Prior to 1957-58, Juventus were experiencing a slight slump, and rectified it by welcoming two new strikers to the fold: Argentine-Italian Omar Sivori and Welshman John Charles. Charles joined the club from Leeds United for what was then a British record fee of £65,000. The transfer was also notable as Charles was one of the first British professional players to be signed by a continental club – John Watson led the way with his move from Fulham to Real Madrid 10 years prior. Sivori meanwhile, was a Copa America winner with Argentina the previous year, who was known for his outstanding speed, skill, goalscoring ability and technique, and he was so popular among the Italian fans that he swapped his national allegiances and represented Italy at the 1962 World Cup. Two other prolific Argentines joined the Serie A at the same time: Antonio Angellilo with Inter, and Humberto Maschio with Bologna. The trio were nicknamed “The Angels With Dirty Faces” by the Italian media, a reference to the movie of the same name, on account of their typical South American flair, skill and colour.  The new Juventus arrivals played alongside long time club man Giampiero Boniperti, a creative, prolific and talented forward, considered to be one of the greatest players Juventus ever had, if not, the greatest.

 

The trio became known as “The Holy Trident”, and with divine intervention (or perhaps the guidance of their manager Renato Cesarini who had earlier coached River Plate’s famous La Maquina side) the club won the Serie A title in 1958 with Charles finishing as the leagues top scorer in his very first season in Italy. With this credential, Juventus were granted the right to wear the Gold Star for Sport Excellence on their uniforms, as they had become the first Italian side to win 10 league titles. In the same season, Sivori became the first Juventus player to win the European Footballer of the Year Award. 1959 was another huge year, in which Juventus picked up the Serie A and Coppa Italia double, Omar Sivori this time achieving league top scorer status. After helping the club to another league title, Boniperti called it a day in 1961, having become the clubs all time top scorer with 182 goals across all competitions. This amazing record stood for the next 45 years. Then, after 5 successful years of football in Italy, John Charles returned to Leeds United the following year.

 

Silvoli remained at the Old Lady however, notably scoring the only goal against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu, making Juve the first ever Italian side to win at that venue. In 1964, new manager Heriberto Herrera took over the squad and started applying a strict ”libero” and “movimiento” policy to the their play. Under the libero system, Juventus became more defensive by placing an extra defender between the goalkeeper and other defenders (a sweeper, as the position would later be known). The movimineto system demanded constant movement of all players, whether or not they possessed the ball. It was similar to Total Football, but more defensive in its execution, and required increased fitness from the players, and players had to adapt to the system, not the system to the players. Herrera made his players go through a rigorous conditioning regime, which didn’t make him very popular and led to several clashes. While the system used movement to create space, it restricted the creativity of players like Sivori.

 

Juventus’ final Scudetto of the 1960’s was added in 1967, coming right down the wire. On the final day of the season, Inter Milan only needed either a draw or for Juventus to draw or lose to Lazio, to win the title. However, it eventuated that Inter shockingly lost to Mantova by a single goal thanks to one of their own former players, Beniamino di Giacomo while Juve beat Lazio 2-1, earning themselves the Scudetto. After this win, the team was nicknamed “Juve Operaia” – the Juve Workers, due to the hard work required to be successful with the movimiento system and because Herrera seemed to take all the fun out of playing and made it more like a chore. 

Achievements: Serie A – Champions x4

                              Coppa Italia – Winners x3

Star player: Gianpiero Boniperti, DoB 4 July 1928, PoB Barengo, Italy nickname: Il Marisa

One of the fabled “one club men” sprinkled throughout the history of football, Boniperti spent his entire 15 season career at Juventus. Playing for the club from 1946 until 1961, he won 5 Serie A titles and 2 Copa Italias. For the Italian national team, he played in the 1950 and 1954 World Cups plus the 1952 Olympics. Boniperti was talented, creative and prolific in his play, with a penchant for scoring athletic goals and with 182 of them across all competitions, he was the highest goalscorer in Juventus history for over 40 years, until his record was broken by Alessandro del Piero in 2006. Excellent ball control, leadership, power, technical ability, passing range and vision were all attributes he possessed. Boniperti ranks third in appearances for Juventus, behind del Peiro and Gianluigi Buffon. As of 2018, Boniperti is still alive, and was named as one of Pele’s top 125 Living Footballers. He was just 16 when he signed for Juventus, after building himself a reputation at youth level by once scoring 11 goals in one match. He was declared a boy wonder by the Italian press when he scored 7 goals in a try-out match. His debut was a 1947 game against AC Milan which unfortunately ended in defeat. Boniperti started as a centre forward but was a flexible player who was just as useful on the right wing or inside forward. It was his second season at Juventus when he really made a name for himself, scoring 27 goals and beating Valentino Mazzola to the top scorer crown. By the time he turned 24, Boniperti had scored 100 goals for the Old Lady. Another league title came along in 1951-52, but for much of the 50’s, Juve struggled to convert Bonipertis talent to championships. However, all this changed in 1957 when Charles and Sivori joined the club, together forming “The Holy Trident” with Boniperti. The trio played together impeccably, and in his last four seasons at the club, the trio dominated the league. Boniperti’s international career wasn’t particularly excellent. It began with a humiliating 5-1 drubbing by Austria, but he had his revenge two years later, scoring his first international goal in a 3-1 win over the Austrians. He collected 38 caps with the Azzurri. After his playing days, Boniperti became director and then chairman of Juventus, holding the position for many years. Even today, the 89 years old remains an honorary chairman of Juventus.