1948–49 A.C. Torino season

During the 1948-49 'Associazione Calcio Torino competed in Serie A.

Associazione Calcio Torino

1948-49 season
Chairman	Ferruccio Novo
Manager	Ernest Egri Erbstein (until 4 May) Roberto Copernico Leslie Lievesley (as technical director) (until 4 May) Oberdan Ussello (as technical director)
Stadium	Stadio Filadelfia
Serie A	1º[1] (in 1949 Latin Cup)
Top goalscorer	Mazzola (16)
Home colours Away colours

Summary

The season is remembered by Superga air disaster [2], on 4 May ending the Grande Torino era. After clinching 4 consecutive titles the Granata were ready to win the 5th title at top of the league table. 4 rounds before the ending of championship Grande Torino traveled to Lisboa, to play a friendly match against Benfica due to retirement of Francisco Ferreira[3]. Game which Toro lost 4–3.[4] Torino was named winner of the championship by the Federation, and the Youth squad was able to play the last 4 rounds. Finished a short summer interval from the end of previous season, competition officially resumed in Italy after the 1948 Summer Olympics. Prematurely eliminated, Vittorio Pozzo lost his position as sole commissioner of the Italy national team and Ferruccio Novo took his place.

New season began in mid-September with a Torino almost identical to that of the previous championships; there was only Franco Ossola permanently in place of Pietro Ferraris, who, at age 36, had moved to Novara. The midfielder Rubens Fadini arrived from Gallarate, Dino Ballarin, brother of the goalkeeper Aldo was signed from Chioggia; the Hungarian-Czechoslovakian Július Schubert, a left-sided midfielder; and strikers Emile Bongiorni and Ruggero Grava arrived from Racing Parigi and Roubaix-Tourcoing respectively. The club began the season after a long tour in Brazil where the team met Palmeiras, Corinthians, São Paulo and Portuguesa, losing only once. During the season, reduced to 24 teams after three promotions and relegations, Ernest Erbstein was appointed as the team's technical director and the Englishman Leslie Lievesley became the coach.[5] The campaign also saw injuries to Virgilio Maroso, Eusebio Castigliano, Romeo Menti and Sauro Tomà[6], plus the long suspension for Aldo Ballarin. The Granata, which debuted with a victory against Pro Patria, suffered a defeat in the second round to Atalanta; the team recovered with five straight wins, including that of the derby, but lost again, in Milan, against the Rossoneri. The club would relinquish the lead in the standings[7], then recapture it, finishing midway through the season on par with Genoa, from which a third defeat was suffered, losing 3–0. In the return leg of the derby Torino would defeat Juventus 3–0. Torino's advantage increased in the standings, gaining a maximum of six point on Inter in second place[8]. However, a pair of draws (in Trieste and Bari) allowed Inter to close the gap within four points from Torino. On 30 April 1949, the two clubs met in Milan, ending 0–0, with Torino approaching their fifth consecutive title (the record would be equaled). The team travelled to Portugal to play in a friendly against Benfica. However, upon return Torino perished in the Superga air disaster.

Superga air disaster

Main article: Superga air disaster

The airplane with the team crashed at Basilica di Superga nearby Torino. There were deaths of team chairmen and club workers, baggage men and three of the best journalists in the country at the time: Renato Casalbore (founder of Tuttosport magazine); Renato Tosatti (from journal Gazzetta del Popolo) and Luigi Cavallero (from journal La Stampa). The shocking corpse identification was made by former Italian National Team manager Vittorio Pozzo. The spezzino player Sauro Tomà, injured, did not travel to Lisboa. The following persons in the Torino circle did not travel: second goalkeeper Renato Gandolfi (instead third goalkeeper Dino Ballarin did), the radio anchor Nicolò Carosio and former manager of Italian National Team also journalist Vittorio Pozzo (Torino preferred to give the seat to Cavallero). [9] [10]

Legacy

The impact of the tragedy in Italy was colossal. An official estimate of about one million persons attended funerals at Piazza in the city of Torino to say goodbye to the players and club officials. The shock of the tragedy was the main reason for the long travel on boat across the Atlantic Ocean by Italian National Team to play the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil rather than use an airplane.[11] Rebuilding of Torino as a competitive squad lasted a long term and could not win another championship until 1976.

