Help us grow , pls click on the ad. beneath the News.. Thx.
The club was founded as a football and cricket club on 16 December 1899 by English expatriates Alfred Edwards and Herbert Kilpin, who came from the English city of Nottingham. In honor of its English origins, the club has retained the English spelling of the city's name, as opposed to the Italian spelling Milano which it was forced to bear under the fascist regime. Milan won its first Italian championship in 1901 and a further two in succession in 1906 and 1907.
In 1908, Milan experienced a split caused by internal disagreements over the signing of foreign players, which led to the forming of another Milan-based team, Internazionale. Following these events, Milan did not manage to win a single domestic title until 1950–51. The 1950s saw the club return to the top of Italian football, headed by the famous Gre-No-Li Swedish trio Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl and Nils Liedholm. In 1963, Milan won its first continental title by beating Benfica in the final of the European Cup. This success was repeated in 1969, and followed by an Intercontinental Cup title the same year. After the retirement of Gianni Rivera in 1979, Milan went into a period of decline, during which it was involved in the 1980 Totonero scandal and relegated to Serie B as punishment, for the first time in its history. The scandal was centered around a betting syndicate paying players and officials to fix the outcome of matches. Milan quickly returned to Serie A, but was again relegated to Serie B one year later as the team ended its 1981–82 campaign in third last place.
On 20 February 1986 entrepreneur Silvio Berlusconi acquired the club and saved it from bankruptcy investing vast amounts of money, appointing rising manager Arrigo Sacchi at the helm of the Rossoneri and signing the Dutch trio of Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten and Frank Rijkaard. This was the beginning of arguably the most successful era in Milan's history, as they won eight domestic titles, one Coppa Italia, five Supercoppa Italiana, five Champions League trophies, five UEFA Super Cups, two Intercontinental Cups and one FIFA Club World Cup. That successful team has been voted the best club side of all time, in a global poll of experts conducted by World Soccer magazine. It had reached its peak in one Milan's most memorable matches of all time, the famous 4–0 win over F.C. Barcelona in the 1994 UEFA Champions League Final. In the 1998–99 season, after a two-year period of decline, Milan lifted its 16th championship in the club's centenary celebrations.
More recently, the club was involved in the 2006 Serie A scandal, nicknamed Calciopoli, where five teams were accused of fixing matches by selecting favorable referees. A police inquiry excluded any involvement of Milan managers, but FIGC unilaterally decided that it had sufficient evidence to charge Milan vice-president, Adriano Galliani. As a result, Milan was initially punished with a 15 point deduction and consequently did not qualify for the Champions League. An appeal saw that penalty reduced to eight points, which allowed the club to retain its 2006–07 Champions League participation. Milan subsequently won the competition, lifting the European Cup for the seventh time.
Following the aftermath of Calciopoli, local rivals Internazionale dominated Serie A, winning four Scudetti. However, with the help a strong squad boasting players such as Zlatan Ibrahimović, Robinho and Alexandre Pato joining many of the old-guard, Milan recaptured the Scudetto in the 2010–11 Serie A season, their first since the 2003–04 season, and 18th overall. Help us grow , pls click on the ad. beneath the News.. Thx.
Colours and badge
Shirt worn by Milan in 2006–07 Champions League Final
Red and black are the colours which 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 colors and the flag of the Comune di Milano, with the acronym ACM at the top and the foundation year (1899) at the bottom.
White shorts and black socks are usually worn as part of the home strip. Milan's away strip has always been completely white. It is considered by both the fans and the club to be a lucky strip in Champions League finals, due to the fact that Milan has won six finals out of eight in an all white strip (losing only to Ajax in 1995 and Liverpool in 2005), and only won one out of three in the home strip. The third strip, which is rarely used, changes yearly, being mostly black with red trimmings in recent seasons.
