AC Milan (Italy)

Associazione Calcio Milan are more commonly known as AC Milan, or just Milan in Italy, were formed in 1899 by a group of six Englishmen involved in the lace trade. Milan, or Rossoneri; the Red and Blacks to give them their nickname, are one of the most successful club sides in the world.

Milan were originally formed as Milan Foot-Ball and Cricket Club by Nottingham tradesmen working in the city. The club started out life playing games at Campo Trotter in Piazza Doria where they won their first national title in 1901 before moving to Campo Acquabella in Corso Indipendenza in 1903.

Another change of home ground followed in January 1906 when Milan moved to Campo Milan in Porta Monforte where further Italian championships were collected in 1906 and 1907 with all three triumphs coming under English coach Herbert Kilpin. 

A split over the signing of foreign players saw the formation of their city rivals, Internazionale in 1908. Milan moved to Velodromo Sempione in 1914 where they remained until 1919 before playing for a short while at Campo Pirelli and other local venues including Arena Civica before spending the period between February 1920 and July 1926 at Viale Lombardia.

In 1919 a change of title to Milan Football Club was introduced while the team continued as a side finishing in mid table of the top level without threatening any further titles. Milan moved into the new San Siro stadium in 1926.

In 1939 the fascist regime enforced another name change; this time to Associazione Calcio Milano. This was amended to Associazione Calcio (AC) Milan after World War Two was over. A fourth Italian title was collected in 1950-51 under head coach Lajos Czeizler as Swedish striker Gunnar Nordahl led the goal charts.

The famed side also included fellow Swedes Gunnar Gren and Nils Liedholm along with Lorenzo Buffon, Cesare Maldini and Carlo Annovazzi. The title win included an astonishing 7-1 victory away to Juventus.

Three further Scudetto’s followed in the decade as Milan were crowned as Italian champions in 1954-55 with Hector Puricelli in charge of the team, 1956-57 and 1958-59 with Giuseppe Viani as head coach.

An eighth Italian title followed in 1961-62 under head coach Nereo Rocco with a team including a young Gianni Rivera and José Altafini as well as a cameo from Jimmy Greaves. The team went on to lift their first European Cup in 1962-63 as SL Benfica were defeated 2-1 at Wembley.

A goal from Amarildo secured the clubs first ever Coppa Italia with a win against Padova in 1966-67. Milan went on to lift the European Cup Winners-Cup the following season as Hamburger SV were defeated 2-0 at Feijenoord Stadion thanks to two goals from Kurt Hamrin.

City rivals Inter had dominated Serie A for a few seasons before Milan came out on top of the table to complete their double in 1967-68 after Rocco had departed before returning as the goals of Pierino Prati and Kurt Hamrin helped secure the title.

Milan won their second European Cup in 1968-69 with a 4-1 victory against Ajax at Santiago Bernabéu thanks to a Prati hattrick and an Angelo Sormani strike. In 1971-72 the side reached the semi-final of the UEFA Cup as well as winning a second Coppa as Napoli were defeated 2-0 with goals from Roberto Rosata and Dino Panzanato.

The Coppa Italia was retained in 1972-73 as Juventus were defeated on penalties after Romeo Benetti had scored in the 1-1 draw. A goal from Luciano Chiarugi secured the Cup Winners Cup the same season against Leeds United in a match in which referee Christos Michas was later to be banned for life for match fixing as Cesare Maldini led the Milan side.

Local rivals Internazionale were defeated 2-0 in the Coppa Italia final of 1976-77 as Aldo Maldera and Giorgio Braglia scored the goals with Nils Liedholm overseeing the triumph as head coach. The Swede remained at the helm as a tenth Scudetto was collected in 1978-79 as Alberto Bigon led the scoring.

However, the club was demoted to Serie B in 1979-80 by FIGC, the Italian federation after being found guilty of their involvement in a betting scandal. Massimo Giacomini s side to the second tier title and promotion at the first attempt, before Milan went down in the third relegation spot.

Ilario Castagner was head coach as the club lifted the Serie B title of 1982-83. Liedholm was back in charge of the team when controversial entrepreneur and politician Silvio Berlusconi acquired the club and immediately invested a lot of money in the team in February 1986.

