Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
club in
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, Italy, founded in 1899.
The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seasons, in the top flight of
Italian football
Football ( it, calcio ) is the most popular sport in Italy. The Italy national football team is considered to be one of the best national teams in the world. They have won the FIFA World Cup four times (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), trailing only ...
, known as
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...
since 1929–30.
AC Milan's 18
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
and
UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
trophies is the fourth highest out of any club (joint with
Boca Juniors
Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...
), and the most out of any Italian club.
Milan has won a joint record three
Intercontinental Cups and one
FIFA Club World Cup
The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...
,
seven
European Cup/Champions League titles (Italian record),
the
UEFA Super Cup
The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...
a joint record five times and the
Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...
twice.
With 19
league titles, Milan is tied as the second most successful club in Serie A with local rivals
Inter Milan
Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...
(also with 19 league titles), behind
Juventus
Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...
(36 league titles).
They have also won the
Coppa Italia
The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since.
History
The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...
five times, and the
Supercoppa Italiana
The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...
seven.
Milan's home games are played at
San Siro
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums in ...
, also known as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. The stadium, which was built by Milan's second chairman
Piero Pirelli
Piero Pirelli, born Piero Carlo Pirelli, (27 January 1881 – 7 August 1956), was an Italian entrepreneur and the son of Giovanni Battista Pirelli, the founder of Pirelli.
Biography
Born in Milan to Giovanni Battista Pirelli and Maria Sormani. ...
in 1926 and is shared since 1947 with city rivals Internazionale, is the largest in Italian football, with a total capacity of 75,923.
They have a long-standing rivalry with Inter, with whom they contest the
Derby della Madonnina
The Derby della Madonnina, also known as the Derby di Milano (Milan Derby, in English), is a derby football match between the two prominent Milanese clubs, Internazionale and A.C. Milan. It is called ''Derby della Madonnina'' in honour of one of ...
; it is one of the most followed derbies in football.
The club is one of the wealthiest in Italian and world football.
It was a founding member of the now-defunct
G-14
The G-14 was an organisation of European football clubs that existed between 1998 and 2008. It consisted of 14 European top class teams initially, later expanded to 18. It was disbanded in 2008 and was replaced by the European Club Association ...
group of Europe's leading football clubs as well as its replacement, the
European Club Association
The European Club Association (ECA) is a body representing the interests of professional association football clubs in UEFA. It is the sole such body recognised by the confederation, and has member clubs in each UEFA member association. It was fo ...
.
History
Foundation and early years (1899–1950)
AC Milan was founded as ''Milan Foot-Ball and
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
Club'' in 1899 by English expatriate
Herbert Kilpin
Herbert Kilpin (24 January 1870 – 22 October 1916) was an English football player and manager, best known as the main founding father of AC Milan. After playing as an amateur in his native city of Nottingham, in the early 1890s he moved to Ital ...
.
The club claims 16 December of that year as their foundation date, but historical evidence seems to suggest that the club was actually founded a few days earlier, most likely on 13 December. However, with the club's charter being lost, the exact date remains open to debate.
In honour of its English origins, the club has retained the English spelling of the city's name, as opposed to the Italian spelling ''Milano'', which it was forced to bear under the
fascist regime
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...
. Milan won its first Italian championship in
1901
Events
January
* January 1 – The Crown colony, British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria (Australia), Victoria and Western Australia Federation of Australia, federate as the Australia, ...
, interrupting a three-year hegemony of
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
, and a further two in succession in
1906 and
1907.
The club proved successful in the first decade of its existence, with several important trophies won, including, among others, the ''Medaglia del Re'' three times, the ''Palla Dapples'' 23 times and the ''FGNI tournament'' five times, a competition organized by the
Italian Gymnastics Federation
The Italian Gymnastics Federation ( it, Federazione Ginnastica d'Italia) is the national governing body for gymnastics in Italy. Founded in 1869, the federation celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2019.
International competition
The Italian Gym ...
but not officially recognized by the
Italian Football Federation
The Italian Football Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio; FIGC), known colloquially as ''Federcalcio'', is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence.
It ...
.
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,
F.C. Internazionale Milano. Following these events, Milan did not manage to win a single domestic title until
1950–51,
with some exceptions represented by the 1915-16 ''Coppa Federale'' and the 1917-18 ''Coppa Mauro'', two tournaments played during the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
which, especially the former, received a lot of attention and proved to be highly competitive, despite them not being officially recognized by the Italian federation.
Return to victory and international affirmation (1950-1970)
The 1950s saw the club return to the top of Italian football, headed by the famous
Gre-No-Li
Gre-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 attacking players while playing for th ...
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
trio
Gunnar Gren
Johan Gunnar Gren (; 31 October 1920 – 10 November 1991) was a Swedish professional football player and coach. He is best remembered for playing for IFK Göteborg and A.C. Milan.
