Photos by Stefano Romagnoli, Stadium Journey
Stadium Info FANFARE Score: 4.29
Allianz Stadium Strada Comunale di Altessano, 131 Turin, Piedmont 10128 Italy
Year Opened: 2011 Capacity: 41,254
Rebuilt from the Ground Up in Torino
Juventus Stadium is the new home of Juventus Football Club, a team founded in 1897. The facility has been built on the same site of Stadio delle Alpi, a stadium built for the 1990 FIFA World Cup and home of Juventus Football Club from 1990 to 2005. While Stadio delle Alpi was state-of-the-art when opened for the World Cup matches, a major problem was the inclusion of an athletics track, which forced the stands to be much further away from the pitch than desirable.
In 2003, Juventus bought Stadio delle Alpi outright from the city of Turin (“Torino” in Italian), and demolished it beginning in November 2008. Playing from 2006 to 2011 in Stadio Olimpico (the home of the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin), they started construction on Juventus Stadium in 2009, and moved in on its completion in 2011. Because of this, as of this posting, Juventus Stadium is the only Italian football (soccer) club-owned facility, a source of great pride for the team.
Juventus Stadium was opened on September 2011, with a friendly match between Juventus FC vs Notts County FC. The first official Serie A match was Juventus FC vs Parma FC, on 11 September 2011, and Stephan Lichtsteiner was the first player to score a goal. On 10 September 2013, the Italian national football team played a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against the Czech Republic. In this match, Italy conquered the Czechs, earning victory number 400 in the national team’s history.
On 14 May 2014, the final match of the 43rd season of Europe’s secondary club football tournament called the UEFA Europa League will be held at Juventus Stadium.
(Note: all exchange rates are as of the time of this posting, October 2013.)
Food & Beverage 5
There are 21 cafés and 8 food courts at Juventus Stadium where supporters can buy various drinks and can eat many dishes, such as sandwiches or hot dogs, pasta or desserts, and even candy or popcorn. Access to the café or food courts is related to the area of the stadium from where the fan is watching the game.
Outside Juventus Stadium, there is Area12, a covered shopping centre with its own food court. During competitions, there are peddlers of typical Italian sandwiches all around the facility.
Atmosphere 5
Juventus Stadium has approximately 41,000 seats, 2,099 of which are reserved for visiting fans. The distance between the field and the first seat is about 7.5 meters, while the distance between the field and the last row in the stand is about 49 meters. This is important, because this a massive improvement from Stadio delle Alpi and its infamous athletics track; as you can imagine, there was no athletics track added to the new stadium. The benches, unusual for Italy, are in the English style, meaning that they are positioned in the stands, instead of just outside the field (as is the case in all other facilities in Italy).
Above both the north and south stands, there are two lighted boards that, before the match, show images of old matches and supporters present in the facility alike. When Juventus enter in the field, lighted boards show the name of each player, and the supporters repeat their names.
The seats in the east stands are coloured black and white, and depict hand drawings of two players. The seats in the north and south stands are coloured black, white, and yellow, and are arranged to show three stars, each of these symbolizing ten titles in the Italian Serie A championship.
In the west stands, the supporters will find “Club Gianni e Umberto Agnelli”, up to the midfield; “T100” beside the benches; “Club Giampiero Boniperti”; and “Club Omar Sivori” on first or second ring. Each of these areas benefits of particular services, such as catering for Club Agnelli, seats with LCD monitors for both Club Agnelli and T100, and parking reserved for T100. The “Sky Box” and “Legends Club” areas are also in the west stand. The Sky Box area contains lounges where fans can follow the match comfortably, complete with LCD monitors, catering service, and reserved parking. In addition, the Sky Box area is available throughout the week (from 8am to 8pm) for business meetings. The Legends Club, opened on August 2013, is an exclusive hospitality area.
On the main floor, just before the stands, there is a walk of fame with 50 big yellow stars that represent 50 best players in the history of Juventus Football Club. All around each of big yellow stars, there are many little stars with the names of supporters that participated to the “Accendi una Stella” (“Light a Star”) Project.
Often the facility is sold-out. This is especially true during the most important matches against Inter Milan (named “Derby d’Italia”), AC Milan, Roma, Lazio, Napoli, Torino (named “Derby della Mole”, for Turin’s famous Mole Antonelliana), and Fiorentina.
Neighborhood 3
Juventus Stadium was constructed on a site named Cascina Continassa, in the neighbourhood Le Vallette, which is a suburb located to the northwest of Turin, between Turin and the city of Venaria Reale. Near the facility, there is Area12, a covered shopping centre. This is where the Juventus Store is located, complete with official merchandising of Juventus Football Club (shirts, balls, soccer shoes, gadgets, etc.).
Fans 4
The most passionate fans of Juventus Football Club follow matches from the South Stand. However, the Juventus Stadium is also a facility for families; for example, there is also baby park for children between three and six years old.
Access 5
Juventus Stadium is near intermediate road E64 (Torino-Milano-Brescia). Because of the close proximity to E64, one can arrive via other routes, as well. All around the facility, there are 4,000 parking places. Public buses are available from the stadium to Turin’s city centre, the Porta Susa train station, or directly to Caselle international Airport.
Return on Investment 4
In the 2013-14 Serie A season, ticket prices range between a minimum of €25 ($34) for the north and south stands, and a maximum of €140 ($190.15) for some seats in the east stand. But there are various discounts, and it is better to check the official website of Juventus Football Club in the tickets section for all the offers available.
Extras 4
Every day, patrons can visit the JMuseum and can buy the ticket for the tour of facility. The JMuseum is the museum of Juventus Football Club. Inside, there are the cups and trophies they won, some official shirts of new and old players, old captain’s armbands and old soccer shoes, and old tickets and press clippings. The last room is circular, surrounded by videos of goals Juventus scored are shown.
During the tour of facility the visitors can go also in the Dressing Room, the Press Room, and the VIP Section.
Before the matches, patrons can visit Area12 and Juventus Store.
The city of Turin was Italy’s first capital, from 1861 to 1865. While there are various sights and museums to visit, the city is famous for the Fiat motor company and for chocolate factories (the typical chocolate is called gianduiotto). The centre of Turin is about 20 minutes from facility.
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