Serie A
Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino
Feb 27, 2022
I had some spare PTO days left and February was dreary and miserable, there was a cheap Ryanair deal to Turin and FC Torino played at home. So that’s how our short trip got planned. Me and my wife managed to find ourselves in Turin on February 24 when the Russian invasion started in Ukraine. Those were the worst days of my life. I don’t really remember much from our trip though we mechanically checked most of the landmarks of this wonderful Italian city. I’m writing this over 4 months after, trying to unscramble my brain and my memories.
I always imagined Turin as a big football city along the lines of Manchester, Rome, Madrid, Rotterdam, Hamburg, Marseille. You know those cities that end up on adidas trainers. Incidentally, Turin is indeed a city on a trainer, but those are Puma trainers, so slightly less well-known. You could argue that Turin’s European football heyday is also slightly obscured these days. FC Torino have not done anything of note since the early 90s and even the mighty Juventus are not as scary as they used to be. However, you can’t argue with their history and previous achievements.
I did not travel much in my life before I moved to Krakow. That’s why I have not seen games
from any big top5 European leagues. But I always wanted to go to Italy the most of all. I got drawn to football and football culture in he 90s when calcio was at its peak and the gap between Italians and others was so obvious. Many think that German fan culture is number 1 in Europe and I’m sure they’re right. But still there is something that attracts me in those huge half-empty crumbling concrete bowls, ultras banners and always stylishly dressed Italian fans. I really dislike Juventus for many reasons and their out-of-town shiny new corporate stadium does not evoke too many feelings from my old-school trad soul, so the decision to see Torino instead was an easy one for me.
Olympic Stadium is not in the centre but still not very far to take a walk. But I did not have lots of time so I decided to take a subway. The subway of Turin is very new, it was built for the winter Olympic games of 2006. The entire area around the stadium saw a complete overhaul for the event.
Judging by the map, the closest subway station to the stadium is Lingotto.
Some time ago this was the site of FIAT main manufacturing plant and administrative facilities. You may have seen Lingotto in the famous race scene from the Italian Job. In fact, Lingotto plant was groundbreaking in terms of architecture and innovation, drawing praise from the great Le Corbusier. The plant was closed in the 80s but the whole site is still there and was redeveloped into a shopping mall, a hotel and many other things. You can still see the previous features of the plant in the new mall. And then, the whole area got another redevelopment for the Olympics, when lots of athletic facilities were constructed. That’s when Turin got the famous Arch built with the long pedestrian walkway that united Lingotto with the Olympic village. The scale of the redevelopment was simply grandiose.
I left my wife at the Lingotto mall and decided to walk towards the stadium along the pedestrian
path. It is a very long walk, probably at least a couple of kilometers across the railways beneath. Unfortunately, the area suffers the fate of many former Olympic objects when the Games are finished and these sites are no longer needed. Some of the facilities are left abandoned. It turned out that the distance to the stadium was much longer than I anticipated. Even after finishing with the pedestrian path, it takes quite a while before you see the stadium. Overall, it is around 30 minutes to reach the ground from the subway stop.
There is another thing now that will certainly draw attention of not just a random groundhopper,
but anyone who’s interested in history. You’ve all heard the story of Grande Torino team that were
unrivalled in their time in Italy. All their glorious exploits took place at the old Stadio Filadelfia. It
was their ground up until the early 60s, when Torino moved to the Olympic stadium (then known as Stadio Comunale). The ground was neglected and deteriorated to the point that only a piece of the original stand remained. But to the joy of all Torino fans, the stadium got redeveloped and now hosts junior games and trainings. The coolest feature is still the piece of the original concrete stand and the old ticket office. I was excited to see the old Stadio Filadelfia and it would have been so cool to catch a game there, even in the redeveloped state. There are a few bars around in the area where I saw Torino fans with their pre-match drinks. There was also a gathering spot for Ultras Torino who were all dressed in black with North Face jackets as their casual outfit of choice.