Arrigo Sacchi was brought in as coach while the three major signings over the following couple of years were made as the Dutch trio of Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten and Frank Rijkaard all arrived at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, to compete against a trio of German star signings at Inter.

The signings would signal the beginning of the most successful time in the club's history. First up was an eleventh Italian title in 1987-88 with Pietro Paolo Virdis banging in the goals. Franco Baresi and Paolo Maldini led the defence assisted by an emerging Alessandro Costacurta.

The team went on to lift their third European Cup in 1988-89 as Steaua București were swept aside 4-0 at Camp Nou as Van Basten and Guillit bagged a brace apiece. The trophy was retained the following season with a 1-0 win against SL Benfica in Vienna with a Rijkaard goal settling the game.

Carlo Ancelotti and Alberigo Evani continued to play defining parts in the success before Fabio Capello took over as head coach in June 1991. Capello led his team to the Italian championship in 1991-92 and 1992-93. Roberto Donadoni, Demetrio Albertini and Daniele Massaro became the latest players to be integrated into the line up.

Milan reached the 1992-93 European Cup final but lost 1-0 to Olimpique Marseille at Munich’s Olympiastadion. Zvonimir Boban and Dejan Savićević strengthened the team further as a third consecutive title was won in 1993-94.

Capello’s team also destroyed FC Barcelona 4-0 to win the European Cup to avenge the disappointment of twelve months previous at the Olympic Stadium in Athens thanks to two goals from Daniele Massaro and efforts from Marcel Desailly and Savićević. Milan reached the 1994-95 final but went down 1-0 to Ajax.

Milan’s fifteenth national title came in 1995-96 as Sebastiano Rossi continued in goal while Paolo Di Canio, Christian Panucci and George Weah all played their parts before another Serie A title was accrued in 1998-99 under head coach Alberto Zaccheroni.

The team had gone undergone a facelift since their previous success. The new favourite players of the San Siro faithful were Massimo Ambrosini, Oliver Bierhoff, Leonardo, Bruno N'Gotty and Christian Ziege who were added to the dependable veterans.

The 2002-03 season saw two cups being added to the honours board under former player Ancelotti. AS Roma were defeated on aggregate to win the Coppa Italia while the Champions League was won against Juventus on penalties at Old Trafford with Andrea Pirlo, Clarence Seedorf, Rui Costa, Andriy Shevchenko and Filippo Inzaghi starring.

League title number seventeen arrived in 2003-04 before Milan somehow lost the 2004-05 Champions League final on penalties to Liverpool after leading 3-0 with Cafu, Gennaro Gattuso and Kaká all contributing heavily throughout the season.

The club hinted towards vacating the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza Perhaps the club were trying to force the hand of the local government into awarding them a better deal or to upgrade facilities?

Milan avenged their Liverpool defeat by lifting the Champions League against the same opponents with a 2-1 win in Athens in 2006-07 as Inzaghi netted twice. Ancelotti departed to take the Chelsea job in May 2009 with Leonardo replacing him and staying in charge for just one season.

Milan appointed Massimo Allegri as head coach in the summer of 2010 as the club signed Robinho, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Zlatan Ibrohimovic who all helped to secure an eighteenth Scudetto in 2010-11, which was followed up the following season by a runners-up place.

However, star players began to move on as honours dried up along with coach Allegri in 2014. Clarence Seedorf stepped in for a short unsuccessful period before the legendary Filippo Inzaghi took over the reigns to try and return honours to the club.

Meanwhile off the pitch it was announced that Milan would be building a new stadium of their own at Portello in the city and move out of the San Siro, to mirror a move made by deadly rivals Juventus.

Inzaghi was sacked in the summer of 2015 after a mid table finish with Siniša Mihajlović arriving in his place from Sampdoria. President Burlosconi backed up the new man in the transfer market as big money signings Carlos Bacca, Alessio Romagnoli and Andrea Bartolacci were added to the squad.

Vincenzo Montella was appointed head coach for the 2016-17 campaign as he led the side to sixth place in Serie A. Montella was dismissed in November 2017 with Genarro Gutusso arriving in his place. He took the side to another sixth place finish as well as reaching the final of the Coppa Italia.

