Juventus

Juventus FC Overview

Juventus FC is a football club based in the city of Turin, in the North-West of Italy, and is one of the most important football clubs worldwide. Founded in 1897, Juventus is also one of the most ancient clubs in Italy still existing, the third after Genoa and Pro Patria. The Bianconeri have the record of Italian Titles, 27 in 100 Top Division tournaments.

Juventus History

Juventus is a latin word meaning Youth, and the main reason of this name was that the founders were students of a famous high school in Turin, the “Liceo Massimo D'Azeglio”. It was November 1st, 1897. The colours were pink and black, with a tie. Juventus FC took part to its first Italian championship in 1900, but they were immediately sent off. Anyway, in 1905 (2 years after they changed colours into black and white), Juventus won the title, after a final round with Genoa and US Milanese. One year later, they got the same points of AC Milan, and after a playoff in Turin that finished in a draw, a second playoff was decided in a neutral ground, but it was in the city of Milan , though not in AC Milan stadium but at the Comasina ground. Juventus decided to withdraw and lost the title. In that year, chairman Alfred Dick left the club to found FC Torino. Juventus risked seriously to disappear, because the Swissman wanted to change the name into Jugen Fussverein, and even transfer the club abroad, but he was stopped. Juventus best place in 1910's was a second place, but in 1913 they was last in their group but avoided relegation, they were just put into the Lombardy Group. The 1910's is the only decade in which Juventus didn't won any kind of competition.

After World War I, Juventus FC had a very good team, in 1923 Edoardo Agnelli bought the club and in 1926 the second title came, this time with the Scudetto (a triangle of cloth with the colours of the Italian flag) on the jerseys. Giampiero Combi, the goalie, defender Virginio Rosetta and Federico Munerati are the three winners in 1926 that will be part of the strongest Juventus ever, winning 5 titles in a row during the 1930s, from 1930-31 until 1934-35, when the young president Agnelli died in a plane crash. Raimundo “Mumo” Orsi, Luis Monti were the Italo-argentinean stars together with Renato Cesarini. The strikers Felice Borel and Ferrari were also important for these 5 titles. In the meantime, Juventus had a new Stadium, the “Mussolini Stadium”, after many years at the “Umberto I Velodrome”, and in the two other grounds, in Corso Sebastopoli and in Corso Marsiglia.

After the winning cycle, Juventus came close to the Scudetto in 1938, but they lost at home the last game and finished second, just like in the period immediately after the war, three times behind Torino. Juventus won 2 Coppa Italia, in 1938 and 1942. In 1947, Edoardo Agnelli's son, Gianni, became president at the age of 25. A new Scudetto came in 1950, afte the “Grande Torino” Era ended in a plane crash in Superga. In the meantime, Stadium's name changed into “Comunale”. Since 1948, foreign players could come to Italy again, exotic stars at Juventus were the Danish John Hansen and Kal Aage Praest, but the home raised Giampiero Boniperti was the most important player. In 1952 Juventus won their 9th title, and one year later Gianni Agnelli abandoned the guide of the club, though his family still owned the club. In 1956, his younger brother Umberto was appointed new chairman, at the age of 22. Juventus got its 10th Scudetto in 1958, gaining for the first time the Star of honour (currently, besides Juventus only AC Milan and Inter have one), then again in 1960 and 1961, when Giampiero Boniperti retired. Italo-argentinean Omar Sivori was the most talented player, John Charles a powerful striker, the rest of the team was full of support riders, but it was enough to dominate the Italian scene. In 1960, Juventus won the double “Scudetto-Coppa Italia”.

