Everybody Loves Juve

By: Martha | July 16th, 2007

The good old days. This weekend, La Gazzetta dello Sport published the results of a poll (print-only, as far as I can tell) in which they ask Italians which football team they support.* The runaway winners, not surprisingly, were Juve, who were loved by over 17% of participants despite that humiliating stint in Serie B. Juve have long been the most popular team in Italy; frankly, I’m surprise the number isn’t higher than that.

Coming second and third are just who you’d expect: Milan had the support of just over 12% of the poll’s participants and Inter were third with 11%. Interestingly, the younger generation overwhelmingly supports Milan, which I guess is a credit to Berlusconi’s money, and his obsessive (and successful) desire the expand and grow the team’s brand. Plus, having Kaka and a few shiny new trophies probably doesn’t hurt, either.

Inter, meanwhile, were the favorite of the old folks (Which doesn’t surprise me since I love them and am, emotionally, an 80-year-old woman.), presumably because the last time they had a strong run of success was in the 1960s. Yes, it really was that long ago. Plus, younger Inter fans have apparently been jumping ship out of disgust at the recent dry run, the bastards. Go on then, we didn’t want you anyway! Punks.

*I know Napoli were a distant fourth, but if anyone saw the actual poll feel free to provide anymore details in the comments. I failed to buy a pink paper yesterday so have no clue what the further rankings were.