A creative forward, known for his technical skill, vision, ta ...
,
Gunnar Nordahl
Nils Gunnar Nordahl (; 19 October 1921 – 15 September 1995) was a Swedish professional footballer. A highly prolific, powerful, and physically strong striker, with an eye for goal, he is best known for his spell at AC Milan from 1949 to 1956, ...
and
Nils Liedholm
Nils Erik Liedholm (; 8 October 1922 – 5 November 2007) was a Swedish football midfielder and coach. ''Il Barone'' (The Baron), as he is affectionately known in Italy, was renowned for being part of the Swedish "Gre-No-Li" trio of strikers al ...
. This was one of the club's most successful periods domestically, with the
Scudetto
The ''scudetto'' (Italian language, Italian for: "little shield") is a decoration having the colors of the flag of Italy which is sewn onto the jersey of the Italian sports clubs that won the highest level championship of their respective sport in ...
going to Milan in
1951
Events
January
* January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950).
* January 9 – The Government of the United ...
,
1955
Events January
* January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama.
* January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut.
* January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...
,
1957
1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...
and
1959
Events January
* January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
* January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
.
This decade witnessed also the first European successes of Milan, with the triumphs in the
1951
Events
January
* January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950).
* January 9 – The Government of the United ...
and
1956
Events
January
* January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan.
* January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...
Latin Cup
The Latin Cup was an international football tournament for club sides from the Southwest European nations of France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal. In 1949 the football federations came together and requested FIFA to launch the competition. Europ ...
. Milan was also the first Italian club to take part to the newly born
European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
in the
1955-56 season, and reached the final
two years later, when they were defeated by
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
.
The 1960s began with the debut of Milan's legend
Gianni Rivera
Giovanni "Gianni" Rivera (; born 18 August 1943) is an Italian politician and former footballer who played as a midfielder. During his career as a footballer he was mostly utilised as an attacking midfielder.
Dubbed Italy's "Golden Boy" by the ...
in 1960: he will remain with the club for the rest of his career for the following 19 seasons. In 1961,
Nereo Rocco
Nereo Rocco (; 20 May 1912 – 20 February 1979) was an Italian association football player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, he is famous for having been one of the most successful head coaches in Italy, winning s ...
was appointed as new coach of the club, which under his leadership won immediately a ''scudetto'' in
1961-62, followed, in the next season, by Milan's first
European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
triumph, achieved after beating
Benfica in the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
.
[Video highlights]
from official Pathé News
Pathé News was a producer of newsreels and documentaries from 1910 to 1970 in the United Kingdom. Its founder, Charles Pathé, was a pioneer of moving pictures in the silent era. The Pathé News archive is known today as British Pathé. Its coll ...
archive This success was repeated in
1969, with a 4–1 win over
Ajax
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...
in
the final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
, which was followed by the
Intercontinental Cup title the same year.
During this period Milan also won its first
Coppa Italia
The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since.
History
The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...
, with victory over
Padova
Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
in the 1967 final, and two
European Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...
s: in
1967–68 and
1972–73.
10th ''Scudetto'' and decline (1970-1986)
Domestically, the 1970s were characterized by the pursue of the 10th Serie A title, which grants the winner the ''Scudetto'' star. For three years in a row, in
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6).
The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history.
Events
Ja ...
,
1972
Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...
and
1973
Events January
* January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...
, Milan ended up second in the league, after some memorable duels with Inter and Juventus. Finally, the achievement was reached in
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
. The same year saw the retirement of
Gianni Rivera
Giovanni "Gianni" Rivera (; born 18 August 1943) is an Italian politician and former footballer who played as a midfielder. During his career as a footballer he was mostly utilised as an attacking midfielder.
Dubbed Italy's "Golden Boy" by the ...
and the debut of
Franco Baresi
Franchino Baresi (; born 8 May 1960) is an Italian football youth team coach and a former player and manager. He mainly played as a sweeper or as a central defender, and spent his entire 20-year career with Serie A club AC Milan, captaining t ...
, at his first full season with the club. After this success, the team went into a period of decline. The club in
1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC.
* January 9 – ...
was involved in the
Totonero scandal and as punishment was
relegated
In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...
to
Serie B
The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...
for the first time in its history.
The scandal was centred around a betting syndicate paying players and officials to fix the outcome of matches.
Milan achieved promotion back to
Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...
at the first attempt, winning the
1980–81 Serie B title,
but were again relegated a year later as the team ended its
1981–82 campaign in third-last place. In
1983
The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call.
Events January
* January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...
, Milan won the Serie B title for the second time in three seasons to return to Serie A,
where they achieved a sixth-place finish in
1983–84.
Berlusconi's ownership and international glory (1986-2012)
On 20 February 1986, entrepreneur
Silvio Berlusconi
Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...
