Brunswick Juventus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Brunswick Juventus are an Australian football (soccer) club from Brunswick, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The club was formed in 1948 as 'Juventus' by Italian migrants from an amalgamation of several smaller clubs. The club was a participant in the National Soccer League, where they were champions in 1985, and Victorian Premier League, in which they won eight titles. In 1996, the senior side was merged with Bulleen Lions and Box Hill Inter to form the Bulleen Inter Kings, who later changed their name to Bulleen Zebras. Brunswick still maintain separate junior sides.

[edit] History

Brunswick Juventus were the dominant side of Victorian football in the 1950's, winning six titles, including five consecutive titles from 1952-1956, and were arguably the club which ushered in the European migrant dominance of Victorian football which remains to this day. In the 1960's while the club remained more than competitive, the rise of other migrant clubs, principally South Melbourne, saw this dominance ended, and they would have to wait until 1970 to add to their collection.

The club largely struggled in the league during the 1970's after their 1970 championship, though there were also four Dockerty Cup wins during this time. The club was not a foundation member of the NSL in 1977. In 1980 the club changed its name from Juventus to Brunswick United Juventus. When the NSL created the conference system in 1984, Brunswick finally joined the national league ranks, and after reaching the finals in their debut season, followed it up with their greatest achievement, the 1985 NSL title, defeating Heidelberg, South Melbourne and Preston in the southern conference playoffs before eventually defeating Sydney City over two legs in the Grand Final.

1986 saw Brunswick finish first on the southern conference table, but consecutive losses to Adelaide City and Footscray JUST in the finals ended their season, and the last in which they were to be a force at national league level. An eighth place finish in 1987 was followed by a 13th place finish in 1988 and relegation to the state leagues where decent performances saw them win their eighth Victorian title in 1991. Rejoining the NSL for the 1993/94 season as Brunswick Pumas and later Melbourne Zebras, the club struggled for two seasons before in 1996 entering into the merger which would become the Bulleen Zebras.