Loaded with history, blessed with noisy and expressive fans, and much closer to Turin city centre than Juventus, a trip to Torino FC must feature on your Italian groundhopping agenda.
When you share a city with your country’s domestically most-successful and most-supported club, writers like me inevitably use words like “living in the shadow of…” and “plucky underdog”. To do that would be a disservice to Torino FC, itself one of Italy’s most-decorated clubs – albeit, not for a while.
Torino FC was born out of Juventus when, in December 1906, a split led the Swiss financier Alfred Dick leaving the Bianconeri and setting up a rival club. Its maroon granata shirts were inspired by either the Servette Genève club or local aristocracy’s colours, according to legend. Based south of the city centre, Torino FC is 3kms south from Porta Nuova station – I had to walk when I went as Turin’s taxi drivers were on strike – which wasn’t great in heavy rain.
Il Grande Torino and the Stadio Filadelfia
It’s impossible to discuss Torino FC without mentioning ‘The Great Torino’ – Il Grande Torino – their long shadow is everywhere. The team that won five successive scudetti in the 1940s was destroyed by football’s first aviation tragedy on 4 May, 1949, when the plane carrying them back from a testimonial match in Lisbon for Benfica captain Francisco Ferreira, lost its way in the fog on its descent into Turin. It ploughed into the Basilica di Superga on the hills that surround the city and 31 players and staff were killed – including ten of the Italian starting XI and legendary Hungarian manager, Ernö Erbstein.
I made a slight detour en route to the Stadio Olimpico to take in the old Stadio Filadelfia, Torino’s former home from 1926-1963 where Il Grande Torino went unbeaten for 100 matches over six years in the 1940s. The ground was neglected for decades until in 2015 refurbishment began and it now hosts the club’s headquarters, museum and training ground. Some of the old concrete stands survive giving us a tempting glimpse into the past.
The Stadio Olimpico di Torino
Just a five minutes’ walk west from the Stadio Filadelfia is the Stadio Olimpico, Torino’s home since 2006. The stadium holds 28,000 but around 20,000 came to the midweek kick-off match against Sampdoria, despite both competing for a Champions League spot.
I paid €25 for a halfway line seat in the second tier of the lateral Distinti Granata. I was able to choose my seat, and buy and print off my ticket at home via Torino’s website. I had a great view, too. Away to my left, a small pocket of a couple of hundred Sampdoria fans were animated throughout, but in the curva to my right the home ultras went for it from before kick-off and after the final whistle under the banner of Forza Vecchio Cuore Granata (“Come on, the old maroon heart”).
After Andrea Belotti’s looping header put the home side ahead on 33 minutes, the curva cranked it up to 11! The acoustics – like the lighting – at the Stadio Olimpico are fantastic. I never felt too far from the pitch, the action or the atmosphere, as one can in many of these large ovals.
There were even two VAR incidents in the first half, which I’d not experienced live before. Belotti bagged another in first half injury time, but the Granata backed off in the second half, allowing Samp to pull one back. It finished 2-1, Torino continued their great recovery under Walter Mazzarri, and I now have a massive soft spot for them.
I have recorded a special podcast on Il Grande Torino for the 70th anniversary of the Superga air disaster, which will come out in April 2019. Subscribe to the Outside Write podcast so you don’t miss that, plus you can catch up on our entire Italian back catalogue here.
How to get to the Stadio Olimpico, Turin
Tram lines 4 and 10