Torino President Urbano Cairo insists those who support the club have the love 'passed down from the times of Il Grande Torino'.
The owner gave a passionate account of what it means to have a 'Granata soul', and spoke about the 'romance' of the side.
But where did the love for Torino come from?
Torino President Urbano Cairo insists those who support the club have the love 'passed down from the times of Il Grande Torino'.
The owner gave a passionate account of what it means to have a 'Granata soul', and spoke about the 'romance' of the side.
But where did the love for Torino come from?
"My parents, especially my mum. He lived through the whole time of Il Grande Torino and told me about that team, she told me everything," he revealed to Gazzetta dello Sport. "On the day of Superga, a friend gave her the news, and she went all the way home crying.
"The night that [Gigi] Meroni died I was already in bed, the next morning she woke me up. ‘I have bad news, Gigi Meroni died' she said.
"Always she gave me the decisive push to buy Torino, and I never regretted it. Never, even when we lost so much and after some defeats, for example with Roma in 2009. I could not even sleep."
The President then went on to explain what it meant to have a 'Granata soul'.
"It's a soul made of so many things. Romance, first of all, that touches high levels of nobility. You have to win with merit and with entertainment, if you win but do not win well you’re not happy.
"It is a rule with controversial elements, which obviously applies to all games except for the derby. Then it is a DNA brought about by the epic Grande Torino, multiplied by that tragic end that came at the height of their power: a bit like John Fitzgerald Kennedy in Dallas or James Dean.
"Not to mention the deaths of Gigi Meroni or that of Giorgio Ferrini, who died a few months after retiring.
"And again: it's an attachment to the special shirt. It’s the same for the youngsters, because it is something handed down – like with me and my mother – by those who lived in those first years."
But do the real Torinese people support Torino or Juventus?
"I respond with a song from the Curva Maratona: Turin has been and will always be Granata."