Stadium
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza
San Siro
Location Via Piccolomini 5,
20151 Milan, Italy
Broke ground 1925
Opened 19 September 1926
Renovated 1939, 1955, 1989
Owner Municipality of Milan
Operator AC Milan and Internazionale
Construction cost ₤5,000,000 (1926), ₤5,100,000 (1939), $60,000,000 (1989)
Architect Ulisse Stacchini (1925), Giancarlo Ragazzi (1989), Enrico Hoffer (1989)
Capacity 80,018 seated
Tenants
AC Milan (1926–present), Internazionale (1947-present)
For more details on this topic, see San Siro.
The team's stadium is the 80,018 seat San Siro, officially known as Stadio Giuseppe Meazza after the former player who represented both Milan and Internazionale. The more commonly used name, San Siro, is the name of the district where it's located. San Siro has been the home of Milan since 1926, when it was privately built by funding from Milan's president at the time, Piero Pirelli. Construction was performed by 120 workers, and took 13 and a half months to complete. The stadium was owned by the club until it was sold to the city council in 1935, and since 1947 has been shared with Internazionale, when the other major Milanese club was accepted as joint tenant.
The first game played at the stadium was on 19 September 1926, when Milan lost 6–3 in a friendly match against Internazionale. Milan played its first league game in San Siro on 19 September 1926, losing 1–2 to Sampierdarenese. From an initial capacity of 35,000 spectators, the stadium has undergone several major renovations, most recently in preparation for the 1990 FIFA World Cup when its capacity was set to 85,700, all covered with a polycarbonate roof. In the summer of 2008 its capacity has been reduced to 80,018, in order to meet the new standards set by UEFA.
Based on the English model for stadiums, San Siro is specifically designed for football matches, as opposed to many multi-purpose stadiums used in Serie A. It is therefore renowned in Italy for its fantastic atmosphere during matches, thanks to the closeness of the stands to the pitch. The frequent use of flares by supporters contributes to the atmosphere but the practice has occasionally caused problems.
On 19 December 2005, Milan vice-president and executive director Adriano Galliani announced that the club is seriously working towards a relocation. He said that Milan's new stadium will be largely based on the Veltins-Arena and will follow the standards of football stadiums in the United States, Germany and Spain. As opposed to many other stadiums in Italy, Milan's new stadium will likely be used for football only, having no athletics track. The new stadium's naming rights will be probably sold to a sponsor, similarly to Arsenal's Emirates Stadium. It remains to be seen if this plan will proceed or if this is just a ploy to force the owners (Comune di Milano) to sell the stadium to Milan for a nominal fee so as to proceed with extensive renovations. The possibility of Internazionale vacating San Siro may affect proceedings.
Supporters and rivalries
Milan banner saying "Inter, the true comedy since 1908," with a caricature of Dante
Milan is one of the best supported football clubs in Italy, according to research conducted by Italian newspaper La Repubblica. Historically, Milan was supported by the city's working-class and trade unionists. On the other hand, crosstown rivals Internazionale were mainly supported by the more prosperous and typically Milanese middle-class. One of the oldest ultras groups in all of Italian football, Fossa dei Leoni, originated in Milan. Currently, the main ultras group within the support base is Brigate Rossonere. Politically, Milan ultras have never had any particular preference, but the media traditionally associated them with the left-wing, until recently, when Berlusconi's presidency somewhat altered that view.
According to a study from 2010, Milan is the most supported Italian team in Europe and seventh overall, with over 18.4 million fans. AC Milan has the ninth highest average attendance of European football clubs behind Borussia Dortmund, FC Barcelona, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Schalke, Arsenal, and Hamburg.
