When Alessandro Vannini, a former hockey player and current author, recently visited The Hockey Museum he left us copies of his book for our library – a valuable addition to our collection of foreign hockey club histories. My M.D.A. is a book about a short-lived but memorable Italian hockey club that became one of the most successful teams of all time in Italy. It documents how the club was founded in 1962 to its dissolution in 1972.
The MDA Roma team of 1962, photographed after winning their first Italian national title.
MDA began in 1962 after Vannini and 12 friends shared a cake brought by the girlfriend of one of the group, who owned a pastry shop. The friends playfully argued over the cake and were encouraged to channel their energy more productively. What began as a joke led to the creation of the most successful Italian hockey team on the international stage.
The MDA stands for Ministero della Difesca Aeronautica (Ministry of Aeronautical Defence) and the hockey club was founded for the ministry’s workers. In its 10 years of life, MDA Roma, as it became known, won seven Italian national championships. It has the third most cumulative wins of titles In Italy, winning in 1962, ‘64, ‘66, ‘68, ‘69, ‘70, and ‘71. The club made three appearances in the European Hockey Club Championships (otherwise known as the Europa Cup) and reached the final on two of those occasions (1969 and 1971). The MDA Roma team are immortalised in the Panini stickers album.
Alessandro Vannini on the ball for MDA Roma in the 1971 European Cup.
The book is dedicated to General Domenico Pezzi who authorised the creation of the team and gave the young Alessandro and the team his full, visionary support and the sponsorship of the Italian Air Force. As Alessandro recalls:
“The existence of MDA Hockey Club is due to his willingness to and foresight in seeing beyond our intentions to found a new team that could express the best of Italian hockey at the time.”
Alessandro Vannini (left) presents a copy of his book to The Hockey Museum president, Mike Smith.
