An elegant football acrobat, known as 'Butterfly' during his years of football, was fast on both wings on green fields and could pass people even in a telephone booth... Would you like to learn the sad story of the Italian football player?
Italian journalist Gianni Brera says of Gigi Meroni, "In the introverted black and white years when the majority accepted unconditionally to live by the rules, he was the symbol of social freedom, disobedience, rebelliousness, and difference."
He was born on February 24, 1943, in Como, a city with a population of 85 thousand, on the edge of the Alps. He lost his father when he was just two years old, and his mother Rose raised him and his two siblings against all the difficulties of life. During his childhood years, when he became interested in football, he started playing for the kids of the city's team, Como. At the age of 17, he started playing in the first eleven of the team that was playing in the 2nd League in those years. Two seasons later, in 1962, he was transferred to Genoa. At the end of his first season, he was away from the green fields for a short time because he did not accept a post-match doping test. It is a note that went down in history that three of his teammates were found to be doping and punished after that match...
Luigi "Gigi" Meroni (24 February 1943 – 15 October 1967) was an Italian professional footballer who played as a winger. He played 145 matches in Serie A, scoring 29 goals. At international level, he represented Italy on six occasions between 1966 and 1967, scoring two goals, and took part at the 1966 FIFA World Cup.
The times when he shined on football fields were the Torino years. On this occasion, let's take this opportunity to remember the maroon team nicknamed 'Il Toro' (The Bull), which was founded in 1906. It was the storm team of Italian football in the 1940s. They became known as 'Il Grande Torino' (The Great Torino) in those years. They had four consecutive championships from 1942 to 1948. Their unfortunate fate changed with that unfortunate accident; on May 4, 1949, the team's plane, returning from the match against Benfica, crashed into the Superga Hill near Turin, and 31 people on the plane, including the players, coaches, and managers, lost their lives. The tragedy experienced by the highly respected club was widely covered not only in Italy but also in the world press. On the day the funerals were held, one million people filled the streets of Turin...
ITALY'S BEST
Coming back to the football player, Torino's legendary coach Nereo Rocco transferred him at the beginning of the 1964-65 season and he quickly became a fan favorite. He operated like a shuttle on the right wing, disrupting opponent defenses with his incredible speed, and preparing positions for his teammates with his terrific crosses and passes like Turkish delight. It was during those years that it began to be known by the nickname 'La Farfalla Granata' (Granata Butterfly). He was often compared to Manchester United legend George Best, they called him Italy's Best, he was as talented, as fierce, and just as popular.
He became famous in the green fields in the 60s with his long hair, stubble beard, hippie appearance, and fondness for fast cars, women, alcohol, and the Beatles. Just like Best, he was at odds with his teachers from time to time, and as you know, a hippie is a contrarian and rebels against the order. During the World Cup qualifying matches in 1965, Italy coach Edmondo Fabbri was obsessed with his player's long hair and wanted him to cut it. "Never!" said the football player, "I can play ball well even when my hair is long."
When he was the target of excessive criticism from the Italian press due to his lack of harmony, he took his chicken, on a leash and in a swimsuit, for a walk with his teammate Fabrizio Poletti in the city's most crowded square, to the astonished looks of the onlookers.
Let's listen to Italian journalist Gianni Brera, who knew those years and the football player well: "In the introverted black and white years when the majority accepted unconditionally to live by the rules, he was the symbol of social freedom, disobedience, rebelliousness and difference..."
Although he was not a great striker, he stood out with his great goals in important matches. One is the goal he scored against Inter, the Serie A leader and undefeated at home for three seasons, at San Siro in March 1967. Torino won that historic match 2-1... In that match, after the goal that Inter's left-back Giacinto Facchetti put in the far corner, the defender said with his hands on his hips, "What could I have done for this goal?" His look is one of the most beautiful football shots and bears the traces of a football genius...
In 1967, Turin fans raided the president's house and office following rumors that he would be transferred to Juventus for 750 million lire. Turin and Juventus management, who took a step back in the face of the boycott threat of Fiat factory workers (it is noteworthy that Juventus president Gianna Angelli was the president of Fiat in those years), gave up on this transfer. However, his national team career was a disappointment. The football player, who played for the first time against Poland in 1965, was able to wear the national jersey in only 6 matches in his career. It is written that in the 1966 World Cup, after losing against North Korea in the first round and being eliminated, he was blamed for the defeat, which is why he had a falling out with coach Meroni...
UNEXPECTED END
The match he played against Sampdoria on 15 October 1967, which the team won 4-2, was his last match. After the match, they were going to meet for dinner with his teammate Fabrizio Poletti and his girlfriends and celebrate the victory. But fate caught up with him unexpectedly that day. After parking his car in front of the restaurant, he was hit by a car while crossing the street, and the football player was thrown into the air and hit by a second car, causing his death. The sad part is that 19-year-old Attilio Romero, who was in the driver's seat of the second car that hit him, a Fiat 124 Coupe, was a die-hard Torino supporter. Photos of the football player he admired hung on the walls of his house. That day, as in every match, he took his place in the stands and applauded the football player he admired. After the accident, they found photos of his favorite football player in his car...
20 thousand people attended the funeral of Gigi Meroni, who died in a traffic accident at the age of 24. Torino won the Turin derby 4-0, played a week after his death, and this was their biggest victory against Juventus. Alberto Carelli, who scored Torino's last goal in that match, was wearing Meroni's jersey number 7. Let us remind you that angry Juventus fans destroyed Meroni's grave after the match, and the hostility between the two teams deepened after that incident. Turin derbies played after that date have often led to big events...
“MURDERER” CHILLS
As for Attilio Romero... He was detained for a while after the accident and was released. After graduating from university, he started working in Fiat's press office and rose over time to hold senior positions within the company, including CEO consultancy. But the crucial point of the story comes in 2000... That year, he was appointed president of Torino, the team he had loved since his childhood. But the team's fans have never forgiven the president for causing the deaths of his players. During the 5 years he was president, "Murderer" chants targeting him rose in the Turin stands on match days. Romero, who left the presidency in 2005, said in an interview with Tuttosport newspaper that that accident changed his life, that he always felt guilty, and that he apologized to everyone for causing the death of a person he loved very much. In 2008, three years after leaving the Torino presidency, he was tried for the corruption he was involved in during his presidency and was imprisoned for 2 years and 8 months...
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The incredible story of Gigi Meroni
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-5546305/The-incredible-story-Gigi-Meroni-Italys-answer-George-Best-just-24-killed.html