A.C. Milan

Associazione Calcio Milan is an Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, they play in red-and-black stripes, giving them the nickname "Rossoneri" ("red-blacks").

One of the most successful clubs in the world, they have won the prestigious European Cup 6 times (second only to Real Madrid), Intercontinental Cup 3 times, Serie A 17 times (only rivals Juventus have more Scudetti) and Coppa Italia five times. It is also one of the most supported football clubs in the world, and along with Juventus and Inter form the most popular teams in Italy.

The club was founded in 1899 by Alfred Edwards, a British expatriate. In honour of its origins, the club has retained the English spelling of its city's name, instead of changing it to the Italian Milano; it should be noted that the Italian pronunciation is actually MEE-lahn.

History

Foundation and early years

Milan's first championship

The team, with the first denomination of Milan Cricket and Football Club, was founded on December 16, 1899, by Alfred Edwards. The first elected president was Alfred Edwards, a former British vice-consul in Milan, and well-known personality of the Milanese high society. Initially the team included a cricket section, managed by Edward Berra, and a football section assigned to David Allison.

The official colours chosen were red and black, in order to represent the fiery ardour which would have been part of the team members, and the fear of the opponents to challenge the team. Immediately the team gained relevant notability under Kilpin's guide; the first trophy to be won was the Medaglia del Re (King's Medal) on January 1900, and won three national leagues, in 1901, 1906 and 1907. The triumph of 1901 was particularly relevant because it stopped the consecutive series of wins of Genoa, which was the only team to have ever won the Italian league before that year.

In 1908, because of issues related to the desire to sign foreign players, a "progressive" faction split from AC Milan and founded the Internazionale Milano (known as Inter).

In 1916, AC Milan won the Federal Cup, a national trophy which somehow replaced the Italian league, suspended because of the World War I. That cup has not ever been recognized as Italian title. In 1919, the team changed its name to Milan Football Club.

After the first triumphs, Milan was not able any longer to repeat those high-level successes, obtaining only a number of half-table placements, even if always playing in the Italian top division.

In 1938 the fascist regime imposed a new italianized name, Associazione Calcio Milano, for the team. However, that name was abandoned immediately after the World War II, but maintaining the initial part: the team was called Associazione Calcio Milan, which is the current official name.

Gunnar Gren was a mainstay of A.C. Milan in the 1950s.

The fabulous 1950s

In the post-war period, AC Milan was among the three top Italian teams, and won the scudetto in 1951 - the first time since 1907. Il Grande Milan included the famous Gre-No-Li, a trio of Swedish players composed by Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl and Nils Liedholm who were Olympic winners. That team also fielded quality players such as Lorenzo Buffon, Cesare Maldini and Carlo Annovazzi.

After the 1951 scudetto, AC Milan won another three Serie A seasons, in 1955, 1957 and 1959, and two Latin Cups, in 1951 and 1956. In the end, AC Milan always placed among the top three teams from 1947/1948 to 1956/1957.

The period of Nereo Rocco

AC Milan returned to win a football league in 1961/1962. Its manager was Nereo Rocco, an innovative football coach, known as inventor of the catenaccio tactic. The team included a young Gianni Rivera and José Altafini. The following season, thanks also to Altafini's goals, Milan won their first Champions League by defeating Benfica 2-1. This was also the first time an Italian team won the Champions League.

Despite that, during the 1960s Milan won less than they deserved, mainly because of the heavy concurrence of Helenio Herrera's Inter. Its next scudetto arrived only in 1967/1968, thanks to the goals of Pierino Prati, the Serie A topscorer in that season, as well as the Cup Winners' Cup, won against Hamburger SV thanks to two goals of Kurt Hamrin. The next season AC Milan won its second Champions League (4-1 to AFC Ajax), and in 1969 won its first Intercontinental Cup, after having defeated in two dramatic legs the Estudiantes de La Plata of Argentina (3-0, 1-2).

