Founded: 1899, Stadium: San Siro, Capacity: 75,923
AC Milan was founded as Milan Foot-Ball and Cricket Club in 1899 by Englishmen who initially refused to hire foreign players. Some dissidents therefore went off to form Internazionale. In honour of its English origins, the club has retained the English spelling of the city’s name, as opposed to the Italian spelling Milano. Milan’s home games are played at San Siro, also known as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. The stadium, which was built by Milan’s second chairman Piero Pirelli in 1926 and is shared since 1947 with city rivals Internazionale, is the largest in Italian football, with a total capacity of 75,923. They have a long-standing rivalry with Inter, with whom they contest the Derby della Madonnina; it is one of the most followed derbies in football. Since 1968, the Rossoneri have been supported by the members of the Fossa dei Leoni (The Lion’s Den), Italy’s oldest “ultra” group.
AC Milan is one of the wealthiest in Italian and world football. As far as popularity is concerned, they may lie behind Juventus and Inter within Italy, outside Italy they are more popular. Their style is also rather un-Italian. Contrary to many of the great Italian clubs, who are often calculating and sometimes short on spectacle, AC Milan have always been known for their attacking game inspired by coaches such as Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello.
Red and black are the colours which have represented the club throughout its entire history. They were chosen to represent the players’ fiery ardor (red) and the opponents’ fear to challenge the team (black). Rossoneri, the team’s widely used nickname, literally means “the red & blacks” in Italian, in reference to the colours of the stripes on its jersey. Another nickname derived from the club’s colours is the Devil. An image of a red devil was used as Milan’s logo at one point with a Golden Star for Sport Excellence located next to it. As is customary in Italian football, the star above the logo was awarded to the club after winning 10 league titles, in 1979. For many years, Milan’s badge was simply the Flag of Milan, which was originally the flag of Saint Ambrose. The modern badge used today 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
