4 May 2019 marks the 70th anniversary of the Superga air disaster. Arguably the greatest team of its time, Torino FC won five successive scudetti in the 1940s. Italy was rebuilding after World War II, and ‘The Great Torino’ side, managed by Hungarian Ernö Erbstein and coached by Englishman Leslie Lievesley, was an incredible source of national pride. At one point, Il Grande Torino provided 10 of the Italian national side and it is probably only for political reasons that all eleven azzurri were not from Torino.
However, on the night of 4 May 1949, the plane carrying the team home from a testimonial friendly against Benfica in Lisbon plowed into the church of the Basilica di Superga in thick fog on its descent into Turin, killing all 31 passengers and crew.
Each year on 4 May, thousands gather for a special service at the Basilica di Superga and, thankfully, the proposed Turin ‘Derby della Mole’ with Juventus – slated for 4 May – has been moved.
In this podcast, we talk to Erbstein’s biographer Dominic Bliss and Torino FC fan blogger Rob Gillman of TorinoFCinglese.com about the success and legacy of Il Grande Torino.
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