A.C. Milan

Milan

Full name	Associazione Calcio Milan SpA
Nickname(s)	i Rossoneri (The Red and Blacks) il Diavolo (The Devil)
Founded	16 December 1899[1]
Ground	San Siro, Milan, Italy (Capacity: 80,074[2])
Owner	Silvio Berlusconi
President	Vacant [3]
Head coach	Massimiliano Allegri[4]
League	Serie A
2009–10	Serie A, 3rd
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmiːlan]), is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. The club was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin, Alfred Edwards, and four other Englishmen^[5][6] and has spent most of its history in Serie A, the top league of Italian football, having spent only two years in Serie B in the 1980s.^[5]

The club has won 18 officially recognized UEFA and FIFA international titles,^[7] and remains tied with Boca Juniors as having won the most in the world. Milan has won four world titles,^[7] more than any other club in the world, having won the Intercontinental Cup three times and the FIFA Club World Cup once.^[7] Milan has won the European Cup/Champions League on seven occasions;^[7] only Real Madrid has exceeded this total.^[8] The club has also won the UEFA Super Cup a record five times and the Cup Winners' Cup twice.^[7]

Domestically, Milan has won 17 league titles, making the club the third most successful in Serie A behind local rivals Internazionale (18 titles) and record-holder Juventus (27 titles).^[9] The club has also won the Coppa Italia five times, in addition to five Supercoppa Italiana triumphs.^[7] The UEFA Cup (Europa League) remains the only major competition for which the team are eligible to compete that they have never won. Milan was a founding member of the G-14 group and the European Club Association that was formed following the first organization's dissolution.^[10]

Milan's home games are played at San Siro, 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 80,074.^[2] The owner of the club is Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi while the vice-president is Adriano Galliani. Milan is one of the wealthiest clubs in Italian and world football.^[11]

History

Herbert Kilpin, the first captain of A.C. Milan

The club was founded as a cricket club in 1899 by British expatriates Alfred Edwards and Herbert Kilpin,^[6] who came from the British city of Nottingham. In honor of its origins, the club has retained the English spelling of its city's name, instead of changing it to the Italian Milano, although it was forced to do so during the fascist regime. Milan won its first Italian championship in 1901 and a further two in succession in 1906 and 1907.^[5]

In 1908, the club experienced a split caused by internal disagreements over the signing of foreign players, which led to the forming of another Milan-based team, Internazionale.^[12] Following these events, Milan did not manage to win a single domestic title until 1950–51.^[7] In 1963, the club ensured its first continental title by beating Benfica in the final of the European Cup.^[13] This success was repeated in 1969, and followed by an Intercontinental Cup title the same year.^[7] After the retirement of Gianni Rivera, Milan went into a period of decline, during which the club was involved in the 1980 Totonero scandal and relegated to Serie B as punishment,^[14] 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.^[14] Milan quickly returned to Serie A but was relegated to Serie B one year later as the team ended its 1981–82 campaign in third last place.

In 1986, entrepreneur Silvio Berlusconi acquired the club and immediately invested a lot of money in the team,^[15] appointing rising coach Arrigo Sacchi at the helm of the rossoneri and signing a Dutch trio of Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten and Frank Rijkaard.^[15] This was the beginning of the most successful time in the club's history, as Milan won seven domestic titles, five Champions League trophies, five UEFA Super Cups, two Intercontinental Cups and one Fifa Club World Cup.^[7]

More recently, the club was involved in the 2006 Serie A scandal where five teams were accused of fixing matches by selecting favorable referees.^[16] A police inquiry excluded any involvement of Milan managers, but FIGC unilaterally decided that it had sufficient evidence to charge Milan vice-president, Adriano Galliani. 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,^[17] which allowed the club to retain its 2006–07 Champions League participation. Milan subsequently won the competition, lifting the European Cup for the seventh time.^[18]

Players

First team squad

As of 31 August 2010.^[19]
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Marco Amelia (on loan from Genoa)[20] 5 DF Oguchi Onyewu 7 FW Alexandre Pato 8 MF Gennaro Gattuso (vice-captain) 9 FW Filippo Inzaghi 10 MF Clarence Seedorf 13 DF Alessandro Nesta 14 MF Rodney Strasser 15 DF Sokratis Papastathopoulos 16 MF Mathieu Flamini 17 DF Massimo Oddo 18 DF Marek Jankulovski 19 DF Gianluca Zambrotta 20 MF Ignazio Abate 21 MF Andrea Pirlo

No. Position Player 22 FW Marco Borriello 23 MF Massimo Ambrosini (captain) 25 DF Daniele Bonera 27 MF Kevin-Prince Boateng 30 GK Flavio Roma 32 GK Christian Abbiati 33 DF Thiago Silva 76 DF Mario Yepes 77 DF Luca Antonini 80 FW Ronaldinho 90 FW Nnamdi Oduamadi — DF Bruno Montelongo (on loan from River Plate)[21] — FW Zlatan Ibrahimović (on loan from Barcelona)[22] — FW Robinho

For recent transfers, see 2010–11 A.C. Milan season.

