Torino

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Full name	Torino Football Club SpA
Nickname(s)	Il Granata (The Clarets), Il Toro (The Bull)
Founded	1906 (AC Torino) 2005 (Torino FC)
Ground	Stadio Olimpico (Capacity: 27,994)
Chairman	Urbano Cairo
Head Coach	Giampiero Ventura
League	Serie A
2011–12	Serie B, 2nd
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Torino Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Torino, is a professional Italian football club based in Turin, Piedmont, that was founded in 1906 (refounded in 2005). The club has spent most of its history in the top tier in Italian football. Torino, who play in claret (Italian : granata) shirts with white shorts, have won Serie A seven times, first in 1927–28 and most recently in 1975–76. They have also won the Coppa Italia five times. On the European stage, the nearest Torino came to success was when they finished as runners-up in the UEFA Cup; this was achieved in 1991–92. Historically, Torino are the joint fifth most successful club in Italian football in terms of championships won. The club was known as Associazione Calcio Torino until 1970, and as Torino Calcio from 1970 to 2005.

In the season 2012-13 it will play in Serie A after the promotion from Serie B.

History[link]

Foot-Ball Club Torino was founded on 3 December 1906 after a meeting at the Voigt brewery in Via Pietro Micca near the center of Turin. Its foundation involved some Juventus dissidents led by Alfredo Dick, who had left the bianconeri after some at the club wanted to move Juventus out of Turin.^[1] As well as Alfredo Dick, other prominent founders included the Swiss businessman Hans Schoenbrod (first chairman), and Vittorio Pozzo (later manager of Italy).^[2] The first ground for FBC Torino would be Velodromo Umberto I in the La Crocetta neighbourhood, for which Dick owned the lease. Torino lured some players from other clubs, including FBC Torinese who became defunct as a result.^[3] The fact that Torino's split from Juve was not amicable, saw the rise of a heated local known as the Derby della Mole.^[4]

Italian Football Championship[link]

Torino F.C. took part in the world's first international tournament, Torneo Internazionale Stampa Sportiva 1908 which was hosted in Turin itself organised by the Italian magazine La Stampa Sportiva. Torino lost in the final 3–1 to Swiss side Servette.^[5] In 1909 it was succeeded by the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy, in which a Torino XI composed of Juve and Torino players participated but did not make it to the final.^[6] After the early years, Torino were denied their first championship attempt by the outbreak of World War I, and their first title was revoked in 1926/27 due to an irregularity in the match against Juventus. Torino won its first Scudetto, the Italian Serie A league Championship, the following 1927/28 season and, between 1942/43 and 1948/49, "Il Grande Torino" (the Great Torino), widely considered the best ever team in Italian football history, won five other straight scudetti, led by its captain, Valentino Mazzola. On 4 May 1949, all but one player (who was out for an injury) of Il Grande Torino were killed when their plane crashed into the hills of Superga, on the outskirts of Turin. The club never recovered, and after a decade of mediocre seasons, they were relegated to Serie B in 1958/59, although they returned to Serie A the following season. By the early 1960s and until the late 1980s, Torino had good results in Serie A, including another Scudetto in the 1975/76 season. Since the end of the 1980s, the club went up and down between Serie A and Serie B, the top two divisions with little success, except a Coppa Italia in 1992/93 and a Mitropa Cup win in 1990/91. Among the best results ever achieved in the club's history, it reached the UEFA Cup Final in 1991/92 only to lose it in two aggregate matches to Ajax Amsterdam without being defeated.

In 2004/05, Torino finished 3rd in Serie B and, after winning the playoffs, was promoted back in Serie A. However, the FIGC, the governing body of Italian football, expelled both Torino Calcio and F.C. Messina from Serie A, due to both clubs' financial problems. However, while Messina was re-admitted by a civil court of appeal, Torino was not and it was cancelled from the Italian sport panorama. The club has lost players likes Gaby Mudingayi, Gianluca Comotto, Andrea Mantovani, Federico Balzaretti, Robert Acquafresca, Stefano Sorrentino, Diego De Ascentis, Massimo Marazzina, Fabio Quagliarella and Federico Marchetti who all became regular players for other teams in the Serie A.