The 10th scudetto and the first Serie B

In the 1970s, AC Milan won three Italian Cups and its second Cup Winners' Cup; however, the real goal of the rossoneri was the tenth scudetto, which would have awarded the first stella (star) to the team. A strong 1972/1973 season provided their first opportunity for the tenth scudetto, but ultimately proved a failure after a humiliating defeat against Verona on the last day of the season.

AC Milan had to wait until 1978/1979 to win its tenth scudetto, mainly thanks to Gianni Rivera, who retired from football after his final triumph.

However, the worst was yet to come for the rossoneri: after the 1979/1980 season, AC Milan was relegated by the Football Federation, together with S.S. Lazio, because of a match fixing scandal. In 1980/1981, Milan easily won the Serie B, and returned to Serie A, where it would suffer its worst season ever, in 1981/1982, being relegated once again.

The Berlusconi presidency

The Dream Team

Celebrating

After several different financial troubles had caused bad times and a lack of success, AC Milan was bought on February 20, 1986 by Silvio Berlusconi, a Milanese enterpreneur. Berlusconi brought in a rising coach, Arrigo Sacchi, and three Dutch players, Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard and Ruud Gullit, to return the team to glory. He also signed some Italian stars: Roberto Donadoni, Davide De Lorenzis, Carlo Ancelotti and Giovanni Galli.

Sacchi won the 1987/1988 season after a great recovery over Diego Maradona's Napoli. In 1988/1989, AC Milan won its third Champions League, defeating Steaua Bucharest 4-0 in the final. The team repeated their triumph the following season, against Benfica (1-0), and earned its second Intercontinental Cup in a row beating Olimpia Asunción in 1991.

With Sacchi leaving Milan to coach the Italy national football team, Fabio Capello was hired and under him, the Rossoneri came to be known as Gli Invicibili (The Invincibles) or the Dream Team. With an unprecedented 58-match run with no defeats the Invincibili team had the likes of Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini commanding one of the best defences in history, with Marcel Dassailly and Roberti Donadoni in midfield and Dejan Savićević, Zvonimir Boban, and Daniele Massaro playing in attack.

In addition to three consecutive scudetti (from 1992 to 1994), AC Milan reached the Champions League final for three consecutive years: in 1993 they were defeated by Olympique de Marseille; in 1994, it was FC Barcelona who experienced the taste of defeat, after a famous 4-0 thrashing at the hands of the rossoneri; and in the 1995 finals, Milan were again defeated, this time by Ajax Amsterdam. Then, in 1995-96, led by famous world-class players such as Roberto Baggio, Marco Simone and George Weah, AC Milan gained their 15th Italian Championship.

Years of Struggle

After the departure of Fabio Capello in 1996, Milan recruited Oscar Washington Tabarez but they struggled under the new manager and were winless in their first few opening matches. In an attempt to regain former glories they brought back Arrigo Sacchi to replace Tabarez. Milan signed new players like Ibrahim Ba, Christophe Dugarry and Edgar Davids to join the stars of the previous season's Championship team, Franco Baresi, Dejan Savićević, Roberto Baggio, Mauro Tassotti, Sebastiano Rossi, Zvonimir Boban, George Weah, Paolo Maldini, Demetrio Albertini, Alessandro Costacurta and Marcel Desailly. The only regular players who left were Roberto Donadoni Davide De Lorenzis andMarco Simone.

Despite the superstars in their team, Milan struggled and shockingly suffered countless losses and draws and ended the Season 1996/97 in 11th place in the Italian Serie-A. Sacchi lost his job and Capello returned to Milan. Again, Milan signed many potential players like Christian Ziege, Patrick Kluivert, Jesper Blomqvist, and Leonardo but the results were even worse than the season before. The team suffered their worst Serie-A defeat, humiliated by Juventus FC at their own home of San Siro with a 1-6 score, although they ended Season 1997/98 an improved 10th place. This was still unacceptable and Capello, like Sacchi, was fired.