But there was one more thing that I simply had to see. Right next to Stadio Olympico stands Palasport Olimpico or Pala Alpitour. This was the main indoor facility for the Turin 2006 Olympics. It may look nothing special, just a big cubic hall but it holds a big significance for me. Right here, Sweden won its gold at the Olympic games and I happen to be a huge Tre Kronor fan. I know I’m not a Swede, in fact, I’ve never even been there, but for not particular reason I chose Sweden as a little Soviet kid when hockey was always on TV. And it stuck. Winning an Olympic gold was a major achievement and I was simply over the moon and happy. Just being close to the site of the historic event was a big deal for me. Oh, and I think Ukraine won Eurovision contest here but I could not care less about this.
So, with the kickoff quickly approaching, I was at the gates to Stadio Olympico. By the way, it’s situated on Corso Sebastopoli street. There is also a Piazza Crimea in Turin. As you can guess, it was named after Italians (among many others) as kingdom of Sardinia kicked russian asses in the Crimean war. I did not have much time but still managed to get a pin and a pennant from one of the stalls. The crowd to enter the gates was huge and I was sure there is no way it dissipates before the kickoff. But somehow right before the whistle, I found myself at the turnstile. Thankfully I had the pdf ticket printed out, or else I would have had to enter through a different turnstile. In Italy, you can never be sure about anything.
The stadium did not impress me that much. It’s just a big oval and the only interesting thing about
it is the tower, called Maratona. The stand behind the tower is Curva Maratona which is the place of the Torino ultras. And there was nothing sold, no food or drinks or souvenirs when you’re inside. But don’t get me wrong, Stadio Olympico is still miles better than modern cookie-cutter stadiums in the middle of nowhere.
Torino held a firm middle position before the game while Cagliari fought for survival. I did not pay too much attention to both teams and only knew a few of the players, mostly those who played for Granata – Linetty, Berisha, Ansaldi, Zaza (peculiarly, none of them featured in the game though). The only player whom I knew very well and was excited to see was the captain and Italy international – Andrea Bellotti. There is something old-school about him – a proper physical number 9 with good scoring instincts. But at the same time he does not even look like a footballer, more like a wrestler or a swimmer. You can recognize him by the way he walks on the pitch, it’s like he has a bit of a hump. He’s nickname is Ill Gallo (a rooster) and he always celebrates his goals by showing a rooster’s comb with his hand. And he scores. He scores a lot. And he runs and battles a lot. And he is the icon of Torino. As I’m writing this, Bellotti is most probably looking for a new team, but mad props to him for sticking with Granata for so long and becoming synonymous with the club.
The stadium was probably only half-full at best and due to covid restrictions, only 75% of the capacity could be sold. Still, Curva Maratona was quite full and very bright with multiple flags and banners. There was a decent Cagliari group at the away sector. What also surprised me is how many Cagliari fans were simply present in the crowd. I knew well enough that Turin is heavily populated by people from the south of Italy and its islands (Sicily and Cagliari) but still it was weird to see people showing Cagliari flags right in the middle of the central stands.
I don’t really remember much of the game or anything about the fans. It was a splendid sunny day, I
was watching a game of the great historic team in a beautiful city. And it was a third day of war. I could not focus on anything, was simply scrolling the news on my phone. Cagliari scored in the first half and then in the second half none other than their captain Andrea Bellotti scored a hard-working equalizer, catching a rebound after a free-kick. The crowd chanted his name. But then, Cagliari scored a really nice one with a billiard kick to the corner of the net. Their fans went wild. I remember them being very loud and active.
Torino had nothing to counter-offer and the game ended 1-2 to the guests from Sardinia. Cagliari really needed the win and for a while it seemed that they should be safe but unfortunately, they got relegated at the end of the season.
I am not sure I will ever be back in Torino. I did not manage to get to Superga to see a memorial to Grande Torino and there were a lot of other sites that I had to miss, or simply had no desire or mental capacity to go to. It was really cool to have a Serie A game under my belt. I wish it was under different circumstances.
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