(who owns
Fininvest
Finanziaria d'investimento Fininvest S.p.A., known as Fininvest S.p.A., is an Italian holding company controlled by the Berlusconi family and managed by Silvio Berlusconi's eldest daughter Marina Berlusconi.
Structure
The Fininvest group is co ...
and
Mediaset
Mediaset Italia S.p.A., also known as Mediaset, is an Italian-based mass media company which is the largest commercial broadcaster in the country. The company is controlled by the holding company MFE - MediaForEurope. Founded in 1987 by former ...
) acquired the club and saved it from bankruptcy after investing vast amounts of money,
appointing rising manager
Arrigo Sacchi
Arrigo Sacchi (born 1 April 1946) is an Italian former professional football coach. He has twice managed AC Milan (1987–1991, 1996–1997), with great success. He won the Serie A title in his 1987–88 debut season and then dominated European ...
at the helm of the ''Rossoneri'' and signing
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
internationals
Ruud Gullit
Ruud Gullit (; born Rudi Dil; 1 September 1962) is a Dutch footballer and subsequent manager who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s as a defender, midfielder or forward. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all t ...
,
Marco van Basten
Marcel "Marco" van Basten (; born 31 October 1964) is a Dutch football manager and retired professional player, who played for Ajax and AC Milan, as well as the Netherlands national team, as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the greatest pl ...
and
Frank Rijkaard
Franklin Edmundo Rijkaard (; born 30 September 1962) is a Dutch former footballer and former manager who played as a defensive midfielder. Rijkaard played for Ajax, Real Zaragoza and AC Milan and represented the Netherlands national team side ...
.
The Dutch trio added an attacking impetus to the team, and complemented the club's
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
internationals
Paolo Maldini
Paolo Cesare Maldini (; born 26 June 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer who played primarily as a left back and centre back for AC Milan and the Italy national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of a ...
,
Franco Baresi
Franchino Baresi (; born 8 May 1960) is an Italian football youth team coach and a former player and manager. He mainly played as a sweeper or as a central defender, and spent his entire 20-year career with Serie A club AC Milan, captaining t ...
,
Alessandro Costacurta
Alessandro Costacurta (born 24 April 1966) is an Italian football pundit, manager and a former professional defender, who usually played as a centre back.
Throughout his club career, Costacurta spent over twenty years with AC Milan between 19 ...
and
Roberto Donadoni
Roberto Donadoni (; born 9 September 1963) is an Italian football manager and former midfielder.
Donadoni was capable of playing on either flank, or in the centre. He began his career with Atalanta, and he later became a pillar of the powerhous ...
. Under Sacchi, Milan won its first Scudetto in nine years in the
1987–88 season. The following year, the club won its first
European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
in two decades, beating Romanian club
Steaua București 4–0 in
the final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
. Milan retained their title with a
1–0 win over Benfica a year later and was the last team to win back-to-back
European Cup
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
s until
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
's
win in 2017. The Milan team of 1988–1990, nicknamed the "Immortals" in the Italian media,
has been voted the best club side of all time in a global poll of experts conducted by
''World Soccer'' magazine.
After Sacchi left Milan in 1991, he was replaced by the club's former player
Fabio Capello
Fabio Capello (; born 18 June 1946) is an Italian former professional football manager and player.
As a player, Capello represented SPAL 1907, Roma, Milan and Juventus. He played as a midfielder and won several trophies during his career which ...
whose team won three consecutive
Serie A titles between
1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
and
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
, a spell which included a 58-match unbeaten run in Serie A (which earned the team the label "the Invincibles"),
and back-to-back
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
final appearances in
1993
File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...
,
1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
and
1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
. A year after losing 1–0 to
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
in the
1993 Champions League final, Capello's team reached its peak in one of Milan's most memorable matches of all time, the famous 4–0 win over
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
in the
1994 Champions League final.
[ Capello's side went on to win the 1995–96 league title before he left to manage Real Madrid in 1996.][ In 1998–99, after a two-year period of decline, Milan lifted its 16th championship in the club's centenary season.
Milan's next period of success came under another former player, ]Carlo Ancelotti
Carlo Ancelotti , (born 10 June 1959) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of La Liga club Real Madrid. Regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, Ancelotti is the most decorated manager ...
. After his appointment in November 2001, Ancelotti took Milan to the 2003 Champions League final, where they defeated Juventus
Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...
on penalties
Penalty or The Penalty may refer to:
Sports
* Penalty (golf)
* Penalty (gridiron football)
* Penalty (ice hockey)
* Penalty (rugby)
* Penalty (rugby union)
* Penalty kick (association football)
* Penalty shoot-out (association football)
* Penalty ...
to win the club's sixth European Cup. The team then won the Scudetto in 2003–04 before reaching the 2005 Champions League final, where they were beaten by Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
on penalties despite leading 3–0 at half-time.[ Two years later, the two teams met again in the 2007 Champions League final, with Milan winning 2–1 to lift the title for a seventh time.][ The team then won its first ]FIFA Club World Cup
The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...
in December 2007. In 2009, after becoming Milan's second longest serving manager with 420 matches overseen,[ Ancelotti left the club to take over as manager at ]Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
.
