Danilo Martelli

Danilo Martelli
Personnel
birthday	May 27, 1923
place of birth	Castellucchio ,  Italy
date of death	May 4, 1949
Place of death	Superga ,  Italy
position	midfield
Juniors
Years	station
	Marzotto Manerbio
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1941-1946	AC Brescia	99 (26)
1946-1949	AC Turin	72 (10)
1 Only league games are given.

Danilo Martelli (born May 27, 1923 in Castellucchio , † May 4, 1949 in Superga ) was an Italian football player. He belonged to the so-called Grande Torino and won three championships with the team.

Career

Danilo Martelli was born on May 27, 1923 in Castellucchio , a town in the northern Italian province of Mantua . In the youth of Marzotto Manerbio he learned to play football and was discovered there by AC Brescia . In 1941, the young midfielder moved to Brescia and played there from now on in the second-rate series B . In his second season at the AC Brescia Martelli's team succeeded sporty promotion to the Serie A . However, the first class was prevented by the game break due to the advancing Second World War . After the end of the war, Danilo Martelli played his only first division season with AC Brescia in the Italian football championship in 1945/46 , at the end of which they finished in a remarkable fourth place.

In the summer of 1946 Danilo Martelli moved to the reigning Italian soccer champions AC Turin . At the time, AC Turin formed by far the best team in Italy with the so-called Grande Torino , which became champions in series in the 1940s. With players like Valentino Mazzola , Pietro Ferraris and Guglielmo Gabetto , AC Turin became Italian champions again in the first year after Martelli's arrival. The Serie A 1946/47 ended with ten points ahead of local rivals Juventus Turin in first place. The following year they could defend this title confidently, this time the gap to second-placed AC Milan was even sixteen points. The 1948/49 season also ended with the championship.

death

After the championship in 1948/49 was established long before the end of the season after winning a point at AS Bari , club president Ferruccio Novo agreed a friendly game at Benfica Lisbon . On the return flight the Fiat G.212 collided with the pilgrimage hill Superga at the gates of Turin in heavy fog . In the accident, everyone on the plane died, including eighteen players from the Grande Torino. Only Sauro Tomà was left of the glorious team, as he had not flown to Portugal due to an injury .

After his untimely death in the Superga plane crash , Danilo Martelli received several awards. This is how the stadium in Mantua bears his name and has been called Stadio Danilo Martelli since 1961 . The stadium now offers space for almost 15,000 spectators and is used by third division club AC Mantova as a venue for home games. Furthermore, in Martelli's hometown Castellucchio, the US Danilo Martelli is an amateur club named after the former player. In nearby Piadena , too , an amateur club is called GS Danilo Martelli.

successes

• Italian championship : 3 ×

1946/47 , 1947/48 and 1948/49 with AC Turin

Web links

• Player Profile (Italian)