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player GK Ferdinando Coppola (at Siena until 30 June 2011)[23] GK Antonio Donnarumma (at Piacenza until 30 June 2011)[24] GK Filippo Perucchini (at Fano until 30 June 2011)[25] DF Davide Astori (co-ownership with Cagliari)[26] DF Matteo Bruscagin (co-ownership with Grosseto)[27] DF Matteo Darmian (co-ownership with Palermo)[28] DF Digão (at Penafiel until 30 June 2011)[29] DF Marcus Diniz (at Eupen until 30 June 2011)[30] DF Elia Legati (co-ownership with Padova)[31] DF Luca Meregalli (at Pro Vercelli until 30 June 2011)[32] DF Simone Romagnoli (at Foggia until 30 June 2011)[33] MF Gianmarco Conti (at Fano until 30 June 2011)[34]

No. Position Player MF Attila Filkor (at Triestina until 30 June 2011)[35] MF Federico Furlan (co-ownership with Varese)[36] MF Wilfred Osuji (co-ownership with Varese)[36] MF Jordan Pedrocchi (co-ownership with Chievo)[37] MF Giovanni Scampini (at Pisa until 30 June 2011)[38] FW Dominic Adiyiah (at Reggina until 30 June 2011)[39] FW Pierre Aubameyang (at Monaco until 30 June 2011)[40] FW Davide Di Gennaro (at Padova until 30 June 2011)[31] FW Alberto Paloschi (co-ownership with Parma)[26] FW Andrea Schenetti (at Lucchese until 30 June 2011)[41] FW Gianmarco Zigoni (co-ownership with Genoa)[42]

Youth team squad

Notable players

Retired numbers

No.	Player	Nationality	Position	Milan debut	Last match	Ref
3*	Maldini, PaoloPaolo Maldini	Italy	Centre back / Left back	01985-01-25 25 January 1985	02009-05-31 31 May 2009	[43]
6	Baresi, FrancoFranco Baresi	Italy	Sweeper	01978-04-23 23 April 1978	01997-06-01 1 June 1997	[43]

* Might be restored for one of his two sons, should either of them play professionally for the club.

Current coaching staff

As of 26 July 2010.^[44]

Presidents and managers

Presidential history

Milan has had numerous presidents over the course of its history, some of which have been owners of the club while others have been honorary presidents. Here is a complete list of them.^[45]

Managerial history

Below is a list of Milan coaches from 1900 until the present day.^[46]

Name Nationality Years Herbert Kilpin 1900–1908 Daniele Angeloni 1906–1907 Technical Commission 1907–1910 Giovanni Camperio 1910–1911 Technical Commission 1911–1914 Guido Moda 1915–1922 Ferdi Oppenheim 1922–1924 Vittorio Pozzo 1924–1926 Guido Moda 1926 Herbert Burgess 1926–1928 Engelbert König 1928–1931 József Bánás 1931–1933 József Viola 1933–1934 Adolfo Baloncieri 1934–1937 William Garbutt 1937 Hermann Felsner József Bánás 1937–1938 József Viola 1938–1940 Guido Ara Antonio Busini 1940–1941 Mario Magnozzi 1941–1943 Giuseppe Santagostino 1943–1945 Adolfo Baloncieri 1945–1946 Giuseppe Bigogno 1946–1949 Lajos Czeizler 1949–1952 Gunnar Gren 1952 Mario Sperone 1952–1953 Béla Guttmann 1953–1954 Antonio Busini 1954 Hector Puricelli 1954–1956 Giuseppe Viani 1957–1960 Paolo Todeschini 1960–1961 Nereo Rocco 1961–1963 Luis Carniglia 1963–1964 Nils Liedholm 1963–1966