In their search for a new manager, Alberto Zaccheroni attracted Milan's attention. Zaccheroni was the manager of Udinese who had ended the Season 1997/98 on a high note in 3rd place. Milan signed Zaccheroni along with two of his players at Udinese, Oliver Bierhoff and Thomas Helveg. Milan also signed Roberto Ayala, Luigi Sala and Andres Guglielminpietro and with a 3-4-3 formation, Zaccheroni brought the club's 16th Scudetto back to Milan. The winning line-up was: Rossi; Sala, Costacurta, Maldini; Helveg, Albertini, Ambrosini, Guglielminpietro; Weah, Bierhoff, Boban.

However, despite this success, Zaccheroni failed to transform Milan to the great team it used to be. The following season, despite the emergence of Ukraine's great Andriy Shevchenko, Milan disappointed their fans in both the Champions League and Serie-A. Milan exited the Champions League early, only winning one out of six matches (three draws and two losses) and ended the Season 1999/00 in the 3rd place. Milan was never a challenge to the top two contenders to the Scudetto, S.S. Lazio and Juventus FC.

The following season, Milan qualified for the UEFA Champions League 2000-01 by crushing Dinamo Zagreb to a 6-1 aggreggate. Milan started the Champions League at a high note, defeating Besiktas JK from Turkey and Spanish giants FC Barcelona, who at the time consisted of international superstars Rivaldo and Patrick Kluivert. But Milan then started to lose, including losing by a shocking 3-0 scoreline to Juventus in the Serie-A and 1-0 to Leeds United.

In the Champions League second round, Milan only won once and drew four times. They failed to beat Deportivo de La Coruña from Spain in the last game and Zaccheroni was fired. Cesare Maldini, the father of team captain Paolo, was appointed and things immediately got better. Maldini's official coaching debut at Milan started with a 4-0 demolition of A.S. Bari. It was also under Maldini's leadership that Milan defeated their city rivals Internazionale with an outstanding score of 6-0, a score which has never been repeated and in which Serginho starred in the match. However, after this peak of form, Milan started losing again including a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Vicenza Calcio. After these results, the Milan board of directors gave Maldini a target of fourth place at the end of the season but Maldini failed and the team ended 6th.

Milan started their 2001/02 campaign by signing more star players including Javi Moreno and Cosmin Contra who took Deportivo Alaves to the final round of the UEFA Cup. They also signed Kakha Kaladze, Manuel Rui Costa, Filippo Inzaghi, Martin Laursen, Gianni Commandini and Andrea Pirlo. Fatih Terim was appointed manager, replacing Cesare Maldini, and had moderate success. However, after five months in the club, Milan was nowhere near the top five in the league and Terim was sacked for failing to meet the board of directors' expectations. He was replaced by Carlo Ancelotti, despite rumours that Franco Baresi would be the new manager.

Despite the injury problems of full-back Paolo Maldini, Ancelotti was successful and ended the Season 2001/02 in fourth, earing a place in the Champions League. Milan's starting line at that point was Christian Abbiati; Cosmin Contra, Alessandro Costacurta, Martin Laursen, Kakha Kaladze; Gennaro Gattuso, Demetrio Albertini, Serginho; Rui Costa; Shevchenko, Inzaghi.

Back on Top

In Season 2002/03, AC Milan was back and better than ever. Inzaghi returned to top form and along with Shevchenko, the two proved to be a dynamic duo. Paolo Maldini returned from injury and was moved to central defence to form a pairing with the newly-signed Alessandro Nesta, who at the time was arguably the best defender in Europe. Dida returned to Milan after a fantastic season with Corinthians, where he had established himself as a legendary penalty stopper while the departure of Albertini led to a change of position for Andrea Pirlo who usually played in the position occupied by Rui Costa. This was fortunate for Pirlo because if he had decided to stick with his old deep-seated playmaking role, he would never have had played in the starting line-up, with Rui Costa also in top form. Clarence Seedorf was signed from Internazionale and Milan ended the season with their sixth Champions League trophy in 2003 and third place in Serie-A. They also won the Coppa Italia and European Super Cup. Their Champions League winning starting line-up was: Dida; Costacurta, Nesta, Maldini, Kaladze; Gattuso, Pirlo, Seedorf; Rui Costa; Shevchenko, Inzaghi. Then the following season, Milan signed Kaká. Kaká became Milan's key player and took the spotlight from Rui Costa, who would leave Milan two years after Kaká's emergence. With Kaká, Milan proved to be almost invincible and won their 17th Scudetto without difficulties.

