Italian Football Federation and Il Grande Torino

Some recent additions to my collection have a very Italian theme. First up is an FDC of the 1973 Italian issue that commemorated the 75th anniversary of the Italian Football Federation which was founded in Turin on 15th March 1898. The L.25 value is beautiful in it's simplicity whilst the L.90 value with it's cartoon characters was I think the result of a children's competition.

Given that the FIGC was founded in Turin it is perhaps fitting that the next two items should commemorate Il Grande Torino. The AC Torino team of the 1940's is one of the greatest teams in Italian football history. A devastating air crash wiped them out in 1949 and 50 years on in 1999 Poste italiane issued two stamps to remember Turin's and Italy's tragic loss. Here they are as first day issues on maxicards.