Name Nationality Years Giovanni Cattozzo 1966 Arturo Silvestri 1966–1967 Nereo Rocco 1966–1972 Cesare Maldini 1973–1974 Giovanni Trapattoni 1974 Gustavo Giagnoni 1974–1975 Nereo Rocco 1975 Paolo Barison 1975–1976 Giovanni Trapattoni 1976 Giuseppe Marchioro 1976–1977 Nereo Rocco 1977 Nils Liedholm 1977–1979 Massimo Giacomini 1979–1981 Italo Galbiati 1981 Luigi Radice 1981–1982 Italo Galbiati 1982 Francesco Zagatti 1982 Ilario Castagner 1982–1984 Italo Galbiati 1984 Nils Liedholm 1984–1987 Fabio Capello 1987 Arrigo Sacchi 1987–1991 Fabio Capello 1991–1996 Oscar Tabárez 1996 Giorgio Morini 1996–1997 Arrigo Sacchi 1997 Fabio Capello 1997–1998 Alberto Zaccheroni 1998–2001 Cesare Maldini Mauro Tassotti 2001 Fatih Terim 2001 Carlo Ancelotti 2001–2009 Leonardo 2009–2010 Massimiliano Allegri 2010-

Club statistics and records

Paolo Maldini presently holds both records for number of total and Serie A appearances for Milan with 1000 games played in total and 600 in Serie A (as of 14 May 2007, not including playoff matches),^[47] the latter being an all time Serie A record.^[48]

Milan's all time top goalscorer is a Swede, Gunnar Nordahl, who scored 221 goals for the club in 268 games.^[49] Andriy Shevchenko is in second place with 173 goals in 298 games for the club followed by Filippo Inzaghi, who has scored 101 goals in 220 games.

The club holds the unique record of having gone a whole season without losing a game, during the 1991–92 season. In total, that unbeaten streak lasted 58 games, starting with a 0–0 draw with Parma on 26 May 1991 and ironically ending with a 1–0 loss at home to Parma on 21 March 1993. This unbeaten streak is a Serie A record and is the third longest unbeaten run in top flight European football. It comes in behind Steaua Bucureşti's record of 104 unbeaten games and Celtic's 68 game unbeaten run.^[50][51]

Milan, along with Boca Juniors, has won the most FIFA recognized international club titles in the world.^[52] Milan is also ranked as the fifth best team in Europe in line with the UEFA Co-Efficient ranking system. This allows Milan to be in the number one spot for all European draws, meaning the team avoids other highly rated European teams in UEFA competitions.^[53]

Colors and badge

Milan's third kit during the 2007–08 season

Throughout the entire history of the club, it has been represented by the colors red and black. The colors were chosen to represent the players' fiery ardor (red) and the opponents' fear to challenge the team (black). Due to Milan's striped red and black shirts, the club has gained the nickname rossoneri.^[54] White shorts and black socks are 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 Liverpool in 2005), while winning only one out of three in the home strip. The third strip changes yearly and is black with red trim for the current season, but it is rarely used.

For many years, Milan's badge was simply the Flag of Milan, which was originally the flag of Saint Ambrose.^[55] 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 Excellence located next to it.^[55] The star was awarded to the club when it won 10 league titles. Currently, the badge represents the club colors and the flag of the Comune di Milano, with the acronym ACM at the top and the foundation year (1899) at the bottom.^[55]

Stadium

San Siro stadium

The team's current stadium is the 80,018 seat San Siro, officially known as Stadio Giuseppe Meazza after the former player who represented both Milan and Internazionale. The name San Siro is taken from the district where it's located. San Siro has been the home of Milan since 1926, when it was privately built by the club. The stadium has been shared with Internazionale since 1946, when the other major Milanese club was accepted as joint tenant. The stadium is renowned for its fantastic atmosphere due to the closeness of the stands to the pitch. The frequent use of flares by supporters contributes to the atmosphere but the practice has occasionally caused problems.

On 19 December 2005, Milan vice-president and executive director Adriano Galliani announced that the club is seriously working towards a relocation. He said that Milan's new stadium will be largely based on the Veltins-Arena and will follow the standards of football stadiums in the United States, Germany and Spain. It will likely be a stadium for football purposes only (with no athletics track). The new stadium is supposed to be named after a sponsor.^[56] 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 Internazionale vacating San Siro may affect proceedings.