Thanks to the 'Lodo Petrucci' (Italian law which allows a sport club that is the direct heir of a cancelled one to be re-admitted one division below the previous one), a new club was founded under the current name Torino F.C. and was admitted to play the next season, again in Serie B. Bought by entrepreneur Urbano Cairo, Torino FC ended its 2005/2006 Serie B campaign in third place, being therefore qualified for the promotion play-offs. Torino subsequently defeated Mantova in the final to earn promotion to Serie A. Even in its worst seasons, Torino has often achieved good results in epic matches (the so-called "derbies") against the other Turin team, Juventus. From 1990 to 2006 the club played in the 69,040 capacity Stadio delle Alpi, shared with Juventus. Prior to 1990 the clubs shared the Stadio Comunale for thirty years, Torino moving there from the glorious Stadio Filadelfia, home of Il Grande Torino. Starting from the 2006/07 season, Torino moved into a new, smaller ground of its own, the Stadio Olimpico di Torino (which is the renewed former Stadio Comunale), which Juventus previously shared. It could be renamed the Stadio Grande Torino after Juventus moved to a new stadium called Juventus Stadium which was built on the site of the former Stadio delle Alpi, in 2011.

When playing at home Torino wears a claret top and white shorts (sometimes is full claret) but when playing else where the team wears all white. When practicing Torino wears red and white or red and black.

In the season 2011-12 Torino was promoted from Serie B to Serie A after 3 years.

[edit] Il Grande Torino

Il Grande Torino ("The Great Torino") is the name by which the Torino F.C. team of the 1940s is popularly known.^[7][8][9] Il Grande Torino set many important records of Italian football, all of which still stand today. Il Grande Torino played with an attacking 4–2–4 formation, 10 years before the Brazil 1958 World Cup team, and some of their game tactics inspired the Dutch Total Football that revolutionized the game in the 1970s.^{[citation needed]}

The starting lineup of Il Grande Torino that died at Superga was: Valerio Bacigalupo, Aldo Ballarin, Virgilio Maroso, Giuseppe Grezar, Mario Rigamonti, Eusebio Castigliano, Romeo Menti, Ezio Loik, Guglielmo Gabetto, Valentino Mazzola and Franco Ossola; the latter's son is now the main biographer of the Club's history.

The Italian national football team's starting lineup in the second half of the forties consisted almost entirely of Il Grande Torino players, which regularly contributed eight or nine starters.^{[citation needed]} On 11 May 1947, for the friendly match between Italy and Hungary 3–2, the starting lineup for the Azzurri was composed of ten Il Grande Torino players plus the Juventus goalkeeper Sentimenti IV. For that game, Italian manager Vittorio Pozzo reserved Italy's starting keeper: Torino's Valerio Bacigalupo.

Valentino Mazzola was also the captain of Italy's national football team, and was the father of Sandro Mazzola, who also played for Internazionale and Italy in the 1960s–70s.

Records[link]

