Foundation and early years
Associazione Calcio Milan was founded December 16, 1899 by
Alfred Edwards and
Herbert Kilpin (from
Nottingham,
England) as the
Milan Cricket and Football Club.
[1] Edwards, a former British vice-consul in Milan and well-known personality of the Milanese high society, was the club's first elected president. Initially the team included a
cricket section, managed by
Edward Berra, and a football section managed by David Allison.
The official colours chosen were red and black. Immediately the team gained relevant notability under
Herbert Kilpin's guide. The first trophy to be won was the
Medaglia del Re (King's Medal) on January 1900, and the team later won three national leagues, in 1901, 1906 and 1907. The triumph of 1901 was particularly relevant because it ended the consecutive series of wins of
Genoa, which had been the only team to have won prior to 1901.
In 1908, issues over the signing of foreign players led to a split and the formation of
F.C. Internazionale Milano.
In 1916, Milan won the
Federal Cup, a national trophy which had replaced the Italian league, suspended because of
World War I. This cup was never recognized as an Italian title.
In 1919, the team changed its name to
Milan Football Club. After their first triumphs, Milan was unable to continue with their former high-level success, obtaining only a number of half-table placements, even if always playing in the top Italian division.
In 1939 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.
1950s
In the post-war period, 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.
Perhaps the most resounding victory of this period was the 7-1 defeat of
Juventus in Turin on February 5, 1950, with
Gunnar Nordahl bagging a hat-trick.
After the 1951
Scudetto, Milan won another three Serie A seasons, in 1955, 1957 and 1959, and two
Latin Cups, in 1951 and 1956. In the end, Milan always placed among the top three teams from 1947/1948 to 1956/1957.
1960s: Nereo Rocco
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
European Cup (later known as UEFA Champion League) by defeating
Benfica 2-1. This was also the first time an Italian team won the European Cup.
Despite that, during the 1960s Milan won less trophies, 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 the two goals of
Kurt Hamrin. The next season Milan won its second European Cup (4-1 to
AFC Ajax), and in 1969 won its first
Intercontinental Cup, after having defeated
Estudiantes de La Plata of
Argentina in two dramatic legs (3-0, 1-2).
The 10th scudetto and the first Serie B
In the 1970s, Milan won three
Italian Cups and its second Cup Winners' Cup during the 72-73 season. Greek referee
Christos Michas, who officiated the final, was later sentenced of match fixing in his home country, though no involment by Milan was ever proved. The real goal of the
Rossoneri was the tenth Scudetto, which would have awarded the first
stella ("star") to the team. In 1972 they reached the semi-final of the
UEFA Cup losing to eventual cup winners
Tottenham Hotspur. A strong 1972/1973 season provided their first opportunity for the tenth Scudetto, but ultimately proved a failure after a humiliating defeat against
Hellas Verona on the last day of the season.
Milan had to wait until 1978/1979 to win their tenth Scudetto, primarily being led by Gianni Rivera who retired from football after this final triumph.
However, the worst was yet to come for the
Rossoneri: after the 1979/1980 season, Milan was relegated to
Serie B by the Football Federation, together with
S.S. Lazio, because of a betting scandal.
[2] In 1980-81, 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.
Berlusconi presidency
The Immortals and the Invicibles
After several different financial troubles had caused bad times and a lack of success, 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,
Carlo Ancelotti and
Giovanni Galli.
Sacchi won the 1987-88 scudetto after a great recovery over
Diego Maradona's
S.S.C. Napoli. In 1988-1989, Milan won its third European Cup, defeating
Steaua Bucuresti 4-0 in the final, and its second Intercontinental cup against National de Medellin (1-0, goal in the last minute of extra time). The team repeated their triumph the following season, against Benfica (1-0), and earned its second Intercontinental Cup in a row and third overall beating
Olimpia Asunción in 1990. Their European winning line-up was: Giovanni Galli; Mauro Tassotti, Alessandro Costacurta, Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini; Angelo Colombo, Frank Rijkaard, Carlo Ancelotti, Roberto Donadoni; Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten. During this period the team was nicknamed
Gli Immortali ("The Immortals").
