Alexandria – A midfielder from the 1960s, Mirko Ferretti was defined as a “football man and example of a team man” when his careers ended early; then came his time as a coach as second to Luigi known as Gigi Radice (1935-2018) and sat with him on the benches of Turin, Bologna and Milan; he returned to the “granade” environment, among the young people, to act as their guide, being an example of the authentic spirit of team play.
Next Friday, June 28th at the Civic Museum of Palazzo Cuttica, from 5pm, Mirko Ferretti will talk about his vicissitudes collected in memory in his recent book “The boys of Via Oberdan and the games of a world ago”published this year by Araba Fenice Edizioni, which for this occasion will send Alessandro Dutto as a representative, with the task of talking to the author together with the Alessandria sports journalist Alessandro Trisoglio.
As an author, Ferretti collaborated on the book “A life as a second” written by Alessandra Demichelis and Michele Ruggiero; in 2021 he published together with Alessandro Trisoglio “Football seen from inside” and in 2023, again with Alessandro Trisoglio, “Compagni teammates, companions of life” were published, books also published by Araba Fenice.
“The boys of Via Oberdan and the games of a world ago” it is a book of memoirs, because memory, as it is written in the introduction to the volume, “it’s important. Memories may not always correspond to the truth, since time, emotions and feelings very often play bad tricks. But referring back to the past to bear witness to what happened many years ago is fundamental.
Especially in today’s world that runs so fast that it mercilessly grinds away what happened only yesterday.”
Mirko Ferretti was born in 1935, he witnessed a war, reconstruction, the economic boom, the years of lead, the Milan to drink and much more. However, his memory is concentrated in this book on his childhood and adolescence, in Via Oberdan, in the working-class neighborhoods of Alessandria, before and after the Second World War. These are carefree times, despite everything. The years of the street, of free-range games, before any technology, when nothing was virtual, but rather virtuous: real, physical friendships, the asphalt of the ball, the lippa, the marbles, the stickers.
A nice time? Certainly yes, to read the story of our Alessandria native. Who later lived a full life, including professional football, the years as a coach, and then as an observer, and even politics and administrative commitment. In short, the beautiful memories of a beautiful afterlife, full of satisfactions.
But the childhood of Via Oberdan, beyond the Philadelphia and the Moccagatta, is a unique, unforgettable time, so much so that a book is dedicated to it, which does not lack reflections on the city today, on how young people live it, a world devoted to technology and little to aggregation.
The initiative promoted by the City of Alessandria was organized by ASM Costruire Insieme.
Please remember that entry to the presentation is free while seats last.
For information: [email protected], 0131-234266.
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