Turin is a real football city which has plenty more to offer than just Juventus alone. Torino FC is and remains a giant club that produced one of the best football teams ever. That ended in a horrific tragedy, but the history of the club is still everywhere to find.
What Juventus is now, was Torino FC in the 1940s; an absolute top team in Italy. After the disaster that struck the club, Toro never - except for one Scudetto in 1976 - came back to that level. Still, Torino always remained a name with a magical sound, a beautiful 'granata' shirt (burgundy) and above all a giant and loyal fan base. Outside the city limits, Torino might have lost some of its status, but in Turin, the club is still the favourite of a substantial part of the population.
Remarkably enough Juventus played in this stadium longer than Torino itself. But for several years Toro is the only home team of this stadium that was renovated for the Olympic Winter Games of 2006. Back then it could seat 65,000 fans, today it can only host 28,000, just enough for Torino. Despite the small capacity, the stadium has three tiers, although the top tier doesn't have more than five rows. The Tifosi of Torino are well-known for their fanaticism and their noise is kept alive in the stadium that is named after the giant Torino of the 1940s.
Torino won league title after league title in the 1940s and became famous all over Europe. In 1949, it all ended in a giant disaster after an away game at Benfica. In the thick fog above Turin, the plane with the squad crashed against the walls of the Superga, the basilica atop a hill just outside Turin. No one survived the plane crash, with 31 deaths. In that second, Il Grande Torino came to an end.
The Superga still exists and is located a couple of kilometres east of Turin. From the hill, you have a great view over the city. Just beneath the basilica, on the exact spot where the plane crashed, is an impressive monument for the squad. There is a cross with the names of all the victims, a team photo and portraits of all players. Every day people still bring fresh flowers and scarves for the team.
During the club's heydays, Torino played in the Stadio Filadelfia. Toro played its home matches here from 1926 to 1963. Walk from the current stadium into the Via Filadelfia to the east, and after ten minutes you'll arrive at the holy granata ground. After years of decay, the old stadium is turned into a modern training ground for Torino. But two corners of the old stadium have been preserved. Behind the main stand, there are twelve flagpoles, each one has the name of someone important to the club's history.
Behind the old Curva Sud of the Stadio Filadelfia is Sweet Toro, a real bar for Torino fans. Because of the proximity to the current stadium, it is still a well-visited spot for fans before and after games.
Torino was founded in 1906 as a fusion of an already existing amateur team and some dissidents of Juventus. The club was officially founded in Birreria Voigt, a bar on the corner of Via Pietro Micca and Via Giovanni Botero. Nowadays, it's called Bar Norman. Inside you will find a plaque which marks the historical importance of the bar, with the exact date of foundation and a photo of the founding fathers.
Close to the Piazza San Carlo, on the Via Alfieri 6, the Palazzo Valperga, is the former headquarter of Torino. Until 1962, the club was located in this building in the heart of the city. After the Superga disaster in 1949, the flag on the balcony was hung at half-mast in front of many devastated fans. A plaque next to the monumental entry reminds you of the old function of the palace.
After 1949, Torino was struck by disaster again. In 1967, Gigi Meroni was the absolute crowd favourite on Torino's right wing. On the evening after a match he crossed the busy Corso Re Umberto and was hit by the Fiat of Attilio Romero, a big fan of Toro and Meroni in particular. Gigi died later that evening in the hospital, at only 24 years old. Remarkably enough, decades later Attilio Romero became the club's chairman, but with Romero at the wheel, the club went into bankruptcy in 2005.
On the Corso Re Umberto, you can find a monument for Meroni at number 46, the exact place where the accident occurred.
Right behind station Torino Porta Nuova, you can find Ristorante Urbani (Via Saluzzo 3). For decades, many Torino players have come here for dinner. However, the restaurant is also liked by the players of city rivals Juventus. According to owner Vittorio Urbani, they have never shared a table though.
The cycling track on the Corso Casale 144 has the name of one of the most famous cyclists ever, but the middle of the ground was also the decor of matches of the giant Torino, for the last time in 1944. Nowadays, the cycling stadium isn't used anymore, but it still is a great monument.
In the suburb of Grugliasco lays the Museo del Grande Torino e della Leggenda Granata, a museum dedicated to the glory days of Torino. It's located in a beautiful villa on the Via Giovanni Battista de la Salle. Here you will find magnificent pieces from the 1940s, but also from the more recent history of Toro, for example from the two-legged UEFA Cup Final of 1992, which Torino lost against Ajax.
For Torino, it's quite easy to buy tickets on the official website of the club, or at Vivaticket. That's a ticket site for lots of events in Italy, and also for several football teams like Torino. It's very handy when you're going to visit multiple football matches or other events as well.
Although the Stadio Olimpico di Grande Torino is well accessible by car, the parking space in the immediate surroundings is not that great. We advise you to leave your car at parking lot Caio Mario, from where you can take the tram (line 4 or line 10). These leave at both sides of the parking area, and bring you to the stadium in just five minutes.
If you're coming from the city centre, then the tram is also your best friend. Tram 4 passes both the central Piazza San Carlo and train station Torino Porta Nuova.
Images: Shutterstock, BSR Agency
