AC Milan

AC Milan

Full name	Associazione Calcio Milan SpA
Nickname(s)	Rossoneri (Red-Blacks) il Diavolo (the Devil)
Founded	December 16, 1899
Ground	San Siro, Milan
Capacity	82,955
Chairman	Silvio Berlusconi
Head Coach	Carlo Ancelotti
League	Serie A
2007-08	Serie A, 5th
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to by the abbreviation Milan, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. The club was founded in 1899 and has since spent most of its history in the top flight of Italian football.

In European and World competitions AC Milan have won 18 officially recognized international titles, more than any other club in the world. The club have won what is today known as the UEFA Champions League on seven occasions; only Real Madrid have won it more times (9). As far as Italian competitions are concerned, AC Milan is the second most successful club with 17 league titles; only Juventus have won more (27). AC Milan have won Intercontinental Cup/Club World Cup four times, more than any other team in the world.

Other important titles which Milan have won includes the European Super Cup five times, the Cup Winners' Cup twice, however they have never reached the UEFA Cup final (only two semi-finals). In Italy, the Coppa Italia five times as well as five Italian Super Cups. AC Milan is also one of the G-14’s founding members, a group that represented eighteen of the largest and most prestigious European football clubs before its disbandment.

Their home games are played at San Siro, also known as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. The ground, which is shared with rivals Internazionale, is the largest in Italian football, with total capacity of 82,955.

History

Further information: History of A.C. Milan

The club was founded as a cricket club in 1899 by British expatriates Alfred Edwards and Herbert Kilpin, 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 (though it was forced to do it during the fascist regime, like Genoa and Inter); it should be noted that the Italian pronunciation is actually MEE-lan, coming from the local dialect. AC Milan won their first Italian championship title in 1901, and then again in 1906 and 1907.

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, F.C. Internazionale Milano. Following these events, AC Milan did not manage to win a single domestic title until 1950-51. In 1963 they ensured their first continental title, winning European Cup beating S.L. Benfica in the final. This success was repeated in 1969, and followed by an Intercontinental Cup title the same year. Following retirement of Gianni Rivera, Milan started a declining period, during which they were involved in the 1980 Totonero scandal and were relegated to Serie B as punishment, for their first time in history. The scandal was centred on a betting syndicate paying players and officials to fix the outcome of matches. AC Milan quickly returned back to Serie A, but returned to Serie B only one year later as they ended in the relegation zone their 1981-82 Serie A campaign.

Milan defend a corner

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

More recently, Milan were involved in the 2006 Serie A scandal where five teams were accused of fixing matches by selecting favourable referees. Milan were initially punished with a 15 point deduction and consequently did not qualify for the Champions League. An appeal saw their penalty reduced to 8 points and allowed to retain their 2006-07 Champions League participation, where they won the competition.

Current squad

As of August 6 2008. Jersey numbers officialized. Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	BRA	Dida
2	DF	ITA	Massimo Oddo
3	DF	ITA	Paolo Maldini (captain)
4	DF	GEO	Kakha Kaladze
5	MF	BRA	Emerson
7	FW	BRA	Alexandre Pato
8	MF	ITA	Gennaro Gattuso
9	FW	ITA	Filippo Inzaghi
10	MF	NED	Clarence Seedorf
11	FW	ITA	Marco Borriello
12	GK	ITA	Christian Abbiati
13	DF	ITA	Alessandro Nesta
14	MF	URU	Mathías Cardaccio
15	DF	ITA	Gianluca Zambrotta
16	GK	AUS	Zeljko Kalac

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
18	DF	CZE	Marek Jankulovski
19	DF	ITA	Giuseppe Favalli
20	FW	URU	Tabaré Viudez
21	MF	ITA	Andrea Pirlo
22	FW	BRA	Kaká
23	MF	ITA	Massimo Ambrosini (vice-captain)
25	DF	ITA	Daniele Bonera
31	DF	BRA	Digão
32	MF	ITA	Cristian Brocchi
36	DF	ITA	Matteo Darmian
43	FW	ITA	Alberto Paloschi
77	DF	ITA	Luca Antonini
80	FW	BRA	Ronaldinho
84	MF	FRA	Mathieu Flamini

For all transfers and loans pertaining to AC Milan for the current season, please see; Summer 2008 transfers.

