Superga, tribute to Grande Torino: park for Mazzola, the complete programme

From our correspondent Mario Pagliara

May 3rd
– Turin

Seventy-four years ago those champions entered into legend, becoming a phenomenon of customs and history of our country. Even in mourning, they wrote a page full of love. Torino and the city of Turin are ready to commemorate the Grande Torino, on the anniversary day of that terrible accident which, on 4 May 1949, at 17.03, took away one of the strongest football teams in the crash on Colle di Superga Of all times. Like every year, the grenade club, in collaboration with institutions and associations, has set up a rich program to celebrate the Invincibles in the best possible way. On May 4, Turin will be the capital of world football, on the day that FIFA has established as World Football Day in the name of Grande Torino.

From the Monumental to the Mole

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On May 4, the celebrations will begin at 10.30 in the Monumental Cemetery, where many of those formidable champions rest. Half an hour earlier, from 10, Torino will open the Cortile della Memoria in Philadelphia, the home of the Invincibles, and will make it accessible to the many fans who will come to the city from all over Italy. Various representations of foreign fans are also expected, such as that of River Plate and Benfica, which have always been united with the granata in memory of the Grande Torino. At 12.30 the gardens in Piazza Galimberti will be inaugurated, very close to the Filadelfia, which will take the name of Captain Valentino Mazzola. To make this day even more special, Torino has once again decided to allow fans to attend Juric’s team training: the appointment will be at 1pm at Fila. At the end, management and team will go up to Superga where don Riccardo Robella, chaplain of the Toro, will celebrate mass in the Basilica. At 17.03 Alessandro Buongiorno will read the names of the 31 victims in front of the Tombstone for the first time in his life: tradition has it that Captain del Toro reads the names, this time Captain Rodriguez was the protagonist of a gesture of great kindness allowing the heart-Taurus Buongiorno (joined the club at the age of six) to receive this honor and burden. In the evening, Turin will fall asleep with the Mole Antonelliana shining with grenade.

New portraits

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Thousands of fans are expected on the Colle. They will find a pleasant surprise: along the Walkway of Memory, i.e. the path that leads from the Basilica to the Tombstone, people of good will in love with the Bull have completely redone the portraits of the faces of the Grande Torino players, which in the meantime had deteriorated because they were exposed to the bad weather every day of the year. The graphics of the photos were taken care of by Nicoletta Perini, the granddaughter of the brothers Aldo and Dino Ballarin, she is also the engine of the Chioggia museum dedicated to the Ballarins and the Grande Torino. The initiative was carried out in agreement with the Circolo Soci Torino FC 1906, chaired by Leonardo D’Alessandro, and with Gianluca Vigna of Federico Fiammengo, the company which is currently renovating one of the two historic abutments of Philadelphia.