Brunswick Juventus Football Club was founded in 1948 by Italian migrants in Melbourne and our history is deeply embedded in Melbourne’s migrant past.
Our very early history is fascinating! A monk by the name of Agostino Francesco Galanti served as a chaplain in the Italian army. He was captured in Libya and sent to a prisoner of war camp in Victoria, Australia. Upon his release, he would remain in Australia and become a part of an already established Italian community.
As a monk who loved football, he believed that establishing a community football club would offer the youth in the Italian community a healthy and sportive outlet. He enlisted the services of friend Rino Fontana, who had been a member of the earlier Savoia football team.
A community meeting gathered in 1948 and the club Brunswick Juventus was born, named in honour of the great Turin club because of the name’s political neutrality (Virtus was also considered). The club agreed on the main principles of political-neatrality and admission to all, regardless of background and city a person was born in (at this time, Italy itself was considered a newly formed country, with some division still remaining to this day).
The early days of the club revolved around heavy running and fitness training and all other assorted methods to get an amateur football club combative, and the club eventually was promoted into the Victorian State Second Division in its third year and then into the First Division in its fifth.
Brunswick Juventus has been a prominent institution in the Victorian soccer landscape since the 1950s and our success became national in the 1985, where we became Australian champions.
Through years of football reform, Brunswick Juventus has fostered a sense of identity and community through football and has continued to grow, emerging as one of the most popular and culturally diverse football clubs in Victoria.
We have been represented by many Socceroos over the years, including the likes of Mark Bresciano, Danny Tiatto, Paul Wade, Mike Petersen, Mehmet Durakovic, Andrew Zinni, Fausto De Amicis, Billy Celeski and Michael Theoklitos.
