The Stadio Franco Ossola (also called Luigi Ganna Velodrome) is a sports

stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

and

velodrome A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights. The straights transition to the circular turn through a moderate Track tran ...

currently in use by the football team A.S.D. Città di Varese. Constructed in 1925, and originally named the ''Stadio del Littorio'', the stadium was renamed in September 1950 in memory of

Franco Ossola Franco Ossola (23 August 1921 – 4 May 1949) was an Italian footballer who played as a forward. With 85 goals, Ossola is the ninth highest scorer in the history of Torino behind Adolfo Baloncieri (100). He died on 4 May 1949 in the Superga ai ...

, an Italian from

Varese Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label= Varesino, Varés ; la, Baretium; archaic german: Väris) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 has reached 80,559. It is the c ...

and player for

Torino F.C. Torino Football Club (), commonly referred to as Torino or simply Toro, is an Italian professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont. They currently play in Serie A. Founded as ''Foot-Ball Club Torino'' in 1906, Torino are among the mos ...

who died in 1949 in the

Superga air disaster The Superga air disaster occurred on 4 May 1949, when a Fiat G.212 of Avio Linee Italiane (Italian Airlines), carrying the entire Torino football team (popularly known as the ''Grande Torino''), crashed into the retaining wall at the back of th ...

. The cycling track was used for the

UCI Track Cycling World Championships The UCI Track Cycling World Championships are the set of world championship events for the various disciplines and distances in track cycling. They are regulated by the Union Cycliste Internationale. Before 1900, they were administered by the UCI ...

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

and is named after

Luigi Ganna Luigi Ganna (1 December 1883 – 2 October 1957) was an Italian professional road racing cyclist. He was the overall winner of the first Giro d'Italia, held in 1909, as well as the first Italian winner of the classic Milan–San Remo earli ...

, the winner of the first Giro d'Italia in

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Januar ...

, who was born in nearby

Induno Olona Induno Olona is a town and ''comune'' in Italy, in north-western Lombardy, north of Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after R ...

. Originally, the stadium could accommodate up to 23,000 spectators, but the capacity has been reduced to comply with safety standards, so much so that now the north stand, which houses the home fans, is not usable. In recent years, plans have been drawn up to create a new 10,000 seater stadium to replace the existing one.

References

External links

* Varese SSD Varese Calcio ASD Città di Varese

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

Velodromes in Italy Cycle racing in Italy Sports venues in Lombardy 1925 establishments in Italy Sports venues completed in 1925 {{cycling-venue-stub