Genoa fans consider Milan a hated rival after Genoa fan, Vincenzo Spagnolo was stabbed to death by a Milan supporter in January 1995. However, Milan's main rivalry is with neighbor club, Internazionale; both clubs meet in the widely anticipated Derby della Madonnina twice every Serie A season. The name of the derby refers to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose statue atop the Milan Cathedral is one of the city's main attractions. The match usually creates a lively atmosphere, with numerous (often humorous or offensive) banners unfolded before the start of the game. Flares are commonly present and contribute to the spectacle but they have occasionally led to problems, including the abandonment of the second leg of the 2004–05 Champions League quarterfinal match between Milan and Inter on 12 April 2005, after a flare thrown from the crowd by an Inter supporter struck Milan keeper Dida on the shoulder.Help us grow , pls click on the ad. beneath the News.. Thx.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
AC Milan HISTORY
The club was founded as a football and cricket club on 16 December 1899 by English expatriates Alfred Edwards and Herbert Kilpin,[4] who came from the English city of Nottingham. In honor of its English origins, the club has retained the English spelling of the city's name, as opposed to the Italian spelling Milano which it was forced to bear under the fascist regime. Milan won its first Italian championship in 1901 and a further two in succession in 1906 and 1907...
Help us grow , pls click on the ad. beneath the News.. Thx.
The club was founded as a football and cricket club on 16 December 1899 by English expatriates Alfred Edwards and Herbert Kilpin, who came from the English city of Nottingham. In honor of its English origins, the club has retained the English spelling of the city's name, as opposed to the Italian spelling Milano which it was forced to bear under the fascist regime. Milan won its first Italian championship in 1901 and a further two in succession in 1906 and 1907.
In 1908, Milan experienced a split caused by internal disagreements over the signing of foreign players, which led to the forming of another Milan-based team, Internazionale. Following these events, Milan did not manage to win a single domestic title until 1950–51. The 1950s saw the club return to the top of Italian football, headed by the famous Gre-No-Li Swedish trio Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl and Nils Liedholm. In 1963, Milan won its first continental title by beating Benfica in the final of the European Cup. This success was repeated in 1969, and followed by an Intercontinental Cup title the same year. After the retirement of Gianni Rivera in 1979, Milan went into a period of decline, during which it was involved in the 1980 Totonero scandal and relegated to Serie B as punishment, for the first time in its history. The scandal was centered around a betting syndicate paying players and officials to fix the outcome of matches. Milan quickly returned to Serie A, but was again relegated to Serie B one year later as the team ended its 1981–82 campaign in third last place.
On 20 February 1986 entrepreneur Silvio Berlusconi acquired the club and saved it from bankruptcy investing vast amounts of money, appointing rising manager Arrigo Sacchi at the helm of the Rossoneri and signing the Dutch trio of Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten and Frank Rijkaard. This was the beginning of arguably the most successful era in Milan's history, as they won eight domestic titles, one Coppa Italia, five Supercoppa Italiana, five Champions League trophies, five UEFA Super Cups, two Intercontinental Cups and one FIFA Club World Cup. That successful team has been voted the best club side of all time, in a global poll of experts conducted by World Soccer magazine. It had reached its peak in one Milan's most memorable matches of all time, the famous 4–0 win over F.C. Barcelona in the 1994 UEFA Champions League Final. In the 1998–99 season, after a two-year period of decline, Milan lifted its 16th championship in the club's centenary celebrations.
More recently, the club was involved in the 2006 Serie A scandal, nicknamed Calciopoli, where five teams were accused of fixing matches by selecting favorable referees. A police inquiry excluded any involvement of Milan managers, but FIGC unilaterally decided that it had sufficient evidence to charge Milan vice-president, Adriano Galliani. As a result, Milan was initially punished with a 15 point deduction and consequently did not qualify for the Champions League. An appeal saw that penalty reduced to eight points, which allowed the club to retain its 2006–07 Champions League participation. Milan subsequently won the competition, lifting the European Cup for the seventh time.
Following the aftermath of Calciopoli, local rivals Internazionale dominated Serie A, winning four Scudetti. However, with the help a strong squad boasting players such as Zlatan Ibrahimović, Robinho and Alexandre Pato joining many of the old-guard, Milan recaptured the Scudetto in the 2010–11 Serie A season, their first since the 2003–04 season, and 18th overall. Help us grow , pls click on the ad. beneath the News.. Thx.
Colours and badge
Shirt worn by Milan in 2006–07 Champions League Final
Red and black are the colours which 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 colors and the flag of the Comune di Milano, with the acronym ACM at the top and the foundation year (1899) at the bottom.