After the Inter Milan winning cycle during the '60s ended, Juventus won an unexpected title in 1967, when Inter lost its very last game in Mantova for a bad mistake of their goalie, Sarti. The '70s and the '80s are the second big domination period in Juventus history. Nine Scudetti in fifteen years between 1971 and 1986, and finally their first victories in an International Competition, the UEFA Cup 1977: Juventus beat Athletic Bilbao in the two legs final, for the away goal rule (1-0 in Turin, 1-2 in Bilbao). Before that, Juventus lost the Champions Cup final in Belgrade, May 20th 1973, against Ajax, and the Intercontinental Cup, where Juventus played because of the Dutch team forfait: 0-1 with Independiente, in Rome. In spite of that, Juventus had a lot of famous players: goalkeeper Dino Zoff, defenders Gentile, Cabrini and Scirea, midfielder Tardelli, Causio, Liam Brady, strikers like Bettega, Paolo Rossi and Platini. Many of them were among the best in the World Cup 1982. Juventus won a Cup Winners Cup in 1984 (2-1 to Porto in Basel, with a decisive goal of the Polish striker “Zibi” Boniek ), the European Supercup in 1985, beating Liverpool. Same year, same teams, trying to become European Champion in Brussels, Heysel Stadium. Juventus won, but that 25 May 1985 is in the history for the death of 39 viewers, most of them Juventus fans. Juventus won also the Intercontinental Cup, beating in Tokyo Argentinos Juniors. Last Scudetto of the decade was in 1986, after AS Roma's suicide in the last 2 games.

In 1990 Juventus FC moved to the Delle Alpi Stadium and in 1995, after 9 year with just one Coppa Italia and one UEFA Cup, Juventus won its 22nd title (when thwy won the 20th, they got a second Star). In those years Juventus won almost everything, Italian titles, a Champions League in 1996 defeating Ajax after penalty shootouts, then Juventus is World Champion in 1996, defeating River Plate 1-0. They will be very successful in the next years, but lost two Euro finals in 1997 (Dortmund) and 1998 (Real Madrid). Champions like Vialli and Ravanelli first, then Del Piero, Zidane and Davids later, are the notable players in those years. There's a shadow on those years, when AS Roma coach Zeman put the finger on the club for doping, in particular EPO and other medecines. At the end, the Head of the Medical Staff and the CEO Giraudo won't be condemned, but a spot on those winning cycle remains. Coach Lippi left Juventus in 1999 but the club had to call him back to win again. Zidane was sold to Real Madrid, and Juventus signed Gianluigi Buffon and Lilian Thuram. After 2 Scudetti in 2002 and 2003, the unlucky Champions League lost afer penalty shootouts in Manchester versus AC Milan and a bad season, convinced Lippi to join the Italian National Team. In 2005, the Triade” (the director Moggi, CEO Giraudo and Vice-President Bettega) hired another successful coach, Fabio Capello. A young famous player, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, came from Ajax, midfielder Emerson from AS Roma. Juventus won Scudetto number 28 and 29, but the match fixing scandal was around the corner... Moggi was charged for criminal conspiracy for sport fraud, and was charged also by sport prosecutors. Juventus was relegated to Serie B and their two last titles revoked. Inter was assigned 2005-2006 title, while many players left Juventus. A new board was appointed, and former Juventus midfielder Didier Deschamps was the new coach. Some top players like Buffon, Del Piero, Nedved, Camoranesi and Trezeguet, decided to stay, regardless the various offer from whole Europe. At the end of the season, Juventus won Serie B championship and promoted to Serie A, though it started with a 9 points penalization.

Juventus Rivalries

As it is the club with the most fans in Italy, Juventus has many, many rivalries across Serie A.

First of all the one with the fellow-citizens of Torino, that reached its top during the 1970's, especially in 1976-77, when Juventus won the Scudetto with 51 points of 60 and Torino was runner-up with 50. Sometimes this rivalry culminate with riots, the latest one before the derby on September 30th, 2007, when the firms of the two teams got in touch around the Stadium, many cars were damaged or destroyed, and the police arrested 30 fans.

The historical rivalry is with Inter Milan: until 2006, due to the fact that these two clubs were the only ones always taking part to Serie A without being relegated, and the games between the two teams were called “Derby d'Italia”. After Calciopoli scandal and Juventus relegation to Serie B, the rivalry increased, also because Juventus fans accuse Inter of being behind the scandal: the irregularities of Luciano Moggi (at that time General Juventus) came out from wire-taps, and Telecom was owned by Inter Vice-President, Marco Tronchetti Provera. In fact, Inter took advantage of this scandal, being assigned the 2006 Scudetto. Anyway, this kind of rivalry did never cause impportant incidents, just some discussions in pubs, in Forums and Blogs.

Other important rivalries rose during the 1980's with AS Roma and Fiorentina, especially because fans of these two teams claimed one Scudetto each, saying they lost because of some strange referee decisions in favour of Juventus.

