Few shirts in the world have such a distinctive colour as Torino's. It is not red, it is not burgundy: it is granata. Behind it lie legends, a city split in two and one of the greatest tragedies in sport.

A beer hall and a "revolution"

Torino was born on 3 December 1906, in the Voigt beer hall on Via Pietro Micca in Turin. There FC Torinese merged with a group of Juventus dissidents, led by the Swiss businessman Alfred Dick.

In short, Torino was born out of a dispute inside Juventus. So from day one, the city derby had something personal about it.

The first president was Hans Schönbrod, and on 16 December 1906 the new team made its debut, beating Pro Vercelli 3-1. The first matches were played at the Velodromo Umberto I, the ground where the first Italian championship had been held in 1898. On 3 December 2026 the club turns 120.

Where did the granata come from?

Nobody knows for sure. The most popular version links the colour to the House of Savoy and the Duke of the Abruzzi. According to legend, in 1706 the Savoy Brigade wore a blood-coloured handkerchief to honour a messenger who was killed bringing news of Turin's liberation from the French.

Some historians give a more prosaic explanation: Dick supported the Swiss club Servette, who also wore granata. There is also the funnier story that red shirts faded in the wash and the result was seen as a lucky charm. None of the three has been proven, and the last one sounds more like an anecdote.

The bull on the chest

A Torino shirt cannot be without the bull. The rampant bull is the symbol of the city of Turin itself, and that is where the team got its nickname, "Il Toro".

The badge has changed many times. The current one dates from the 2005-06 season, and the year "1906" was added later. The square badge of the 1980s, however, remains a favourite of many fans, which is why it often appears on retro shirts.

Grande Torino: the team that was Italy

In the 1940s the granata shirt became the most feared in Italy. "Grande Torino" won five league titles in a row and in 1943 became the first team to win the league and the Cup in the same year.

It was so dominant that it supplied eight to ten starters to the Italian national team. For many, it was the best team the country has ever produced.

Superga, 4 May 1949

The story stopped abruptly. On 4 May 1949, the plane bringing the team home from a friendly against Benfica in Lisbon crashed in fog into the wall of the Basilica of Superga, above Turin.

Thirty-one people were killed: players, coaches, officials, journalists and the crew. Among them were the coaches Egri Erbstein and Leslie Lievesley. Since then, every 4 May Italian football remembers the team that was lost at its peak.

1976: the scudetto of rebirth

It took 27 years for Torino to celebrate a league title again. In the 1975-76 season Juventus were five points ahead in spring, but they lost three matches in a row, including the derby.

Torino overtook them, and on the final matchday a draw with Cesena was enough, as Juventus lost in Perugia. The title came by a two-point margin. It was the club's seventh scudetto, and perhaps the most moving.

A shirt for collectors with heart

The Torino shirt is not just a beautiful colour. It carries the birth of a derby, the legend of Grande Torino and the memory of Superga, and with the club's 120th anniversary it becomes even more special.

It is one of those shirts that make you stop and ask, "which team is that?"

See our collectible jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: Grande Torino in the 1948-49 season – Unknown author, Wikimedia Commons, public domain.