Construction The stadium was designed by Count Enrico Marone Cinzano, the president of
Foot-Ball Club Torino. Enrico Marone created the
Società Civile Campo Torino, with a grant, and the sole aim to buy the land and build a stadium with an adjacent training ground. On 24 March 24, 1926 the building permit was requested and, following its acceptance, jobs were assigned to the engineer Miro Gamba, professor of the
Polytechnic University of Turin; the construction work was commenced by the
Commendatore Riccardo Filippa. The land, at that time, on the outskirts of
Turin, was chosen for the low cost of the area. The construction occupied five months, and just under two and a half million
lire. The seating in the forum was made of wood, and all numbered. The wall around the structure was 2.5 meters high. The
facade was made of red
brick, with columns and large windows with white frames. The various windows were connected by a gallery with iron railings. At the front was an old field that was used for training in the 1930s. After the war, renovations were carried out by the new club president
Ferruccio Novo.
Degradation of the structure After the Superga disaster, Torino's president
Ferruccio Novo guaranteed the stadium to the
Italian Football Federation, and even thought of possibly demolishing it. In the post-war period the Filadelfia area became residential, and it was proposed to demolish the stadium to build new buildings. In 1959 the stadium became "public space", and the project failed. In the
1958–59 season,
Torino, under the name
Talmone Torino for sponsorship reasons, moved to the
Stadio Comunale: the season ended with the club's first relegation to
Serie B. The following year, the club returned to the Filadelfia out of superstition and the ground once again became Torino's home for several years. On 19 May 1963, the last official match was played at the stadium, a league fixture against
Napoli, finishing 1–1, with goals from
Enzo Bearzot and Gianni Corelli. The move to the "Comunale," a stadium capable of holding 65,000 people standing, was completed in 1963–64. In 1970 the first attempt was made to recover the Filadelfia when Torino's president was Orfeo Pianelli; the
Società Civile Campo Torino began the renovation project. It was proposed that the first team would continue to train at the ground and allow for the construction of a gymnasium. However, in 1973 the project was cancelled because the ground was still classified as "public space". Torino continued to train here up until 1989, when they moved to a modern structure in
Orbassano, leaving the training ground to the youth team. The maintenance was abandoned, however, and in a few years the stands deteriorated. In the 1980s the degradation had an exponential growth, mainly because of the concrete used in construction, leading to a partial collapse of the structures.
Reconstruction Under club chairman
Urbano Cairo the ceremony of laying the first stone of the new Filadelfia stadium took place on 17 October 2015. The project, initiated by the
Stadio Filadelfia Foundation, was established in 2011 with the aim of completely redeveloping the site. The new Filadelfia was to become the new headquarters of the club, hold 4,000 spectators, two first team training pitches, youth team facilities, and the club museum. It was inaugurated on 24 May 2017. ==References==