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The Day Italian Football Died: Torino and the Tragedy of Superga
 
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The Day Italian Football Died: Torino and the Tragedy of Superga (Hardcover)

by Alexandra Manna (Author), Mike Gibbs (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Hardcover: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Breedon Books Publishing Co Ltd (Sep 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1859832067
  • ISBN-13: 978-1859832066
  • Product Dimensions: 24 x 17.2 x 2.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 669,730 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Product Description
On 4 May 1949 the entire Torino football squad were among those killed in an aircrash. More than fifty years afterwards, the authors have produced this illustrated book which looks at the background to the crash, its after-effects and the success that Torino had enjoyed prior to the tragedy.

From the Publisher
Synopsis
AT just after 5pm on 4 May 1949, a Fiat aircraft carrying 31 people, among them the Torino football squad, crashed into a 2,200ft-high peak called Superga on the outskirts of Turin. The Grande Torino, as they were known, had won the previous three Serie A titles and had almost clinched a fourth when their aircraft disappeared from the sullen skies over their home city. They had also dominated the Italian national team, providing as many as nine players for one international alone. In an instant the dominant force in Italian football was destroyed. It was a tragedy unparalleled in sporting history and still affecting the club today. Unlike Manchester United after Munich, the Torino club has never been able to recover from that awful moment. Fifty years after the tragedy of Superga, Alexandra Manna and Mike Gibbs revisited Turin to see an entire city pay homage to the memory of those who died. The experience made a profound impression upon them and they resolved to find out more. The result is this book. The Day Italian Football Died tells not only of the Superga tragedy itself and the events leading up to it, but also of how Torino emerged in the days before World War One, how they became such a powerful organisation, how they attempted to deal with the aftermath of an air crash in which their first-team squad, as well as reserves, coaching and training staff and directors perished, and how the disaster has affected the Torino club to the present-day. The story begins and ends in Turin, 50 years after the tragedy of Superga, and the result is a compelling work, telling of a disaster which is little-known outside Italy but which had a huge impact on football in that country.

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5 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Martin White, Bath, 17 Nov 2000
A well researched book on the story of the Torino Football Club. 1949, an all conquering team full of star players such as Valentino Mazzola, Ezio Loik and Franco Ossola are denied future glories after their plane crashed on the Basilica of Superga outside Turin. A unique story that was only well known in Italy, but thanks to Alexandra Manna and Mike Gibbs who have brought the story to a wider audience by publishing the book in the English language and have now spread the voice of the Grande Torino glories to an International level!

The book is very well documented, with plenty of photographs of the Grande Torino era and the Torino of today making it a must for every football fan!

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent history of Torino Calcio., 23 Oct 2000
By Frankie B "28 Empires" (Edinburgh, Scotland) - See all my reviews
This first English language publication of the history of Torino Football Club is a well-researched and fascinating book with many photographs. It centres on the wonderful team that dominated Italian football during the 1940s and became known as 'Il Grande Torino', setting the extraordinary standard by which all Torino teams who later wore the granata would be judged.

A complete team and officials perished on the hill at Superga, ironically overlooking Turin. It is a tragedy that continues to cast a shadow over the city and the club to this day, little known outside of Italy yet it occurred 9 years before the disaster that befell Manchester United at Munich and whereas the Busby Babes were on the threshold of greatness, Il Grande Torino had already achieved it and were legends in their own lifetime.

Authors Alexandra Mann and Mike Gibbs include details of many of the matches played by a club who won 4 successive Scudettos and go a long way in capturing the emotion still felt at the loss of a team, considered by many, to be the greatest in the history of Italian football. The individual pen pictures and statistics bear out the greatness of a team who are forever young, forever Il Grande Torino.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A forgotten tragedy, 13 Oct 2003
By A Customer
I never even knew about the Superga tragedy and only discoved it by accident. This book is a very moving history of a tragic event and allows any football fan to feel they knew the players as if they were from their own team.
Its difficult to imagine how one team could dominate both the domestic league and provide most of the international team at the same time.
The book is well researched and contains and is a book well worth buying if you have an interest in the history of football especially Italian.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars From Legend to Myth
The Torino Calcio in the 1940s was the strongest team in Europe. A rainy afternoon of May, coming back from a friendly game played in Portugal, the whole team lost the match with... Read more
Published on 23 Nov 2000

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent basic account
Whilst this is a fair stab at covering the worst disaster ever to befall a football club, it suffers a little from unimaginitive writing. Read more
Published on 23 Oct 2000

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