Main international rivalry is with Liverpool, especially after the tragic events of the Heysel Stadium in 1985.

Strangely, there is no more rivalry between Juventus and AC Milan, not only because they have had a commercial and branding agreement in the past. This lack of rivalry between the two most titled football clubs of Italy is considered by the others fans like an evidence that the Bianconeri and AC Milan had also a sport agreement, as they shared almost all the League's Trophys for more than a decade.

Stars of the Current Squad

Goalkeepers

• 1 Gianluigi Buffon

  Gianluigi Buffon, “Gigi” for everybody, is not just a goalkeeper, he is the best goalkeeper in the world. He is now knockin on thirty, but he has been a professional player for 12 years. After ten years at Parma (including the Youth categories), ha has signed for Juventus in 2001. He is World Champion and has won 2 Serie A titles. He comes from a sporting family, his sisters were volleyball players.

• Pavel Nedved - 11

  The Czech midfielder now he is 35 and is on the way out as a professional player. Anyways, he is still a top player and a very professional athlete. He has won the Ballon d'Or in 2003, after a fantastic season, but he felt guilty as he could not play the Champions League final, because he was suspended after 2 yellow cards.

• Alessandro Del Piero - 10

  Alessandro Del Piero is another Juventus World Champion. He is the most talented player of the team and the most loved by all Juventus fans that call him affectionately “Alex”. Though he raised in the Youth Academy of Padova, his career is completely linked to the last 13-14 years in Juventus history.

• 17 David Trezeguet

  The French-Argentinean striker, 1998 World Champion and 2000 European Champion with France, is an extraordinary player: you cannot see him for 89' minutes, and on the very last minute he can hit you and you can't find a way out. A fantastic player.

Juventus Legends

Giampiero Combi (1922-1934): a legendary goalkeeper in the “Golden Era” won 5 titles and a World Cup.

Virginio Rosetta (1925-1936): important defender, his transfer from Pro Vercelli to Juventus was a scandal because he was paid 50,000 liras. He won 8 titles and a World Cup in 1934.

Umberto Caligaris (1928-1935): with Combi and Rosetta, the third member of a great defense at Juventus and in the National Team. He won five titles. Died at 39 during an old stars match.

Raimundo Bibiano Orsi (1929-1935): he was noticed at the Olympics in 1928, but he had to wait one year before having the chance to play, due to problems in his papers (he could not play as a foreign player, but he had Italian origins).

Renato Cesarini (1930-1935): famous for his goals at the very last minute of the match, that is called “Zona Cesarini”. Very talented, he raised at Chacharita, in Argentina.

Giovanni Ferrari (1930-1935): when you are not the most talented and you win 8 titles, you must have other qualities. Ferrari was a regular, disciplined, striker. He also won World Cup in 1934 and 1938.

Carlo Parola (1939-1954): born in Turin, defensive midfielder, an entire career at Juventus, except his last year at SS Lazio, then coach during the '70s. Carlo Parola became also famous for his scissor-kick that gained the cover of the football picture-cards envelope for many years.

Giampiero Boniperti (1946-1961): so great that he could play both as striker and playmaker, gave Juventus all his career. Unlucky with the National team, his year were the worst in the history of the Azzurri.

John Hansen (1948-1954): one of the first foreign players after the World War II, and one of the first players to be a testimonial in an advertising campaign.

Omar Enrique Sivori (1957-1965): a taltented striker, called “Cabezon” for his big head, always polemic with referees, but a great player. He won 3 Serie A titles.

John William Charles (1957-1962): Sivori's partner in an extraordinary attack, his opposite for disposition, was called “Good Giant”.

Roberto Bettega (1970-1983): a product of Juventus academy, good technical skills, cleverness. His only spot is that he couldn't play the victorious World Cup for an injury.

Dino Zoff (1972-1983): great goalkeeper, arrived in Turin at the age of 30, he will stay eleven years, being World Champion at the age of 40. He is the opposite of the clichè of the mad goalie.

Claudio Gentile (1973-1984): one of the taughest defenders of the '70s and '80s, famous as he marked Maradona and Zico closely during the World Cup 1982.

Gaetano Scirea (1974-1988): an elegant “libero”, started his career as a midfielder but Carlo Parola decided to try him in the centre of the defense. A gentleman, on the field and in his life, he died at the age of 36 in a car accident in Poland, where he was as a Juventus officer, to prepare the UEFA Cup game with Legia Warsaw.

