Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as
A.C. Milan or simply
Milan (ˈmiːlan), is a professional
Italian footballFootball is the most popular sport in Italy. The Italian national football team has won the FIFA World Cup 4 times , trailing only Brazil . Italy's club sides have won 27 major European trophies, making them the most successful European nation in the subject of football...
club based in
MilanMilan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
,
LombardyLombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...
, that plays in the
Serie ASerie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker
Herbert KilpinHerbert Kilpin was an English football pioneer, player and manager. He is best known as the founder of Italian club A.C. Milan.- Early years :...
and businessman Alfred Edwards among others. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982-83 seasons, in the top-flight of
Italian footballFootball is the most popular sport in Italy. The Italian national football team has won the FIFA World Cup 4 times , trailing only Brazil . Italy's club sides have won 27 major European trophies, making them the most successful European nation in the subject of football...
, known as
Serie ASerie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
since 1929.
They are the
currentThe 2011–12 Serie A is the eightieth season since its establishment, and the second under a league committee separate from Serie B. It began on 9 September 2011 and will end on 13 May 2012. The league was originally scheduled to start on 27 August, but this was delayed due to a strike by the players...
Italian football champions, and are the most successful club in world football in terms of international trophies along with
Boca JuniorsClub Atlético Boca Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Boca neighborhood of Buenos Aires. It is best known for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Primera División....
, with 18 officially recognized
UEFAThe Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....
and
FIFAThe Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...
titles. Milan has won four
world titles, more than any other club in the world, having won the
Intercontinental CupThe European/South American Cup, commonly referred to as the World Club Championship, Intercontinental Cup or Toyota Cup, was a football competition endorsed by UEFA and CONMEBOL, contested between the winners of the European Cup and the South American Copa Libertadores...
three times and the
FIFA Club World CupThe FIFA Club World Cup is a football competition between the champion clubs from all six continental confederations.The first FIFA Club World Championship took place in Brazil in January 2000...
once. Milan also won the
European Cup/Champions LeagueThe UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
on seven occasions, second only to
Real MadridReal Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
. They also won the UEFA Super Cup a record five times and the
Cup Winners' CupThe UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...
twice. Milan won every major competition in which it has competed, with the exception of the Europa League. Domestically, with 18 league titles Milan is the joint-second most successful club in
Serie ASerie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
behind
JuventusJuventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...
(27 titles), along with local rivals
InterFootball Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always...
. They have also won the
Coppa ItaliaThe Coppa Italia is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the second champions were not crowned until 1936. Roma and Juventus lead the way with nine wins. Roma has contested more finals, 16, while Torino and Juventus follow with 13...
five times, as well as a record six
Supercoppa ItalianaThe Supercoppa Italiana is a pre-season football competition held the week before the season begins in Italy every year. It is contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season, as a curtain raiser to the new season. It is usually played at the home of the Serie A...
triumphs. Furthermore, Milan is the only team to have won the Serie A without losing a game, doing so in 1991-92 during a 58-match unbeaten run.
Milan's home games are played at
San SiroThe Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, originally and commonly referred to as the San Siro because of its location, officially given its current name on 3 March 1980, is a football stadium located in the San Siro district in Milan, Italy. It is the home of both A.C. Milan and F.C. Internazionale Milano...
, also known as the
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. The stadium, which is shared with Inter, is the largest in Italian football, with a total capacity of 80,018. Inter are considered their biggest rivals, and matches between the two teams are called
Derby della MadonninaDerby della Madonnina, or the Milan Derby as it is sometimes known, is a football match between the Italian clubs Associazione Calcio Milan and Football Club Internazionale Milano. It is a hotly contested local derby and is one of the most followed derbies in football...
, which is one of the most followed derbies in football. As of 2010, Milan is the third most supported team in Italy, and the seventh most supported team in Europe, ahead of any other Italian team.