White shorts and black socks are usually worn as part of the home strip. Milan's away strip has always been completely white. It is considered by both the fans and the club to be a lucky strip in Champions League finals, due to the fact that Milan has won six finals out of eight in an all white strip (losing only to Ajax in 1995 and Liverpool in 2005), and only won one out of three in the home strip. The third strip, which is rarely used, changes yearly, being mostly black with red trimmings in recent seasons.
Stadium
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza
San Siro
Location Via Piccolomini 5,
20151 Milan, Italy
Broke ground 1925
Opened 19 September 1926
Renovated 1939, 1955, 1989
Owner Municipality of Milan
Operator AC Milan and Internazionale
Construction cost ₤5,000,000 (1926), ₤5,100,000 (1939), $60,000,000 (1989)
Architect Ulisse Stacchini (1925), Giancarlo Ragazzi (1989), Enrico Hoffer (1989)
Capacity 80,018 seated
Tenants
AC Milan (1926–present), Internazionale (1947-present)
For more details on this topic, see San Siro.
The team's stadium is the 80,018 seat San Siro, officially known as Stadio Giuseppe Meazza after the former player who represented both Milan and Internazionale. The more commonly used name, San Siro, is the name of the district where it's located. San Siro has been the home of Milan since 1926, when it was privately built by funding from Milan's president at the time, Piero Pirelli. Construction was performed by 120 workers, and took 13 and a half months to complete. The stadium was owned by the club until it was sold to the city council in 1935, and since 1947 has been shared with Internazionale, when the other major Milanese club was accepted as joint tenant.
The first game played at the stadium was on 19 September 1926, when Milan lost 6–3 in a friendly match against Internazionale. Milan played its first league game in San Siro on 19 September 1926, losing 1–2 to Sampierdarenese. From an initial capacity of 35,000 spectators, the stadium has undergone several major renovations, most recently in preparation for the 1990 FIFA World Cup when its capacity was set to 85,700, all covered with a polycarbonate roof. In the summer of 2008 its capacity has been reduced to 80,018, in order to meet the new standards set by UEFA.
Based on the English model for stadiums, San Siro is specifically designed for football matches, as opposed to many multi-purpose stadiums used in Serie A. It is therefore renowned in Italy for its fantastic atmosphere during matches, thanks to the closeness of the stands to the pitch. The frequent use of flares by supporters contributes to the atmosphere but the practice has occasionally caused problems.
On 19 December 2005, Milan vice-president and executive director Adriano Galliani announced that the club is seriously working towards a relocation. He said that Milan's new stadium will be largely based on the Veltins-Arena and will follow the standards of football stadiums in the United States, Germany and Spain. As opposed to many other stadiums in Italy, Milan's new stadium will likely be used for football only, having no athletics track. The new stadium's naming rights will be probably sold to a sponsor, similarly to Arsenal's Emirates Stadium. It remains to be seen if this plan will proceed or if this is just a ploy to force the owners (Comune di Milano) to sell the stadium to Milan for a nominal fee so as to proceed with extensive renovations. The possibility of Internazionale vacating San Siro may affect proceedings.
Supporters and rivalries
Milan banner saying "Inter, the true comedy since 1908," with a caricature of Dante
Milan is one of the best supported football clubs in Italy, according to research conducted by Italian newspaper La Repubblica. Historically, Milan was supported by the city's working-class and trade unionists. On the other hand, crosstown rivals Internazionale were mainly supported by the more prosperous and typically Milanese middle-class. One of the oldest ultras groups in all of Italian football, Fossa dei Leoni, originated in Milan. Currently, the main ultras group within the support base is Brigate Rossonere. Politically, Milan ultras have never had any particular preference, but the media traditionally associated them with the left-wing, until recently, when Berlusconi's presidency somewhat altered that view.
According to a study from 2010, Milan is the most supported Italian team in Europe and seventh overall, with over 18.4 million fans. AC Milan has the ninth highest average attendance of European football clubs behind Borussia Dortmund, FC Barcelona, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Schalke, Arsenal, and Hamburg.