During this period, the club was involved in the Calciopoli scandal, where five teams were accused of fixing matches by selecting favourable referees. A police inquiry excluded any involvement of Milan managers, but the Italian Football Federation
The Italian Football Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio; FIGC), known colloquially as ''Federcalcio'', is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence.
It ...
(FIGC) unilaterally decided that it had sufficient evidence to charge Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani
Adriano Galliani (born 30 July 1944) is an Italian entrepreneur and football executive who is the CEO of club Monza.
He is known for being former vice-chairman and CEO of AC Milan from 1986 to 2017, a period in the club's history known as t ...
. As a result, Milan was initially punished with a 15-point deduction and was banned from the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League
The 2006–07 UEFA Champions League was the 15th season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, the UEFA Champions League, since it was rebranded from the European Cup, and the 52nd season overall. The final was contested by Milan ...
. An appeal saw that penalty reduced to eight points, which allowed the club to retain its Champions League participation.
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 Ibrahimović
Zlatan Ibrahimović (, ; born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the Sweden national team. Ibrahimović is renowned for his acrobatic strikes and volleys, powerful long-range sho ...
, Robinho
Robson de Souza ( or , born 25 January 1984), known as Robinho (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward.
In 1999, at 15 years of age, Robinho was picked by Brazil legend Pelé as his heir apparent and, in 2002 ...
and Alexandre Pato
Alexandre Rodrigues da Silva (; born 2 September 1989), commonly known as Alexandre Pato () or just Pato, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a striker.
Pato began his career as a youth player for Internacional in 2000, maki ...
joining many of the veterans of the club's mid-decade European successes, Milan recaptured the Scudetto in the 2010–11 Serie A season, their first since the 2003–04 season, and 18th overall.
Changes in ownership and decline (2012-2019)
However, after the Scudetto the club declined in performance. Milan failed to qualify to European competitions for a few years, and the only trophy won was the 2016 Supercoppa Italiana
The 2016 Supercoppa Italiana was the 29th edition of the Supercoppa Italiana, Italian football supercup. It was played on 23 December 2016 at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, Qatar. Juventus were the defending champions. With Juventus winning bot ...
, achieved under Vincenzo Montella
Vincenzo Montella (; born 18 June 1974) is an Italian retired footballer and current manager, who played as a striker. He is current manager of Süper Lig club Adana Demirspor.
Montella's nickname during his playing career was "Aeroplanino", i ...
's coaching after defeating Juventus in the penalty shoot-out.
On 5 August 2016, a new preliminary agreement was signed with the Chinese investment management company Sino-Europe Sports Investment Management Changxing Co., to which Fininvest sold a 99.93% stake of Milan for about €520 million, plus the refurbishment of the club financial debt of €220 million. On 13 April 2017, the deal was completed and Rossoneri Sport Investment Lux became the new direct parent company of the club. In order to finalise the deal, American hedge fund Elliott Management Corporation
Elliott Investment Management is an American investment management firm. It is also one of the largest activist funds in the world.
It is the management affiliate of American hedge funds Elliott Associates L.P. and Elliott International Limit ...
provided Li with a loan of €303 million (€180 million to complete the payment to Fininvest and €123 million issued directly to the club). On 10 July 2018, Li failed to keep up with his loan repayment plan, neglecting to deposit a €32 million instalment on time in order to refinance the €303 million loan debt owed to the American hedge fund. As a result, In July 2018, chairman Li Yonghong
Li Yonghong (born 16 September 1969) is a Chinese businessman and investor who first came into the public eye in 2016 when he succeeded Silvio Berlusconi as the owner of the Italian football club A.C. Milan. Li is also known for his stock mar ...
's investment vehicle Rossoneri Champion Inv. Lux. was removed as the shareholder of Rossoneri Sport Inv. Lux., the direct parent company of the club, making the investment vehicle majority controlled by Elliott Management Corporation the sole shareholder of Rossoneri Sport Inv. Lux.
On 27 November 2017, Montella was sacked due to poor results and replaced by former player Gennaro Gattuso
Gennaro Ivan Gattuso (; born 9 January 1978) is an Italian professional football coach and former player, who currently serves as manager of La Liga club Valencia.
He was born in Corigliano (Calabria). As a player, he mainly played in the cent ...
. Milan qualified for the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League group stage after finishing 6th in the 2017–18 Serie A season, but were banned by UEFA from European competition due to violations of Financial Fair Play regulations for failure to break-even. Milan appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and was overturned on 20 July 2018.