With Sacchi leaving Milan to coach the
Italy national football team,
Fabio Capello was hired and under him, the
Rossoneri kept being successful and came to be known as
Gli Invicibili ("The Invincibles"). With an unprecedented 58-match run with no defeats the Invincibili team had the likes of
Franco Baresi,
Alessandro Costacurta and
Paolo Maldini commanding one of the best defences in history, with
Marcel Desailly and
Roberto Donadoni in midfield and
Dejan Savićević,
Zvonimir Boban, and
Daniele Massaro playing in attack.
AC Milan starting lineup who defeated FC Barcelona in Athens in the UEFA Champions League final on May 18, 1994
In addition to three consecutive
scudetti (from 1992 to 1994, including the feat of not losing a single match in the 1991/1992 season), Milan reached the Champions League final for three consecutive years: in 1993 they were defeated by
Olympique de Marseille; this match was disputed by a match-fixing scandal in the French league involving Marseille's then club president. In 1994 it was
F.C. Barcelona who experienced the taste of defeat, after a famous 4-0 win at the hands of the
Rossoneri; and in the 1995 finals, Milan were again defeated, this time by
Ajax. Then, in 1995-96, led by famous world-class players such as
Roberto Baggio,
Marco Simone and
George Weah, Milan gained their fifteenth Italian Championship. Milan's primary line-up under Capello (1996): Sebastiano Rossi;
Christian Panucci, Alessandro Costacurta, Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini; Roberto Donadoni, Demetrio Albertini, Marcel Desailly; Zvonimir Boban; George Weah, Roberto Baggio.
Tabarez to Terim
- 1996–1997
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. The team suffered their worst Serie A defeat, humiliated by
Juventus at their own home of San Siro with a 1-6 score. Milan signed new players like
Ibrahim Ba,
Christophe Dugarry and
Edgar Davids. Milan struggled and shockingly ended the Season 1996-97 in eleventh place in Serie-A.
- 1997–1998
Sacchi was replaced with the returning Capello in the following season. Capello's new Milan signed many potential players like
Christian Ziege,
Patrick Kluivert,
Jesper Blomqvist, and
Leonardo but the results were even worse than the season before. They ended Season 1997-98 an improved tenth place. This was still unacceptable and Capello, like Sacchi, was fired.
- 1998–1999
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: Christian Abbiati; Luigi Sala, Alessandro Costacurta, Paolo Maldini; Thomas Helveg, Demetrio Albertini, Massimo Ambrosini, Andres Guglielminpietro; Zvonimir Boban, George Weah, Oliver Bierhoff.
- 1999–2000
Despite success in the previous season, 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,
Lazio and Juventus.
- 2000–2001
The following season, Milan qualified for the
UEFA Champions League 2000-01 by defeating
Dinamo Zagreb to a 6-1 aggregate. Milan started the Champions League at a high note, defeating
Beşiktaş J.K. from Turkey and Spanish giants Barcelona, who at the time consisted of international world-class superstars in
Rivaldo and Patrick Kluivert. But Milan's form began to seriously decline, drawing against a number of teams (which are seen as technically inferior to Milan), but mainly losing by a 3-0 scoreline to Juventus in Serie A and 1-0 to
Leeds United of England. 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 win over
A.S. Bari, who still had the young gun,
Antonio Cassano. 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, with the only goal in the match scored by a young
Luca Toni. In spite of these results, the Milan board of directors were adamant that Milan reach the fourth place in the league at the end of the season but Maldini failed and the team ended 6th.
- 2001–2002
Milan started their 2001-02 campaign by signing more star players including
Javi Moreno and
Cosmin Contra who took
Deportivo Alavés to the final round of the
UEFA Cup. They also signed
Kakha Kaladze (from
Dynamo Kyiv),
Rui Costa (from
AC Fiorentina),
Filippo Inzaghi (from
Juventus),
Martin Laursen (from
Verona),
Jon Dahl Tomasson (from
Feyenoord),
Umit Davala (from
Galatasaray) and
Andrea Pirlo (from
Inter).
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, earning 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; Andriy Shevchenko, Filippo Inzaghi.
