Tournament adventures in Gorla Milan

Thought i'd share some photos of my adventures over the weekend.

The Oldsubbuteo Tournament was held in Gorla just outside of Milan. We played the whole of a Serie A season 1970/71.

To my dismay i got drawn to represent AS Roma...aaarghhhh!!!

Each team was represented by 3 players, where we played out a seasons fixtures over the course of a day.

It was probably my best playing performance to date. 3 wins, a draw and a 2-1 loss, the winner coming in the last 10 secs.

We also played out a doubles Tournament, playing out the Coppa Cup of the same year. Players playing alternate shots and defensive flicks. That was lots of fun and you had to keep your brain ticking over.

Plenty of banter and fun...very well organised, with results and League table being produced as goals were being scored. It was like watching the Sky Live ticker being beamed onto the wall... Great stuff, and the result went down to last game.

We finished 4th overall...which was a great achievement. 2 points off winning...

I usually like to spend Mondays visiting Football grounds and places of interest. I spent the day with Fabio B. We went to visit the historic ground of Pro Vercelli, who in their early years won 7 Championships. Also Novara...who the day before got promoted to Serie A via the play offs.

The Lionhearts and Essex boys are also represented in a great 100 page Pannini style sticker album. Nearly 50 OSC Clubs.

I can recommend to anyone going out and having a flick with our Italian bro's...

Here's a few pics...

Thanks for posting Spud

looks like it was a great day at the tournament - well organised & the projector with the live scores is a great touch

The photos of the Pro Vercelli ground are lovely - really like the faded glamour look of the place

and as for the sticker album...

Cheers

Paul.

We were very lucky at Vercelli Paul. They were cutting down trees to make way for a new Stand, and also emptying the museum, so as to build a new one. All the Cups were laid out on the terracing. Faded Glamour is a great description.

just been reading about vercellii on wiki - amazing that for a team few outside Italy have ever heard of are still are the 7th most successful team in Italy ahead of Roma, Lazio, Fiorentina & Napoli - thanks for bringing them to my attention

as for 'Faded Glamour', its one of my favourite phrases , nicked from here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR32O2vXLHQ

one of my alltime favourite songs...

That's cool mate...Has a touch of 'The Smiths' about it...

As for footie Clubs... Read up about the 'Grande Torino'... probably the best Club side that ever played in Italy.

Next time i want to visit Alessandria.

interesting stuff - read a liitle about them before when you posted images of your pilgrimage to Superga - again amazing that this tragedy is so little known over here - i guess Munich will always overshadow it here in the UK

amazing to think that the roma team basically was the Azzuri in the late 40's

as for alessandria - will make a nice trip - maybe only be seeing that grey in the flesh will we be able to determine which was the correct shade SSG should have used

liking this kit, if the outer stripe/arms are the 106 grey

if you are going to Alessandria you also need to go here as well

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A.S._Casale_Calcio

to complete the quadrilatero piemontese

That's the plan Paul...all within driving distance of Milan. Varase and Como as well.

As for Munich...some of the Italian lads had never heard of the Busby Babes and the Munich disaster...suprising how football history doesn't always travel.

As for SSG Alessandria Grey...my gut instinct is that it was mixed by the outworker, when painting batches of them. So many different shades tbh.

The 'blueish hue slate grey' being the most common it seems.

Fabio Bertola posted the results up on page 2 of this link mate... I'm a noob when it comes to all things technical.

http://oldsubbuteo.forumfree.it/?t=56190883&st=15

Round 1
31/01/1971 Bologna 2 - 4 L.R. Vicenza
31/01/1971 Cagliari 0 - 2 Sampdoria
31/01/1971 Catania 2 - 0 Juventus
31/01/1971 Milan 0 - 0 Lazio
31/01/1971 Napoli 2 - 0 Varese
31/01/1971 Roma 2 - 0 Fiorentina
31/01/1971 Torino 1 - 2 Foggia
31/01/1971 Verona 2 - 0 Inter

Round 2
07/02/1971 Fiorentina 1 - 2 Verona
07/02/1971 Foggia 3 - 1 Milan
07/02/1971 Inter 1 - 1 Roma
07/02/1971 Juventus 1 - 2 Bologna
07/02/1971 L.R. Vicenza 2 - 1 Catania
07/02/1971 Lazio 1 - 1 Cagliari
07/02/1971 Sampdoria 0 - 2 Napoli
07/02/1971 Varese 2 - 0 Torino