• Joint holder of most consecutive Italian Serie A league titles (5), from 1943 to 1949 (1942/43, 1945/46, 1946/47, 1947/48, 1948/49; in 1944 and 1945 no league matches were played because of World War II). This tied Juventus' record from 1931–35, and Inter equalled it from 2006–10.
• Most consecutive seasons undefeated at home: 4 straight seasons (1945/46, 1946/47, 1947/48, 1948/49)
• Most consecutive league matches undefeated at home: 93 straight matches, with 83 wins and 10 draws (from 24 January 1943 to 30 April 1949) and just two visiting teams that didn't allow any goal.
• Most points in one season (before the 3 points per win rules): 65 points (1947/48)
• Biggest ever advantage on the English average: 6 points above (1946/47)
• Greatest ever home win: 10–0 to Alessandria (1947/48)
• Greatest ever away win: 0–7 to AS Roma (1945/46 Serie A Finals)
• Most wins in one season (16 teams league): 20 wins in 30 matches (1942/43)
• Most wins in one season (21 teams league): 29 wins in 40 matches (1947/48)
• Most home wins in one season: 19 wins on 20 matches (1947/48)
• Most away wins in one season (16 teams league): 10 wins in 15 matches (1942/43)
• Most home points in one season: 39 points on 40 available (1947/48)
• Most away points in one season (16 teams league): 22 points on 30 available (1942/43)
• Fewest home points lost in one season: 1 point on 40 available (1947/48 and 1948/49)
• Fewest away defeats in one season: 3 defeats on 19 matches (1946/47 and 1948/49)
• Most goals scored in one season: 125 goals (1947/48)
• Most home goals scored in one season: 89 goals (1947/48)
• Most away goals scored in one season (16 teams league): 31 goals (1942/43)
• Most goals scored in the 5 championship seasons: 408 goals scored (1942/43, 1945/46, 1946/47, 1947/48, 1948/49)
• Fewest goals suffered in one season (21 teams league): 33 goals (1947/48)
• Fewest away goals suffered in one season (16 teams league): 9 goals (1942/43)
• Best ever average of goals scored in one season: 3.125 goals per match (1947/48)
• Most points in the second half of the season: 36 points on 40 available (1947/48)

The Superga tragedy[link]

On 4 May 1949, after having secured their record fifth back-to-back Serie A title, and on their way home after a friendly match with Benfica in Lisbon, Portugal, the airplane carrying Il Grande Torino crashed against the Superga hill near Turin, killing nearly all the players and managers.^[10]

Rivalries[link]

Torino's traditional rivals are their crosstown neighbours Juventus, with whom they contest the Derby della Mole. While Juventus has a more widespread support internationally, Torino's fan base tends to be more localized. The derby between Torino and Juventus does not have the international standing of the Milan's derby, but is strongly felt in Turin and Italy. Juventus is the team with more supporters in the Bel Paese, but Torino is the Turin area's first team.^{[citation needed]} The mixture is explosive, and in the years when the teams meet, the atmosphere is always hot with frequent riots.

Current squad[link]

As of 1 February 2012^[11] Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Davide Morello 3 DF Danilo D'Ambrosio 4 MF Migjen Basha (on loan from Atalanta) 5 DF Valerio Di Cesare 6 DF Angelo Ogbonna 7 FW Mirco Antenucci 9 FW Rolando Bianchi (captain) 10 FW Alessandro Sgrigna 11 MF Manuel Iori (on loan from Chievo) 16 DF Luciano Zavagno 18 DF Marco Chiosa 19 MF Alen Stevanović 20 MF Giuseppe Vives 22 MF Stefano Guberti (on loan from Roma) 23 MF Sergiu Suciu

No. Position Player 25 DF Kamil Glik 27 MF Giuseppe De Feudis 28 DF Alessandro Parisi 30 DF Salvatore Masiello 33 MF Juan Surraco (on loan from Udinese) 34 GK Ferdinando Coppola (on loan from Milan) 36 DF Matteo Darmian (on loan from Palermo) 50 DF Francesco Pratali 69 FW Riccardo Meggiorini 77 MF Cristian Pasquato (on loan from Juventus) 89 GK Lys Gomis 90 MF Nnamdi Oduamadi (on loan from Milan) 92 FW Simone Verdi 99 GK Francesco Benussi (on loan from Palermo)

Out on loan[link]

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

No. Position Player 33 DF Matteo Rubin (at Bologna until end of 2011-12 season)

No. Position Player MF Nicolás Gorobsov (at Politehnica Timişoara)

For all transfers and loans pertaining to Torino for the current season, please see 2011 Italian summer transfers.

