History of Juventus F.C. - The Agnelli Era Begins

The Agnelli Era Begins

Edoardo Agnelli of the Agnelli family, owners of the Fiat company gained control of the club in 1923. They had a private stadium in Villar Perosa (south-west of Turin) built and a complete set of facilities and services. This proved a good move for the club, as Juventus won their second Italian Championship during the 1925-26 season; they beat Alba Roma in the final with an aggregate score of 12-1, Antonio Vojak's goals were essential that season.

From the 1930-31 through the 1934-35 season, Juventus collected a record of five consecutive Italian league championships, four of which were under coach Carlo Carcano; the squad included the likes of Raimundo Orsi, Luigi Bertolini, Giovanni Ferrari and Luis Monti amongst others. Notably, the club reached the semi-finals of the Mitropa Cup before going out to Czechoslovakian side Slavia Prague.

During 1933, Juventus moved to what is considered their first major home; Stadio Benito Mussolini, it was built in 1933 for the 1934 FIFA World Cup, holding a capacity of 65,000. It was originally named after Benito Mussolini who was Prime Minister of Italy at the time. Edoardo Agnelli died on 14 July 1935, this affected the club's league performance in a large manner as some of the most prominent players left soon after his death.

Although the club were unable to re-capture their form for the rest of the 1930s, they did finish as runners-up to Ambrosiana-Inter in the 1937-38 season. After-World War II the club's ground was renamed, Stadio Comunale and Edoardo's son Gianni Agnelli was put in place as honorary president; the club added two more scudetto championship's to their name in the 1949-50 and 1951-52 seasons, the latter of which was under the management of Englishman Jesse Carver. This kind of form would be a sign of things to come in the future.

After a dry spell, Juventus signed Welshman John Charles and Italo-Argentine Omar Sivori in 1957 to play alongside Giampiero Boniperti (who had been with the club since 1946). This system was very successful for Juventus and they won Serie A in 1957-58 and 1959-60 with Fiorentina finishing second on both occasions, the latter of which was Juventus' first ever double, as they also won the Coppa Italia that season. This record breaking squad became the first Italian clubs to win ten championships in 1961, in recognition of this the club were awarded a Golden Star for Sport Excellence (Stella d'Oro al Merito Sportivo) to wear on their shirt. Notably, Omar Sivori became the first Juventus player to win the European Footballer of the Year that year too.

When Boniperti retired in 1961, he retired as the all-time top scorer at the club, with 182 goals in all competitions; a club record which would last for 45 years. The last Juventus championship victory came with Heriberto Herrera as coach in 1966-67, a notable players of this time was the reliable defender Sandro Salvadore.

Juventus further solidified themselves as a tower of strength in Italian football during the 1970s by winning the scudetto in 1971-72, 1972-73, 1974-75 and 1976-77, as well as reaching the 1973 European Cup Final where they lost to Ajax. Coached in the early part of the decade by Čestmír Vycpálek, a Czech who had once played with Juventus (and Palermo), the Old Lady built up a strong squad of players to push them forward, with Gaetano Scirea, Dino Zoff, Roberto Bettega, Fabio Capello, and Brazilian José Altafini who would become the joint-third highest scorer in Serie A history.

Franco Causio also became a very popular player at the club during the 1970s, in fact he was so popular that the club allowed him to wear his hair long, prior to Causio this was against the rules. The club also provided the team with official formal wear (made by famous tailors) and forced them to complete their educational studies. Most of its players remained with Juventus until the end of their careers; many were given jobs with the club or for Fiat (and related companies) after playing retirement.