List of victims

Players

• Valerio Bacigalupo
• Aldo Ballarin
• Dino Ballarin
• Émile Bongiorni
• Eusebio Castigliano
• Rubens Fadini
• Guglielmo Gabetto
• Ruggero Grava
• Giuseppe Grezar
• Ezio Loik
• Virgilio Maroso
• Danilo Martelli
• Valentino Mazzola(Captain)
• Romeo Menti
• Piero Operto
• Franco Ossola
• Mario Rigamonti
• Július Schubert

Club officials

• Arnaldo Agnisetta
• Ippolito Civalleri
• Andrea Bonaiuti (coordinator of team travels)

Managers

• Egri Erbstein
• Leslie Lievesley
• Osvaldo Cortina (physical)

Journalists

• Renato Casalbore
• Renato Tosatti
• Luigi Cavallero

Baggage Men

• Pierluigi Meroni
• Celeste D'Inca
• Cesare Biancardi
• Antonio Pangrazi

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  ITA Valerio Bacigalupo — GK  ITA Dino Ballarin — GK  ITA Renato Gandolfi — DF  ITA Aldo Ballarin — DF  ITA Virgilio Maroso — DF  ITA Piero Operto — DF  ITA Mario Rigamonti — DF  ITA Sauro Tomà — MF  ITA Pietro Biglino — MF  ITA Eusebio Castigliano — MF  ITA Rubens Fadini — MF  ITA Luigi Giuliano

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ITA Giuseppe Grezar — MF  ITA Ezio Loik — MF  ITA Danilo Martelli — MF  CZE Július Schubert — FW  ITA Alfio Balbiano — FW  FRA Émile Bongiorni — FW  ITA Guglielmo Gabetto — FW  FRA Ruggero Grava — FW  ITA Valentino Mazzola (Captain) — FW  ITA Romeo Menti II — FW  ITA Franco Ossola

Youth Squad

After Superga air disaster, youth squad (primavera) disputed the last four round of the competition: they are not considered title winners due to Italian Federation (FIGC) actually assigned the championship to the senior squad.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  ITA Guido Vandone — DF  ITA Pietro Bersia — DF  ITA Sergio Lussu — DF  ITA Sergio Mari — DF  ITA Umberto Motto — MF  ITA Oscar Ferrari

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  ITA Antonio Gianmarinaro — MF  ITA Lando Macchi — FW  ITA Mario Audisio — FW  ITA Andrea Francone — FW  ITA Giuseppe Marchetto

Transfers

In
Pos.	Name	from	Type
GK	Renato Gandolfi	Carrarese
DF	Piero Operto	Casale
DF	Vito Sante Miolli	Castellana
MF	Rubens Fadini	Gallaratese
MF	Luigi Giuliano	Pro Vercelli
MF	Július Schubert	Slovan Bratislava
FW	Émile Bongiorni	RC Paris
FW	Ruggero Grava	CO Roubaix-Tourcoing

Out
Pos.	Name	To	Type
DF	Raffaele Cuscela	Lucchese	loan out
FW	Josef Fabian	Lucchese
FW	Pietro Ferraris II	Novara
FW	Oreste Guaraldo	Prato

Competitions

Serie A

Main article: 1948–49 Serie A

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Torino (C)	38	25	10	3	78	34	+44	60
2	Internazionale	38	22	11	5	85	39	+46	55
3	Milan	38	21	8	9	83	52	+31	50
4	Juventus	38	18	8	12	64	47	+17	44
5	Sampdoria	38	16	9	13	74	63	+11	41

Source:
(C) Champion.

Matches

  Win   Draw   Loss

Torino v Pro Patria

19 September 1948 1	Torino	4-1	Pro Patria	Torino
16:00 UTC+1	Ossola  23' Menti II  56' (pen) Gabetto  72' Grezar  89'	Report	88' Turconi	Stadium: Stadio Filadelfia Referee: Giuseppe Boffardi

Atalanta v Torino

26 September 1948 2	Atalanta	3-2	Torino	Bergamo
16:00 UTC+1	Miglioli  6', 74' Mari  73'	Report	1' Grezar  19' Mazzola	Stadium: Comunale Attendance: 18 000 Referee: Giorgio Bernardi

Torino v Roma

3 October 1948 3	Torino	4-0	Roma	Torino
15:30 UTC+1	Gabetto  4', 68' Menti II  32' Ossola  89'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Filadelfia Attendance: 20 533 Referee: Giovanni Galeati