Genoa fans consider Milan a hated rival after Genoa fan, Vincenzo Spagnolo was stabbed to death by a Milan supporter in January 1995. However, Milan's main rivalry is with neighbor club, Internazionale; both clubs meet in the widely anticipated Derby della Madonnina twice every Serie A season. The name of the derby refers to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose statue atop the Milan Cathedral is one of the city's main attractions. The match usually creates a lively atmosphere, with numerous (often humorous or offensive) banners unfolded before the start of the game. Flares are commonly present and contribute to the spectacle but they have occasionally led to problems, including the abandonment of the second leg of the 2004–05 Champions League quarterfinal match between Milan and Inter on 12 April 2005, after a flare thrown from the crowd by an Inter supporter struck Milan keeper Dida on the shoulder.Help us grow , pls click on the ad. beneath the News.. Thx.
Help us grow , pls click on the ad. beneath the News.. Thx.
The club was founded as a football and cricket club on 16 December 1899 by English expatriates Alfred Edwards and Herbert Kilpin, who came from the English city of Nottingham. In honor of its English origins, the club has retained the English spelling of the city's name, as opposed to the Italian spelling Milano which it was forced to bear under the fascist regime. Milan won its first Italian championship in 1901 and a further two in succession in 1906 and 1907.
In 1908, Milan experienced a split caused by internal disagreements over the signing of foreign players, which led to the forming of another Milan-based team, Internazionale. Following these events, Milan did not manage to win a single domestic title until 1950–51. The 1950s saw the club return to the top of Italian football, headed by the famous Gre-No-Li Swedish trio Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl and Nils Liedholm. In 1963, Milan won its first continental title by beating Benfica in the final of the European Cup. This success was repeated in 1969, and followed by an Intercontinental Cup title the same year. After the retirement of Gianni Rivera in 1979, Milan went into a period of decline, during which it was involved in the 1980 Totonero scandal and relegated to Serie B as punishment, for the first time in its history. The scandal was centered around a betting syndicate paying players and officials to fix the outcome of matches. Milan quickly returned to Serie A, but was again relegated to Serie B one year later as the team ended its 1981–82 campaign in third last place.
On 20 February 1986 entrepreneur Silvio Berlusconi acquired the club and saved it from bankruptcy investing vast amounts of money, appointing rising manager Arrigo Sacchi at the helm of the Rossoneri and signing the Dutch trio of Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten and Frank Rijkaard. This was the beginning of arguably the most successful era in Milan's history, as they won eight domestic titles, one Coppa Italia, five Supercoppa Italiana, five Champions League trophies, five UEFA Super Cups, two Intercontinental Cups and one FIFA Club World Cup. That successful team has been voted the best club side of all time, in a global poll of experts conducted by World Soccer magazine. It had reached its peak in one Milan's most memorable matches of all time, the famous 4–0 win over F.C. Barcelona in the 1994 UEFA Champions League Final. In the 1998–99 season, after a two-year period of decline, Milan lifted its 16th championship in the club's centenary celebrations.
More recently, the club was involved in the 2006 Serie A scandal, nicknamed Calciopoli, where five teams were accused of fixing matches by selecting favorable referees. A police inquiry excluded any involvement of Milan managers, but FIGC unilaterally decided that it had sufficient evidence to charge Milan vice-president, Adriano Galliani. As a result, Milan was initially punished with a 15 point deduction and consequently did not qualify for the Champions League. An appeal saw that penalty reduced to eight points, which allowed the club to retain its 2006–07 Champions League participation. Milan subsequently won the competition, lifting the European Cup for the seventh time.
Following the aftermath of Calciopoli, local rivals Internazionale dominated Serie A, winning four Scudetti. However, with the help a strong squad boasting players such as Zlatan Ibrahimović, Robinho and Alexandre Pato joining many of the old-guard, Milan recaptured the Scudetto in the 2010–11 Serie A season, their first since the 2003–04 season, and 18th overall. Help us grow , pls click on the ad. beneath the News.. Thx.