The Agony and the Ecstasy: Ancelotti years and Kaka's Reign
- 2002-2003 (3rd in Serie A, Champions of Europe)
Milan ended the season with their sixth Champions League trophy in
2003. On route to the final in
Manchester, England, Milan beat
their cross city rivals Inter in the semi-finals and they ended the competition on a glorious note by beating their other Italian rival, Juventus, in a dramatic penalty shoot-out. That same season, Milan placed third in Serie A. They also won the
Coppa Italia and
European Super Cup. Champions League winning starting line-up was: Dida; Alessandro Costacurta, Alessandro Nesta, Paolo Maldini, Kakha Kaladze; Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf; Rui Costa; Andriy Shevchenko, Filippo Inzaghi. Then the following season, Milan signed
Kaká. The team earned the nickname
I Meravigliosi (The Amazings).
- 2003-2004 (Champions in Serie-A, Quarter Finals in European Cup)
May 2004: celebrating the 17
th scudetto in
piazza del DuomoMilan set a points record to win the scudetto with a team that was largely kept constant for at least five years. An attack spearheaded by Shevchenko, playmaking by Kaká, and defence with Nesta and Maldini. Milan's season was not perfect as they were beaten by Deportivo La Coruna 0-4 in the quarter finals of the European Cup after winning 4-1 in the San Siro. Despite being Italian champions, Milan showed, as some critics said, weak midfield character that would repeat itself in the European Cup final in the following season. Nevertheless, the squad proved successful and able to express a brilliant style of play for many months.
- 2004-2005 (2nd in Serie A, 2nd in European Cup)
Hernán Crespo, on loan from
Chelsea F.C., proved to be a solid signing.
Massimo Ambrosini scored an incredible late goal against
PSV. However, the season ended in disastrous defeat in
Istanbul's
Atatürk Stadium. In
2005, Milan let a 3-0 half time 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. The nightmare of La Coruna was now replaced with a new nightmare of Istanbul. Milan ended the season being 2nd in the League and won the
Italian Super Cup, defeating Lazio. 2004-2005 could be summed up as another solid season, but Liverpool won the European Cup and Juventus was the champion of Italy.
- 2005-2006 (3rd in Serie A, Semi Finals in European Cup)
Milan's Serie A campaign appeared to be one of their most successful in recent years. The team ended the season with a league high 28 wins, but could not edge
Juventus in the standings thanks to their (at the time) record setting pace of 91 points. However all this success was nullified by the Calciopoli scandal. Milan were named in the
Serie A scandal of 2006 and deprived of 44 out of the 88 points they gained in Serie A 2005-06. In addition, Milan would start their 2006-07 campaign 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.
Milan's efforts in the Champions League that year also proved close, but ultimately unsuccessful. After coming out on top of their group, Milan advanced to the knockout phase of the
UEFA Champions League 2005–06, first defeating
Bayern München of
Germany on aggregate and then
France's
Olympique Lyonnais 3-1 on aggregate. Advancing to the semi-finals of the competition, they were defeated by eventual champion Barcelona 0-1 on aggregate, thus ending their Champions League run for that season
- 2006-2007 (4th in Serie A, Won UEFA Champions League)
Milan's Serie A campaign began with the aforementioned -8 points penalty resulting from the Caliopoli Scandal. After a lackluster first half of the season which saw Milan hover at the center of the standings, several January transfers (including World Cup winner
Massimo Oddo, and Brazilian legend
Ronaldo) reinvigorated the club. By the end of the campaign, Milan surged up the table to finish fourth, thus assuring their participation for the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League.
While their Serie A campaign proved moderately successful, the 2006-2007 season is best remembered for the team's performance in the
Champion's League. The penalties imposed after the Calciopoli scandal resulted in Milan being seeded third in the final 2005-06 Serie A table. Thus the team was forced to play in the
Champion's League Qualifers against former European champion
Red Star Belgrade. Milan were victorius in the qualifier and advanced to the group phase which they would eventually win.
A.C. Milan starting lineup against Liverpool F.C. in Athens.
Milan survived a first round fight, defeating
Celtic F.C. (eventual champions of
the Scottish League) 1-0 on aggregate after an extra time goal by
Kaká. Milan would go on to defeat Bayern München 4-2 on aggregate (2-2 at San Siro and 2-0 at
Allianz Arena).
With the win over Bayern, Milan was propelled to the Champions League semi-finals. This marked the third consecutive and fourth time in five years that AC Milan has reached the final four of the competition. The first leg of the semi-final was played against Manchester United at
Old Trafford. Manchester scored early on a goal from
Cristiano Ronaldo, but Milan answered back thanks to a brace from Kaká, taking a 1-2 lead at half time. Manchester United would ultimately prove victorious thanks to two 2nd half goals from striker
Wayne Rooney. This match was regarded by the media and UEFA President
Michel Platini as the greatest match in recent memories.