In Gattuso's first full season in charge, Milan exceeded expectations and spent much of the campaign in the top 4. Despite winning their final 4 games, Milan missed out on the Champions League by one point. After Milan's failure to qualify for the Champions League, Gattuso resigned as manager. On 19 June 2019, Milan hired former Sampdoria manager Marco Giampaolo on a 2-year contract. On 28 June 2019, Milan was excluded from the 2019–20 UEFA Europa League for violating Financial Fair Play regulations for the years 2014–2017 and 2015–2018.
Recent history (2019-present)
After just 4 months in charge, Giampaolo was sacked after losing 4 of his first 7 games which was exacerbated by poor performances and a lack of supporter confidence. Stefano Pioli was hired as his replacement. After the restart of the Serie A campaign due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Milan went on a 10 match unbeaten streak, winning 7 in the process including matches against Juventus, Lazio and Roma. This streak led to Milan abandoning their plans of hiring Ralf Rangnick as their new manager and sporting director, and instead extended Pioli's contract for a further 2 years. Following a stellar start in the 2020–21 Serie A, which was a continuation of the second half of the previous season, Milan under Pioli in his first full season were led to a second-place finish in the league which was the highest finish for the team since the 2011–12 Serie A. This result allowed Milan to qualify for the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League for the following season, which would become their first appearance in the UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
in seven years since their last appearance in the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League.
Milan secured their 19th Italian championship title on the last round of the 2021–22 Serie A, 2021–22 season, with a List of A.C. Milan records and statistics#Club records, club-record tally of 86 points. It was their first league title since the 2010–11 A.C. Milan season, 2010–11 season. In the Serie A Awards, Rafael Leão was named as the league's Most valuable player, Mike Maignan as the best goalkeeper and Pioli as coach of the season.
On 1 June 2022, RedBird Capital Partners agreed to acquire A.C. Milan at $1.3 billion, meanwhile Elliott Management Corporation would keep a minority stake.
Colours and badge
Red and black are the colours which have 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 colours of the stripes on its jersey.
Another nickname derived from the club's colours is ''the Devil''. An image of a red devil was used as Milan's logo at one point with a ''star (football badge), Golden Star for Sport Excellence'' 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 Milan, which was originally the flag of Saint Ambrose. The modern badge used today represents the club colours and the flag of the ''Comune di Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
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
Ajax may refer to:
Greek mythology and tragedy
* Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea
* Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris
* ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...
in 1995 and Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
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.
Stemma del Milan 1899.svg, First logo of the "Milan Foot-Ball and Cricket Club", used from 1899 to 1916.
Escudo ac milan 1937.svg, Milan logo used between 1936 and 1945.
Escudo ac milan 1946.svg, Milan logo used between 1946 and 1979, with few variations over the years.
Milan AC 1979.png, ''Diavoletto'' logo, used from 1979 to 1986, and again as secondary logo since 2018.
AC Milan logo (1986-1998).png, Milan logo used between 1986 and 1998.
Logo of AC Milan.svg, Milan logo used since 1998.
Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors
Kit deals
Anthem and mascot
"A.C. Milan Anthem - Milan Milan" debuted in 1988 and was composed by Tony Renis and Massimo Guantini.
The official mascot designed by Warner Bros., is "Milanello", a red devil with the A.C. Milan kit and a ball.
Stadium
The team's stadium is the 75,923 seat San Siro
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums in ...
, officially known as Stadio Giuseppe Meazza after the Giuseppe Meazza, former player who represented both Milan and Inter Milan, Internazionale. The more commonly used name, "San Siro", is the name of the district where it is 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
Piero Pirelli, born Piero Carlo Pirelli, (27 January 1881 – 7 August 1956), was an Italian entrepreneur and the son of Giovanni Battista Pirelli, the founder of Pirelli.
Biography
Born in Milan to Giovanni Battista Pirelli and Maria Sormani. ...
. Construction was performed by 120 workers, and took months to complete. The stadium was owned by the club until it was sold to the city in 1935, and since 1947 it has been shared with Internazionale when the other major Milanese 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 19 September 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 Cup when its capacity was set to 85,700, all covered with a polycarbonate roof. In the summer of 2008 its capacity was reduced to 80,018, to meet the new standards set by UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
.
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, largely thanks to the closeness of the stands to the pitch. The frequent use of flare (pyrotechnic), 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
Adriano Galliani (born 30 July 1944) is an Italian entrepreneur and football executive who is the CEO of club Monza.