Out on loan

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	GK	ITA	Marco Storari (to Fiorentina)
—	MF	FRA	Yoann Gourcuff (to Bordeaux)

Retired numbers

Main article: Retired numbers in association football

3 – Paolo Maldini, left full-back and later centre-back (1984–current) to be retired when Maldini retires. May be restored for either of Maldini's sons
6 – Franco Baresi, sweeper (1977-1997)

Notable players

Main article: List of A.C. Milan players

For a list of all former and current Milan players with a Wikipedia article, see Category:A.C. Milan players.

Presidential history

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

Name Years Alfred Edwards 1899–1909 Giannino Camperio 1909 Piero Pirelli 1909–1928 Luigi Ravasco 1928–1930 Mario Bernazzoli 1930–1933 Luigi Ravasco 1933–1935 Pietro Annoni 1935 Pietro Annoni G. Lorenzini Rino Valdameri 1935–1936

Name Years Emilio Colombo 1936–1939 Achille Invernizzi 1939–1940 Umberto Trabattoni 1940–1944 Antonio Busini 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

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 Berlusconi 1986–2004 Presidential Commission 2004–2006 Silvio Berlusconi 2006–2008

Managerial history

Below is a list of Milan coaches from 1900 until the present day.

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

Name Nationality Years Nils Liedholm 1963–1966 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–present

Club statistics and records

Further information: A.C. Milan records

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

Milan's all time top goalscorer is a Swede, Gunnar Nordahl who, in 268 games, managed to score 221 goals. Andriy Shevchenko is in second place with 173 goals in 298 games for the club. The highest scoring present squad member is Filippo Inzaghi who has scored 100 goals in 217 games.

The club hold 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 3rd longest unbeaten run in top flight European football. It comes in behind Steaua Bucharest's record of 104 unbeaten games and Glasgow Celtic who went 68 games unbeaten.

Currently, AC Milan has the most FIFA recognised international club titles in the world after beating Boca Juniors at the FIFA Club World Cup in 2007. Milan is also the number two team in Europe in line with UEFA Co-Efficient ranking system. This allows Milan to be in the number one spot for all European draws, which allows Milan to avoid other highly rated European teams in UEFA competitions.

Colours and badge

Milan's third kit during the 07-08 Season

Throughout the entire history of the club, they have been represented by the colours red and black. The colours were chosen to represent the players' fiery ardour (red) and the opponents' fear to challenge the team (black). Due to Milan's striped red and black shirts, they have gained the nickname rossoneri. White shorts and black socks are worn as part of the home kit.

Milan's away strip has always been completely white. The latter is considered by both the fans and the club as their "lucky" strip in Champions League finals, due to the fact that Milan won six finals out of eight in an all white strip (losing only to Ajax in 1995 and Liverpool in 2005), while they only won one out of three in their home strip. The third kit changes yearly and is black with red trim for the current season, but it is rarely used.

For many years, Milan's badge was just that of the flag of Milan; which was originally the flag of Saint Ambrose. Another nickname derived from the club's colours is "the Devil". An image of a red devil was used as AC Milan's logo at one point with a Golden Star for Sport Excellence located next to it; the star was awarded to the club when they won 10 league titles. Currently, the badge represents the club colours and the flag of the Comune di Milano, with the acronym ACM at the top and the foundation year (1899) at the bottom.

Stadium

File:Milan - Chievo 04-2006 1.jpg

Curva Sud of the San Siro prior to match

Further information: San Siro

The team's current stadium is the 82,955 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. The stadium is shared with Inter, the other major football club in Milan. The stadium is well known for its fantastic atmosphere due to the closeness of the stands to the pitch. There is the frequent use of flares by the fans which often cause trouble.

