Torino remember Munich air disaster in the backdrop of Superga

Apollo Heyes

epa07547239 FC Torino supporters attend the commemoration ceremony in memory of players of Torino FC who died in the Superga crash on 04 May 1949, when a plane of Avio Linee Italiane (Italian Airlines) carrying the entire soccer team (popularly known as the "Grande Torino") crashed into the retaining wall at the back of the Basilica of Superga which stands on the hill of Turin, outside the Superga's Basilica, near Turin, Italy, 04 May 2019. EPA-EFE/ALESSANDRO DI MARCO

Torino remembered Manchester United’s Munich air disaster today, knowing the pain well from their own Superga air disaster.

The Munich air disaster occurred on this day in 1958, when an airplane carrying the Manchester United squad crashed whilst attempting to take off from Munich airport. 23 people died as a result, including a number of the famous ‘Busby Babes’. The day is one of the most important in the Red Devils calendar, and is remembered every year.

Torino are one of the few clubs in European football who understand this pain better than any other. On May 4 1949, a plane carrying the entire Grande Torino side crashed into a wall of the Basilica of Superga, in the halls of Turin. All 31 people on board died, decimating one of Italian football’s greatest ever teams.

The Granata commemorate the crash every year, when thousands of Torino fans congregate at the place where the plane crashed to pay their respects.