Milan improved their league standing by one position in 2018-19 before Gutusso moved on with Marco Giampaolo taking over until October 2019 when he was replaced by Stefano Piolo. New striker Rafael Leão was offered experienced help when Ibrahimović returned to Milan.

AC Milan will play in Serie A for the 2019-20 season.

My visits

Thursday 5th July 1990

I had travelled to Italy for the World Cup better known as Italia 90 with Nick, my youngest brother. The previous evening we had been in Turin for the fateful World Cup semi-final which had broken our hearts as England went out. 

Football didn't seem to matter anymore. Even the hosts had lost interest after Argentina put pay to their dreams. Even the previous threat of hooliganism and walking the streets of Turin seemed to have dissipated as everyone’s fires had been extinguished.

However, the group of us all decided we wanted to get out of Turin as soon as possible. We packed up the tents for one final time and took the tram across town to the station. We decided to head to Milan for a day, but mainly for a peaceful meal, beers and a look around the San Siro as Nick and Darren had got in the previous day.

We took the metro to Lotto Fiera and then got out for the five minute walk. Our earlier visitors had told us how we’d be blown away when we saw the stadium for the first time and they weren’t wrong. The Stadio Giuseppe Meazza looked like it had landed from outer space with its steep sides and red steel holding the roof in place. The stadium had a horse race track next to one of the sides, which looked top class as well.

We walked around and saw an open gate, so in we went. We walked up one of the eleven towers paths which went round and round the column like a helter skelter, only with enough room for vehicles and spectators to move around and reach their various positions. We entered the arena on the third tier behind the North goal. 

The stadium was even more incredible when viewed from inside. Three sides had three tiers with the roof hanging over it. The fourth side by the race track side only had two tiers, with another smaller separate roof to protect the spectators. Much work had been carried out before the tournament, with the addition of the third tier and the roof. The front row of the bottom tier was raised above pitch level with facilities underneath.

The stadium was being prepared for a Madonna concert the following night. I’m sure she’d receive a far warmer welcome than her similar sounding Argentian footballer was getting at the time. Concerts were an inevitability so that the costs of improvement could be met, but for years after the staff at the ground struggled with the condition of the pitch for football as a consequence, as Wembley soon found out after it was rebuilt.

We took our photos before some riggers setting up the stage started shouting at us. I don’t think they were asking us to join them for lunch, so we cleared off and adjourned for a beer at one of the cafe bars outside.

We did a bit more walking about in the city before deciding upon finding a bar. Everyone was due to go their separate ways soon after. A couple of lads were going to go down to Bari for the 3rd/4th place decider against Italy. Nick and I had had enough. Some others were going for a holiday in Greece. 

We decided to make our way back and get back to Scarborough early to enjoy the weekend regaling our jealous mates with our adventures. We bid a very emotional farewell to the lads. I'm glad to say we kept in touch for many years after. Hopefully they might read this blog and get back in touch.

Nick still had one task left, although it would have to wait until we reached Cologne on the train the following morning. Billy had bought a ticket for the World Cup Final in advance. He didn't want to go. I asked Nick if he wanted to go and I’d travel down with him, but he wasn't interested if we couldn't both go. 

Billy gave the ticket to Nick to try and sell in Cologne. He tried his very best, and we thought he must have the chance of getting Billy a bit of spending money back, especially with Germany reaching the final. However, no-one was massively interested in any of the travel offices. They all said, that if we’d have had two, they’d have snapped our hands off. 

That was exactly the point though. If we had two, we wouldn't have ever considered selling them! The ticket spent weeks in a drawer in Scarborough before being returned to Billy at the next England game when we all met for pre match beers!

AC Milan 3 Parma 1 (Sunday 1st February 2015) Serie A (Att: 24,396)

Following visiting the stunning city of Turin and the match between Torino and Sampdoria it was time for the second match of my whistle stop trip to Italy.

I had a much needed siesta on the train from Turin and awoke as we entered the outskirts of Milan. The Centrale Station was a staggering building. I could have spent time just looking around it with its marble pillars and high ceilings.

