Bonjourno from Torino!

[weymouthPIE]

Hope everyone's well back in blighty, if the weathers half as nice as it is here in Turin you'll be topping up them tans. 

Shame Notts lost yesterday, listened to the match from my hotel room and to be fair it sounded like we gave them a good game, at least we're safe. I guess it just emphasies the point that we do definitely need a lot of changes over the Summer.

Was up at 3:30am yesterday morning for a 6:45 flight to Turin. We got here in time to check into our hotel and enjoy a pizza in the main piazza in the sunshine for dinner. 

The evening was a special evening. 

Those of you who know Andy Black either personally or just through social emdia will be aware of all of the work he does with the Italian Magpies, and in particular over the past few weeks, he has put a lot of time and effort into making sure the memory of Tom Savage - the gentleman who first brought the famous black and white stripes from Nottingham to Turin back in 1903 is not forgotten. There is a museum at the stadium, and today a plaque will be enveiled commemorating Mr Savage's work, and the birth of the link between two historic clubs. Remarkably, two of Tom Savage's Grandchildren have joined us in Turin to be present for today's unveiling. Last night we dined out with them and dscussed all things football, and discussed at great length their great grandfathers life. It was a fascinating evening, and it was genuinely surreal to think that there were 9 of us - 7 from England, 1 Italian and 1 South African sat there all because of one man. 

They all know the story of Notts County over here. Just in the last 2 days I've had many comments from locals when they see me and the others out in our Notts shirts. It's no secret that Italian football fans are quite resentful towards Engish supporters, but for Notts fans, the vast majority of Juventus fans genuinely make an exception. To them it's quite odd. They're so used to being hated wherever they go that they struggle to get their heads around the fact that fans of another club from another country have an interest in them. 

Tonight promises to be a special occasion, with the family members and Andy being invited into the famous Agnelli club to enjoy the game in the comany of Juve's top brass. And of course the main event will be tonight's big game as Juventus look to take another step towards an astonishing sixth straight serie a title, which would see this team write their names into football legend. 

Forza Juve! You Pies!

[Chris Website URL Visit Site 𝕏 fmcj10 Instagram fmcj10]

I was in a bit of a rush last night, though I was pleased to see this @weymouthPIE.

I also noticed on Twitter earlier the tweet sent out by Juventus with all of you on, be sure to say hello to Giorgio and the other Italian Magpies. You Pies! Forza Juve!

[Magic magpie]

Be nice if we was as successful as Italian magpies

[liampie]

some juve fans know more about notts than some of our own fans. 

[weymouthPIE]

Well what an experience yesterday was. We arrived at the stadium and were given a full tour of the stadium, which was just spectacular. Then we were taken into the museum where the official unveiling took place. The manager of the museum was presented with a signed Notts shirt from the squad, and a letter from the chairman Alan Hardy, which will be framed and mounted in the museum. Notts will be receiving a signed Juve shirt and a letter from President Agnelli in return. It was a special moment seeing the two great grandchildren of Tom Savage finally see his name corrected, and being photographed. We were then interviewed pre-match on the big screen inside the stadium, and afterwards there were Juventus fans coing up to us asking for photographs, shaking hands, and a couple of blokes from one of their ultras groups even presented us with a scarf to keep. It was incredible. And as for the game? Well the football was just on another level. Juve won 4-0, hit the woodwork 3 times, had one ruled out, and in truth you still got the impression that they could have easily gone on and scored 5 or 6 more if they really wanted to. Genoa didn't get a sniff, and the traveling fans were certainly more than happy to tell their players what they thought at full time!

Some of you may remember a YouTuber did a video last season from our home game with Portsmouth, and he came out with us for the trip. Here's the link from last night: 

 

 

[DangerousSausage]

It's brilliant that people are keeping the link alive! It also feels a bit strange that Juve fans have an interest in us, but staying in touch with your history and roots is part of what makes football special.

I'm not a fan of new stadiums, but theirs looks excellent, with everyone close to the pitch. I bet you can create an intense atmosphere in there.