Managerial history[link]

Torino have had many managers and trainers, some seasons they have had co-managers running the team, here is a chronological list of them from 1912 onwards.^[12]

Name Nationality Years Vittorio Pozzo 1912–1922 Karl Sturmer 1922–1924 Peter Farmer 1924–1926 Amerigo Schoeffer 1926–1927 Tony Cargnelli 1927–1929 Karl Sturmer 1929–1930 Vittorio Morelli di Popolo 1930–1931 Adolfo Baloncieri 1931–1932 Francesco Hansel 1932–1933 Eugen Payer 1933–1934 Augusto Rangone 1934 Tony Cargnelli 1934–1937 Gyula Feldmann 1937–1938 Antonio Janni 1938 Egri Erbstein 1938–1939 András Kuttik 1939–1940 Angelo Mattea 1940 Tony Cargnelli 1940–1942 András Kuttik 1942–1943 Vittorio Pozzo 1944 Luigi Ferrero 1945–1947 Mario Sperone Roberto Copernico 1947–1948 Leslie Lievesley Egri Erbstein 1948–1949 Giuseppe Bigogno Roberto Copernico 1949–1951 Mario Sperone 1951–1952 Oberdan Ussello 1952–1953 Jesse Carver 1953–1954 Annibale Frossi 1954–1956 Fioravante Baldi 1956–1957 Blagoje Marjanović 1957–1958 Fioravante Baldi 1958 Federico Allasio 1958–1959 Quinto Bertoloni 1959 Imre Senkey 1959–1960 Giacinto Ellena 1960 Beniamino Santos 1960–1963 Giacinto Ellena 1963 Nereo Rocco 1963–1966 Marino Bergamasco Nereo Rocco 1966–1967 Edmondo Fabbri 1967–1969 Giancarlo Cadè 1969–1971 Gustavo Giagnoni 1971–1974

Name Nationality Years Edmondo Fabbri 1974–1975 Luigi Radice 1975–1980 Ercole Rabitti 1980–1981 Romano Cazzaniga 1981 Massimo Giacomini 1981–1982 Eugenio Bersellini 1982–1984 Luigi Radice 1984–1989 Claudio Sala 1989 Sergio Vatta 1989 Eugenio Fascetti 1989–1990 Emiliano Mondonico 1990–1994 Rosario Rampanti 1994–1995 Nedo Sonetti 1995–1996 Francesco Scoglio 1996 Lido Vieri 1996 Mauro Sandreani 1996–1997 Lido Vieri 1997 Giancarlo Camolese 1997–1998 Graeme Souness Edoardo Reja 1998 Emiliano Mondonico 1998–2000 Luigi Simoni 2000–2001 Giancarlo Camolese 2001–2002 Renzo Ulivieri 2002–2003 Renato Zaccarelli 2003 Giacomo Ferri 2003 Ezio Rossi 2003–2005 Renato Zaccarelli 2005 Daniele Arrigoni 2005 Paolo Stringara 2005 Gianni De Biasi 2005–2006 Alberto Zaccheroni 2006 Gianni De Biasi 2006–2007 Walter Novellino 2007–2008 Gianni De Biasi 2008 Walter Novellino 2008–2009 Giancarlo Camolese 2009 Stefano Colantuono 2009 Mario Beretta 2009–2010 Stefano Colantuono 2010 Franco Lerda 2010–2011 Giuseppe Papadopulo 2011 Franco Lerda 2011 Giampiero Ventura 2011-

Honours[link]

National[link]

• Serie A

• Champions (7): 1927–28, 1942–43, 1945–46, 1946–47, 1947–48, 1948–49, 1975–76 ¹
• Runners-up (7): 1907, 1914–1915, 1928–1929, 1938–1939, 1941–1942, 1976–1977, 1984–1985

• Coppa Italia

• Champions (5): 1935–36, 1942–43, 1967–68, 1970–71, 1992–93
• Runners-up (8): 1937–38, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1969–70, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1987–88

• Serie B

• Champions (3): 1959–60, 1989–90, 2000–01
• Runners-up (1): 2011-12
• Serie A Playoffs (3): 2004–05; 2005–06; 2009-10

• Italian Super Cup

• Runners-up (1): 1993

Notes:
^1 Torino won the title in the 1926–27 season, but it was later revoked.