He is known for being former vice-chairman and CEO of AC Milan from 1986 to 2017, a period in the club's history known as t ...
announced that the club was seriously working towards a relocation. He stated Milan's new stadium will be largely based on the Veltins-Arena – the home of FC Schalke 04, Schalke 04 in Gelsenkirchen – 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 would likely be used for football only, having no athletics track. On 11 December 2014, Barbara Berlusconi announced a proposal to build a property stadium of 42,000 seats in Portello (district of Milan), Portello, behind the new HQ of the Rossoneri, and the large square "Piazza Gino Valle". The new village with shopping malls and hotel is located near CityLife (Milan), CityLife district and is served by the Milan Metro, metro. On 20 September 2015, however, Silvio Berlusconi called an end to his club's plans to build a new stadium in the city. In 2017, new CEO Marco Fassone stated that the club may look at either staying in the San Siro or moving to a new stadium with the club hierarchy emphasising the need to increase average attendance for home games.
Supporters and rivalries
Milan is one of the most supported football clubs in Italy, according to research conducted by Italian newspaper ''La Repubblica''. Historically, Milan was supported by the city's working class, which granted them the nickname of (which in Milanese dialect means "screwdrivers"), used until the 1960s.[ On the other hand, crosstown rivals Inter Milan were mainly supported by the more prosperous middle class.] The oldest ultras groups in all of Italian football, ''Fossa dei Leoni'', originated in Milan. Currently, the main ultras group within the support base is ''Brigate Rossonere''. Milan ultras have never had any particular political preference, but the media traditionally associated them with the left wing 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.[Ranking of European teams supporters: F.C. Barcelona, Barcelona first with 57.8 million, followed by ]Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
(31.3 million), Manchester United Football Club, Manchester United (30.6 million), Chelsea Football Club, Chelsea (21.4 million), FC Bayern Munich, Bayern Munich (20.7 million) and Milan (18.4 million). It had the thirteenth highest average attendance of European football clubs during the 2019–20 season, behind Borussia Dortmund, FC Bayern Munich, Bayern Munich, Manchester United F.C., Manchester United, Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
,
Inter Milan, Inter, FC Schalke 04, Schalke 04, Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur, Celtic F.C., Celtic, Atlético Madrid, West Ham United F.C., West Ham United and Arsenal F.C., Arsenal.
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
fans consider Milan a hated rival after Genoa fan Vincenzo Spagnolo was stabbed to death by a Milan supporter in January 1995. Milan's main rivalry, however, is with its neighbour club, Inter Milan
Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Football in Italy, Italian professional Association football, football ...
, where both clubs meet in the widely anticipated Derby della Madonnina
The Derby della Madonnina, also known as the Derby di Milano (Milan Derby, in English), is a derby football match between the two prominent Milanese clubs, Internazionale and A.C. Milan. It is called ''Derby della Madonnina'' in honour of one of ...
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. Flare (pyrotechnic), 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 UEFA Champions League, 2004–05 Champions League quarter-final match between Milan and Inter on 12 April 2005, after a flare thrown from the crowd by an Inter supporter struck Milan goalkeeper Dida (footballer, born 1973), Dida on the shoulder.
The rivalry with Juventus F.C. is a rivalry between the two most titled teams in Italy. The challenge confronts also two of the clubs with greater basin of supporters as well as those with the greatest turnover and stock market value in the country. The match-ups between Milan and Juventus, is regarded as the championship of Serie A, and both teams were often fighting for the top positions of the standings, sometimes even decisive for the award of the title. Milan also have rivalries with A.S. Roma, Roma and SSC Napoli, Napoli.
Honours
Milan is one of the most successful clubs in Italy, having won a total of 31 domestic honours, in addition to their 18 international successes. Milan has earned the right to place a star (football badge), star on its jersey in recognition of the fact that it has won at least ten ''List of Italian football champions, scudetti''. In addition, the club is permanently allowed to display a UEFA badge of honour, multiple-winner badge on its shirt as it has won more than five European Cups.
*
*
Club statistics and records
Paolo Maldini
Paolo Cesare Maldini (; born 26 June 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer who played primarily as a left back and centre back for AC Milan and the Italy national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of a ...
holds the records for both total appearances and Serie A appearances for Milan, with 902 official games played in total and 647 in Serie A (as of 31 May 2009, not including playoff matches), the latter being an all-time Serie A record.
Swedish
Swedish or ' may refer to:
Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically:
* Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland
** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
forward Gunnar Nordahl
Nils Gunnar Nordahl (; 19 October 1921 – 15 September 1995) was a Swedish professional footballer. A highly prolific, powerful, and physically strong striker, with an eye for goal, he is best known for his spell at AC Milan from 1949 to 1956, ...
scored 38 goals in the 1950–51 Serie A, 1950–51 season, 35 of which were in Serie A, setting an Italian football
Football ( it, calcio ) is the most popular sport in Italy. The Italy national football team is considered to be one of the best national teams in the world. They have won the FIFA World Cup four times (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), trailing only ...
and club record. He went on to become Milan's all-time top goalscorer, scoring 221 goals for the club in 268 games. He is followed in second place by Andriy Shevchenko with 175 goals in 322 games, and Gianni Rivera
Giovanni "Gianni" Rivera (; born 18 August 1943) is an Italian politician and former footballer who played as a midfielder. During his career as a footballer he was mostly utilised as an attacking midfielder.
