Juventus
Juventus Football Club, commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve, is an Italian professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, founded in 1897 by a group of Turinese students. The club competes in Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system, and plays at the Juventus Stadium (commercially known as Allianz Stadium). Nicknamed "la Vecchia Signora" (the Old Lady), Juventus is Italy's most successful club with 36 official league titles, 15 Coppa Italia trophies, and nine Italian Super Cups. The club has also achieved significant international success, winning two UEFA Champions League titles, three UEFA Cups, two Intercontinental Cups, and becoming the first club to win all five historical confederation trophies. Managed by the industrial Agnelli family almost continuously since 1923, Juventus has been listed on the Borsa Italiana since 2001 and is one of the wealthiest football clubs globally.
History
Overview
General information about the club
Juventus Football Club was founded in late 1897 as Sport-Club Juventus by pupils from the Massimo d'Azeglio Lyceum school in Turin. The club was renamed Foot-Ball Club Juventus two years later and joined the 1900 Italian Football Championship. Initially an athletics club, Juventus has competed in every season of the premier club division since its debut in 1900, with the exception of the 2006-07 season due to the Calciopoli scandal. The club has been managed by the Agnelli family almost continuously since 1923, representing the oldest and longest relationship between a club and a dynasty in national sports.
Most recent season and achievements
In the 2023-24 season, Juventus finished third in Serie A and won their 15th Coppa Italia title, defeating Atalanta 1-0 in the final with a goal from Dušan Vlahović. However, the season was marked by controversy when manager Massimiliano Allegri was dismissed two days after the Coppa Italia final due to his inappropriate behavior during the match celebrations. Thiago Motta was appointed as the new head coach for the 2024-25 season on a three-year contract, though he was later replaced by Igor Tudor in March 2025.
History
Early years
Juventus was founded as Sport-Club Juventus in late 1897 by pupils from the Massimo d'Azeglio Lyceum school in Turin, among them Eugenio Canfari and Enrico Canfari. The club played their first Italian Football Championship match on 11 March 1900 in a 1-0 defeat against Torinese. In 1904, businessman Marco Ajmone-Marsan revived the club's finances, enabling the transfer from piazza d'armi to the more appropriate Velodrome Umberto I. During this period, the team wore pink and black kits before adopting the iconic black and white stripes inspired by English side Notts County. Juventus won their first championship in 1905 while playing at the Velodrome Umberto I. A significant split occurred in 1906 when club president Alfred Dick left with prominent players to found FBC Torino, creating the Derby della Mole rivalry.
Successful period
In 1922, a new stadium was inaugurated, and a year later, FIAT vice president Edoardo Agnelli was elected club president. These events helped secure the club's second league championship in the 1925-26 Prima Divisione. The club established itself as a major force in Italian football during the 1930s, becoming the country's first professional club with a decentralized fan base. This led to a record five consecutive Italian football championships and formed the core of the Italy national team during the Vittorio Pozzo era, including the 1934 FIFA World Cup winning squad featuring stars like Raimundo Orsi, Luigi Bertolini, Giovanni Ferrari, and Luis Monti. Under Giovanni Trapattoni in the 1970s and 1980s, the club won 13 trophies in ten years before 1986, including their first major European title, the 1976-77 UEFA Cup, and became the first club to win all three seasonal UEFA competitions.
Crisis and recovery
The Calciopoli scandal in 2006 marked the most challenging period in Juventus's history. The club was relegated to Serie B for the first time and stripped of its 2004-05 Serie A title. Many key players departed, including Zlatan Ibrahimović, Fabio Cannavaro, and Gianluca Zambrotta, while others like Alessandro Del Piero, Gianluigi Buffon, and Pavel Nedvěd remained loyal. Despite starting with a points deduction, Juventus won the Serie B championship and gained immediate promotion back to Serie A. The club returned to their former stadium, then known as Stadio Olimpico, and gradually rebuilt their squad and reputation.
Current period
Following their return to Serie A in 2007, Juventus experienced a period of unprecedented domestic dominance under Antonio Conte and later Massimiliano Allegri. The club achieved nine consecutive Serie A titles from 2011-12 to 2019-20, a record in Italian football. The signing of Cristiano Ronaldo in 2018 for €100 million represented the club's ambition to win the Champions League, though this goal remained elusive during his three-year stay. Recent seasons have seen challenges, including the end of their title streak in 2020-21, UEFA competition bans, and financial investigations. The club moved to their new Juventus Stadium in 2011 and continues to be one of the world's most valuable football clubs.
Achievements and Honors
Domestic competitions
Juventus holds the record for most Serie A titles with 36 championships, including nine consecutive titles from 2011-12 to 2019-20. The club has won the Coppa Italia a record 15 times, becoming the first team to retain the trophy in the 1959-60 season and the first to win it in three consecutive seasons from 2014-15 to 2016-17, extending to a fourth consecutive title in 2017-18. Juventus also holds the record for Supercoppa Italiana wins with nine titles, the most recent coming in 2020. The club has achieved the domestic double (Serie A and Coppa Italia in the same season) four times: 1959-60, 1994-95, 2014-15, and 2015-16, making them the first Italian team to complete Serie A and Coppa Italia doubles in back-to-back seasons.
Continental and global competitions
On the international stage, Juventus has won 11 confederation titles, making them the sixth most successful club in Europe and twelfth worldwide. The club has won the European Cup/UEFA Champions League twice (1984-85, 1995-96), three UEFA Cups (1976-77, 1989-90, 1992-93), one European Cup Winners' Cup (1983-84), two UEFA Super Cups (1984, 1996), and one UEFA Intertoto Cup (1999). Juventus became the first club to win all three major UEFA competitions and, with victories in the 1984 European Super Cup and 1985 Intercontinental Cup, became the first and only club to complete a clean sweep of all five historical confederation trophies. The club was placed seventh in FIFA's historic ranking of the best clubs in the world in December 2000 and ranked second best European club of the 20th century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics.