Milan's 2002/03 Championship winning line-up

In 2005, despite a goal from Paolo Maldini very early on and two goals from Hernan Crespo, Milan let a 3-0 lead in their Champions League Final against Liverpool F.C. of England slip to a 3-3 draw. They conceded 3 second half goals in a span of 6 minutes, before losing on penalties. This was the first time that Milan had lost in a European Final while playing in their away strip of all-white. Milan ended the season being 2nd in the League and won the Italian Super Cup, defeating SS Lazio.

On the 8th of March 2006, Milan defeated FC Bayern Munich of Germany in the first knock-out round of the UEFA Champions League and became the only club in Europe that has participated in the quarter finals of the tournament in every season between 2002/2003 and 2005/2006. Thus, the club affirms its status as one of the powerhouses of European football, and has arguably been the strongest team in Europe during this time period. AC Milan defeated Olympique Lyonnais 3-1 in the quarter-finals of this season's (2005-2006) UEFA Champions League - a match in which Filippo Inzaghi and Andriy Shevchenko scored in the last few minutes of the match to rescue Milan. In scoring Shevchenko became that year's Champions League top scorer. Milan was defeated by FC Barcelona of Spain 0-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals of the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League.

Match-fixing Allegations

Milan were named in the Serie A scandal of 2006 but survived the drop to Serie B. A preliminary court decision deprived Milan of 44 out of the 88 points they gained in Serie A 2005-06 and made them start the 2006-07 season with minus 15 points. Later, however, these point deductions were reduced, to 30 and minus 8 respectively, giving Milan the chance to compete in UEFA Champions League 2006-07. Although some of Milan's rival clubs had hoped that UEFA would ban Milan from this competition for their alleged involvement in the scandal, the final decision by the European football governing body allowed Milan to take part with some reservations, effectively ending all speculation. Milan played former champions Red Star Belgrade of Serbia, who beat Cork City F.C. of Ireland 4-0 on aggregate, on Wednesday August 9, 2006. The final result was Milan winning 1-0. They will be facing off again August 22 in Belgrade.

Stadium

The team's current stadium is the 85,700 seater Giuseppe Meazza, also known as the San Siro. The stadium is shared with Internazionale (also known as "Inter"), the other major football club in Milan. AC Milan supporters use "San Siro" to refer to the stadium because Meazza was a star player for Inter.

On 19 December 2005, Milan Vice-President/CEO, 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 Schalke Arena and following the standards of football stadia in America, Germany, and Spain. Most likely it will be a stadium for football purpose only (without the athletic tracks). The new stadium's name will be given to the sponsors.

Current first team squad

As of July 24, 2006http://www.acmilan.com/InfoPage.aspx?id=12587

2005/06 Starting line-up and formation

4-1-2-1-2 formation'''

2006/2007 transfers

Note: these transfers will not be effective before the opening of the transfer market.