The owner of the club is former Italian Prime Minister
Silvio BerlusconiSilvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
, and the vice-president is
Adriano GallianiAdriano Galliani is an Italian entrepreneur who has been serving as vice-president and C.E.O. of Italian football club Associazione Calcio Milan since 1986. During his tenure as CEO, Milan have won five European Cup/UEFA Champions League titles and eight Serie A titles among other achievements and...
. The club is one of the wealthiest and most valuable in Italian and world football. It was a founding member of the now-defunct
G-14The G-14 was an organisation of European football clubs that existed between 2000 and 2008. It consisted of 14 teams initially, later expanded to 18...
group of Europe's leading football clubs as well as its replacement, the
European Club AssociationThe European Club Association is an organization representing football clubs in Europe- History :Formed on the dissolution of the G-14 group in January 2008, the European Club Association represents 201 clubs, made up of 103 ordinary members and 98 associated members, with at least one from each...
.
History
The club was founded as a football and cricket club on December 16, 1899 by British expatriates Alfred Edwards and
Herbert KilpinHerbert Kilpin was an English football pioneer, player and manager. He is best known as the founder of Italian club A.C. Milan.- Early years :...
, who came from the British city of
NottinghamNottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
. In honor of its British origins, the club has retained the English spelling of the
city'sA city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
name, as opposed to the Italian spelling
Milano which it was forced to bear under the
fascist regimeFascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
. Milan won its first Italian championship in
1901 and a further two in succession in
1906 and
1907.
In 1908, Milan experienced a split caused by internal disagreements over the signing of foreign players, which led to the forming of another Milan-based team,
InternazionaleFootball Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always...
. Following these events, Milan did not manage to win a single domestic title until 1950–51. The 1950s saw the club return to the top of Italian football, headed by the famous
Gre-No-LiGre-No-Li is a contraction of the surnames of three Swedish footballers: Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl and Nils Liedholm. The denomination was colloquially used after these players composed a formidable trio of strikers while playing for the Swedish national team and Italian club AC Milan in the...
SwedishSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
trio
Gunnar GrenGunnar Gren was a Swedish football player and coach. He is best known for playing for IFK Gothenburg and AC Milan. He was part of the famous "Gre-No-Li" trio of forwards at A.C. Milan and the Swedish national team...
,
Gunnar NordahlGunnar Nordahl was a Swedish football player, best known for his play in AC Milan 1949-1956.-Sweden:...
and
Nils LiedholmNils Liedholm was a Swedish football midfielder and coach. Il Barone , as he is affectionately known in Italy, was renowned for being part of Sweden's "Gre-No-Li" trio of strikers along with Gunnar Gren and Gunnar Nordahl at A.C. Milan and the Swedish national team...
. In 1963, Milan won its first continental title by beating Benfica in the final of the European Cup. This success was repeated in 1969, and followed by an
Intercontinental CupThe European/South American Cup, commonly referred to as the World Club Championship, Intercontinental Cup or Toyota Cup, was a football competition endorsed by UEFA and CONMEBOL, contested between the winners of the European Cup and the South American Copa Libertadores...
title the same year. After the retirement of
Gianni RiveraGiovanni Rivera is an Italian former football midfielder, mostly as an offensive playmaker, who was awarded the Ballon d'Or, one of the most prestigious individual awards in football, in 1969. He played the majority of his career with Serie A side A.C. Milan...
in 1979, Milan went into a period of decline, during which it was involved in the
1980 Totonero scandalTotonero 1980 or Totonero was a scandal of match fixing in Italy in 1980 in Italian Serie A and Serie B. It was uncovered on 23 March 1980 by the Guardia di Finanza, after the spalling of two Roman shopkeepers, Alvaro Trinca and Massimo Cruciani, who declared that some Italian football players sold...
and relegated to
Serie BSerie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...
as punishment, for the first time in its history. The scandal was centered around a betting syndicate paying players and officials to fix the outcome of matches. Milan quickly returned to
Serie ASerie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
, but was again relegated to
Serie BSerie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...
one year later as the team ended its 1981–82 campaign in third last place.
