History of Juventus F.C.

Early years

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 Foot-Ball Club Juventus two years later. The club joined the Italian Football Championship during 1900. In 1904 the businessman Ajmone-Marsan revived the finances of the football club Juventus, making it also possible to transfer the training field from Piazza d'Armi to the more appropriate Velodrome Umberto I. During this period the team wore a pink and black kit. Juventus first won the league championship in 1905 while playing at their Velodrome Umberto I ground. By this time the club colours had changed to black and white stripes, inspired by English side Notts County.

There was a split at the club in 1906, after some of the staff considered moving Juve out of Turin. President Alfred 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, and built a new stadium. This helped the club to its second scudetto (league championship) in the 1925–26 season beating Alba Roma with an aggregate score of 12–1, Antonio Vojak's goals were essential that season. The club established itself as a major force in Italian football since the 1930s, becoming the country's first professional club and the first with a decentralised fan base, which led it to win a record of five consecutive Italian championships the first four under the management of Carlo Carcano and form the core of the Italy national team during the Vittorio Pozzo's era, including the 1934 world champion squad. With star players such as Raimundo Orsi, Luigi Bertolini, Giovanni Ferrari and Luis Monti amongst others.

Juventus moved to the Stadio Comunale, but 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 appointed honorary president. The club added two more league championships to its 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; Welshman John Charles and Italo-Argentine Omar Sívori, playing alongside longtime member Giampiero Boniperti. That season saw Juventus awarded with the Golden Star for Sport Excellence to wear on their shirts after becoming the first Italian side to win ten league titles. In the same season, Sívori 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 as the all-time top scorer at the club, with 182 goals in all competitions, a club record which stood for 45 years.

During the rest of the decade, the club won the league just once more in 1966–67, The 1970s, however, saw 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 twice more, with defender Gaetano Scirea contributing significantly. The later win was under Giovanni Trapattoni, who also led the club to their first ever major European title, the UEFA Cup, in 1977, and helped the club's domination continue on into the early part of the 1980s. During Trapattoni's tenure, many Juventus players also formed the backbone of the Italy national team during Enzo Bearzot's successful managerial era, including the 1978 World Cup, UEFA Euro 1980 and 1982 world champion squads.

European stage

The Trapattoni era was highly successful in the 1980s; the club 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 attracting considerable attention; Paolo Rossi was named European Footballer of the Year following his contribution to Italy's victory in the 1982 World Cup, where he was named Player of the Tournament.

Frenchman Michel Platini was also awarded the European Footballer of the Year title for three years in a row in 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 changed European football. That year, Juventus became the first club in the history of European football to have won all three major UEFA competitions and, after their triumph in the Intercontinental Cup, the club also became the first in association football history—and remain the world's only one at present—to have won all possible confederation competitions and the club world title.

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 Internazionale, won Italian championships; Juventus did win a Coppa Italia-UEFA Cup double in 1990 under the guidance of former club legend Dino Zoff, however. In 1990, Juventus also moved into their new home, the Stadio delle Alpi, which was built for the 1990 World Cup. Despite the arrival of Italian star Roberto Baggio later that year for a world record transfer fee, the early 1990s under Luigi Maifredi and subsequently Trapattoni once again also saw little success for Juventus, as they only managed to win the UEFA Cup in 1993.

Another Champions League title and first Supercoppa Italiana

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, as well as the Coppa Italia. The crop of players during this period featured Ciro Ferrara, Roberto Baggio, Gianluca Vialli and a young Alessandro Del Piero. Lippi led Juventus to their first Supercoppa Italiana, and 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 Zinedine Zidane, Filippo Inzaghi and Edgar Davids. At home, Juventus won the 1996–97 and 1997–98 Serie A titles, as well as the 1996 UEFA Super Cup and the 1996 Intercontinental Cup. Juventus reached the 1997 and 1998 Champions League finals during this period, but lost out to Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid respectively.

After a two-and-a-half-season absence, Lippi returned to the club in 2001, following his replacement Carlo Ancelotti's dismissal, signing big name players such as Gianluigi Buffon, David Trezeguet, Pavel Nedvěd and Lilian Thuram, helping the team to two more scudetto titles during the 2001–02 and 2002–03 seasons. Juventus were also part of an all Italian Champions League final in 2003 but lost out to Milan on penalties after the game ended in a 0–0 draw. At the conclusion of the following season, Lippi was appointed as the Italy national team's head coach, bringing an end to one of the most fruitful managerial spells in Juventus' history.

Calciopoli scandal

Fabio Capello was appointed as Juventus's coach in 2004 and led the club to two more consecutive Serie A titles. In May 2006, however, Juventus became one of the five clubs linked to a 2006 Italian football scandal, the result of which saw the club relegated to Serie B for the first time in its history. The club was also stripped of the two titles won under Capello in 2005 and 2006.

