Juventus F.C. History
Juventus were founded as Sport Club Juventus in late 1897 by pupils from the Massimo D'Azeglio Lyceum school in Turin, but were renamed as Football Club Juventus two years later. The club joined the Italian Football Championship during 1900, wearing their original pink and black kit. Juventus first won the league championship in 1905 while playing at their Velodromo Umberto I ground and wearing their famous black and white stripes.
There was a split at the club in 1906, after some of the staff considered moving Juve out of Turin. President Alfredo Dick was unhappy with this and left with some prominent players to found FBC Torino which in turn spawned the Derby della Mole. Juventus spent much of this period steadily rebuilding after the split, surviving the First World War.
League dominance
Fiat owner Edoardo Agnelli gained control of the club in 1923, building a new stadium.[21] This helped the club to their second league championship by the 1925–26 season beating Alba Roma with an aggregate score of 12–1, Antonio Vojak's goals were essential that season. The 1930s proved to be even more fruitful, the club won five consecutive league titles from 1930 through to 1935, most were under coach Carlo Carcano with star players such as Raimundo Orsi, Luigi Bertolini, Giovanni Ferrari and Luis Monti amongst others.
Juventus had a new ground in the form of the Stadio Comunale, though for the rest of the 1930s and the majority of the 1940s they were unable to recapture championship dominance. After the Second World War, Gianni Agnelli was put in place as honorary president. The club added two more scudetto championship's to their name in the 1949–50 and 1951–52 seasons, the latter of which was under the management of Englishman Jesse Carver.
Two new strikers were signed during 1957–58, in the form of Welshman John Charles and Italo-Argentine Omar Sivori, playing alongside longtime member Giampiero Boniperti. That season saw Juventus awarded with the Golden Star for Sport Excellence to wear on their shirt after becoming the first Italian side to win ten league titles. In the same season, Omar Sivori became the first ever player at the club to win the European Footballer of the Year. The following season they beat Fiorentina to complete their first league and cup double, winning Serie A and Coppa Italia. Boniperti retired in 1961, he retired as the all-time top scorer at the club, with 182 goals in all competitions; a club record which would last for 45 years.
For the rest of the decade the club won the league just once more in 1966–67, However, the 1970s would see Juventus further solidify their strong position in Italian football. Under former player Čestmír Vycpálek they won the scudetto in 1971–72 and 1972–73, with players such as Roberto Bettega, Franco Causio and José Altafini breaking through. During the rest of the decade they won the league two more times, with defender Gaetano Scirea contributing significantly. The latter of which was won under Giovanni Trapattoni, the man who would help the club's domination continue on in the early part of the 1980s.
European stage
The Trapattoni-era was highly successful in the 1980s, the Old Lady started the decade off well, winning the league title three more times by 1984. This meant Juventus had won 20 Italian league titles and were allowed to add a second golden star to their shirt, thus becoming the only Italian club to achieve this. Around this time the club's players were garnering attention on a large scale; Paolo Rossi was made European Footballer of the Year and had led Italy to victory in the 1982 FIFA World Cup.
Frenchman Michel Platini was also awarded the European Footballer of the Year title for three years in a row; 1983, 1984 and 1985, which is a record. Juventus are the only club to have players from their club winning the award in four consecutive years. Indeed it was Platini who scored the winning goal in the 1985 European Cup final against Liverpool, however this was marred by a tragedy which would change European football; the Heysel Stadium disaster, in which 39 people (mostly Juventus fans) were killed by the stadium wall collapsing when Liverpool supporters rioted, it has been named "the darkest hour in the history of the UEFA competitions" and resulted in the banning of all English clubs from European competition.
With the exception of winning the closely contested Italian Championship of 1985–86, the rest of the 1980s were not very successful for the club. As well as having to contend with Diego Maradona's Napoli, both of the Milanese clubs Milan and Inter won Italian championships. In 1990, Juventus moved into their new home; Stadio delle Alpi which was built for the 1990 World Cup.
The Lippi era
Marcello Lippi took over as Juventus manager at the start of the 1994–95 campaign. His first season at the helm of the club was a successful one, as Juventus recorded their first Serie A championship title since the mid-1980s. The crop of players during this period featured Ciro Ferrara, Roberto Baggio, Gianluca Vialli and a young Alessandro Del Piero. Lippi lead Juventus to the Champions League the following season, beating Ajax on penalties after a 1–1 draw in which Fabrizio Ravanelli scored for Juve.
The club did not rest long after winning the European Cup, more highly regarded players were brought into the fold in the form of Zinédine Zidane, Filippo Inzaghi and Edgar Davids. At home Juventus won Serie A in 1996–97 and 1997–98, as well as the 1996 European Super Cup. Juventus reached the 1997 and 1998 Champions League finals during this period, but lost out to Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid respectively.
After leaving for a brief season, Lippi returned, signing big name players such as Gianluigi Buffon, David Trézéguet, Pavel Nedvěd and Lilian Thuram, helping the team to two more scudetto titles in the 2001–02 and 2002–03 seasons. Juventus were also part of an all Italian Champions League final in 2003 but lost out to AC Milan on penalties after the game ended in a 0–0 draw. The following year, Lippi was appointed as Italy's head coach, bringing an end to one of the most fruitful managerial spells in Juventus' history.
[edit] Recent times
Fabio Capello became manager of Juventus in 2004, and lead Juventus to two more Serie A titles. But during May 2006, Juventus were one of five clubs linked to a Serie A match fixing scandal, the result of the scandal saw the club relegated to Serie B for the first time in their history, as well as being stripped of the two titles won under Capello.[33]
Many key players were sold, however, other big name players remained to help the club return to Serie A. The season was notable because Alessandro Del Piero broke club records, by becoming the first Juventus player to appear 500 times in all competitions for the club. The bianconeri were promoted straight back up as league winners after the 2006–07 season. Since their return to Serie A in the 2007-08 season former Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri is at the helm of the Old Lady.. They finished in 3rd place in their first return season and qualified for the third qualifying round of the 2008/2009 Champions League Preliminary stages.