On February 20, 1986 entrepreneur
Silvio BerlusconiSilvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
acquired the club and saved it from bankruptcy investing vast amounts of money, appointing rising manager
Arrigo SacchiArrigo Sacchi is an Italian football coach. He is best known for his success coaching Italian teams, particularly with Milan where he won back to back European Cups as coach in the late eighties where he was head coach of the Italy national football team . He was twice manager of A.C...
at the helm of the
Rossoneri and signing the
DutchThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
trio of
Ruud GullitOON is a Dutch football manager and former football player, who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s. He was the captain of the Netherlands national team that was victorious at Euro 88 and was also a member of the squad for the 1990 World Cup. He was named the European Footballer of the...
,
Marco van Basten and
Frank RijkaardFranklin Edmundo Rijkaard is a Dutch football manager of Dutch and Surinamese descent and former player. Rijkaard has played for Ajax, Real Zaragoza and Milan, and represented his national side 73 times, scoring 10 goals. In his coaching career, he has been at the helm of the Dutch national side,...
. This was the beginning of arguably the most successful era in Milan's history, as they won eight domestic titles, one
Coppa ItaliaThe Coppa Italia is an Italian football annual cup competition. Its first edition was held in 1922, but the second champions were not crowned until 1936. Roma and Juventus lead the way with nine wins. Roma has contested more finals, 16, while Torino and Juventus follow with 13...
, five
Supercoppa ItalianaThe Supercoppa Italiana is a pre-season football competition held the week before the season begins in Italy every year. It is contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season, as a curtain raiser to the new season. It is usually played at the home of the Serie A...
, five
Champions LeagueThe UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
trophies, five UEFA Super Cups, two
Intercontinental CupIntercontinental Cup may refer to:*Intercontinental Cup , a world football competition run by UEFA and CONMEBOL*ICC Intercontinental Cup, a first-class cricket competition run by the International Cricket Council for 12 of its associate members...
s and one
FIFA Club World CupThe FIFA Club World Cup is a football competition between the champion clubs from all six continental confederations.The first FIFA Club World Championship took place in Brazil in January 2000...
. That successful team has been voted the best club side of all time, in a global poll of experts conducted by
World Soccer magazineWorld Soccer is an English language football magazine published by IPC Media. It specialises in the international football scene. Its regular contributing writers include Brian Glanville, Sid Lowe and Tim Vickery. World Soccer is a member of the European Sports Magazines , an umbrella group of...
. It had reached its peak in one Milan's most memorable matches of all time, the famous 4-0 win over F.C. Barcelona in the 1994 UEFA Champions League Final. In the 1998-99 season, after a two-year period of decline, Milan lifted its 16th championship in the club's centenary celebrations.
More recently, the club was involved in the 2006 Serie A scandal, nicknamed
Calciopoli, where five teams were accused of fixing matches by selecting favorable referees. A police inquiry excluded any involvement of Milan managers, but FIGC unilaterally decided that it had sufficient evidence to charge Milan vice-president,
Adriano GallianiAdriano Galliani is an Italian entrepreneur who has been serving as vice-president and C.E.O. of Italian football club Associazione Calcio Milan since 1986. During his tenure as CEO, Milan have won five European Cup/UEFA Champions League titles and eight Serie A titles among other achievements and...
. As a result, Milan was initially punished with a 15 point deduction and consequently did not qualify for the Champions League. An appeal saw that penalty reduced to eight points, which allowed the club to retain its 2006–07 Champions League participation. Milan subsequently won the competition, lifting the European Cup for the
seventhThe 2007 UEFA Champions League Final was an association football match between A.C. Milan of Italy and Liverpool F.C. of England on 23 May 2007 at the Olympic Stadium, Athens, Greece. The showpiece event was the final match of the 2006–07 season of Europe's premier cup competition, the UEFA...
time.
Following the aftermath of Calciopoli, local rivals Internazionale dominated Serie A, winning four Scudetti. However, with the help a strong squad boasting players such as
Zlatan IbrahimovićZlatan Ibrahimović is a Swedish footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Milan and the Swedish national team for which he is captain....
