In the brief, but intense Torino epoch various anecdotes highlighted the story of these soccer favourites. For example, in an away match in Switzerland (Torino was appreciated in the whole world) Gabetto had an accident, in that time was possible to substitute only the goalkeeper, then on for the injured forward went to the field the coach Ferrero, who was 41 years old.
Gabetto was considered a "rascal", during the return from the away match in Trieste a Police car ran after the bus of Torino. The "baron", as he was nicknamed, had filled the boot with smuggling cigarettes. So the Police retired the documents, confiscated the cigarettes and, thanks to granata management, Gabetto could return home.
To get back his documents he had to work hard, because the Police wanted him to play an important match in their team, luckly Torino accompainment succeeded in persuade them that the match of Torino in the championship was more important than their.
Memorable was the match in the Olimpico stadium in 1946 between, Roma and Torino, where Torino won for 7-0, humiliating the opponents with the crowd clapping the great granata players.
Also in Naples they won, for 2-0, but the climate was different: Napoli was second, a point under Torino, so Torino players where stoned.
Egri Erbstein, famous Torino coach, was an Ungarian Hebrew, he was closed in a nazi concentration camp where he suffered a lot of ill-treatments, but he succeeded in fleeing. He was found by Torino and came back in the team as a consultant.
Novo was a modern president and he really took care of his image, yet in that war and after-war epoch.
After the dangerous period of the war, Torino was one of the few teams that moved with a plane for longest transfers, even if the majority of the players and specially the coach Ferrero were unhappy, because they were afraid (maybe a presentiment). Flying with an airplane let them arrive less tired, but gave also an image on modern and springing society.
Gabetto and Issola opened a bar together, in the center of Turin, that was called "Vittoria" ("Victory"), also destination for famous people that lived or passed through Turin for job and shows, like Walter Chiari, Macario, Dapporto, Carlo Campanini. They also signed soccer balls: yet in that time players looked for other business beyond engagements, to secure a future after the soccer, but mainly to increase their fees there were not high like nowadays.
One of the strongest players in absolute was the defender Mario Rigamonti, that was also one of the most rascally: he really loved the motorcycle and was never punctual for the beginning of championship recall (at that time there wasn't the pre-championship recall), he arrived twice a few minutes before the starting of the first championship match, with coach and president desperate. He was the best of the two matches, perfectly in form, after running with his motorcycle on all Italy.
There was also more team mind: Novo, who spent a lot for that team, had to sell someone to cover some debt, so he decided to sell Martelli, then Bacigalupo and Rigamonti went to his office and asked him not to sell Martelli.
They had talked with all the others and established to reduce a fraction of their fees provided that their friend and fellow remained. So Novo had to change decision and sold Tieghi
In Torino played also the actor Raf Vallone, who leaved soccer to be a journalist before working for cinema and theatre. Sometimes, when he hadn't to work, he leaved the editing (he cured the third page and the relations with important writers of that time, like Pavese, Sartre, Hemingway) to go to play in the Filadelfia and stay a little with his ex-fellows.
In that epoch there was also Diego Novelli, yet kid, that bringed to Loik' s wife the dresses that his uncle sewn for her. Diego Novelli, who became Turin mayor and today one of the most important political and cultural figures of the city.
Torino, in the summer of 1948, was asked for a tourné in Brazil, its deeds of big European team arrived also there, and the team was treated with all the honours, various societies wanted to buy Torino' s jewels.
In any case it was a tiring transfer, because of the warm and the various matches they had to play to satisfy Brazilian population, champion par excellence of soccer.
The name Mazzola meant nothing for the fans, he was simply Captain Valentino. He was the real emblem of this memorable team, his leadership was ricognized by all the team, not only by the fans.
The famous "15 minutes" granata were deadly: Captain Valentino pulled up his shirt sleeves beyond the elbows and shouted his "alé": it was the signal of the attack. That quarter of hour was sufficient to let the opponent lose the head and the match, with numbers of goals and showtime soccer.
On the Filadelfia field Toro was unbeated for 6 years: from January, 17 1943 to the Superga crash. Not all the results were obtained in the Fila, but 12 were obtained during the War Championship in 1944 in the cycle-stadium of C. Casale, after the air-raids the crashed the Fila structures.