International[link]

• UEFA Cup

• Runners-up (1): 1991–92

• Mitropa Cup

• Winners (1): 1990–91

• Memorial Pier Cesare Baretti

• Winners (1): 1990
• Runners-up (1): 1993

Youth[link]

• Italian Youth Championship (record)
• 1966/67 – 1967/68 – 1969/70 – 1976/77 – 1984/85 – 1987/88 – 1990/91 – 1991/92
• Italian Youth Cup (record)
• 1982/83, 1983/84, 1985/86, 1987/88, 1988/89, 1989/90, 1998/99
• Viareggio International youth Tournament
• 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1995, 1998

Notable players[link]

Shirt sponsors and manufacturers[link]

Shirt sponsor[link]

Kit manufacturer[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• (Italian) Torino FC Official website

Rolando Bianchi (born February 15, 1983 in Lovere, Bergamo) is an Italian footballer, currently playing for Torino F.C.. His position is centre forward. He was widely considered as one of the brightest promises of Italian football, notably scoring 19 goals in the 2006–2007 season playing with Calabrian club Reggina.

Career[link]

Bianchi began his career in 2000 with Atalanta. He played twenty games for the first team, without scoring, despite being a prolific scorer in the youth ranks. He was loaned to Serie B team Cagliari in January 2004, where he played 14 matches and scored 2 goals helping them gain promotion to Serie A. The 2004–05 was a poor one for the forward, and saw him score only 2 goals in 25 matches.

Bianchi was promptly sold to Reggina in 2005, where his first season was hampered by a serious knee injury suffered early on in the season. He recovered to play 9 games late in the season, scoring one goal.

That summer, Bianchi was called up the Italy U-21 squad for the 2006 U-21 Championships in Portugal, where he appeared 3 times and scored once.

The 2006–07 season saw the forward in superb form for Reggina, notching 18 goals in 37 games. Due to their indictment for sporting fraud, the club had started the season with an 11-point deduction and seemed destined for relegation. They managed to save themselves, however, with Bianchi's performances considered a key part of Reggina's Serie A survival. He finished the season 4th in the league's goal scoring table. Rolando Bianchi has often stated that he would like to return back to Reggina anytime, and that he misses the support from the Reggina fans.^{[citation needed]}

This form unsurprisingly attracted the attention of suitors throughout Europe, and in July 2007 Bianchi moved to Manchester City for a fee of £8.8 million (€13m), where he was given the number 10 shirt. Bianchi scored on his debut for City, slotting home a pass from Elano against West Ham. Bianchi's second goal came in a 2-1 victory in the Carling Cup 2nd round against Bristol City F.C. The goal was a sweetly struck 25 yard finish that ultimately sealed the win for City. Bianchi moved on to score his third goal in English football in a 2-1 defeat against a defiant Spurs side on 9 December 2007. Then on the following Saturday he scored the first goal against Bolton in a 4-2 Manchester City win.

In January 2008, Manchester City manager Sven-Göran Eriksson informed Bianchi that he will be allowed to leave the club. On January 23, 2008 Bianchi finalised a loan move to Lazio after not being able to settle in England.^[1] In his debut with Lazio, Bianchi was sent off after 2 yellow cards in just 5 minutes. He scored his first goal for Lazio against former club Reggina from a penalty kick in a 1-0 victory.^[2] In spite of Bianchi's hope that Lazio would make his move permanent, he had in fact been asked to return to Manchester City.

On August 23, 2008, after a summer of much speculation about a possible move, it was officially announced by Manchester City that Bianchi had signed for Italian club Torino on a five-year deal.^[3]

On August 2011 Bianchi was linked with a move to Scottish Club Celtic F.C.^[4] He has also been linked with Galatasaray of Turkey.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Rolando Bianchi Official Web Site
• Rolando Bianchi career stats at Soccerbase
• (Italian) Info, career and statistics
• (Italian) Bomber italiani.... addio... , Realsoccer.it del 18 luglio 2007

Gianni De Biasi (born Giovanni De Biasi on 16 June 1956 in Sarmede, Treviso) is an Italian football coach and former player, who currently serves as head coach of Albanian national team.