Marco Tardelli (1975-1985): the most modern midfielder of his time, an athal lete, he could defend and score. He scored Italy's second goal at the 1982 World Cup Final.

Antonio Cabrini (1976-1989): left-footed defender, he won everything with the black and white jersey.

Paolo Rossi (1981-1985): he risked not to start playing, when he was young he had 3 knee operations, then he was involved in a match fixing scandal and banned for two years. After that he went to Juventus, but he became famous for his World Cup in 192, where he was the top scorer and won the Ballon d'Or.

Michel Platini (1982-1987): his arrival in Turin (Inter wanted to sign him but Agnelli was faster) is the start of the best period in Juventus history. He was a talented number 10 or, as Agnelli used to say, a 9 and a half. After retiging, he was the French National Team coach, and now he is the UEFA chairman.

Zbigniew Boniek (1982-1985): named “Bello di notte” (Beautifil at night) because he used to play better in UEFA competitions that in the Italian Leaugue, Zibi was sold to As Roma in 1985.

Roberto Baggio (1990-1995): the “Divin Codino”, one of the best players during the 1990s, Ballon d'Or in 1993, like Paolo Rossi risked not to start his career for a bad injury while she played for Vicenza. A great player and a modest person.

Zinedine Zidane (1996-2001): he was discovered by Juventus FC talent scout when he played for Bordeaux, and was signed when he was 24. He played five fantastic seasond in Turin, and in that period he also became World and European champion. He went to Real Madrid in 2001 for other five years, and retired after his second World Cup final, when he got a red card for headbutting to Marco Materazzi.

Gianluca Zambrotta (1999-2006): he can play both as right-back and left-back, good defender but also able to attack, after the match-fixing scandal signed for FC Barcelona.

Filippo Inzaghi (1997- 2001): he is famous for his aptitude to be in the right place at the right moment, not the best for technical skill but lethal for the defenders, he is always close to the offside position but, if he's not, he punish everyone. After the arrival of Trezeguet, he followed his coach Ancelotti and signed for AC Milan.

Fabio Cannavaro (2004-2006): The Berlin Wall, as he's been renamed after the World Cup, Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player in 2006 (first defender ever), not very tall but fast and strong in stealing the ball to the opposite straker.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (2004-2006): Ibracadabra, The Genius, it's incredible what he can do with his big feet. During his stay at Juventus, he had a very good first year and a second one a little difficult. He joined Inter after “Calciopoli” and this choice was caused the disappointment of his former fans.

Most Appearances

Most Goals

Player Recognition & Awards

Capocannoniere (Serie A Top Scorer):

• 1932-33 Felice Placido Borel 29 goals
• 1933-34 Felice Placido Borel 31
• 1947-48 Giampiero Boniperti 27
• 1951-52 John Hansen 30
• 1959-60 Omar E. Sivori 27
• 1979-80 Roberto Bettega 16
• 1983-84 Michel Platini 16
• 1984-85 Michel Platini 20
• 1985-86 Michel Platini 18
• 2001-02 David Trezeguet 24

Italian Awards

• Guerin d'Oro

  Michel Platini (1984), Paulo Sousa (1995), Angelo Peruzzi (1997), Pavel Nedved (2003)

• Oscar del Calcio – Best Italian Player

  Alessandro Del Piero (1998), Fabio Cannavaro (2006).

• Oscar del Calcio – Best Foreign Player

  Zinedine Zidane (1997, 2001), David Trezeguet (2002), Pavel Nedved (2003), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (2005)

• Oscar del Calcio – Best Italian Goalkeeper

  Angelo Peruzzi (1997, 1998), Gianluigi Buffon (1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)

International Awards

• FIFA World Player of the Year

  Roberto Baggio (1993), Zinedine Zidane (1998, 2000), Fabio Cannavaro (2006).

• Ballon d'Or

  Omar E. Sivori (1961), Paolo Rossi (1982), Michel Platini (1983, 1984, 1985), Roberto Baggio (1993), Zinedine Zidane (1998), Pavel Nedved (2003), Fabio Cannavaro (2006).