,
RobinhoRobson de Souza , more commonly known as Robinho, is a Brazilian professional footballer who currently plays as second striker and winger for Serie A club AC Milan...
and
Alexandre PatoAlexandre Rodrigues da Silva , commonly known as Alexandre Pato or simply Pato, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Italian Serie A club Milan and the Brazilian national team. His nickname, Pato, refers to his place of birth, Pato Branco...
joining many of the old-guard, Milan recaptured the Scudetto in the
2010-11 Serie A seasonThe 2010–11 Serie A was the 79th season since its establishment, the first under a league committee separate from Serie B. It began on 28 August 2010 and ended on 22 May 2011...
, their first since the 2003-04 season, and 18th overall.
Colors and badge
Red and black are the colors which represented the club throughout its entire history. They were chosen to represent the players' fiery ardor (red) and the opponents' fear to challenge the team (black).
Rossoneri, the team's widely-used nickname, literally means "the red & blacks" in Italian, in reference to the colors of the stripes on its jersey.
Another nickname derived from the club's colors is
the Devil. An image of a red devil was used as Milan's logo at one point with a
Golden Star for Sport ExcellenceIn association football, some national and club sides include one or more stars as part of the crest appearing on their shirt, to represent important trophies the team has previously won. Sometimes this is a unilateral decision by the team concerned rather than a privilege earned and sanctioned...
located next to it. As is customary in Italian football, the star above the logo was awarded to the club after winning 10 league titles, in 1979. For many years, Milan's badge was simply the
Flag of MilanThe flag of Milan consists of a red cross in a white field or cloud, and inspired that of Genoa. This flag with red cross is in fact the flag of St. Ambrose , the city patron and also the saint whom the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio is dedicated to....
, which was originally the flag of Saint Ambrose. The modern badge used today represents the club colors and the flag of the
ComuneIn Italy, the comune is the basic administrative division, and may be properly approximated in casual speech by the English word township or municipality.-Importance and function:...
di MilanMilan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
o, with the acronym
ACM at the top and the foundation year (1899) at the bottom.
White shorts and black socks are usually worn as part of the home strip. Milan's away strip has always been completely white. It is considered by both the fans and the club to be a lucky strip in Champions League finals, due to the fact that Milan has won six finals out of eight in an all white strip (losing only to Ajax in 1995 and
LiverpoolLiverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
in 2005), and only won one out of three in the home strip. The third strip, which is rarely used, changes yearly, being mostly black with red trimmings in recent seasons.
Stadium
The team's stadium is the 80,018 seat
San SiroThe Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, originally and commonly referred to as the San Siro because of its location, officially given its current name on 3 March 1980, is a football stadium located in the San Siro district in Milan, Italy. It is the home of both A.C. Milan and F.C. Internazionale Milano...
, officially known as
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza after the former player who represented both Milan and
InternazionaleFootball Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always...
. The more commonly used name,
San SiroThe Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, originally and commonly referred to as the San Siro because of its location, officially given its current name on 3 March 1980, is a football stadium located in the San Siro district in Milan, Italy. It is the home of both A.C. Milan and F.C. Internazionale Milano...
, is the name of the district where it's located. San Siro has been the home of Milan since 1926, when it was privately built by funding from Milan's president at the time, Piero Pirelli. Construction was performed by 120 workers, and took 13 and a half months to complete. The stadium was owned by the club until it was sold to the city council in 1935, and since 1947 has been shared with Internazionale, when the other major
MilanMilan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
ese club was accepted as joint tenant.
The first game played at the stadium was on 19 September 1926, when Milan lost 6-3 in a friendly match against Internazionale. Milan played its first league game in San Siro on September 19 1926, losing 1-2 to Sampierdarenese. From an initial capacity of 35,000 spectators, the stadium has undergone several major renovations, most recently in preparation for the
1990 FIFA World CupThe 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event twice. Teams representing 116 national football associations from all six populated...
when its capacity was set to 85,700, all covered with a polycarbonate roof. In the summer of 2008 its capacity has been reduced to 80,018, in order to meet the new standards set by
UEFAThe Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....