In
(free transfer)

>

 (return from loan period)

(return from loan period)Out
(co-ownership with Sampdoria)

(co-ownership change from Lecco & Milan to Chievo & Milan)>

 (co-ownership with Sampdoria)
 (extended)

(extended)

(return from loan period, co-ownership with Parma)

Retired numbers

* 3 Paolo Maldini, left fullback, 1984-, after his retirement #3 would be designated only to his son Christian (born Milan, June 16 1996)
* 6 Franco Baresi, sweeper, 1977-1997

Championships

One of the most successful clubs in the World (with 15 international trophies), they have won the prestigious European Cup 6 times (second only to Real Madrid), Serie A 17 times (only rivals Juventus have more Scudetti) and Coppa Italia five times.
*Scudetto: 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

May 2004: celebrating the 17th scudetto in piazza del Duomo

*European Cup/UEFA Champions League: 6
** 1962/63 3-1 vs. SL Benfica
** 1968/69 4-1 vs. AFC Ajax
** 1988/89 4-0 vs. FC Steaua Bucureşti
** 1989/90 1-0 vs. SL Benfica
** 1993/94 4-0 vs. FC Barcelona
** 2002/03 0-0 (3-2 in penalty shootout) vs. Juventus FC
*Italian Cup: 5:: 1966/67, 1971/72, 1972/73, 1976/77, 2002/03
*Italian Super Cup: 5:: 1988, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2005
*European Super Cup: 4:: 1989, 1990, 1994, 2003
*Intercontinental Cup: 3:: 1969, 1989, 1990
*Cup Winners' Cup: 2:: 1967/68, 1972/73
* Mitropa Cup: 1 :: 1981/82
*Latin Cup: 2 (not official).:: 1951, 1956

Finals
*European Cup/Champions League: 4 :: 1957/58, 1992/93, 1994/95, 2004/05
*Intercontinental Cup: 4:: 1963, 1993 (by UEFA order), 1994, 2003
*European Super Cup: 2:: 1974, 1994
*Cup Winners' Cup: 1:: 1973/74
*Latin Cup: 1 (not official).:: 1953
*Italian Cup: 7:: 1941/42, 1967/68, 1970/71, 1974/75, 1984/85, 1989/90, 1997/98

Famous players

{|valign="top"|Italy
* Christian Abbiati
* Demetrio Albertini
* Enrico Albertosi
* Massimo Ambrosini
* Carlo Ancelotti
* Francesco Antonioli
* Pietro Arcari
* Roberto Baggio
* Franco Baresi
* Romeo Benetti
* Alberto Bigon
* Aldo Boffi
* Cristian Brocchi
* Lorenzo Buffon
* Renzo Burini
* Fabio Capello
* Riccardo Carapellese
* Angelo Carbone
* Aldo Cevenini
* Francesco Coco
* Fulvio Collovati
* Angelo Colombo
* Gianni Comandini
* Alessandro Costacurta
* Carlo Cudicini
* Fabio Cudicini
* Samuele Dalla Bona
* Mario David
* Fernando De Napoli
* Renzo De Vecchi
* Agostino Di Bartolomei
* Paolo Di Canio
* Roberto Donadoni
* Stefano Eranio
* Alberigo Evani
* Diego Fuser
* Giuseppe Galderisi
* Filippo Galli
* Giovanni Galli
* Maurizio Ganz
* Giorgio Ghezzi
* Alberto Gilardino
* Federico Giunti
* Filippo Inzaghi
* Gianluigi Lentini
* Giovanni Lodetti
* Saul Malatrasi
* Aldo Maldera
* Gino Maldera
* Cesare Maldini
* Paolo Maldini
* Daniele Massaro
* Giuseppe Meazza
* Bruno Mora
* Giovanni Moretti
* Domenico Morfeo
* Roberto Mussi
* Stefano Nava
* Alessandro Nesta
* Massimo Oddo
* Giuseppe Pancaro
* Christian Panucci
* Andrea Pirlo
* Gino Pivatelli
* Pierino Prati
* Gianni Rivera
* Roberto Rosato
* Paolo Rossi
* Sebastiano Rossi
* Luigi Sala
* Sandro Salvadore
* Giuseppe Santagostino
* Aldo Serena
* Marco Simone
* Giovanni Stroppa
* Mauro Tassotti
* Omero Tognon
* Giovanni Trapattoni
* Mario Trebbi
* Christian Vieri
* Pietro Vierchowod
* Pietro Paolo Virdis