Amatori Rugby Milano were an Italian

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

team based 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 ...

founded in 1927 and disbanded in 2011. Founded in 1927 as part of the

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 ...

team

Ambrosiana-Inter Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is t ...

, the club won the first ever Italian championship in 1929 and ever since have won 18 domestic championships that made them Italy's most titled rugby union team. The club members named themselves Amatori Rugby Milano as soon as Ambrosiana-Inter dropped their rugby union branch in 1929. Between 1993 and 1997 Amatori Milano was part of the

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

sport club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

under the ownership of

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 ...

and won 4 domestic championships. When Berlusconi dropped the sport club to keep the football team only Amatori folded and in 1998 the senior team and the sports title were sold to

Calvisano Calvisano ( Brescian: ) is a ''comune'' in the Italian province of Brescia, in Lombardy. It is the manufacturing base of Lones Spa, manufacturer of Fly Flot shoes. Agritech is a known fiberglass silos company. Sport Its rugby union Rugby ...

. The club were revived in 2002 and coached by

Marcello Cuttitta Marcello Cuttitta (born 2 September 1966) is a former Italian rugby union player who went into coaching after retirement. His role was wing. Cuttitta played club rugby for major Italian teams including L'Aquila from 1985 to 1988, Amatori Milan f ...

, a former Italian international rugby union player that played for Amatori in the 1990s, managing to reach the second tier of Italian rugby union championship before being disbanded in 2011.

History

Amatori Rugby Milano was founded in 1928 as Ambrosiana, branch of the "Ambrosiana Football Club", that today is known as Internazionale Milano F.C. The club won the first ever Italian domestic championship (today, the

Top12 The Top10, known as the Peroni Top10 for sponsorship reasons, and formerly Top 12, is Italy's top level professional men's rugby union competition. The Top 10 is run by Federazione Italiana Rugby (FIR) and is contested by 10 teams as of the 2019� ...

) in 1929. Amatori Rugby Milano would dominate the coming years, winning back-to-back titles in 1931, 1932 and 1933. Amatori Rugby Milano won the championship again in 1936, and then twice more during the decade, in total throughout the 1930s, winning the national championship on eight occasions. The 1940s were also a highly successful time for the club; winning the championship after their 1939 victory once again in 1940, which was then following by successful championships three seasons in a row to 1943. Amatori Rugby Milano won a fifth title that decade, winning the 1946 season as well. The following years were very quiet in contrast to the dominance of the 1930s and 1940s. The club however won a number of titles during the 1990s as well: capturing the 1991, 1993 national championships and 1995, 1996 as part of the

sport club under the ownership of

, as well as winning 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 ...

for the first time in the club's history in the 1995 season. When Berlusconi dropped the sport club to keep the

team only Amatori folded and in 1998 the senior team and the sports title were sold to

. The club were revived in 2002 and during the early 2000s Amatori Milano were in

Serie C The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega Pro ...

, but quickly found qualification 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 ...

. In 2010 Amatori Milano is promoted 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 ...

, the second tier of Italian rugby union championship, where they competed in two seasons before being disbanded in 2011.

Honours

* Italian championship ** Champions (18): 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943, 1946, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996 ** ''Runners-up (2)'': 1994, 1997 *

** Champions (1): 1995

Statistics

Heineken Cup

References

External links

{{Rugby union in Italy

Milano 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 has ...