Juventus FC Youth Sector

Juventus Football Club Youth Sector is the youth system of Italian football club Juventus.[1] The Youth Sector is made up of various squads divided by age groups. Most of the squads train at the first team's former main training ground, Juventus Training Center, located in Vinovo.[2]

The Youth Sector is divided into 11 squads: "Primavera" (under-19), "Allievi" (under-17), under-16, under-15, "Esordienti" (under-13), under-12, "Pulcini" (under-11), under-10, under-9, under-8 and under-7.[3] In 2018, Juventus formed their reserve team (under-23), competing in the senior league system.[4]

History

Despite an extensive international scouting network, the club has historically placed importance on nurturing local talent and continues to do so. One proof of this is the fact of the Italy national team, coached by Enzo Bearzot during the mid-1970s[5] and mid-1980s,[6] was mainly composed of young Juventus players[7] – nicknamed the Blocco-Juve ("Juve-Block") – who formed the backbone of the national team.[8] Examples include Roberto Bettega, Giuseppe Furino and Paolo Rossi, all former members at the Juventus youth program (then known as Nucleo Addestramento Giovani Calciatori or N.A.G.C.).[9]

Graduates of the youth sector ply their trade in other Serie A clubs and top-flight leagues around Europe. More recently the 2012–13 Scudetto-winning squad featured Paolo De Ceglie,[10] second vice-captain Claudio Marchisio,[11] Sebastian Giovinco and Luca Marrone; the latter three were born and raised in the Turin area.[12]

In 2018, Juventus formed a reserve team, Juventus Under-23,[13] and was officially admitted to the Serie C.[14] The club cannot play in the same division—or higher—as their senior team, nor can they compete in the Coppa Italia.[15] They won their first trophy in their second year as a club, after beating Ternana in the 2020 Coppa Italia Serie C final.[16][17]

From 2021, all clubs with teams competing in the Campionato Primavera 1 (under-19) also have to participate in the under-18 championship. However, since Juventus already have a reserve team they have the choice on whether or not to participate in the under-18 championship.[18]

Structure

The club maintains several soccer schools, some satellite clubs[19] and camps in Italy, the United States,[20] Mexico[20] and England[21] and football initiatives such as the Juventus University, the first of its kind in the world (run jointly with the University of Turin)[22] and the Juventus National Academy, launched to create a network of Juventus football schools (or academies) throughout Italy addressed to boys aged between 8 and 12 years old.[23]

Primavera (under-20s)

From the 2012–13 season, the Primavera team is composed of players who are at least 15 years old and who are under 19 in the calendar year in which the season ends.[30] Until the 2011–12 season, the age limit was 20.[31] Starting from 2023–24, the limit was lifted to 20 again.[32] According to Italian football league system, it is the main youth category. Unlike many teams in the league, Juventus tend to field under-age players to send them to play with Juventus Next Gen later.[33]

The team competes in the Campionato Primavera 1. They have won four league titles,[34] three Coppa Italia Primavera titles,[35] and three Supercoppa Primavera titles.[36] Juventus also won the Torneo di Viareggio a record nine times.[37]

In 2007 the Juventus under-19 team finished runners-up in the inaugural edition of the Champions Youth Cup in Malaysia, intended to be a Club World Championship powered by G-14;[38] the hed the best defence of the tournament with only two goals conceded in six matches.[38] In the 2021–22 UEFA Youth League, Juventus were eliminated after penalty shoot-outs against Benfica at the semi-finals, their best-ever placement in the competition.[39]

Notable youth team players

The following is a list of players who have played in the Juventus youth team and represented a country at full international level.[43] Players in bold are currently playing at Juventus, or for another club on loan from Juventus.

• 🇦🇺 Max Vieri
• 🇧🇪 Koni De Winter
• 🇧🇯 Angel Chibozo
• Simon Sluga
• 🇨🇾 Grigoris Kastanos
• 🇪🇨 José Cevallos
• 🇬🇭 Raman Chibsah
• Anastasios Donis
• Frantz Bertin
• 🇮🇩 Emil Audero
• 🇮🇸 Hörður Björgvin Magnússon
• 🇮🇹 Giancarlo Bercellino
• 🇮🇹 Roberto Bettega
• 🇮🇹 Carlo Bigatto
• 🇮🇹 Giampiero Boniperti
• 🇮🇹 Umberto Colombo
• 🇮🇹 Gianpiero Combi
• 🇮🇹 Domenico Criscito
• 🇮🇹 Alessandro Del Piero
• 🇮🇹 Nicolò Fagioli
• 🇮🇹 Giuseppe Furino
• 🇮🇹 Sebastian Giovinco
• 🇮🇹 Ciro Immobile
• 🇮🇹 Moise Kean
• 🇮🇹 Claudio Marchisio
• 🇮🇹 Domenico Marocchino
• 🇮🇹 Carlo Mattrel
• 🇮🇹 Fabio Miretti
• 🇮🇹 Antonio Nocerino
• 🇮🇹 Raffaele Palladino
• 🇮🇹 Carlo Parola
• 🇮🇹 Pietro Rava
• 🇮🇹 Enzo Robotti
• 🇮🇹 Tommaso Rocchi
• 🇮🇹 Paolo Rossi
• 🇮🇹 Daniele Rugani
• 🇮🇹 Luigi Sartor
• 🇮🇹 Leonardo Spinazzola
• 🇮🇹 Gino Stacchini
• 🇮🇹 Giuseppe Vavassori
• 🇨🇮 Abdoulaye Bamba
• 🇨🇮 Christian Manfredini
• 🇱🇮 Marcel Büchel
• Vykintas Slivka
• 🇵🇪 Gianluca Lapadula
• 🇷🇴 Radu Drăgușin
• 🇷🇺 Viktor Budyanskiy
• 🇸🇳 Franck Kanouté
• 🇸🇰 Jakub Hromada
• 🇸🇴 Ayub Daud
• 🇪🇸 Dean Huijsen
• 🇸🇪 Andreas Isaksson
• Davide Chiumiento
• Andi Zeqiri
• 🇹🇷 Kenan Yıldız
• Franco Israel
• César Pellegrín
• 🇻🇪 Christian Makoun
• 🇺🇿 Ilyos Zeytulayev

See also

• Juventus Next Gen, reserve team

Bibliography

External links