.
Based on the English model for stadiums, San Siro is specifically designed for football matches, as opposed to many multi-purpose stadiums used in Serie A. It is therefore renowned in Italy for its fantastic atmosphere during matches, thanks to the closeness of the stands to the pitch. The frequent use of
flaresA flare, also sometimes called a fusee, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a brilliant light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for signalling, illumination, or defensive countermeasures in civilian and military applications...
by supporters contributes to the atmosphere but the practice has occasionally caused problems.
On 19 December 2005, Milan vice-president and executive director
Adriano GallianiAdriano Galliani is an Italian entrepreneur who has been serving as vice-president and C.E.O. of Italian football club Associazione Calcio Milan since 1986. During his tenure as CEO, Milan have won five European Cup/UEFA Champions League titles and eight Serie A titles among other achievements and...
announced that the club is seriously working towards a relocation. He said that Milan's new stadium will be largely based on the
Veltins-ArenaVeltins-Arena is a football stadium in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It opened in 2001, as the new home ground for German Bundesliga club Schalke 04....
and will follow the standards of football stadiums in the United States, Germany and Spain. As opposed to many other stadiums in Italy, Milan's new stadium will likely be used for football only, having no athletics track. The new stadium's naming rights will be probably sold to a sponsor, similarly to
ArsenalArsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
's
Emirates StadiumAshburton Grove, currently known as the Emirates Stadium, is a UEFA elite football stadium which is home to Arsenal FC, where they moved from Highbury in 2006. It has an current capacity of 60,361, and there have been rumours of an expansion...
. It remains to be seen if this plan will proceed or if this is just a ploy to force the owners (Comune di Milano) to sell the stadium to Milan for a nominal fee so as to proceed with extensive renovations. The possibility of
InternazionaleFootball Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always...
vacating San Siro may affect proceedings.
Supporters and rivalries
Milan is one of the best supported football clubs in Italy, according to research conducted by Italian newspaper
La Repubblicala Repubblica is an Italian daily general-interest newspaper. Founded in 1976 in Rome by the journalist Eugenio Scalfari, as of 2008 is the second largest circulation newspaper, behind the Corriere della Sera.-Foundation:...
. Historically, Milan was supported by the city's working-class and
trade unionA trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
ists, a section of whom were migrants from Southern Italy. On the other hand, crosstown rivals
InternazionaleFootball Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always...
were mainly supported by the more prosperous and typically Milanese middle-class.
One of the oldest
ultrasUltras are a type of sports fans renowned for their fanatical support and elaborate displays. They are predominantly European followers of football teams...
groups in all of Italian football,
Fossa dei LeoniThe Fossa dei Leoni, also referred to by the acronym FdL, was an association of ultras supporters of Italian professional football club Associazione Calcio Milan...
, originated in Milan. Currently, the main ultras group within the support base is
Brigate Rossonere. Politically, Milan ultras have never had any particular preference, but the media traditionally associated them with the
left-wingIn politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
, until recently, when Berlusconi's presidency somewhat altered that view.
According to a study from 2010, Milan is the most supported Italian team in Europe and seventh overall, with over 18.4 million fans.
GenoaGenoa Cricket and Football Club, commonly referred to simply as Genoa , is a professional Italian football club based in the city of Genoa, Liguria...
fans consider Milan a hated rival after Genoa fan, Vincenzo Spagnolo was stabbed to death by a Milan supporter in January 1995. However, Milan's main rivalry is with neighbor club, Internazionale; both clubs meet in the widely anticipated
Derby della MadonninaDerby della Madonnina, or the Milan Derby as it is sometimes known, is a football match between the Italian clubs Associazione Calcio Milan and Football Club Internazionale Milano. It is a hotly contested local derby and is one of the most followed derbies in football...
twice every Serie A season. The name of the derby refers to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose statue atop the Milan Cathedral is one of the city's main attractions. The match usually creates a lively atmosphere, with numerous (often humorous or offensive) banners unfolded before the start of the game.