Symbols and Colors
Current logo and logo history
Juventus's official emblem has undergone several modifications since the 1920s. The previous modification in 2004 featured a black-and-white oval shield divided into five vertical stripes with the club name in the upper section and a white silhouette of a charging bull in the lower section, symbolizing the comune of Turin. In January 2017, president Andrea Agnelli announced a revolutionary change to a minimalist logotype featuring a stylized black and white "J," reflecting "the Juventus way of living." Juventus was the first team in sports history to adopt a star as a symbol for competition triumphs, adding one above their badge in 1958 to represent their tenth Italian championship. The club currently displays three golden stars representing their 10th, 20th, and 30th league titles, though their use has been subject to disputes related to the Calciopoli scandal.
Traditional home and away kits colors
Juventus have played in black and white striped shirts with white shorts since the 1901-02 season. Originally, they played in pink shirts with a black tie, but continual washing faded the color. In December 1901, the club sought replacement shirts through team member John Savage, whose friend in Nottingham, being a Notts County supporter, shipped black and white striped shirts to Turin. Juventus have worn these colors ever since, considering them aggressive and powerful. The club has maintained this traditional color scheme throughout its history, with occasional variations in design but always keeping the distinctive black and white stripes as their primary identity.
Traditional club anthem
The official anthem of Juventus is "Juve (storia di un grande amore)" or "Juve (story of a great love)" in English, written by Alessandra Torre and Claudio Guidetti, performed by singer and musician Paolo Belli and composed in 2007. The anthem reflects the passionate relationship between the club and its supporters, emphasizing the deep emotional connection that defines Juventus's identity.
Traditional Rivals
Torino
Juventus's traditional rivalry is with fellow Turin club Torino, with matches known as the Derby della Mole (Turin Derby). The rivalry dates back to 1906 when Torino was founded by break-away Juventus players and staff after club president Alfred Dick left with prominent players due to disagreements about potentially moving the club out of Turin.
Inter Milan
The most high-profile rivalry is with Inter Milan, another major Serie A club located in Milan. Matches between these clubs are referred to as the Derby d'Italia (Derby of Italy), and the two regularly challenge each other at the top of the league table, creating an intense rivalry. Until the Calciopoli scandal, both were the only Italian clubs never to have played below Serie A. The rivalry intensified significantly in the later part of the 1990s and reached its highest levels post-Calciopoli with Juventus's return to Serie A.
AC Milan
The rivalry with AC Milan represents a clash between two of Italy's most titled and supported teams. Match-ups between Milan and Juventus are regarded as championship encounters in Serie A, with both teams often fighting for top positions and sometimes decisive for the title award.
Other Rivals
Juventus also maintains rivalries with Roma, Fiorentina, and Napoli, though these are generally considered less intense than their primary rivalries with Turin and Milan clubs.
Club Traditions and Behind the Scenes
Sponsors
Juventus has maintained significant commercial partnerships throughout its history. Since 2017, the club's stadium has been commercially known as the Allianz Stadium of Turin through 2030. The club has had various kit suppliers and shirt sponsors over the years, with current partnerships including major global brands that reflect the club's international status and commercial appeal.
Nicknames
Juventus is known by several nicknames, with "la Vecchia Signora" (the Old Lady) being the most famous. The "old" part is a pun on "Juventus," which means "youth" in Latin, derived from the age of star players in the mid-1930s. The club is also called "la Fidanzata d'Italia" (the Girlfriend of Italy) due to high support from Southern Italian immigrant workers who came to Turin for FIAT since the 1930s. Other nicknames include "la Madama" (Madam), "i bianconeri" (the black-and-whites), "le zebre" (the zebras), and "i gobbi" (the hunchbacks), the latter referring to supporters and sometimes players, originating from the 1950s when large jerseys created a hunchbacked appearance when players ran.
Ownership and finances
The Agnelli family has controlled Juventus almost continuously since 1923, representing the oldest relationship between a club and a dynasty in national sports. As of October 2021, shares are distributed with 63.8% to the Agnelli family through EXOR N.V., 11.9% to Lindsell Train Investment Trust Ltd., and 24.3% to other stakeholders. The club has been listed on the Borsa Italiana since 2001 and is valued at approximately US$2.05 billion according to Forbes (May 2024). Juventus was the first Italian football club to cross the billion euro mark in May 2016 and ranks ninth globally in revenue according to the Deloitte Football Money League.
Traditions and culture
Juventus has the largest fan base in Italy with over 12 million supporters, representing approximately 34% of total Italian football fans. Unlike most European clubs concentrated around their city of origin, Juventus support is widespread throughout Italy and the Italian diaspora, making the club a symbol of "anticampanilismo" (anti-parochialism) and "italianità" (Italianness). The club has contributed the most players to the Italy national team in history and has been represented in every Italian World Cup squad since 1924. Juventus players have won eight Ballon d'Or awards and four FIFA World Player of the Year awards.
Stadium
After playing in various grounds around Turin since 1897, including Parco del Valentino, Piazza d'Armi Stadium, and Corso Sebastopoli Camp, Juventus moved to the Stadio Comunale (later renamed Stadio Comunale Vittorio Pozzo) in 1933, where they played for 57 years. From 1990 to 2006, they played at Stadio delle Alpi, built for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. The club built their current home, Juventus Stadium, on the site of the old Delle Alpi, opening in September 2011 with a capacity of 41,507. Unlike the previous stadium, there is no running track, placing the pitch just 7.5 meters from the stands. Since July 2017, the stadium has been commercially known as the Allianz Stadium of Turin.