Jair, Da Costa (San Paulo, Brazil, 9/7/40)
A vital element of Inter’s successful side of the 1960s, he spent an impressive nine seasons with the Nerazzurri taking just one break for a season at Roma. Signed from Portuguesa San Paulo in 1962 he immediately helped to take his new club to the title and proved a lethal part of Helenio Herrera’s counter-attacking style. A natural dribbler, he also proved to be a regular scorer particularly in his first three seasons at the club. As with all the players at Inter in that era his trophy cabinet was filled to breaking point with domestic, European and international silverware. This gifted winger also finished with 53 goals in just under 200 appearances for the Milanese giants.
Jarni, Robert (Cakovec, Croatia, 26/10/68)
The flying left-back seemed to improve with age as he became a more and more impressive player as his Serie A experience went on. A couple of decent years with Bari in the early 1990s saw him switch to Torino before leaping to the other side of the city for a year with Juventus. Then his talents saw him continue his career in Spain with the likes of Real Betis, Las Palmas and even a year with Real Madrid.
Jeppson, Hasse (Kungsbacka, Sweden, 10/5/25)
A star of the 1950 World Cup, this powerful forward left Italy with a stunning scoring record after six seasons at Atalanta, Napoli and Torino. He struck no fewer than 81 Serie A goals in this time and also became the first 100m lire player when he transferred between Bergamo and Naples in 1952.
Jordan, Joe (Carluke, Scotland, 15/12/51)
Nicknamed ‘Jaws’ because of his uncompromising attacking style and gap-toothed grin, he played with both Milan and Verona during his time in Italy in the early 1980s. His 10 goals helped to bring the Milanese giants out of Serie B in the 1982-83 season. Now head Coach at Portsmouth, he can be regularly heard as a television pundit covering the Italian game.
Junior (Joao Pessoa, Brazil, 29/6/54)
Although he came to Italy at the end of his career he enjoyed five good seasons with Torino and Pescara. A surprisingly hard worker in the centre of the midfield, he was brought to the peninsula by the Turin side as a 30-year-old in 1984. His contribution helped the Granata to a second place slot in his first season and it was only after a disappointing campaign in 1987 that they let him go. But he enjoyed another couple of seasons with Pescara before returning to Brazil to enjoy a good career in over 35s football.
Jugovic, Vladimir (Trstenik, Bosnia, 30/8/69)
A versatile and hard-working midfielder, he first came to the attention of Serie A sides when he was part of the great Red Star Belgrade team of the early 1990s. That persuaded Sampdoria to snap him up in 1992 and get three solid seasons out of him. He went on to Juventus, Lazio and Inter where he always contributed a decent level of form. He chipped in with a few goals along the way too, finishing with a respectable Serie A tally of 32 goals over his eight seasons.
Juliano, Antonio (Naples, 1/1/43)
A pillar of his hometown club, with just under 400 League appearances, his sublime midfield talents were never quite given the same recognition at international level. He still managed to pick up 18 caps for his country and one Italian Cup win in 1976 but it was small reward for a player of his talents. He played some 16 years in Naples before finishing his career with a farewell campaign in Bologna.
JUVENTUS (Founded: 1897. Stadio Delle Alpi - Capacity: 67,229)
Without a doubt the biggest club in the history of Italian football, their domestic record is without rival. Set up by a group of Turin students the team’s name, which means youth in Latin, conveys their intellectual past. It is this kind of aristocratic reputation that the club still carries to this day and provides the nickname ‘La Vecchia Signora’ - The Old Lady. The famous black and white colours did not come into existence until 1903 and in their early days Juve donned pink shirts with black bow ties - not the most practical outfit nowadays. It was not long before the Turin giants picked up their debut title and by 1905 they carried off the first of no fewer than 28 domestic League championships to date. It was something that the club definitely got a taste for. But it was not until the 1930s that Juve stamped their authority on Italian football and became the undisputed peoples’ champions with supporters clubs the length and breadth of the country. In the 1920s the Agnelli family took over the club and with the backing of the owners of FIAT, the domination of the club from Turin was complete. They brought professionalism and big pay packets into the game, signing up the stars of the little provincial clubs of the day. And they also splashed out cash and promises of cars to bring in foreign players like Luisito Monti, Raimondo Orsi and Renato Cesarini. Juve went on to win five titles on the trot with a team that shaped the way that Italian football would develop throughout its history. From that period in time onwards the team from Turin were never far away from the top of the table. Juve’s next golden age came in the 1950s, after the dominance of city rivals Torino, when the Bianconeri put together an awesome attack of Muccinelli, Martino, Boniperti, John Hansen and Praest. In particular Giampiero Boniperti was to become a symbol of the club with an astounding 444 games in Serie A and some 178 goals. Both of these were club records and both still stand today with little prospect of being surpassed in the modern era. In many ways Boniperti was the prototype of the Juve image that they would aim to portray throughout their history - a model professional of outstanding conduct away from the pitch. There are so many big names in the club’s history that it is impossible to mention them all but another incredible crop of talent was brought together in the 1970s and 1980s by Coach Giovanni Trapattoni. League titles by the barrel and every major European honour and world football trophy came to the club during his reign. Indeed from 1971 to 1986 the Italian title never went more than a couple of seasons without coming to the black and white half of Turin. Stars at that time were the likes of Roberto Bettega, Franco Causio, Paolo Rossi, Gaetano Scirea, Antonio Cabrini, Marco Tardelli and, after the foreign ban was lifted, Michel Platini and Zbigniew Boniek. It is in this all-conquering context that the relatively ‘bleak’ years of 1986 to 1995 must be viewed as Juve went nine seasons without taking the title. Although they were rarely out of the top five places, this was looked upon as one of the blackest periods in the club’s history and hence the huge celebrations for winning the League title in 1995. Juve followed this with a Champions League victory over Ajax on penalties in 1996 which went a long way to cancelling out the memories of the Heysel disaster, a tragedy that clouded their only other European Cup triumph. Under Marcello Lippi, the Zebras enjoyed another golden era as they won five Serie A titles under his stewardship before the arrival of Fabio Capello to take them to yet another crown in 2004-05. With all this domestic dominance, however, two European Cups seem small reward for a club with this pedigree and will be something they will be keen to address in years to come.
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