Team Honours

National

• League

  Serie A titles: 27 (1905, 1925-26, 1930-31, 1931-32, 1932-33, 1933-34, 1934-35, 1949-50, 1951-52, 1857-58, 1959-60, 1960-61, 1966-67, 1971-72, 1972-73, 1973-74, 1974-75, 1976-77, 1977-78, 1980-81, 1981-82, 1983-84, 1985-86, 1994-95, 1996-97, 1997-98, 2001-02, 2002-03)

• Cups

  Coppa Italia: 9 (1937-38, 1941-42, 1958-59, 1959-60, 1964-65, 1978-79, 1982-83, 1989-90, 1994-95)

Supercoppa italiana: 4 (1995, 1997, 2002, 2003)

International

• Intercontinental Cup: 2 (1985, 1996)
• Champions Cup/Champions League: 2 (1984-85, 1995-96)
• Cup Winners Cup: 1 (1983-84)
• UEFA Cup: 3 1076-77, 1989-90, 1992-93)
• European Supercup: 2 (1984, 1986)
• UEFA Intertoto: 1 (1999-2000)

Club Management

Juventus is historically owned by the Agnelli Family (FIAT), the club has been quoted in Milan Stock Exchange since December 3rd, 2001. Due to “Calciopoli” scandal, the whole board of directors has been set to zero. Currently, Juventus Chairman is Giovanni Cobolli Gigli (a member of the old Board), and the other members are: Jean-Claude Blanc (CEO), Carlo Barel di Sant'Albano, Aldo Mazzia, Gian Paolo Montali, Riccardo Montanaro, Marzio Saà and Camillo Venesio. Just for curiosity, Giampaolo Montali is the former coach of the Italian Volleyball National Team. At the moment, the majority of Juve shares (60%) is owned by IFIL, the Agnelli financial enterprise, lead by John Jacob Elkann, Gianni Agnelli's nephew.

Club Staff

Coach: Claudio Ranieri

Assistant coach: Christian Damiano

Uniforms

Juventus home uniform is composed by: a black and white stripes jersey, white shorts and white socks. The away uniform is composed by: a blue jersey with yellow reverse, blue shorts and blue socks.

Originally, Juventus colours were pink and black, but in 1903 a guy they ordered new jerseys for the players to a Nottingham factory (at that time, in Italy there were no textile manufacturers), and they received back Notts County uniforms. Since that day, Juventus is black and white.

The goalie uniform traditionally was completely black, sometimes with a grey jersey. In the last 15 years, Technical Sponsors had more chances to be creative and we saw a pink jersey, a grey one (with muscles drawn in the middle), even a black and white stripes jersey while the rest of the team was wearing the away uniform.

Stadium

Juventus home is the Stadio Olimpico di Torino. Built during the fascism era, in 1933, it was originally named “Stadio Benito Mussolini” in honour of the Italian dictator. At that time, the Mussolini Stadium was used by FC Juventus only, while the other Turin team, Torino, played at “Filadelfia”. After World War II, it was just renamed “Stadio”, then “Stadio Comunale” (Stadium of the Municipality), its capacity was 71,000 during the 1980's and it became also the home of FC Torino. As from 1990, it was abandoned by Juventus, playing its home games at “Delle Alpi Stadium”, built on the occasion of the World Cup “Italia 90”. Rebuilt with a new capacity of 27,000 seats, all covered, the Stadium hosted the Winter Olympic Games in 2006 (Opening and Closing ceremonies) and was renamed as it is now, “Stadio Olimpico”. Anyway, Juventus board of directors is deciding whether to stay at the “Olimpico”, go back to Delle Alpi or build a brand new stadium. These last option seemed to be the favourite in February 2007, but now it seems they'll choose between options 1 and 2.

Sponsors

• Main Sponsor: New Holland - Fiat Group
• Technical Sponsor: Nike
• TV Sponsor: SKY TV Italia

Important Links

• Official team site http://www.juventus.com
• Official league site http://www.lega-calcio.it
• Official ticket site http://www.juventus.com/site/ita/JAY_ticket_seriea.asp?myticket=1
• Stadium home page http://www.stadiotorino.it
• City home page http://www.comune.torino.it/

References

• http://www.juventus.com
• www.rsssf.com
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juventus_F.C.
• http://spazioinwind.libero.it/juventusclubarezzo/storia.html
• www.storiadelcalcio.info
• www.lastampa.it