Round 3
14/02/1971 Bologna 2 - 1 Inter
14/02/1971 Cagliari 0 - 2 Varese
14/02/1971 Catania 0 - 1 Fiorentina
14/02/1971 Milan 0 - 3 Sampdoria
14/02/1971 Napoli 1 - 3 Foggia
14/02/1971 Roma 0 - 2 L.R. Vicenza
14/02/1971 Torino 1 - 0 Lazio
14/02/1971 Verona 1 - 1 Juventus

Round 4
28/02/1971 Fiorentina 1 - 1 Napoli
28/02/1971 Foggia 2 - 4 Bologna
28/02/1971 Inter 1 - 0 Cagliari
28/02/1971 Juventus 1 - 0 Milan
28/02/1971 L.R. Vicenza 1 - 1 Torino
28/02/1971 Lazio 0 - 0 Verona
28/02/1971 Sampdoria 1 - 1 Catania
28/02/1971 Varese 1 - 0 Roma

Round 5
07/03/1971 Bologna 1 - 1 Lazio
07/03/1971 Cagliari 1 - 0 Foggia
07/03/1971 Catania 1 - 0 Varese
07/03/1971 Milan 2 - 0 Inter
07/03/1971 Napoli 0 - 0 Juventus
07/03/1971 Roma 1 - 0 Sampdoria
07/03/1971 Torino 1 - 1 Fiorentina
07/03/1971 Verona 2 - 2 L.R. Vicenza

Round 6
14/03/1971 Fiorentina 1 - 0 Milan
14/03/1971 Foggia 2 - 0 Catania
14/03/1971 Inter 0 - 1 Torino
14/03/1971 Juventus 0 - 0 Cagliari
14/03/1971 L.R. Vicenza 2 - 0 Napoli
14/03/1971 Lazio 0 - 1 Roma
14/03/1971 Sampdoria 2 - 1 Verona
14/03/1971 Varese 0 - 2 Bologna

Round 7
21/03/1971 Bologna 2 - 0 Sampdoria
21/03/1971 Cagliari 0 - 5 Fiorentina
21/03/1971 Catania 1 - 0 Lazio
21/03/1971 Milan 1 - 0 L.R. Vicenza
21/03/1971 Napoli 3 - 3 Inter
21/03/1971 Roma 4 - 1 Foggia
21/03/1971 Torino 0 - 2 Juventus
21/03/1971 Verona 0 - 1 Varese

Round 8
28/03/1971 Fiorentina 0 - 1 Bologna
28/03/1971 Foggia 0 - 1 Verona
28/03/1971 Inter 3 - 2 Catania
28/03/1971 Juventus 0 - 2 Roma
28/03/1971 L.R. Vicenza 2 - 0 Cagliari
28/03/1971 Lazio 0 - 0 Napoli
28/03/1971 Sampdoria 1 - 1 Torino
28/03/1971 Varese 0 - 5 Milan

Round 9
04/04/1971 Bologna 2 - 2 Catania
04/04/1971 Foggia 4 - 0 Lazio
04/04/1971 L.R. Vicenza 1 - 1 Inter
04/04/1971 Milan 0 - 2 Verona
04/04/1971 Roma 3 - 0 Cagliari
04/04/1971 Sampdoria 3 - 0 Fiorentina
04/04/1971 Torino 0 - 1 Napoli
04/04/1971 Varese 1 - 0 Juventus

Round 10
11/04/1971 Cagliari 1 - 3 Bologna
11/04/1971 Catania 3 - 2 Roma
11/04/1971 Fiorentina 0 - 1 Foggia
11/04/1971 Inter 1 - 2 Varese
11/04/1971 Juventus 0 - 2 L.R. Vicenza
11/04/1971 Lazio 4 - 1 Sampdoria
11/04/1971 Napoli 1 - 0 Milan
11/04/1971 Verona 0 - 0 Torino

Round 11
18/04/1971 Catania 1 - 0 Cagliari
18/04/1971 Fiorentina 1 - 0 Lazio
18/04/1971 Foggia 0 - 2 Sampdoria
18/04/1971 Inter 1 - 0 Juventus
18/04/1971 L.R. Vicenza 1 - 0 Varese
18/04/1971 Napoli 0 - 2 Verona
18/04/1971 Roma 2 - 0 Bologna
18/04/1971 Torino 1 - 1 Milan

Round 12
25/04/1971 Bologna 0 - 1 Verona
25/04/1971 Cagliari 0 - 2 Torino
25/04/1971 Juventus 0 - 0 Lazio
25/04/1971 L.R. Vicenza 2 - 1 Foggia
25/04/1971 Milan 0 - 3 Catania
25/04/1971 Roma 0 - 0 Napoli
25/04/1971 Sampdoria 3 - 0 Inter
25/04/1971 Varese 1 - 1 Fiorentina

