May 4 – Tragedy at Superga
TODAY in 1949 Italy suffered it’s greatest ever sporting disaster which would scar the country forever. A plane carrying the all-conquering Torino side of the 1940′s crashed, wiping out the greatest ever Italian club side.
Nicknamed ‘Il Grande Torino’, the club won a record five consecutive Serie A titles between 1943 and 1949, playing a free-scoring attacking style of football before they were struck down in their prime.
During this triumphant five-year spell no-one got close to Torino. They went 93 games unbeaten at home, with the 1947/48 season being a particular high-point, seeing them score 125 goals in 40 games, whilst only conceding 33, as the side broke all kinds of Serie A records, many of which still stand today.
On May 1st the team flew to Portugal for a friendly against Benfica. Sitting pretty at the top of the league, Torino were on the verge of another title when they began their journey home from Lisbon airport.
Weather conditions were atrocious; driving rain, fog and dark clouds enveloped the FIAT G212 aircraft as it began its’ descent into Turin.
Atop of one the city’s hills in the Superga district stood an 18th century basilica many pilots used as a reference point during landings. The plane carrying Il Grande Torino smashed into a wall at the back of the church, killing all 31 passengers and crew aboard as it burst into flames.
As news of the disaster began to spread hundreds of fans made their way up the hill in a spontaneous tribute to their fallen heroes.
Journalist and former Italy manager Viltorio Pozzo had the unfortunate task of identifying the victims at the scene. In his report for newspaper La Stampa he wrote:
“The Torino team is no more, it has disappeared, it is burnt, it has exploded… the team died in action, like a group of shock troops, in the war who left the trenches and never came back.”
Special editions of newspapers were printed across the country as mass grieving ensued. Workers all over Italy stopped to pay their respects to the team and one woman in Bologna even committed suicide upon hearing the news.
The accident had a massive attack on the Italian game, as Torino’s dominance came to a sudden end and the club has never hit the heights since. Italy’s national side also suffered, as the nucleus of the team was ripped apart, setting them back years, as the Azzurri failed to make an impact at any World Cup until 1970.
The national side suffered from ‘Superga Psychosis’ in 1950, when they travelled to the Brazilian World Cup by boat, taking a two-week trip that left much of the squad seasick and unfit. After a loss to Sweden in their first game they were knocked out, returned home, this time by plane.
The site of the crash at Superga is now a monument to the disaster, with a museum commemorating the great Torino side. Today, as has happened on May 4th ever year since the disaster, the current Torino team and family members of those killed will climb the hill to hold a mass at the basilica where the current captain, Alessandro Rosina, will read the name of his fallen predecessors.
See an excellent report from Channel 4′s Football Italia on the great Torino side and head over here tomorrow for more footballing history.
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