Livorno v Torino

10 October 1948 4	Livorno	0-2	Torino	Livorno
15:30 UTC+1		Report	40' Mazzola  66' Loik	Stadium: Ardenza Attendance: 20 000 Referee: Guido Agnolin

Torino v Lucchese

17 October 1948 5	Torino	2-1	Lucchese	Torino
15:00 UTC+1	Gabetto  49' Grezar  70'	Report	45' Fabian	Stadium: Stadio Filadelfia Referee: Antonio Zambotto

Juventus v Torino

24 October 1948 6	Juventus	1-2	Torino	Torino
15:00 UTC+1	Ballarin  36' (o.g.)	Report	25' Ossola  77' Mazzola	Stadium: Comunale Attendance: 60 000 Referee: Generoso Dattilo

Torino v Padova

31 October 1948 7	Torino	3-1	Padova	Torino
14:30 UTC+1	Ossola  73', 83' Mazzola  77'	Report	41' Adcock	Stadium: Stadio Filadelfia Attendance: 5 400 Referee: Bruno Zilli

Milan v Torino

4 November 1948 8	Milan	1-0	Torino	Milano
14:30 UTC+1	Burini  62'	Report		Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 45 000 Referee: Vincenzo Orlandini

Torino v Lazio

7 November 1948 9	Torino	1-0	Lazio	Torino
14:30 UTC+1	Mazzola  24'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Filadelfia Attendance: 12 454 Referee: Eliseo Camiolo

Bologna v Torino

14 November 1948 10	Bologna	2-2	Torino	Bologna
14:30 UTC+1	Gritti  12', 54'	Report	14' Mazzola  87' Luigi Giuliano	Stadium: Stadio Comunale Referee: Generoso Dattilo

Novara v Torino

21 November 1948 11	Novara	0-2	Torino	Novara
14:30 UTC+1		Report	19' Luigi Giuliano  77' Loik	Stadium: Stadio Comunale Referee: Giorgio Bernardi

Torino v Triestina

28 November 1948 12	Torino	1-1	Triestina	Torino
14:30 UTC+1	Mazzola  56'	Report	78' Tosolini	Stadium: Stadio Filadelfia Referee: Bruno Tassini

Modena v Torino

5 December 1948 13	Modena	0-1	Torino	Modena
14:30 UTC+1		Report	76' Giuliano	Stadium: Stadio Cesare Marzari Referee: Riccardo Pieri

Torino v Inter

12 December 1948 15	Torino	4-2	Inter	Torino
14:30 UTC+1	Mazzola  3' Menti II  42', 72' Ossola  53'	Report	52' Armano  66' (pen) Nyers I	Stadium: Comunale Attendance: 26 700 Referee: Vincenzo Orlandini

Fiorentina v Torino

19 December 1948 16	Fiorentina	0-0	Torino	Firenze
14:30 UTC+1		Report		Stadium: Stadio Comunale Referee: Giovanni Galeati

Genoa v Torino

26 December 1948 17	Genoa	3-0	Torino	Genova
14:30 UTC+1	Mazza  48' Operto  59' (o.g.) Pellicari  80' (pen)	Report		Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Referee: Luigi Gemini

Torino v Bari

29 December 1948 14[12]	Torino	2-0	Bari	Torino
14:30 UTC+1	Menti II  29' Ossola  51'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Filadelfia Attendance: 4 000 Referee: Giuseppe Vannini

Palermo v Torino

6 January 1949 19	Palermo	2-2	Torino	Palermo
14:30 UTC+1	Pavesi  72' Andrea Milani  79'	Report	41' Gabetto  54' Bongiorni	Stadium: Stadio La Favorita Attendance: 40 000 Referee: Vittorio Pera

Pro Patria v Torino

9 January 1949 20	Pro Patria	0-1	Torino	Busto Arsizio
14:30 UTC+1		Report	28' Schubert	Stadium: Comunale Referee: Generoso Dattilo

Torino v Atalanta

16 January 1949 21	Torino	2-0	Atalanta	Torino
14:30 UTC+1	Bongiorni  44' Rigamonti  75'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Filadelfia Referee: Mario Maurelli