On 19 December 2005, AC Milan vice-president and executive director Adriano Galliani announced that the team is seriously working to move out from San Siro. He said that Milan's new stadium will be largely based on the Veltins-Arena and following 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. It remains to see 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. Rumours have also surfaced of Inter's intention to also build a new stadium which may also affect this decision.

Supporters and rivalries

Milan is one of the most supported football club in Italy, according to an August 2007 research by Italian newspaper La Repubblica. Historically, Milan was supported by the city's working-class and trade unionists, 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.

File:1908 commedia.jpg

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

One of the oldest ultras groups in all of Italian football, Fossa dei Leoni, originated in Milan. Currently the main ultras group is Brigate Rossonere and has been since the mid-1970s. Politically, Milan ultras have never had any particular preference, but the media have traditionally associated them with the left-wing, until recent times under Berlusconi's presidency where they are considered somewhat right-wing.

Genoa fans consider Milan a hated rival after Genoa fan Vincenzo Spagnolo was tragically stabbed to death by a Milan supporter in January 1995. Milan's main rivalry, though, is with intracity neighbor Inter; 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 match. Flares are commonly present, but they also led to the abandonment of the second leg of the 2004-05 Champions League quarterfinal matchup between Milan and Inter on April 12, 2005, after a flare thrown from the crowd by an Inter supporter struck Milan keeper Dida on the shoulder.

Honours

Milan is one of the most successful clubs in Italy, having won a total of 27 trophies, and the most winning team in the world for international competition won with a record of 14 European trophies and 4 World titles. Milan have earned the distinction of being allowed to wear a star on their shirt representing the fact that they have won more than 10 scudetti. Added to this Milan are allowed to wear the UEFA Badge of Honour on their shirt during Champions League matches as they have won more than 5 European Cups.

National titles

Serie A / Italian Football Championship:

• Winners (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 (14): 1902; 1947–48; 1949–50; 1951–52, 1955–56, 1960–61; 1964–65; 1968–69; 1970–71; 1971–72; 1972–73; 1989–90; 1990–91; 2004–05

Serie B:

• Winners (2): 1980–81; 1982–83

Coppa Italia:

• Winners (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: (record)

• Winners (5): 1988; 1992; 1993; 1994; 2004
• Runners-up (3): 1996; 1999; 2003

European titles

UEFA Champions League (former European Cup)

• Winners (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 Super Cup (record)

• Winners (5): 1989; 1990; 1994; 2003; 2007
• Runners-up (2): 1973; 1993

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

• Winners (2): 1967–68; 1972–73
• Runners-up (1): 1973–74

World titles

FIFA Club World Cup

• Winners (1): 2007

Intercontinental Cup

• Winners (3): 1969; 1989; 1990
• Runners-up (4): 1963; 1993; 1994; 2003

Unofficial titles

Latin Cup

• Winners (2): 1951, 1956
• Runners-up (1): 1953

Mitropa Cup

• Winners (1): 1981–82

AC Milan as a company

According to The Football Money League published by consultants Deloitte, in the season 2005–06, Milan was the fifth highest earning football club in the world with an estimated revenue of €238.7 million. Currently the club are also ranked as the 6th richest football club in the world by Forbes magazine, making them the richest in Italian football.

The Austrian on-line betting company bwin.com are currently Milan's main shirt sponsors after signing a 4 year deal at the start of the 2006–07 season. Previous to this 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 2004–05 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 2007–08 season. 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 the 14th of January, 2008, AC Milan and Adidas renewed the sponsorship contract until 30th of June, 2017. 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.

See also

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

External links

• ACMilan.com Template:It icon / Template:En icon / Template:Es icon / Template:Pt icon / Template:Zh icon / Template:Ja icon