Giampiero Boniperti died during the night in Turin because of heart failure. He would have turned 93 in July. First as a player and then as an executive, he was directly involved in the club for almost 50 years. He coined the motto: “Winning is not important: it is the only thing that matters.”
Boniperti collected 444 appearances with the Bianconeri, forming a legendary trident with John Charles and Omar Sivori in the late ’50s. An elegant and prolific striker during the early stages of his career, he became a midfielder and a fine assist-man later on. He was the capocannoniere of the Serie A once in 1947/1948.
Boniperti won five Scudetti and two Coppa Italia and scored 188 goals. He was a Juventus lifer, his only club since he was 17 until he retired at 33. The former forward currently holds the record for most goals (14) in the Derby versus Torino. He also collected 38 caps with Italy.
His contribution to the history of the team was equally, if not more, meaningful behind the desk. He spent 20 years as the president, leading the Old Lady to its first international trophies. He was a well-known disciplinarian and signed countless top players during his tenure, often unearthing them.
Giuseppe Furino, Roberto Bettega, Paolo Rossi, Gateano Scirea, Antonio Cabrini, Mauro Tardelli, Franco Causio, and Alessandro De Piero are all part of the group. He shared a good chunk of his era with Giovanni Trapattoni on the bench, whom he bet on when he had not broken through yet. Boniperti currently remains one of the winningest directors of all time. He became the honorary president in 2006 after Calciopoli.