Round 13
02/05/1971 Fiorentina 2 - 2 L.R. Vicenza
02/05/1971 Foggia 2 - 1 Inter
02/05/1971 Lazio 0 - 1 Varese
02/05/1971 Milan 0 - 0 Bologna
02/05/1971 Napoli 1 - 0 Cagliari
02/05/1971 Sampdoria 2 - 2 Juventus
02/05/1971 Torino 0 - 1 Roma
02/05/1971 Verona 1 - 1 Catania

Round 14
16/05/1971 Bologna 1 - 1 Napoli
16/05/1971 Cagliari 0 - 1 Milan
16/05/1971 Catania 1 - 0 Torino
16/05/1971 Inter 2 - 0 Fiorentina
16/05/1971 Juventus 0 - 1 Foggia
16/05/1971 L.R. Vicenza 0 - 0 Lazio
16/05/1971 Roma 1 - 2 Verona
16/05/1971 Varese 0 - 1 Sampdoria

Round 15
23/05/1971 Fiorentina 3 - 2 Juventus
23/05/1971 Foggia 0 - 1 Varese
23/05/1971 Lazio 0 - 3 Inter
23/05/1971 Milan 0 - 0 Roma
23/05/1971 Napoli 0 - 1 Catania
23/05/1971 Sampdoria 2 - 1 L.R. Vicenza
23/05/1971 Torino 0 - 2 Bologna
23/05/1971 Verona 3 - 0 Cagliari

POSIZIONE	SQUADRA	PUNTI	GIOCATE	VINTE	NULLE	PERSE	FATTI	SUBITI	DIFFERENZA
1	VICENZA	21	15	8	5	2	24	13	+11
2	VERONA	21	15	8	5	2	20	9	+11
3	BOLOGNA	20	15	8	4	3	24	16	+8
4	ROMA	19	15	8	3	4	20	10	+10
5	SAMPDORIA	19	15	8	3	4	23	15	+8
6	CATANIA	19	15	8	3	4	20	14	+6
7	VARESE	17	15	8	1	6	12	14	-2
8	FOGGIA	16	15	8	0	7	22	19	+3
9	NAPOLI	16	15	5	6	4	13	13	0
10	FIORENTINA	14	15	5	4	6	17	18	-1
11	INTER	13	15	5	3	7	18	21	-3
12	MILAN	12	15	4	4	7	11	15	-4
13	TORINO	11	15	3	5	7	9	15	-6
14	JUVENTUS	9	15	2	5	8	9	17	-8
15	LAZIO	9	15	1	7	7	6	15	-9
16	CAGLIARI	4	15	1	2	12	3	27	-24

Cheers Paul...Great suff. I'll delete my previous effort.

Hello Ian,

these are my..mmmyy..mmy..m first words at this new TOP forum so my hands are a bit shivery.
Can you tell us more about your trip to this special Italian Old Subbuteo Cup ... how long did you stay, over the weekend, did you stay overnight in a hotel?? Whats about other player from UK or Western-Europe? Atmosphere? Special dinners as in in Ely the day before the tournament??
Scolly wishes from Aachen/Germany

Hi Achim...again welcome to the forum. You will have lots of Subbuteo fun on here.

Many of the people you met at Ely are on this forum. So you are in good company.

I try to play in Oldsubbuteo Tournaments in Italy as much as time will allow.

I've made many good friends. I hope to one day live their.

I stayed in Milan from Saturday to Tuesday. I've been to Milan many times now, so i've found some Hotels near Central Station that i use. I can now find my way around without using a map...which is good.

As i arrived on Saturday evening, I went to my friend Carlo's house to have dinner with him and his wife. After a late night, I got up early and met up with 5 other friends from Milan and we all travelled together by car to Gorla which is outside of Milan.

We played the competition in the morning then had a buffet lunch at the Venue. We then played the rest of the Tournament until about 5.30.

I then spent Sunday evening having dinner with my friend Fabio and his family. Another enjoyable evening. I even ended up going to the local school where everyone was voting for the new referendums. And buying Sweets and Cake in the local shops. Basically soaking up real Italian Life and not just the Tourist side.

On Monday I spent the day with Fabio travelling to Old Football Stadiums and having a lazy afternoon lunch.