Instead I headed across Piazza Duca d’Aosta to the New York Hotel. My room was warm and comfortable, but I had no time to waste. After a quick shower and change I was soon in the long tunnels of the metro to catch a train on the green M2 line to Loreto where I changed to the red M1 line for the service to Lotto. I was shocked how empty it was, as I bagged myself a seat.

The journey time to Lotto was around thirty minutes. Free buses were waiting outside to take us to the stadium. As at Torino earlier in the day, there were plenty of stalls for food, drink and souvenirs. I managed to get into an indoors fan bar for a beer and to pick up the complimentary 'San Siro' match newspaper, which was the nearest I saw to a programme.

I'd deliberately purchased a ticket for the near north Verde (green) section when buying and printing online, to save shoe leather. I was really grateful as I’d overdone the walking and had blisters on the soles of my feet.

After a couple of ID and ticket checks I was inside and climbing the mammoth staircases. The fans of Milan and Inter must have been a fit bunch for that climb every other week.

I'd visited San Siro the day after England had been knocked out of the World Cup in 1990 and had my photo taken. A local obliged in taking a new one for me from the same area, only a level higher.

The stadium was as stunning as I remembered on the inside. The facilities for fans regarding refreshments weren't as high tech as in the UK (although beer was available) and the toilets looked like they were modelled on those of the Coliseum, but the old place had an aura about it. 

I felt it would be a shame when Milan moved out to their own new build. While the gate looked abysmal there was still 10,000 more than at my afternoon game and a similar amount to the full house at the KC the day before.

Milan went ahead to a soft award of a penalty on seventeen minutes through Jeremy Menez. He was as good as the home side had, although Alex at the back put in a typical performance. Parma equalised on twenty four minutes from Antonio Nocerino and then began to get on top. 

It was the first time I'd seen Parma since 1977 when Scarborough beat them in the Anglo Italian Trophy. They were cheered on by a hundred or so fans behind us on the top tier who were separated by a glass shield and high wire netting.

Parma belied their league place of being five points adrift at the bottom. Milan let them play as the locals began to get angry. Possession was given away at will by the lacklustre home side

There was lots of shaking of heads from the Milan fans at the break. How the mighty had fallen! To me the game changed at the break as head coach Filippo Inzaghi brought on Michael Essien for the disappointing Dutchman Marco van Ginkel who was on loan from Chelsea. 

It seemed almost inconceivable for anyone of my age that mighty Milan would one day have to loan players from Chelsea! Essien immediately broke up play and added a stability that was missing in the first period.

On fifty seven minutes Menez scored a fine goal across Antonio Mirante in the Parma goal. Front man Mattia Destro was replaced by Sully Muntari by Inzaghi to loud boos from the Milan faithful. Parma had the occasional break away but the game was sealed on seventy six minutes when full back Cristian Zaccardo finished off a decent move.

The final few minutes were played out without too much happening. It was getting extremely cold as it was getting on for 10.30pm. Thankfully the low crowd and easy going stewarding allowed standing wherever we wished in the towering stands. From the smells some home fans were past caring; either that or Marlboro's are a lot stronger in Italy!

At full time there were no buses, which threw me directionally until a couple of locals put me right. It meant that it was a mile or so walk back to Lotto station. There was no problem getting on a waiting train, meaning that I was back at central station in next to no time.

I struggled across the square on my aching feet for a McDonald’s as I hadn’t the energy to go searching for anything more authentic. I was back in my room by 11.20 with a take away trying to thaw out, with possible the worst cup of tea I’d ever been sold.

To add to the surreal nature of a day out at football in a foreign land, my old school mate Martin Bentham came on the hotel TV on Sky TV’s Paper Review. I slept like a baby and was glad that I’d set my alarm.

The following morning I caught the €10 shuttle bus to Malpense Airport, which was a lot further than I’d anticipated. The Easy Jet flight to Luton was packed with a local school party taking up plenty of seats. It bothered me not one jot as I slept all the way, awaking with views over north London.

Reality soon hit home as I sat in the waiting room at the station platform knowing I would be on late shift at work a few hours later.

It had been a long and brilliant day and night out. What's more the two match tickets had cost me less than at the KC the day before! I would be returning at the first possible opportunity.

Sunday 9^th February 2020

To read about an impromptu visit to the outside of San Siro while in transit between Marseille and Genoa, please click here.