Turin plans Superga memorial next month

The city of Turin will mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Superga air disaster next month with a service at the city's cathedral and a day of mourning.

The air crash on May 18th 1949 wiped out the great post war Torino squad and killed and eight internationals in the hills above the city. The squad were returning from a flight to Lisbon and a game against Benfica when fog caused the place to hit the tops of the local Superga hills when it came in to land.

Hundreds of thousands of fans gathered throughout the city as the players were buried en masse in a long procession of coffins. The club dominated the years after the second world war and won four Serie A titles in a row. It arguably never recovered from the disaster as their finest team was killed and a whole generation of Italian talent was wiped out.