Supporters and rivalries

Milan banner saying "Inter, the true comedy since 1908," with a caricature of Dante

Milan is one of the most supported football clubs in Italy, according to research conducted by Italian newspaper La Repubblica.^[57] Historically, Milan was supported by the city's working-class and trade unionists,^[58] a section of whom were migrants from Southern Italy. On the other hand, crosstown rivals Internazionale were mainly supported by the more prosperous and typically Milanese middle-class.^[58] One of the oldest ultras groups in all of Italian football, Fossa dei Leoni, originated in Milan.^[59] Currently, the main ultras group within the support base is Brigate Rossonere.^[59] Politically, Milan ultras have never had any particular preference,^[59] but the media traditionally associated them with the left-wing,^[60] until recently, when Berlusconi's presidency somewhat altered that view.^[61]

Genoa fans consider Milan a hated rival after Genoa fan, Vincenzo Spagnolo was tragically stabbed to death by a Milan supporter in January 1995.^[62] However, Milan's main rivalry is with neighbor club, Internazionale; both clubs meet in the widely anticipated Derby della Madonnina 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. Flares 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.^[63]

Honors

Milan is one of the most successful clubs in Italy, having won a total of 29 trophies. Together with Boca Juniors,^[64] the club is the most successful in the world in terms of international competitions won, with a record of 14 European trophies and four World titles. Milan has earned the right to place a star on its club shirt in recognition of the fact that the club has won at least ten scudetti. In addition, the club is permanently allowed to display a multiple-winner badge on its shirt as it has won more than five European Cups.^[65]

National titles

• Serie A / Italian Football Championship: 17
  

1901, 1906, 1907, 1950–51, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1958–59, 1961–62, 1967–68, 1978–79, 1987–88, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1998–99, 2003–04

• Runners-up (15): 1902, 1910–11, 1911–12, 1947–48, 1949–50, 1951–52, 1955–56, 1960–61, 1964–65, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1989–90, 1990–91, 2004–05

• Serie B: 2
  

1980–81, 1982–83

• Coppa Italia: 5
  

1966–67, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1976–77, 2002–03

• Runners-up (7): 1941–42, 1967–68, 1970–71, 1974–75, 1984–85, 1989–90, 1997–98

• Supercoppa Italiana: 5
  

1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2004

• Runners-up (3): 1996, 1999, 2003

UEFA European titles

• UEFA Champions League: 7
  

1962–63, 1968–69, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1993–94, 2002–03, 2006–07

• Runners-up (4): 1957–58, 1992–93, 1994–95, 2004–05

• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 2
  

1968, 1973

• Runners-up (1): 1973–74

• UEFA Super Cup: 5
  

1989, 1990, 1994, 2003, 2007

• Runners-up (2): 1973, 1993

UEFA/CONMEBOL World titles

• Intercontinental Cup: 3
  

1969, 1989, 1990

• Runners-up (4): 1963, 1993, 1994, 2003

FIFA World titles

• FIFA Club World Cup: 1
  

2007

Regional international titles

• Latin Cup: 2
  

1951, 1956

• Runners-up (1): 1953

• Mitropa Cup: 1
  

1981–82

A.C. Milan as a company

According to The Football Money League published by consultants Deloitte, in the 2005–06 season, Milan was the fifth highest earning football club in the world with an estimated revenue of €233.7 million.^[66] Currently, the club is also ranked as the seventh richest football club in the world by Forbes magazine, making it the richest in Italian football.^[11]

Fly Emirates is the current main sponsor for Milan's shirt starting for the 2010–11 season, after 3 years with Austrian online betting company bwin.com as the sponsor.

Previous to Bwin deal, the German car manufacturer Opel had sponsored Milan for 12 seasons. For most of them, Opel was displayed on the front of the shirt, but in the 2003–04 and the 2005–06 seasons respectively, Meriva and Zafira (two cars from their range) were displayed.

The current shirts are supplied by German sportswear manufacturer Adidas, whose deal runs to the end of the 2017–18 season.^[67] The deal makes Adidas the official manufacturer of all kits, training equipment and replica outfits. Prior to Adidas, the Italian sports company Lotto produced Milan's sportswear.

On 14 January 2008, Milan and Adidas renewed the sponsorship contract until 30 June 2018. According to the new contract, Adidas will be responsible for 3 separate areas of sponsorship; the sponsorship on the shirt, the merchandising and the distribution of all non-football related Milan products.^[68]

Superleague Formula

Milan has a team in the new Superleague Formula race car series where teams are sponsored by football clubs. Robert Doornbos, formerly driving for Minardi and Red Bull Racing in the Formula One World Championship, drove for Milan in 2008.^[69] Doornbos won his first race for the team at Nürburgring, Germany. Giorgio Pantano is driving for Milan in the 2009 season and he has also won races for the team.^[70]

See also

• Fossa dei Leoni
• Football in Italy
• European Cup and Champions League records and statistics
• UEFA Champions League finals

References

External links

• Official website (Italian) / (English) / (Spanish) / (Portuguese) / (Chinese) / (Japanese) / (Arabic)