Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club (from
Latin
[1] iuventus: youth,
IPA:
[ju.ˈvɛn.tus]), also
known as Juventus Turin (or Juventus Torino), Juventus, or
simply Juve, is a
football
club
from
Turin,
Italy. With the exception of one season, the
club has spent its entire history in
Serie A,[2] after gaining promotion they will be competing at
the top level again for the 2007-08 season.
Juventus is the
most
successful
[2] team in the history of
Italian football. Overall, Juventus has won 51 official
trophies, more than any other Italian team; 40 in its country (also a record),
and 11 in European and the world competitions (see Honours). Juventus is
the third club from
Europe
[3] and fifth in the world
[3] with the most international titles recognized by the
Union of
European Football Associations
[4] and the
International Federation of Association Football.
In
1985, Juventus became the first club in the
history of the European football to have won all three Major European trophies
[5] and also, the only team in the world to have won all
international cups and championships
[4] (which includes all official European tournaments
[4] and the Intercontinental Champions Clubs' Cup
[6]). Juventus is also one of the
G-14’s
founding members, a group that represents eighteen of the largest and most
prestigious
[7]
European football clubs.
Juventus have played in black and white striped
shirts, with white shorts (sometimes black shorts) since 1903. Originally, they
played in pink shirts with a black tie, the father of one of the players made the
earliest shirts, but continual washing faded the colour so much that in 1903
the club sought to replace them.
Juventus asked one of their team members,
Englishman John Savage, if he had any contacts in England who could supply new
shirts in a colour that would better withstand the elements. He had a friend
who lived in Nottingham, who being a Notts County supporter, shipped out the
black and white striped shirts to Turin.
Juventus F.C. crest in
2004
Juventus Football Club’s official emblem has
undergone different and small modifications since the
second decade of
twentieth century. The last modification of the Old Lady’s
badge took place in
2005. At the present time, the emblem of the team is conformed
by a black-and-white
oval shield; a type of
Italian shield specially used by ecclesiastics, it is divided in five vertical
stripes: two white stripes and three black stripes, inside of this are the
following elements; in its superior section, the name of the society
superimposed a white
convex section, over golden curvature
(gold for
honour). The white silhouette of a
charging
bull is in the inferior section of the oval shield, superimposed a
black
spherical triangle; the
charging bull is a symbol of the
Comune
di
Torino. There is also a black silhouette of a
mural crown above the black spherical triangle’s base is a
reminiscence to "Augusta Tourinorum", the old city of the
Roman era which the present
capital of
Piedmont region is its cultural heiress.
In the past, the convex section of the emblem had a
blue colour (another symbol of Turin) and, furthermore, its shape was
concave. The spherical triangle and the mural crown, also in
the inferior section of the emblem had, considerably, a greater size with
respect to the present. The two
Golden Stars for Sport Excellence
were located above the convex & concave section of the Juventus’ emblem.
During the
1980s, the club emblem was the silhouette of a
zebra,
to both sides of the
equide’s head, the
two golden stars and,
above this badge, forming an
arc, the clubs name.
During its history, the club has acquired a number
of nicknames, la Vecchia Signora (the Old Lady) being the best example
[36].
This nickname, globally famous, was derived by the standard of living of then
founders, all young
torinesi students, in the
latest years
of the
nineteenth century. The club is also nicknamed la Fidanzata
d'Italia (the Girlfriend of Italy), because over the years they have
recieved a high level of support from
Southern Italian immigrant workers, who arrived in
Turin
to work for
Fiat since the
1930s. Other nicknames include;
i bianconeri (the black-and-whites) and le zebre
(the
zebras
[37]) in reference to Juventus' colours.
Honours
National titles
-
Italian
League Championship: 27 (record).
-
Italian Cup: 9 (record).
-
Winners: 1937-38; 1941-42; 1958-59; 1959-60;
1964-65; 1978-79; 1982-83; 1989-90; 1994-95
-
Runners-up
(4): 1972-73;
1991-92; 2001-02; 2003-04
-
Italian Super Cup: 4
-
Winners: 1995; 1997; 2002; 2003
-
Runners-up
(3): 1990; 1998;
2005
International titles (recognized by
UEFA
and
FIFA)
