Throwback Thursday - When Limerick took on Italian giants Torino in Europe
TORINO are best-known to the footballing public as the Italian team Joe Hart spent an ill-advised season on loan at and where Football Manager hero Andrea Belotti plays his trade.
They have been allocated a spot in this season's Europa League, following AC Milan’s failure to meet Financial Fair Play Rules.
The Turin-based team were last in the competition in the 2014-2015 campaign, and were runners-up in the 1992 Final, losing to Louis Van Gaal's Ajax.
Torino may not seem like a team to write home about - after all, Limerick did play Real Madrid in 1980 - but have a fascinating and tragic history.
The early 1940s was their golden age, winning Serie A in 1942 before World War II put a halt to proceedings.
After the war ended, the Turin club entered a purple patch and were on the cusp of 4-in-a-row when tragedy struck.
In May 1949, the entire team and their manager perished in the Superga air disaster on the way back from a friendly match in Portugal.
At the time, Torino were ahead of second-placed Inter Milan by four points with four games remaining, and at the request of all the other teams in the league, Torino were declared winners of that season.
Torino won the 1970-1971 Coppa Italia on penalties after a 5-3 win against an AC Milan team with Giovanni Trapattoni in the line-up, and for their efforts, they won the right to compete in the 1971-1972 version of the European Cup Winners Cup.
The ECWC was a competition that saw Europe's domestic cup winners face off against each other.
Their opponents in the first round were Limerick FC.
Limerick FC won the right to compete in the tournament after a 3-0 win against Drogheda United in the 1971 FAI Cup.
The first leg took of Limerick’s match-up with Torino took place on Thursday, September 15, 1971, at Thomond Park.
Torino won the game 1-0, with 22-year-old Rosario Rampanti scoring in the 8th minute to bring the advantage back to Turin.
The back page of the Limerick Leader dated September 18, 1971 ran with the headline "WE WERE THE BETTER TEAM" with Charlie Mulqueen reporting on the match.
"We were a better team than Torino" - this was the comment from Limerick skipper Al Finucane after this tension-packed European Cup Winners' Cup tie at Thomond Park last evening.
"I couldn't agree more with him, for indeed Limerick, in an inspired mood, outplayed the Italian champions from start to finish. Unfortunately, Torino had one up on the locals, and this was on the scoreboard, the Italians taking the laurels with a soft, tragic goal scored by Rossario Rampanti in the 7th minute."
The away goal ruling had been introduced five years prior, so Limerick were in with a fighting chance when it came time for the return leg in Turin two weeks later.
Then it unravelled.
The Shannonsiders' luck ran out in the return leg in Turin on September 29, losing 4-0, with a hat-trick from Giovanni Toschi putting the tie beyond all doubt, with Livio Luppi rounding out the scoreboard.
The headline that ran the following week was apt: "Limerick Swamped in Second Half"
"Up to half-time in this second leg European Cup Winners' Cup tie at Turin last night, Limerick looked as if they might grab a goal which would put them on equality with Torino, but within a minute of the second half, Torino struck with a goal.
And from there on, Limerick could only battle to keep the score down - something they did with commendable credit."
And thus, Limerick's European adventure was at an end, and Torino eventually fell to that year's winners, Rangers, in the quarter-finals.
The Torino affair wasn't Limerick's last dance with European footballing royalty, but in terms of what could have been, it rankles most.