AC Milan Football

AC Milan History

Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly known as A.C. Milan or Milan, is a professional football club based in Milan, Italy. The club plays in the Serie A, the top division of Italian football and is one of the most successful clubs in Europe.

AC Milan was founded in December 1959 and was called Milan Foot-Ball and Cricket Club. There were 12 founding members of the club and they were a mix of English and Italian citizens. Two main founding members were English expats Herbert Kilpin and Alfred Edwards, the latter being the first chairman of the club as well.

AC Milan always played in red and black shirts, the reason being a quote from their founder Herbert Kilpin, “We will be a team of devils. Our colours will be red like fire and black like the fear we will invoke in our opponents.”

In 1908, AC Milan was divided because of internal disagreements about foreign players. The split led to the birth of a new Milan team, which went on to be known as Internazionale Milano and allowed foreign players to play in their team.

AC Milan Records

AC Milan is the joint-second most successful club in Italy and the first Italian club to play in the European Cup. With the exception of 1980-81 and 1982-83 season, the club has played their entire history in the top division of Italian football.

AC Milan went undefeated in the 1991-92 season and got the name, "The Invincibles". They hold the record of 58 games unbeaten. AC Milan is the second most successful club in Europe with 7 Champions League trophies, only behind Real Madrid. 

A.C. Milan Logo

The flag of the city of Milan and the club colours of red and black feature in the club logo. The flag is similar to the English National flag and shows the club’s English roots. The initials of the club name A.C. Milan, ACM, is at the top of the logo and the club’s foundation year, 1899, is at the bottom.

AC Milan Manager - Marco Giampaolo

Marco Giampaolo is the manager of A.C. Milan from the 2019-20 season. The former Italian played as a midfielder back in his days. He terminated his contract with his previous club Sampdoria and signed with AC Milan as their new manager on June 2019.

Club legend Gennaro Gattuso was the previous manager of AC Milan but resigned at the end of the 2018-19 season after failing to secure a Champions League spot.

AC Milan Stadium - San Siro

San Siro is the home of A.C. Milan since 1926 and is one of the largest stadiums in Europe. It is officially known as Stadio Giuseppe Meazza and was built when Milan’s President Piero Pirelli decided to build a new home stadium for A.C. Milan.

It took 13 months to complete the stadium and initially had 35,000 seats. Unlike other football stadiums, San Siro was specifically designed for football matches and is located in Milan, Italy with current capacity of 80,018 seats.

AC Milan Nickname - Rossoneri

AC Milan started playing in red and black shirts and have worn it throughout their entire history. The red and black shirts gave them the nickname “Rossoneri” and are also called as “Diavolo”, which means “The Devil”.

AC Milan Owner

Elliott Management Corporation is the official owner of the club with 99.93% stakes. It is an America based investment management firm and the CEO of the firm is Paul Singer. Elliot Management Corporation previously loaned money to Chinese Businessman Li Yonghong to buy AC Milan, but when he was unable to pay the €415M debt, Elliot took control of the club in July 2018.

AC Milan Trophies

AC Milan Serie A Titles (18)

AC Milan Champions League Trophies (7)

AC Milan Coppa Italia Titles (5)

AC Milan Club World Cup Titles (4)

AC Milan Legends

Paolo Maldini

Paolo Maldini is regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time. He holds the record of highest appearances for the club with 902 games. Maldini spent his entire career in Milan and is considered as the greatest player in the club's history. He is currently A.C. Milan’s technical director.

Franco Baresi

Franco Baresi is voted as the A.C. Milan player of the century. He is considered as one of the best defenders of all time and has spent his entire career in Milan. He was the captain of the club for 15 years and was at the heart of defence during Milan’s golden era.

Gianni Rivera

Gianni Rivera was known as Italy’s “Golden Boy” and was the club captain for 13 years. He won the Ballon d’Or in 1969, playing for Milan and is Considered as one of the best players of his generation. Rivera is the youngest goalscorer for the club and in Serie A.

Marco Van Basten

Marco Van Basten is considered as one of the greatest strikers in the history of the game. The Dutch international played at Milan for 8 years and is their second highest goalscorer with 124 goals. Van Basten won the Ballon d’Or 3 times while playing for Milan.

Alessandro Costacurta

Alessandro “Billy” Costacurta was a key part in the Milan defence. The Italian played more than 600 matches in his 20-year career for the club and is the club’s oldest first-team player as well as the oldest goalscorer.

AC Milan Top Scorer

Gunnar Nordahl

Gunnar Nordahl is A.C. Milan’s top goalscorer. The Swedish striker played at AC Milan for 7 years and scored an impressive 221 goals in his 268 appearances for the club. He won the title of “pluri-capocannoniere” because he won the Capocannoniere (top goalscorer of the year award in Serie A) a record 5 times.

AC Milan Retired Numbers

The only two shirt numbers that have been retired by A.C. Milan due to their great service to the club are :

1. Paolo Maldini’s No. 3
2. Franco Baresi’s No. 6

AC Milan Ballon d’Or Winners - 8

AC Milan has witnessed a lot of champions in its history and the very best of them have won the most prestigious individual award - Ballon d’Or in football. A total of 8 players have won the Ballon d’Or in AC Milan's history.

Why do AC Milan and Inter share a Stadium ?

San Siro was owned by A.C. Milan till 1935 and then the club decided to sell the stadium to the city council. AC Milan continued to play in San Siro, but in 1947, Inter Milan and AC Milan reached an agreement with Inter Milan being accepted as joint tenant. San Siro is the home ground for both the clubs ever since, but it is not the property of either of the clubs.

How Many Champions League Final have AC Milan Been in ?

AC Milan have been involved in 11 Champions league finals. They have been winners in 7 of them and runners-up in 4.

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

Runners-up: 1957–58, 1992–93, 1994–95, 2004–05