FlaresA flare, also sometimes called a fusee, is a type of pyrotechnic that produces a brilliant light or intense heat without an explosion. Flares are used for signalling, illumination, or defensive countermeasures in civilian and military applications...
are commonly present and contribute to the spectacle but they have occasionally led to problems, including the abandonment of the second leg of the 2004–05 Champions League quarterfinal match between Milan and Inter on 12 April 2005, after a flare thrown from the crowd by an Inter supporter struck Milan keeper Dida on the shoulder.
First team squad
.
Out on loan
Co-ownership
Notable players
Retired numbers
| No. |
Player |
Nationality |
Position |
Milan debut |
Last match |
Ref |
| 3* |
|
|
Centre back / Left back |
|
|
|
| 6 |
|
|
Sweeper |
|
|
|
* Might be restored for one of his two sons, should either of them play professionally for the club.
Current coaching staff
.
| Position |
Name |
| Head coach |
Massimiliano Allegri |
| Assistant coach |
Mauro Tassotti Mauro Tassotti is a retired Italian footballer. He played for seventeen years with A.C. Milan, mostly at right back but could also fill in at centre back if required, thanks to his versatility and commitment...
|
| Goalkeeping coaches |
Marco Landucci Marco Landucci is a retired Italian professional football player.He is currently a goalkeeper coach, along with Valerio Fiori for Serie A club A.C. Milan.-External links:*...
|
| Valerio Fiori Valerio Fiori is an Italian former professional footballer, who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently a goalkeeping coach at Serie A club Milan.-Career:...
|
| Technical assistant |
Andrea Maldera |
| Medical director |
Rodolfo Tavana |
| Club doctors |
Armando Gozzini |
| Stefano Mazzoni |
| Athletic Trainer Manager |
Daniele Tognaccini |
| Fitness coaches |
Simone Folletti |
| Fabio Allevi |
| Bruno Dominici |
| Sergio Mascheroni |
| Andrea Primitivi |
| Agostino Tibaudi |
| Chiropractor |
Kristian Baekkel |
| Physiotherapists |
Dario Lorenzo Fort |
| Stefano Grani |
| Roberto Morosi |
| Marco Paesanti |
| Masseurs |
Roberto Boerci |
| Endo Tomoroni |
Presidential history
Milan has had numerous presidents over the course of its history, some of whom have been owners of the club while others have been honorary presidents. Here is a complete list of them.
G. Lorenzini
Rino Valdameri
|align=left|1935–1936
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| Name |
Years |
| Emilio Colombo |
1936–1939 |
| Achille Invernizzi |
1939–1940 |
| Umberto Trabattoni |
1940–1944 |
| Antonio Busini Antonio Busini was an Italian professional football player, coach and official.He played for 8 seasons in the Serie A for Bologna F.C...
|
1944–1945 |
| Umberto Trabattoni |
1945–1954 |
| Andrea Rizzoli |
1954–1963 |
| Felice Riva |
1963–1965 |
| Federico Sordillo |
1965–1966 |
| Franco Carraro |
1967–1971 |
| Federico Sordillo |
1971–1972 |
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| Name |
Years |
| Albino Buticchi |
1972–1975 |
| Bruno Pardi |
1975–1976 |
| Vittorio Duina |
1976–1977 |
| Felice Colombo |
1977–1980 |
| Gaetano Morazzoni |
1980–1982 |
| Giuseppe Farina |
1982–1986 |
| Rosario Lo Verde |
1986 |
Silvio BerlusconiSilvio Berlusconi , also known as Il Cavaliere – from knighthood to the Order of Merit for Labour which he received in 1977 – is an Italian politician and businessman who served three terms as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006, and 2008 to 2011. Berlusconi is also the...
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1986–2004 |
| Presidential Commission |
2004–2006 |
| Silvio Berlusconi |
2006– |
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Below is a list of Milan coaches from 1900 until the present day.