Juventus Football Club

Juventus: History, Trophies, and Club Greats

Juventus History and Highlights

Italy is one of the great footballing nations, and the Juve is the Mediterranean land’s champion team. With over 70 official titles, rarely a decade goes by in which they don’t dominate its domestic competitors.

Ready, Set, Go

Sport Club Juventus was started in 1897 as an athletics club by students of the Massimo d’Azeglio Lyceum School. However, it only took two years for the Turin students to realize that it was football they wanted to focus on.

Confusing And Unstable Start

Juventus lost their first ever official game, which was played against Torinese. Modern fans not only will find the loss unusual but would also be surprised to see the team playing in its original pink and black colors.

The Juve barely survived its first few years of existence, with financial instability threatening to derail the young club. However, by 1905 the club had set foot on a path it would continue to follow for the rest of its history. That year the team won its first Italian league title and changed its colors to the black and white that many people recognize today. However, what many people wouldn’t recognize is the same colors on Notts County, which inspired the kit change at Juventus.

Separation

It wouldn’t be plain sailing from here, though. Only a year after its league win, the team was split in two in a story that was common throughout Italian football at the time. The team’s president left the club with some of the most crucial players to form a new team, but Juve would recover soon enough.

National Success

By the 1920s, the team was again enjoying the taste of Italian titles. And by the 1930s, no team was providing the Italian national side with so much talent. This helped to popularize the club globally as fans from all over the world followed the talented Italy side of the time.

A Brief Lull

The 40s were a time of rare quiet Juve, although national football was heavily disrupted by the Second World War and the changing government.

Mid-century Revival

Rediscovering Success

By the 50s, the team was back to winning ways, winning a double during the 1959-60 season.

The 60s were again relatively quiet. But this proved to be the calm before the storm as the team dominated the country throughout the 1970s, unlike any team had done before, or since.

By 1984 the club had an impressive 20 league titles, which has still not been matched by any other Italian team almost 40 years later.

The 1980s and 90s saw the club start performing well on the European stage, winning three UEFA Cups between 1990 and 95 and reaching two Champions League finals in 97 and 98.

New Millennia and New Problems

Things turned to disaster for the Turin club in the mid-2000 when the club was found guilty of match fixing. Despite being the most successful team in Italian football history by far, the Juve was forced to start the season in 2006 in Serie B.

However, the club bounced straight back up and has since won more league titles than any other Italian side since, as well as winning a record four consecutive Coppa Italia’s in the 2010s.

Must-know Team Facts

• It is the most valuable team in Italy, with an estimated worth of almost $2 billion.
• The Juventus Stadium is one of the greenest for its size in the world. The ground’s entire electricity demand is met by fitted solar panels.
• Few teams of Juventus’ stature have had such consistent ownership, with the Agnelli family owning the club since 1967.