Dubbed Italy's "Golden Boy" by the ...
in third place, who has scored 164 goals in 658 games. Rivera is also Milan's youngest ever goalscorer, scoring in a league match against Juventus at just 17 years.
Legendary tactician Nereo Rocco
Nereo Rocco (; 20 May 1912 – 20 February 1979) was an Italian association football player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, he is famous for having been one of the most successful head coaches in Italy, winning s ...
, the first proponent of ''catenaccio'' in the country, was Milan's longest-serving manager, sitting on the bench for over nine years (in two spells) in the 1960s and early 1970s, winning the club's first European Cup triumphs. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who purchased the club in 1986, is Milan's longest-serving president (23 years, due to a two-year vacancy between 2004 and 2006).
The first official match in which Milan participated was in the 1900 Italian Football Championship, Third Federal Football Championship, the predecessor of Serie A, losing 3–0 to F.B.C. Torinese, Torinese. Milan's largest ever victory was 13–0 against Modena F.C., Audax Modena, in a league match at the 1914–15 season. Its heaviest defeat was recorded in the league at the 1922–23 season, beaten 0–8 by Bologna F.C. 1909, Bologna.
During the 1991–92 Serie A, 1991–92 season, the club achieved the feature of being the first team to win the Serie A title without losing a single game. Previously, only A.C. Perugia Calcio, Perugia had managed to go unbeaten over an entire Serie A season (1978–79 Serie A, 1978–79), but finished second in the table. In total, Milan's unbeaten streak lasted 58 games, starting with a 0–0 draw against S.S.D. Parma Calcio 1913, Parma on 26 May 1991 and coincidentally ending with a 1–0 home loss to Parma on 21 March 1993. This is a Serie A record as well as the third-longest unbeaten run in top flight European football, coming in behind Steaua București's record of 104 unbeaten games and Celtic F.C., Celtic's 68 game unbeaten run.
Since 2007, along with Boca Juniors
Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...
, Milan has won more FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
recognised international club titles than any other club in the world with 18 titles. They were overtaken by Al Ahly SC from Egypt after their 2014 CAF Confederation Cup win.
The sale of Kaká to Real Madrid in 2009 broke the eight-year-old world football transfer record held by Zinedine Zidane, costing the Spanish club €67 million[ (about £56 million). That record, however, lasted for less than a month, broken by Cristiano Ronaldo's £80 million transfer. This record, however, is in terms of nominal British pound rates, not adjusted to inflation or the real value of the euro. Madrid bought Zidane for €77.5 million in 2001, about £46 million at that time.
]
Players
First team squad
Out on loan
Youth Sector
List of Youth Sector players with a first-team shirt number
Milan Women
Former players
Club captains
Player records
Retired numbers
* Might be restored for one of his two sons, should either of them play professionally for the club.
Coaching staff
Chairmen and managers
Chairmen history
Milan has had numerous chairmen[ over the course of its history. Here is a complete list of them.]
Managerial history
Below is a list of Milan managers from 1900 until the present day.
AC Milan as a company
On 13 April 2017 Milan became a subsidiary of Rossoneri Sport Investment Luxembourg, which acquired 99.92973% shares of AC Milan S.p.A. from Fininvest
Finanziaria d'investimento Fininvest S.p.A., known as Fininvest S.p.A., is an Italian holding company controlled by the Berlusconi family and managed by Silvio Berlusconi's eldest daughter Marina Berlusconi.
Structure
The Fininvest group is co ...
. Li Yonghong
Li Yonghong (born 16 September 1969) is a Chinese businessman and investor who first came into the public eye in 2016 when he succeeded Silvio Berlusconi as the owner of the Italian football club A.C. Milan. Li is also known for his stock mar ...
became the new chairman[the Italian word for chairman of the board of directors was ''Presidente''. However, it was not equal to the English meaning of President (corporate title), president of a company.] and Marco Fassone was confirmed as CEO. The other members of the board of directors were Roberto Cappelli, David Han Li, Lu Bo ( of Haixia Capital[), Marco Patuano, Paolo Scaroni and Xu Renshuo. ()] However, Li Yonghong's investment vehicle was removed as the shareholder of Rossoneri Sport Investment Luxembourg on 10 July after defaulted in a pledge to Elliott Management Corporation
Elliott Investment Management is an American investment management firm. It is also one of the largest activist funds in the world.
It is the management affiliate of American hedge funds Elliott Associates L.P. and Elliott International Limit ...