Roma v Torino

23 January 1949 22	Roma	1-2	Torino	Roma
14:30 UTC+1	Andreoli  50' (pen)	Report	54' Mazzola  61' Gabetto	Stadium: Stadio Nazionale Attendance: 33 000 Referee: Bruno Tassini

Torino v Sampdoria

27 January 1949 18[13]	Torino	2-1	Sampdoria	Torino
15:00 UTC+1	Mazzola  14' Loik  35'	Report	21' Lucentini	Stadium: Stadio Filadelfia Referee: Ferruccio Bellè

Torino v Livorno

30 January 1949 23	Torino	1-0	Livorno	Torino
15:00 UTC+1	Mazzola  89'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Filadelfia Referee: Cesare Cappucci

Lucchese v Torino

6 February 1949 24	Lucchese	1-1	Torino	Lucca
15:00 UTC+1	Conti  89' (pen)	Report	68' Mazzola	Stadium: Stadio Porta Elisa Referee: Vincenzo Orlandini

Torino v Juventus

13 February 1949 25	Torino	3-1	Juventus	Torino
15:00 UTC+1	Gabetto  17' Loik  55', 83'	Report	49' Cergoli	Stadium: Stadio Filadelfia Referee: Giovanni Galeati

Padova v Torino

20 February 1949 26	Padova	4-4	Torino	Padova
15:00 UTC+1	Checchetti  22', 26' Vitali  45' Fiore  52'	Report	36' Ossola  39' Castigliano  71', 77' Menti II	Stadium: Stadio Silvio Appiani Attendance: 20 000 Referee: Luigi Gemini

Torino v Milan

6 March 1949 27	Torino	4-1	Milan	Torino
15:30 UTC+1	Ossola  11', 75' Gabetto  52' Fadini  71'	Report	46' Burini	Stadium: Comunale Attendance: 50 000 Referee: Generoso Dattilo

Lazio v Torino

13 March 1949 28	Lazio	2-2	Torino	Roma
15:30 UTC+1	Flamini  8' Höfling  41'	Report	17', 39' Loik	Stadium: Stadio Nazionale Referee: Ferruccio Bellè

Torino v Bologna

20 March 1949 29	Torino	1-0	Bologna	Torino
15:30 UTC+1	Mazzola  69'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Filadelfia Referee: Eliseo Camiolo

Torino v Novara

3 April 1949 30	Torino	4-0	Novara	Torino
15:30 UTC+1	Mazzola  32' Loik  35', 37' Ossola  40'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Filadelfia Referee: Giuseppe Vannini

Triestina v Torino

10 April 1949 31	Triestina	1-1	Torino	Trieste
15:30 UTC+1	Blason  70' (pen)	Report	35' (pen) Menti II	Stadium: Comunale Referee: Orlandini

Torino v Modena

17 April 1949 32	Torino	3-1	Modena	Torino
15:30 UTC+1	Mazzola  35' Menti II  85' Ballarin  87'	Report	13' Cavazzuti	Stadium: Stadio Filadelfia Referee: Cesare Cappucci

Bari v Torino

24 April 1949 33	Bari	1-1	Torino	Bari
15:30 UTC+1	Voros  66'	Report	11' Mazzola	Stadium: Stadio della Vittoria Referee: Vittorio Pera

Inter v Torino

30 April 1949 34	Inter	0-0	Torino	Milano
16:00 UTC+1		Report		Stadium: Stadio San Siro Attendance: 37 000 Referee: Luigi Gemini

Torino v Genoa

15 May 1949 36[14]	Torino	4-0	Genoa	Torino
16:30 UTC+1	Giammarinaro  37' Marchetto  56', 86' Lussu  80' (rig.)	Report		Stadium: Stadio Filadelfia Referee: Ferruccio Bellè

Torino v Palermo

22 May 1949 38[15][16][17]	Torino	3-0	Palermo	Firenze
15:30 UTC+1	Marchetto  8' Francone  38' Gianmarinaro  55'	Report		Stadium: Comunale[18] Attendance: 85 000 Referee: Renzo Massai

Sampdoria v Torino

29 May 1949 37[19]	Sampdoria	2-3	Torino	Genova
16:00 UTC+1	Pieri  7', 21'	Report	1' Audisio  16' Marchetto  56' (rig.) Lussu	Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Referee: Giuseppe Carpani

Torino v Fiorentina

12 June 1949 35[20]	Torino	2-0	Fiorentina	Torino
16:00 UTC+1	Marchetto  12' Giuliano  79'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Filadelfia Referee: Giuseppe Parpaiola

Statistics

Squad Statistics

Competition	Points	Home						Away						Total						GD
		G	V	D	L	Gs	Ga	G	V	D	L	Gs	Ga	G	V	D	L	Gs	Ga
Serie A	60	19	18	1	0	48	10	19	7	9	3	30	24	38	25	10	3	78	34	+44

Players statistics

Numbers of Youth squad in cursive.

