1897

The origins

The bench

Legend has it that one fine day, precisely the 1st of November 1897, while sitting on a bench in Corso Re Umberto, a group of boys from the Liceo D'Azeglio decided to set up a sport club, with the main aim of playing football. They were just a bunch of friends wanting to hang out together and have fun in a healthy way. The setting for the first football matches was the Piazza d'Armi, as this was an enormous park for running and horse-riding, where these new sportsmen could find their own spot too. This is how one of the founders, Enrico Canfari, described those days: «We felt the need to set up a proper Club, we decided this in autumn 1897. Those are the true origins of Juventus. Obscure origins... because the Canfari brothers' workshop, in 42 Corso Re Umberto, where the first meeting was held, was really dark (...) There were only about fifteen of us, the oldest was seventeen, the others were under fifteen (...). What today would be the last problem for a Club was a nightmare in our young minds: having our own headquarters! The Canfaris took it on themselves to find a place, and soon they found one, with four rooms, a courtyard, a canopy, a loft, plus it also had drinking water on tap. »

Canfari first Chairman

Canfari then explained how the Club's name was chosen soon afterwards. «The decisive meeting finally came around and it was a battle! On one side Latin-haters, on the other those into classical subjects, and a small number of democrats in between. Three names made the shortlist for voting: “Società Via Fort”, “Società sportiva Massimo D'Azeglio” and “Sport Club Juventus”. Not many lobbied for the latter, and that's why it ended up winning. Thus the club was christened “Sport Club Juventus”. »

The first Chairman was Eugenio Canfari, the brother of the man who gave us the above account of the Club's origins. Soon new headquarters were needed, and found in Via Piazzi 4, in the Crocetta district: three rooms at the bottom of a courtyard.

1898-1905

From the beginnings to the first Scudetto

The pink shirt

Juventus finally began playing. Enrico Canfari again tells us all about it: «F.C. Torinese invited us to play against them and we couldn't believe we were able to play against proper footballers, even though they were bigger and stronger than us. As a team we lost those first games badly, but individually, as we'd trained a lot on ball skills, we left a good impression. Once we'd started and set up a starting eleven, we began accepting challenges and throwing ones ourselves, up until the point we set up a tournament, to establish ourselves in Turin. We needed a strip for this, but what kind? In cotton, flannel, or wool? In the end we chose thin, pink cotton cambric that we wore until 1902, when it had faded beyond recognition...».

In 1899 the name was changed to Juventus Football Club. From 1900 the Club began taking part in the League. The first official match, on March 11, was a defeat against F.C. Torinese. In 1901 Juventus reached the semi-final and in 1903 and 1904 they lost to Genoa in the final.

Italian Champions

1905 was the first magical year for the Black and Whites - the colours imported from Nottingham immediately proving popular. Goalkeeper Durante was a painter. Armano and Mazzia were the full-backs; Walty, Goccione and Diment the half-backs; Barberis, Varetti, Forlano, Squire and Donna played up front. After winning the Piedmont group, they beat Milanese twice and drew with Genoa, who'd only got a point in Milan. Juventus were Champions of Italy above the team from Liguria. There was no Scudetto yet: the Football Federation gave out a plate at the time.

Alfred Dick was the Chairman, basically the sponsor. The team had gotten stronger thanks to foreign players who worked for his textile company. The team almost won a second title in 1906, but they didn't turn up at the final against Milan in protest against the decision to play the play off in Milan instead of on neutral ground. The large number of foreigners caused frictions at the Club: Dick's position was questioned and he left to set up Torino, taking with him the players who were his friends.

HEADQUARTERS

1898 Via Montevecchio

1899 Via Piazzi 4

1902 Via Gazometro 14

1904 Via Pastrengo

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1898-1904 Piazza d’Armi (Corso Vinzaglio side)

1904-06 Umberto I Velodrome, Corso Re Umberto

1906-1923

Before and after World War I

Difficult years

After the first title it wasn't a happy period. Chairman Dick left and the best foreign players went with him, forcing Juventus to review their objectives. The team struggled and had strong opposition in new star team Pro Vercelli. And also Casale, who fought with Vercelli for the top positions. The 1913/14 season was the last one before World War I. The next one was interrupted on May 23, 1915, on the eve of Italy entering the conflict.