[citation needed] The second leg of the
Semi Final was played at San Siro on 2 May. Milan played a near perfect first half taking a 2-0 lead into halftime with goals from Kaká and
Clarence Seedorf. A 78-minute goal by
Alberto Gilardino sealed the victory for the home side.
Milan advanced to the
UEFA Champions League final, pitting them in a rematch against their 2005 finals opponent Liverpool. The match was played at the
Olympic Stadium in
Athens,
Greece, on 23 May 2007, with Milan prevailing 2-1 with both goals coming from
Filippo Inzaghi. With the victory, the club affirmed its status as one of the powerhouses of European football, with three European Cup final appearances in five years, including two victories.
- 2007-2008 (5th in Serie A, Eliminated First Knockout Round in Europe, Won FIFA Club World Cup)
Hot off the heels of winning a seventh Champions League title, Milan continued their international success by winning the
2007 UEFA Super Cup against
Sevilla FC in a game marked with sadness over the recent on-field death of Sevilla player
Antonio Puerta. Milan's Champions League success also made the club eligible to compete in the
2007 FIFA Club World Cup where they would win their 18th officially recognized international trophy - tied for most club international trophies in the world. Ironically, Milan won their 18th title in a match against
Boca Juniors, the team they are tied with in total international trophies.
However, these two trophies only served as consolation for a very disappointing season for Milan. The club had a slow start in Serie A, often finding it difficult to score after a pre-season injury to
Ronaldo. This coupled with their aging backline and some deteriorating performances by Dida, found the club in mid table for much of the season. New signing
Alexandre Pato was a bright light for an otherwise dark season for Milan. By the end of the Serie A campaign, Fiorentina edged Milan out for fourth place in the standings and thus Milan failed to qualify for the 2008-09 Champions League - their first failure since the 2001-02 season.
Milan's involvement in the 2007-08 edition of the UEFA Champions League was also forgettable. While the club won its group, they were quickly eliminated by a much younger opponent,
Arsenal F.C. in the first knockout round. Prior to this season, Milan had made it to at least the quarterfinals of every Champions League going back to the 2002-03 edition.
- 2008-2009 (3rd in Serie A, Eliminated First Knockout Round in UEFA CUP)
After a poor domestic season that finally resulted in Milan missing out on the
Champions League, the club made numerous additions during the offseason signing
Ronaldinho,
Andriy Shevchenko,
Gianluca Zambrotta,
Marco Borriello and
Mathieu Flamini, amongst others. They also added international sensation
David Beckham during the January transfer window on loan from MLS's
LA Galaxy. The season started poorly with two consecutive losses. However the team bounced back, rising to first spot in the table for one week in the first half of the season, before dropping behind Inter (who would go on to win their fourth straight Serie A championship).
The team also fared poorly in the 2008-09 UEFA Cup competition. After winning their group and advancing to the knockout stage, the team was eliminated by eventual UEFA Cup finalist
Werder Bremen.
Perhaps the most notable aspect of the 2008-09 season was the retirement of footballing legend
Paolo Maldini who played each of his club games for Milan, in a career that spanned a remarkable 25 years.
Leonardo to Allegri
- 2009-2010 (3rd in Serie A, Eliminated First Knockout Round in Europe)
The season started with the dimission of the head coach
Carlo Ancelotti, the new appointed Head Coach was
Leonardo. During the transfer season, the club's mayor activity was the sale of
Kaka for 64.5 Million Euro's to Spanish team
Real Madrid C.F.
The start of the season was not so good, they weren't able to win several matches, and the fans were really uncomfortable with the results. But the results started to change in the victory against
A.S. Roma, and the crucial victory over Real Madrid, in the
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. The season included the resurgence of
Ronaldinho,
Marco Borriello, and the new players as
Luca Antonini or
Ignazio Abate. Although the
Rossoneri achieved some important results, they were eliminated from the
Uefa Champions League, by English club
Manchester United F.C.; and lost the Serie A race to
F.C. Internazionale Milano, and
A.S. Roma and subsequently finished 3rd.. At the end of the season, the coach Leonardo resigned, despite A.C. Milan's wishes to keep the manager.