Appearances

• 34.Guglielmo Gabetto
• 32.Valerio Bacigalupo
• 32.Aldo Ballarin
• 31.Mario Rigamonti
• 30.Valentino Mazzola
• 29.Romeo Menti
• 28.Ezio Loik
• 28.Danilo Martelli
• 25.Franco Ossola
• 21.Giuseppe Grezar
• 21.Eusebio Castigliano
• 18.Virgilio Maroso
• 11.Piero Operto
• 10.Rubens Fadini
• 8.Emile Bongiorni
• 8.Luigi Giuliano
• 3.Mario Audisio
• 2.Alfio Balbiano
• 1.Piero Bersia
• 2.Pietro Biglino
• 3.Oscar Ferrari
• 4.Andrea Francone
• 2.Renato Gandolfi
• 4.Antonio Gianmarinaro
• 1.Ruggero Grava
• 4.Sergio Lussu
• 3.Lando Macchi
• 4.Giuseppe Marchetto
• 4.Sergio Mari
• 4.Umberto Motto
• 5.Julius Schubert
• 2.Sauro Tomà
• 4.Guido Vandone

Goalscorers

• 16.Valentino Mazzola
• 11.Franco Ossola
• 9.Ezio Loik
• 9.Romeo Menti
• 8.Guglielmo Gabetto
• 1.Mario Audisio
• 1.Aldo Ballarin
• 2.Emile Bongiorni
• 1.Eusebio Castigliano
• 1.Rubens Fadini
• 1.Andrea Francone
• 2.Antonio Gianmarinaro
• 4.Luigi Giuliano
• 3.Giuseppe Grezar
• 2.Sergio Lussu
• 5.Giuseppe Marchetto
• 1.Mario Rigamonti
• 1.Julius Schubert

References

1. Declared champion by Italian Federation FIGC after Superga air disaster, four rounds before the end of championship.
2. "Superga tragedy strikes Il Grande Torino". fifa.com. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
3. Dunne, Frank (2009-05-02). "Troubled Turin recall tragic end of 'Il Grande Torino'". The Independent. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
4. "3 May 1949: Benfica-Torino 4-3". toro.it. 23 June 2016.
5. "Past players". Chesterfield F.C. Retrieved 2011-06-21.
6. "La Storia del Torino Fc" (in Italian). Torino Football Club. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
7. Ormezzano. Toro 49. p. 164..
8. Colombero. Pacifico. p. 120.
9. Patrick Jennings (8 January 2019). "The plane crash that killed Serie A's champions and their English coach". BBC Sport.
10. "TG-R "Leonardo": possibili cause della sciagura di Superga: l'ipotesi dell'altimetro guasto". Andrea Sinaglia YouTube.
11. Andrea Saronni (18 May 2018). "Brasile 1950, la seconda squadra: un Uruguay stellare e un'India a piedi...nudi".
12. Suspended due to fog on 8 December at minute 66' with score 2-0.
13. Rescheduled from 2 January
14. Match played between Youth squads (Primavera).
15. Rescheduled from 5 June
16. Match played with 2 times of 30 minutes each one.
17. Match played between Youth squads (Primavera).
18. Match played in Firenze before the game of National teams Italia-Austria
19. Match played between Youth squads (Primavera).
20. Rescheduled from 8 May due to Superga air disaster.Match played between Youth squads (Primavera).

External Links

• Fabrizio Melegari (a cura di). Almanacco illustrato del calcio - La storia 1898-2004, Modena. Panini, 2004.
• Fabrizio Melegari e Luigi La Rocca. Storia del Campionato Italiano dal 1942-43 al 1949-50: Calciatori 1948-49. edizione speciale per "La Gazzetta dello Sport" Franco Cosimo Panini Editore, Modena, 2005.

See also

Grande Torino