Stadium Stories: The Olimpico – Grande Torino

Parma, 21 February 2020 – The Stadio Olimpico – Grande Torino will be the venue for the matchday 25 fixture between Torino and Parma in Serie A TIM. Let’s take a look back at the history of the stadium.

AT FIRST IT WAS… BIANCONERO

Work began on the original version of the stadium in 1932 and it was hosted the following year to host the Littoriali Games and the World Student Games. It was built to be the biggest stadium in Italy at the time with a capacity of 65,000 and it also included a running track. The first football match there was a Central European Cup quarter-final between Juventus and Hungarian outfit Ujpest on 29 June 1933. The following season, the stadium became the home of the Bianconeri while Torino played at the Stadio Filadelfia which they owned.

THE “COMUNALE” ERA 

Following the end of the Second World War, the stadium ceased to be called the Municipale Benito Mussolini and instead took on the name of Comunale. In 1958, Torino left the Stadio Filadelfia but only on a temporary basis, they opted to return to the ‘Fila’ after relegation to Serie B. At the start of the 1960s, Torino only played their most important fixtures at the Stadio Comunale. Their final match at the Filadelfia was a league match against Lazio on 19 May 1963 and a certain Enzo Bearzot scored for the Granata. From the next season, the Comunale would be their permanent home and it was now the stadium for both teams in Turin. The Comunale era continued until the end of the 1989/90 season. With Italy set to host the 1990 World Cup, the project began to build the Stadio Delle Alpi which was meant to replace it. The last match was a Serie B clash between Torino and Messina on 27 May 1990.

FROM THE DELLE ALPI TO TODAY

After both clubs left, the stadium was the venue for a final to determine who won the 1993/94 Primavera scudetto and it became the venue for Juventus’ training until 2003 and Torino from 2004. In 2002, the Comunale was given to Torino and the Delle Alpi to Juventus. Due to financial difficulties at Torino, the Comunale returned to council ownership who completed work on it for the 2006 Winter Olympics, leading to it taking on the name of Olimpico. After the games, the stadium hosted both clubs once again until Juve moved to their new stadium in 2011. With only Torino playing there, the stadium has taken on a greater identity with more links to the Granata. In 2016, it was officially named the Stadio Grande Torino.