Juventus F.C.

Juventus F.C.

Juventus Football Club S.p.A. (BIT: JUVE) (from Latin iuventus: youth, pronounced ), commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve (pronounced ), are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont. The club is the third oldest of its kind in the country and has spent the majority of its history, with the exception of the 2006–07 season, in the top flight First Division (known as Serie A since 1929).

Founded in 1897 as Sport Club Juventus by a group of young Torinese students, among them, who was their first president, Eugenio Canfari, and his brother Enrico, author of the company's historical memory; they are managed by the industrial Agnelli family since 1923, which constitutes the oldest sporting partnership in Italy, thus making Juventus the first professional club in the country. Over time, the club has become a symbol of the nation's culture and italianità ("Italianness"), due to their tradition of success, some of which have had a significant impact in Italian society, especially in the 1930s and the first postwar decade; and the ideological politics and socio-economic origin of the club's sympathisers. This is reflected, among others, in the club's contribution to the national team, uninterrupted since the second half of 1920s and recognised as one of the most influential in international football, having performed a decisive role in the World Cup triumphs of 1934, 1982 and 2006. The club's fan base is larger than any other Italian football club and is one of the largest world-wide. Support for Juventus is widespread throughout the country and abroad, mainly in countries with a significant presence of Italian immigrants.

Juventus are historically the most successful club in Italian football and one of the most laureated and important globally. Overall, they have won fifty-three official titles on the national and international stage, more than any other Italian club: a record twenty-eight league titles, a record nine Italian cups and five national super cups and, with eleven titles in confederation and inter-confederation competitions (two Intercontinental Cups, two European Champion Clubs' Cup/UEFA Champions Leagues, one European Cup Winners' Cup, a record three UEFA Cups, one UEFA Intertoto Cup and two UEFA Super Cups) the club currently ranks fourth in Europe and seventh in the world with the most trophies won. In 1985, under the management of Giovanni Trapattoni, who led the Torinese team to thirteen official trophies in ten years until 1986, including six league titles and five international titles; Juventus became the first club in the history of European football to have won all three major competitions organised by the Union of European Football Associations: the European Champions' Cup, the (now-defunct) Cup Winners' Cup and the UEFA Cup (the first Italian and Southern European side to win the tournament). After their triumph in the Intercontinental Cup the same year, the club also became the first in football history—and remain the only one at present—to have won all possible confederation competitions and the club world title. According to the all-time ranking published in 2009 by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics, an organization recognised by FIFA, based on clubs' performance in international competitions, Juventus were Italy's best club and second in Europe of the 20th century.