Playing career[link]

De Biasi, a midfielder, started his professional playing career for Inter Milan; he was part of the first team squad but, despite this, never played for the nerazzurri and was then loaned to Serie C team Reggiana in 1975 and newly-promoted Serie A club Pescara Calcio one year later. He was sold to Brescia in 1977 as partial compensation for the signing of Evaristo Beccalossi by Inter. De Biasi played in Brescia for five seasons, only one of them in Serie A. He then moved to Palermo in 1983, but abruptly left it three years later following the cancellation of the Sicilian club in the summer of 1986. This was followed by a single season with Vicenza and two Serie C2 seasons for Treviso. De Biasi retired from active football in 1990, after a Serie D season with Bassano.

Coaching career[link]

Clubs[link]

In 1990, De Biasi became youth team coach for Bassano; in 1991, he was appointed by Vicenza to coach the allievi nazionali youth squad. In 1992, De Biasi made his debut as first team coach, being boss of Serie C2 club Vastese (now Pro Vasto); this was followed by three seasons as Carpi boss. In 1996, De Biasi was appointed coach of Serie B club Cosenza, but was fired on Christmas' eve day. After a two-year spell at SPAL, De Biasi was contacted and hired by Serie C1 club Modena on 2000; with the canarini, De Biasi obtained two consecutive promotions that brought Modena back in Serie A after 38 years. He left Modena in 2003, after having led his club to a good 13th place in the Serie A table, and signed for Brescia, where he had the opportunity to coach Roberto Baggio in his last playing season. He was sacked during the 2004/2005 season.

In 2005, Torino F.C. of Serie B appointed De Biasi as head coach, offering him a squad quickly built in a very few days following the cancellation of the old Torino Calcio club and the forming of a new society, owned by Urbano Cairo. Under De Biasi, Torino obtained immediate Serie A promotion, after having defeated Mantova on playoffs. De Biasi, initially confirmed as head coach also for the 2006/2007 Serie A campaign, was however sacked three days before the first matchday and replaced by Alberto Zaccheroni. On February 26, 2007 Torino FC chairman Cairo decided to sack Zaccheroni too and recall De Biasi at the helm of the granata, leading them to escape from relegation.

After several rumours regarding a possible move to La Liga side Levante UD, he was announced on October 9, 2007 to have reached an agreement with the Spanish side, where he will join fellow Italians Damiano Tommasi, Christian Riganò, Marco Storari and Bruno Cirillo.^[1] He did not manage to save the club from relegation, mainly because of financial struggles which questioned the club's own survival and led to sell several key players during the January transfer window. Despite the lack of top-quality players and as the risk of bankruptcy loomed, he led the team to some unexpected victories, displaying linearity and tactical discipline that gained him the love of the Spanish fans and esteem of the critics: in one of its editions, the popular sports daily “As” declared him the best coach in the championship

On April 16, 2008 he was announced by Torino to replace Walter Novellino for the five final matchdays, with the aim to save the club from relegation once again. Once again, De Biasi saved the team.^[2] On December 8, 2008 he was sacked after fifteen matches, blamed by the team’s manager for the fact that Torino was once again struggling to avoid relegation. However, despite hiring and then dismissing a second and then a third coach, the team was still relegated at the end of the championship.^[3]

On December 22, 2009 Udinese dismissed manager Pasquale Marino and appointed De Biasi to take charge of the struggling team from North-Eastern Italy. However, results did not particularly improve under his tenure as head coach, and De Biasi himself was removed from his post on February 21, 2010 with Marino being named back at the helm of the club.^[4]

National teams[link]

On December 14, 2011, De Biasi was named as the successor to Josip Kuže in charge of the Albanian national side.^[5]

References[link]