirty-one maplewood coffins proceeded through the Palazzo Madama and into the mortuary chapel. Many tributes were read out with significant passion, but perhaps the most poignant was that of Ottorino Barassi, President of the Italian Football Federation. Barassi read out the names of the team, making the people attending believe, for just one moment, that their beloved champions may take the field one last time. This, of course, did not happen, but champions they would be and always remain, as Barassi proclaimed Torino winners of the Scudetto for the fifth consecutive competition. “This is the fifth cup, Torino’s cup. Look at how big it is. It’s as big as the world and filled with all of our hearts” ¹⁸ . It would be famed historian and journalist Indro Montanelli (later given the honour of World Press Freedom Hero in 2000 at the age of 91), however, who would seemingly capture the eternal feelings of the city, which can still be seen in the beating hearts beneath every granata shirt worn by the club’s supporters today. “The heroes are always immortals in the eyes of those who believe in them. And so the kids will believe that Torino has not died: it is only away” ¹⁹ .

…and there is more

This article is the first part of the visit and the report of our contributor. On 5th September part two will be published on the Football Makes History platform.

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Let’s review

Notes

1. Gibbs, Mike and Manna, Alexandra, The Day Italian Football Died, The Breedon Books Publishing Company Limited, Derby, 1999, p. 19-20. ↩︎
2. Romano, Gigi, Torino FC: Legacy, Passion, and the Spirit of Italian Football, Copyright Gigi Romano, 2025. ↩︎
3. Ibid., p. 23. ↩︎
4. https://otisinvazion.medium.com/grande-torino-3e63aedf7c57, accessed 19 April, 2025. ↩︎
5. Gibbs, Mike and Manna, Alexandra, The Day Italian Football Died, The Breedon Books Publishing Company Limited, Derby, 1999, p. 30-31. ↩︎
6. Pennino, Roberto, Immortal Torino: How the Superga Air Crash Robbed Italian Football of its Champions, Pitch Publishing, Chichester, 2024, p. 60-62. ↩︎
7. Pennino, Roberto, Immortal Torino: How the Superga Air Crash Robbed Italian Football of its Champions, Pitch Publishing, Chichester, 2024, p. 72-73. ↩︎
8. Ibid., p. 85. ↩︎
9. Ibid., p. 93. ↩︎
10. https://www.rsssf.org/tablest/torino-braztrip48.html , accessed 31 May, 2025. ↩︎
11. Pennino, Roberto, Immortal Torino: How the Superga Air Crash Robbed Italian Football of its Champions, Pitch Publishing, Chichester, 2024, p. 107. ↩︎
12. Ibid., p. 137-141. ↩︎
13. Gibbs, Mike and Manna, Alexandra, The Day Italian Football Died, The Breedon Books Publishing Company Limited, Derby, 1999, p. 98. ↩︎
14. Ibid., p. 101-102. ↩︎
15. Pennino, Roberto, Immortal Torino: How the Superga Air Crash Robbed Italian Football of its Champions, Pitch Publishing, Chichester, 2024, p. 172. ↩︎
16. Gibbs, Mike and Manna, Alexandra, The Day Italian Football Died, The Breedon Books Publishing Company Limited, Derby, 1999, p. 103. ↩︎
17. Pennino, Roberto, Immortal Torino: How the Superga Air Crash Robbed Italian Football of its Champions, Pitch Publishing, Chichester, 2024, p. 175. ↩︎
18. Ibid., p. 185. ↩︎
19. https://www.torinofc.it/en/storia/tragedysuperga#:~:text=It%20was%2017.05%20on%204th,and%20members%20of%20the%20crew. accessed 22 June, 2025. ↩︎