, which lent a large sum of money to Li in 2017 to finalise the acquisition. Other partners of Elliott were Arena Investors[ and Blue Skye, according to news reports.
Elliott nominated new board of directors for both Rossoneri Sport Investment Luxembourg and Milan, with Paolo Scaroni as the new chairman ( it, presidente) of the board of Milan and interim CEO. The four previous Chinese member of the board and former CEO Marco Fassone were all dismissed.
According to ''Deloitte Football Money League, The Football Money League'' published by consultants Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Deloitte, in the 2005–06 season, Milan was the fifth-highest earning football club in the world with an Deloitte Football Money League#Full listing, estimated revenue of €233.7 million. However, it fell to eighth in 2011–12 season, tenth in 2012–13 and twelfth in 2013–14 season. The club is also ranked as the eighth-Forbes' list of the most valuable football clubs, wealthiest football club in the world by ''Forbes'' magazine , making it the wealthiest in Italian football, just surpassing ninth-ranked Juventus by a narrow margin.]
Emirates (airline), Emirates is the current main sponsor for Milan's shirt starting from the 2010–11 season and through to the 2019–20 season. This follows a four-year relationship with Austrian online betting company bwin.com as sponsor.
Previously, German car manufacturer Opel (owned by General Motors) had sponsored Milan for 12 seasons. For most of those 12 years, "Opel" was displayed on the front of the shirt, but in the 2003–04 and the 2005–06 seasons respectively, "Opel Meriva, Meriva" and "Opel Zafira, Zafira" (two cars from the company's range) were displayed.
The current shirts are supplied by Puma (brand), Puma. Previously it was supplied by German sportswear manufacturer Adidas, whose deal was scheduled to run until 2023. The deal made Adidas the official manufacturer of all kits, training equipment and replica outfits. However, an early termination of the deal was announced in October 2017, effective on 30 June 2018. Prior to Adidas, the Italian sports company Lotto Sport Italia, Lotto produced Milan's sportswear.
AC Milan Group made an aggregate net loss in recent years, which was one of the largest among the Italian clubs, notably: 2005, net loss of €4.5 million (separate account); 2006, a net income of €11.9 million[ (mainly contributed by the sales of Andriy Shevchenko); 2007, a net loss of €32 million; 2008, a net loss of €77 million;] 2009, a net loss of €19 million (the decreased net loss was mainly contributed by the sales of Kaká); 2010, a net loss of €65 million; in 2011, a net loss of €67.334 million, in 2012, a net loss of €6.857 million (contributed by the sales of Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimović
Zlatan Ibrahimović (, ; born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the Sweden national team. Ibrahimović is renowned for his acrobatic strikes and volleys, powerful long-range sho ...
).[ and in 2013, a net loss of €15.7 million][ (with some contribution by the sales of Kevin-Prince Boateng and ]Alexandre Pato
Alexandre Rodrigues da Silva (; born 2 September 1989), commonly known as Alexandre Pato () or just Pato, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a striker.
Pato began his career as a youth player for Internacional in 2000, maki ...
and other players, as well as decrease in wage bill.)
As a consequence of the aggregate 2.5-year financial result in the reporting periods ending at 31 December 2015, 31 December 2016 and 30 June 2017 (a FFP-adjusted net loss of €146 million, €121 million in excess of the acceptable deviation in the regulation), Milan was initially banned from European competitions due to breach in UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations. However, the European ban was lifted by an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.[ Milan was allowed to achieve the break even condition on or before 30 June 2021.
Note: Re-capitalization figures were obtained from item ''versamenti soci in conto capitale e/o copertura perdite'', for 2006 to 2017 financial year
]
Superleague Formula
Milan had a team in the 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. Doornbos won his first race for the team at 2008 Nürburgring Superleague Formula round, Nürburgring, Germany. Giorgio Pantano is driving for Milan in the 2009 Superleague Formula season, 2009 season and he has also won races for the team. The team folded in 2010 along with the series in 2011.
See also
* European Club Association
The European Club Association (ECA) is a body representing the interests of professional association football clubs in UEFA. It is the sole such body recognised by the confederation, and has member clubs in each UEFA member association. It was fo ...
* Dynasty (sports)#Professional, Dynasties in Italian football
Notes
References
External links
*
AC Milan
at Serie A
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...
AC Milan
at UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Milan
A.C. Milan,
Football clubs in Italy
Football clubs in Milan
Italian football First Division clubs
G-14 clubs
Serie A clubs
Serie B clubs
Association football clubs established in 1899
1899 establishments in Italy
Coppa Italia winning clubs
Serie A winning clubs
Fininvest
Multi-sport clubs in Italy
FIFA Club World Cup winning clubs
UEFA Champions League winning clubs
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup winning clubs
UEFA Super Cup winning clubs
Intercontinental Cup winning clubs, M