I don’t post often as my collection is focused on vintage soccer more so than baseball. However, I thought I would share this item purchased at auction in Turin, Italy earlier this month.
It is a postcard sent from Lisbon, Portugal to Turin, Italy on May 03 1949. It is autographed by the Torino soccer club who were in Portugal to play an exhibition match against Benfica on that May 03 1949 date.
Torino were one of the leading clubs of this era and were on the verge of winning the Italian national soccer championship for a fifth successive season. They were commonly known as ‘Il Grande Torino’.
The importance of this item is that on 04 May 1949, the day after the game and the day after this postcard was sent, the plane carrying the squad back from Lisbon crashed into the hills of Superga as the aircraft was approaching Turin. All on board, including the entire Torino squad, died instantly. Everyone who signed this postcard died a day after it was sent.
The Superga disaster remains a pivotal and sad moment in Italian sporting and cultural history and is commemorated each year. This year was the 75th anniversary of the tragedy.