Torino went to Lisbon for the farewell match of Benfica Portoguese player Josè Ferreira. The match was combined by Mazzola, after the match between the Italian and Portoguese Nationals, in a restaurant, to please Ferreira who wanted Torino as guest team for his farewell match.
Sauro Tomà, who entered some time before in the first team, could not go to that friendly because of a bad injury at the knee, that also prejudiced some of his future career. He was unhappy but, ironically, it was a luck because it saved his life.
Also Mazzola was not in perfect form, because of a little flu, but he wanted to go anyway, because he had organized the match and he wanted to be in the match, so he went towards his tragical fate.
Benfica won 4-3, for Toro scored Ossola, Bongiorni, Menti and those were the last goals scored by that great team. The plane crashed into the hill of Superga, into the Basilica, wrapped by the fog. Actually, the plane should go to Milan and nobody could say why the pilot directed to Turin.
Vittorio Pozzo had the sad job of recognizing the corpses.
31 were the killed of Superga.
The players: Valerio Bacigalupo, Aldo e Dino Ballarin, Milo Bongiorni,
Eusebio Castigliano, Rubens Fadini, Guglielmo Gabetto, Ruggero Grava,
Giuseppe Grezar, Ezio Loik, Virgilio Maroso, Danilo Martelli,
Valentino Mazzola, Romeo Menti, Piero Operto, Franco Ossola, Mario Rigamonti
and Giulio Schubert.
The managers Arnaldo Agnisetta and Ippolito Civalleri, the trainer Egri Erbstein and the coach Leslie Lievesley, the masseur Ottavio Cortina, the journalists Renato Casalbore (Tuttosport), Luigi Cavallero(La Stampa), Renato Tosatti (Gazzetta del Popolo), the organizer Andrea Bonaiuti.
The aircrew was composed by the captain Pierluigi Meroni (sad homonymy with Gigi Meroni, the strong granata player tragically died years later),Antonio Pangrazi, Celestino D' Inca e Cesare Biancardi.
Their coffins were displayed in the Madama Palace. Turin completely stopped on the funeral day. More than 500.000 people were present, not only from Italy, but also from outside Italy, were pratically present every main international delegations.
The government was represented by the young Andreotti. The president of F.I.G.C. (Italian Soccer Federation), Ottorino Barassi, made the roll-call of the team like if they had to go to the field: Bacigalupo, Maroso, Ballarin, Mazzola, ...............
"Captain Valentino, this is the fifth Cup, the Torino Cup, look out how is great, it contains the heart of all the world"
These were his words for the team while getting up the fifth title, office assigned.
It was May, Friday 6th 1949, it was raining and the tears of who had loved that great team were a lot.
Novo left Torino in 1956 after bad transfers, a difficult health and other familiar mourning. He hadn' t the right recognitions for what he had made for all the Italian soccer.
What was the most important ingredient of this great team? Beyond the strongest technical side, it was the friendship that united these great players. And because of this the fate united them all together also in death. Where could they arrive if there was not the Superga crash!
Grande Torino remembered by Pozzo and Fattori
I am a young fan of Torino, I didn't know this team, but at home it was a legend, because my father told me about it and let me love it, also thanks to a poster we had at home, to remember a good story not only of sport, but of Turin.
I think that Grande Torino histoy is a pride for all the city, not only an event of sport, but also of culture.
In my youth I spent a lot of days in the Filadelfia looking my champions training, it was almost my second home. When I was a child I saw Meroni and Ferrini die, I saw a lot of matches if the old Comunale and I still suffer in the Delle Alpi.
Writing this story I was moved various times and became fond of it that looked like I was living the deeds of this team, imaging Turin of that epoch that I could not know. I hope that who reads this loves and becomes fond of Torino more than I ever did.
I have a dream: I would see personally the deeds of another Grande Torino. To do it we need a lot of passion, but mainly we can't desert it never, in the bad and in the good events.
GRAZIE MAGICO TORO.
This story of Grande Torino wrote by Marina Beccuti
Information got from Il romanzo del Grande Torino (Grande Torino romance) by Franco Ossola and Renato Tavella, Newton Compton Publishers
Images got from La storia del Torino (the story of Torino) to the cure of Perucca-Romeo-Colombero, la casa dello sport publisher
Tables got from Vecchio Cuore Granata (Old Granata Heart) by Sauro Tomà - Graphot Publisher
Back to the Toro Home Page