Hurrà Juventus established

Several players and Club officials went to war and many of them didn't come back. To keep contact, on June 10 1915 the magazine "Hurrà Juventus" was founded by Editor Corradino Corradini. On the cover, a motto: "Victory belongs to the strong that have faith".

The Great War ended in November 1918. Juventus had lost a few pioneers in the war, but not the desire to win again. On October 12 1919 the team went back on the pitch for a League match, with a keeper, Giacone, who would soon play for Italy - the first Juventus player in history to do so. And with two full-backs, Novo and Bruna, who would soon do likewise and who would make up the prototype of the great defensive duos of the future, from Rosetta-Caligaris to Foni-Rava. The team could also count on Bona and Giriodi's determination. All this was enough to get some good results, such as winning at Casale on March 7 1920 or beating Genoa in the finals of the North Group, on May 16, with a Bona hat trick, but not enough to win the title, which went to Internazionale.

Combi's debut

People started discovering football as a mass phenomenon. The supporters' enthusiasm wasn't matched by the results, though. In 1921 the team went out after the first group, in 1922 and '23 they didn't go beyond a good placement in the Northern Group. But things were changing. Marchi II, a former footballer who’d become a Club official for health reasons, made a great discovery: while watching a youth game he was struck by a young keeper. His name was Giampiero Combi and by 1923, as an 18-year old, he was already a first team regular.

HEADQUARTERS:

1906 Via Donati 1

1919-21 Via Carlo Alberto 43

1921-22 Via Botero 16

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1906-08 Piazza d’Armi (Corso Vinzaglio side)

1908-1922 Corso Sebastopoli

1923-1929

The Twenties and the second League title

Edoardo Agnelli Chairman

24th of July 1923: Edoardo Agnelli, the son of FIAT's founder, was elected Chairman.

Juventus had had their own ground for a year, located in Corso Marsiglia, complete with brickwork stands. The team got stronger; outstanding full-back Viri Rosetta arrived from Vercelli. Combi was already part of the team, alongside right winger Munerati, Grabbi and Bigatto, plus flamboyant centre-forward Pastore (who would become an actor soon). The manager, the first real manager in Juventus' history, was Hungarian and his name was Jeno Karoly.

The second Scudetto

Karoly won over everybody at the club, including the players and the fans. But the true ace of the team was another Hungarian, left inside forward Hirzer. Juventus won group B of the Northern League and faced reigning champions Bologna in the final. In Bologna on July 11 1926 it was a 2-2 draw, and in Turin on the 25th of July it was another draw, but this time no goals were scored. Another match was needed to decide.

On the 2nd of August, in Milan, at last, Edoardo Agnelli's Juve managed a 2-1 victory that signified the title. This is that historical winning line-up: Combi Rosetta Allemandi Grabbi Viola Bigatto Munerati Vojak Pastore Hirzer Torriani. Just a few days earlier, all of a sudden Manager Karoly had died from a heart attack. As predicted, Juve then disposed of Alba Roma, who'd won the Centre-South group, by beating them 7-1 at home and 5-0 in Rome.

From Hirzer to Orsi

The following season begun much in the same way, with a series of brilliant victories, but in the semi-final group a few opaque performances meant that Torino ended up in first place. Moreover, the team lost their best player, Hirzer, due to a change in League rules. Ageing Cevenini III, who'd done great things at Inter Milan, wasn't enough with his goals to keep up with Bologna and Inter Milan in the next two years, even though Juventus still did very well. At the end of the Twenties the new single-group Serie A was established. Football by now had a huge following and Juventus equipped themselves to get back on top. Excellent players such as Caligaris, Cesarini and most of all Raimundo Orsi arrived at the Club; the latter hailed from Argentina but his family was originally from Italy, and was well known because he had delighted the crowds at the Amsterdam Olympic Games playing with his National team.

HEADQUARTERS

1922-33 Corso Marsiglia

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