After saying Goodbye to Fabio, I spent the rest of the night in a Brazilian Cocktail bar in Milan, talking to some American Girls. We all then went for Pizza. Lets say i had a good night and a sore head in the morning...

I spent Tuesday morning drinking Coffee in a bar watching the world go by.

This is a typical Weekend. Most Oldsubbuteo Tournaments in Italy have Dinner on Saturday night as well.

Other players from England go to Italy as well. Mark ( Santiago ) and Steve ( Fingers ) the most noteable others.

I notice Stefano ( Ottiko ) has invited you to the Reggio Tournament. You and your wife should go. You would be made most welcome. The Reggio boys and girls are great fun. You would have a great time.

Hopefully i will see you in Italy, if not at Ely or Maidenhead.

I hope that is enough for you. There is nothing to worry about...you would be made warmly welcome and looked after.

Hello Ian,
thanks for your very detailed report, VERY interesting, have given me a "sunny" impression of your stay and the atmosphere in Italy.
After Ely (and Ely was a top experience, not just because of the tournament) I was in the mood to go to England for a longer time, also my partner Elke was enthusiastic, and then I´ve begun to think intensively about the poor Subbuteo situation in Germany. As a member of the DSTFB with my club Gliding Stars (DSTFB is the German Subbuteo Association - which is very focussed on "professional" playing) I will try to move the association in a second independent/old subbuteo direction - but its easier to think than to do. Hope for more players in Aachen, thats the most important thing at the moment.
I know - Reggio Emilia seems to be a fantastic place and tournament. But unfortunately all depends on money&working commitments ... but maybe one fine morning - so we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.
Cheers and thanks again for your words!

The atmosphere at Italian Oldsubbuteo Tournaments is exactly like at Ely Achim. It is all about having fun...played with a smile on the face and lots of laughter.

Good luck with trying to move in the Oldsubbuteo direction.

We had to do it here...it took a lot of hard work, and the Lionhearts were born. All likeminded people who wanted to play Subbuteo. Don't give up, it can be done and it will be worth it in the end.

I like the concept of playing a season, and teams being shared by different players, Spud. That's a really good theme. We should do this kind of thing.

I'm not sure we have enough players to do it over here mate.

It was a good concept though, as it went right to the last game. It definately works playing with 2 points for a win and not 3.

It would be nice to achieve here though.

It is all about having fun...played with a smile on the face and lots of laughter.

YES, Ian, thats the point!! and nothing else - and a dash of phantasy & self-mockery (Gliding Stars Aachen, Manager and official stage name as player: George Best jr.). Ciao.

A little bit in late, as usual, I'd like to add my two pennies.
Gorla team tournament format usually leads to very close competitions until the end. We splitted players in three groups based on assumed ability, picking one player from each to form teams. Everyone played 5 matches against same level players, group A played 1,4,7,10 and 13 fixtures, group B 2,5,8,11 and 14, group C 3,6,9,12 and 15. A bit tricky, but fun until the last match, as in the last two editions we had to add a tie-breaker match to call the winning team.
Passing time with Spud is always fun. Plenty of banter, memories, football chat and too much optimism, as we missed Alessandria for the second time in a row! Usually we start in the morning with a well thinked plan, but sometimes an ugly seed spitting woman on Superga hill , or a meeting with a subbuteo friend tied-up on a photographic set (by the way Ian forgot to mention we visited the 200 years old Arena stadium in Milan, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arena_Civica, where FC Internazionale played until WW II) there's always something that changes our minds. Next time will be the grey Alessandria Spud, promised!
Achim, you will be more than welcomed here in Italy, as everyone who plays Subbuteo in the old style, as Ian says, with a smile on the face. Reggio, Verona and Rome are the best tournaments I played in the last years, but you will find the same friendly atmosphere in almost any Old Subbuteo venue here.

I forgot all about the Arena Fabio... I think it was being distracted by Riccardo's 'fluffing' duties...he hides it well Pretending to be a photographer doesn't fool me

Looking forward to Alessandria mate... Hopefully we can avoid 'seed spitting ugly women' in the future... That was a classic mate...my memories of the Superga will always be of her

Thanks for posting the details and pics spudder. Looks like it was a great event and a pretty full social schedule!
I would love to get to more tournaments - especially this one.
The teams concept is great. One year I was in a team with both Ottiko and claudio...great fun and totally bonkers!!

I can only realistically get to one tournament a year - this year it will be Como at the beginning of Sept. Are you over for that one?

It will have to be a last minute decision if i do mate. That's if they have any spaces left. I would have paid good money to see you, Ottiko and Claudio in the same team...totally bonkers