Welcome to the Strip Club—Popping the Cherry

One of the soccer blogs I follow, AvoidingtheDrop.com, started a feature in which the author goes back and talks about old shirts/jerseys (kits or strips for the uniformed) he has purchased and assorted memories of those teams and moments in time. Here is Fuse’s first post: http://avoidingthedrop.com/2010/04/13/coming-out-of-the-closet-with-fuse/ @UFJacob does the same thing on UnprofessionalFoul.com (The Good, The Bad, The WTF). I loved the idea, and thought I would do the same. My memory sucks, so I will do the best I can.

I’m pretty sure the first jersey I purchased was the Juventus home kit for the 95-97 seasons:

The jersey is beautiful in its simplicity: simple black and white lines and a sponsor logo that is not overpowering. The club did something unique for a while, in that the club crest was either not visible or barely visible in this case, with the crest at the base of the collar, and this continued until the 99/00 season. Presumably it was left out because the Bianconeri were winning the Scudetto every year and were honored with the shield. (Suck it AC Milan and Inter!)

As for my history with Juventus, I fell in love with them because of Roberto Baggio. He was my favorite player of USA 94 and when I found out he was on this team from Italy, I started following them. Of course he was transferred to AC Milan after the 94-95 season, but I heard about this young player named Del Piero, so I stayed with the Black and Whites. I watched almost every match during their dramatic run to the 1996 European Final (I missed a lot of class), which culminated with a win over Ajax, and I was hooked. Ravanelli scored the opening goal from almost no angle and then Jugovic struck the winning penalty in the shootout. An amazing night. I was working for the government in Birmingham, AL during that summer and had a little extra cash, so I splurged for the jersey of the European Club Champions.

Since then Juventus has become one of the main teams I follow, from the cycle of three straight Champions League Finals in the mid-90’s to the shame and disappointment of Calciopoli to the heroic Serie B campaign to the rebuilding that now continues under Del Neri. They are still some distance from the Scudetto and being European contenders, but after the complete cluster of last season, the team is on the up.

Due to advent of futbol on TV, social media and the internet, I can now follow the club in a way I could never have dreamed 15 years ago.

Here some great sites I go to and people I follow on twitter:

Juventini

Adam Digby who writes at http://iltifosi.tumblr.com/ @adz77

Juventus Offside http://juventus.theoffside.com/ @Juventus Offside

People on Twitter:

@juvefcdotcom

@Blanda_Amania

@TeamGREASE

@ciociaro78

@Aaron_West86

Journalists

Gabriele Marcotti from several publications @Marcotti

Paolo Bandini from the Guardian @Paolo_Bandini

Serie Aaaaargh! from Four Four Two

Roberto Gotta from Soccernet

PS, One of my favorite jerseys ever from Juventus is the away strip from the 95-96 season:

I check eBay ever once in a while but have yet to pull the trigger. Maybe one day.

Ravanelli’s Moment of Glory:

Check out classicfootballshirts.co.uk for more.

Make sure to keep your hands to yourself, tip your dancer and stay classy.