Juventus Ultras

[edit] History

Juventus supporters during a match.

The first real groups of Juventus Football Club supporters came in the middle of the seventies. The first two groups were called Venceremos and Autonomia Bianconera and both were on the left side in politics.^[1] In 1976 the first two real organizated Ultras groups were founded, Fossa dei Campioni and Panthers.^{[citation needed]}
One year later, the Gruppo Storico Fighters was founded by Beppe Rossi, who was the most important figure among the Juventus supporters.^[1]
In the first years of the eighties other supporter groups were created: Gioventù Bianconera, Area Bianconera and Indians were among them. Two extreme ultras were also founded during this period: Viking and Nucleo Armato Bianconero (N.A.B.).^[2] These two groups really made themselves respected inside and outside of the stadium and were the only two Juventus Ultras groups who reminded of real hooligans.^{[citation needed]} The reason is that they never feared fighting against other supporters.^{[citation needed]} In 1987 the Gruppo Storico Fighters was dissolved as consequence of conflicts between Juve and Fiorentina fans in Florence.^[1] A lot of old Fighters members together with members from other groups -as Indians and Gioventù Bianconera- decided to form a new group called Arancia Meccanica, inspired by the popular Stanley Kubrick film, but a short time later they have changed the name to Drughi.^[3] Drughi became the most important supporter group and had about 10,000 members between 1988 and 1996.^[4]

The Caval d'Brons in Piazza San Carlo, the meeting point for Juventus fans at Turin.

In 1993 some of the Drughi members who were old members of Fighters group decided to form this group again. In the next four years they fought with Drughi, who then later became the leading group^{[citation needed]} in La Curva Scirea ^[5] of the Stadio Delle Alpi and the result was that Drughi will hang their banner in the middle of La Curva Scirea while Fighters had to put their on right of them.^[4]
In 1997 leader groups Fighters and Drughi together with other groups in La Curva Scirea ^[5] decided to get together under the name Black And White Fighters Gruppo Storico 1977.^[1]
In this period another big supporter group, Irrudicibili Vallette, gained massive influence in the Curva Nord of the stadium. The group was created in 1990 by a group from the Turin neighbourhood Vallette. This group was placed in the Curva Nord at the other end of the stadium from where Fighters are placed. In the beginning the group were very organized and in 1998 they replaced Viking and took over the leadership in the Curva Nord, but after many problems Irrudicibili do not exist any more. Many Juve fans associate with Palestine.
At the present, the Curva Sud of the Stadio Olimpico di Torino is the main area where the Old Lady organized supporters attends their home matches.^[6] They are composed by current supporters groups as Drughi -the leading group in La Curva Sud ^[6]-, Viking Juve, Arditi, Nucleo 1985, 06 Clan, Noi Soli, Gruppo Marche 1993 (also knowns as GM), Bruxelles Bianconera (composed by supporters from Belgium and Luxembourg ^[7]), Gruppo Homer (also knowns as GH), Assiduo Sostegno and Bravi Ragazzi (composed by former Irriducibili members). The Fighters group, the leading Juventus group located in La Curva Nord at the same stadium,^[6] have changed his name to Tradizione Bianconera in 2005.^[8]