Many key players left following the demotion to Serie B, including Lillian Thuram, star striker Zlatan Ibrahimović and defensive stalwart Fabio Cannavaro. Other big name players, however, such as Gianluigi Buffon, Alessandro Del Piero, David Trezeguet and Pavel Nedvěd, remained to help the club return to Serie A, while youngsters from the Primavera (youth team), such as Sebastian Giovinco and Claudio Marchisio, were integrated into the first team. Juventus were promoted straight back up to the top division as league winners after the 2006–07 season, while captain Del Piero claimed the top scorer award with 21 goals.

As early as 2010, Juventus considered challenging the stripping of their Scudetti from 2005 and 2006, dependent on the results of trials connected to the 2006 scandal. Subsequent investigations found in 2011 that Juventus' relegation in 2006 was without merit. When former general manager Luciano Moggi's conviction in criminal court in connection with the scandal was thrown out by an appeals court in 2015, the club sued the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) for €443 million for damages caused by their 2006 relegation. FIGC president Carlo Tavecchio offered to discuss reinstatement of the lost Scudetti in exchange for Juventus dropping the lawsuit.

Return to Serie A

After returning to Serie A in the 2007–08 season, Juventus appointed Claudio Ranieri as manager. They finished in third place in their first season back in the top flight, and qualified for the Champions League third qualifying round in the preliminary stages. Juventus reached the group stages, where they beat Real Madrid in both home and away legs, before losing in the knockout round to Chelsea. Ranieri was sacked following a string of unsuccessful results, and Ciro Ferrara was appointed as manager on a temporary basis for the last two games of the 2008–09 season, before being subsequently appointed as the manager for the 2009–10 season.

Ferrara's stint as Juventus manager, however, proved to be unsuccessful, with Juventus knocked out of Champions League and Coppa Italia, and just lying on the sixth place in the league table at the end of January 2010, leading to the dismissal of Ferrara and the naming of Alberto Zaccheroni as caretaker manager. Zaccheroni could not help the side improve, as Juventus finished the season in seventh place in Serie A. For the 2010–11 season, Jean-Claude Blanc was replaced by Andrea Agnelli as the club's president. Agnelli's first action was to replace Zaccheroni and director of sport Alessio Secco with Sampdoria manager Luigi Delneri and director of sport Giuseppe Marotta. Delneri, however, failed to improve their fortunes and was dismissed. Former player and fan favourite Antonio Conte, fresh after winning promotion with Siena, was named as Delneri's replacement. In September 2011, Juventus relocated to the new Juventus Stadium.

Historic back-to-back double

With Conte as manager, Juventus went unbeaten for the entire 2011–12 Serie A season. Towards the second half of the season, the team was mostly competing with northern rivals Milan for first place in a tight contest. Juventus won the title on the 37th matchday, after beating Cagliari 2–0, and Milan losing to Internazionale 4–2. After a 3–1 win in the final matchday against Atalanta, Juventus became the first team to go the season unbeaten in the current 38-game format. Other noteworthy achievements include the biggest away win (5–0 at Fiorentina), best defensive record (20 goals conceded, fewest ever in the current league format) in Serie A and second best in the top six European leagues that year.

In 2013–14, Juventus won a third consecutive Scudetto with a record 102 points and 33 wins. The title was the 30th official league championship in the club's history. They also achieved the semi-finals of Europa League being eliminated at home against ten-man Benfica's catenaccio, missing the final at the Juventus Stadium. In 2014–15, Massimiliano Allegri was appointed as manager, with whom Juventus won their 31st official title, making it a fourth-straight, as well as achieving a record tenth Coppa Italia for the double. The club also beat Real Madrid in the semi finals of the Champions League 3–2 on aggregate to face Barcelona in the final in Berlin for the first time since the 2002–03 Champions League. Juventus lost the final to Barcelona 3–1 after an early fourth-minute goal from Ivan Rakitić, followed by an Álvaro Morata equalizer in the 55th minute; Barcelona took the lead again with a goal from Luis Suárez in the 70th minute, followed by a final minute goal by Neymar as Juventus were caught out on the counterattack. On 14 December 2015, Juventus won the Serie A Football Club of the Year award for the 2014–15 season, the fourth time in succession. On 25 April 2016, the club won their fifth-straight title (and 32nd overall) since last winning five-straight between 1930–31 and 1934–35, after second place Napoli lost to Roma to give Juventus mathematical certainty of the title with three games to spare; last losing to Sassuolo on 25 October 2015, which left them in 12th place, before taking 73 points of a possible 75. On 21 May, the club then won the Coppa Italia for the 11th time, and their second-straight title, becoming the first team in Italy's history to complete Serie A and Coppa Italia doubles in back-to-back seasons.