Colours and badge
Shirt worn by Milan in 2006–07 Champions League Final
Red and black are the colours which 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 colors and the flag of the Comune di Milano, with the acronym ACM at the top and the foundation year (1899) at the bottom.
White shorts and black socks are usually worn as part of the home strip. Milan's away strip has always been completely white. It is considered by both the fans and the club to be a lucky strip in Champions League finals, due to the fact that Milan has won six finals out of eight in an all white strip (losing only to Ajax in 1995 and Liverpool in 2005), and only won one out of three in the home strip. The third strip, which is rarely used, changes yearly, being mostly black with red trimmings in recent seasons.
Stadium
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza
San Siro
Location Via Piccolomini 5,
20151 Milan, Italy
Broke ground 1925
Opened 19 September 1926
Renovated 1939, 1955, 1989
Owner Municipality of Milan
Operator AC Milan and Internazionale
Construction cost ₤5,000,000 (1926), ₤5,100,000 (1939), $60,000,000 (1989)
Architect Ulisse Stacchini (1925), Giancarlo Ragazzi (1989), Enrico Hoffer (1989)
Capacity 80,018 seated
Tenants
AC Milan (1926–present), Internazionale (1947-present)
For more details on this topic, see San Siro.
The team's stadium is the 80,018 seat San Siro, officially known as Stadio Giuseppe Meazza after the former player who represented both Milan and Internazionale. The more commonly used name, San Siro, is the name of the district where it's located. San Siro has been the home of Milan since 1926, when it was privately built by funding from Milan's president at the time, Piero Pirelli. Construction was performed by 120 workers, and took 13 and a half months to complete. The stadium was owned by the club until it was sold to the city council in 1935, and since 1947 has been shared with Internazionale, when the other major Milanese club was accepted as joint tenant.
The first game played at the stadium was on 19 September 1926, when Milan lost 6–3 in a friendly match against Internazionale. Milan played its first league game in San Siro on 19 September 1926, losing 1–2 to Sampierdarenese. From an initial capacity of 35,000 spectators, the stadium has undergone several major renovations, most recently in preparation for the 1990 FIFA World Cup when its capacity was set to 85,700, all covered with a polycarbonate roof. In the summer of 2008 its capacity has been reduced to 80,018, in order to meet the new standards set by UEFA.
Based on the English model for stadiums, San Siro is specifically designed for football matches, as opposed to many multi-purpose stadiums used in Serie A. It is therefore renowned in Italy for its fantastic atmosphere during matches, thanks to the closeness of the stands to the pitch. The frequent use of flares by supporters contributes to the atmosphere but the practice has occasionally caused problems.
On 19 December 2005, Milan vice-president and executive director Adriano Galliani announced that the club is seriously working towards a relocation. He said that Milan's new stadium will be largely based on the Veltins-Arena and will follow the standards of football stadiums in the United States, Germany and Spain. As opposed to many other stadiums in Italy, Milan's new stadium will likely be used for football only, having no athletics track. The new stadium's naming rights will be probably sold to a sponsor, similarly to Arsenal's Emirates Stadium. It remains to be seen if this plan will proceed or if this is just a ploy to force the owners (Comune di Milano) to sell the stadium to Milan for a nominal fee so as to proceed with extensive renovations. The possibility of Internazionale vacating San Siro may affect proceedings.
Supporters and rivalries
Milan banner saying "Inter, the true comedy since 1908," with a caricature of Dante
Milan is one of the best supported football clubs in Italy, according to research conducted by Italian newspaper La Repubblica. Historically, Milan was supported by the city's working-class and trade unionists. On the other hand, crosstown rivals Internazionale were mainly supported by the more prosperous and typically Milanese middle-class. One of the oldest ultras groups in all of Italian football, Fossa dei Leoni, originated in Milan. Currently, the main ultras group within the support base is Brigate Rossonere. Politically, Milan ultras have never had any particular preference, but the media traditionally associated them with the left-wing, until recently, when Berlusconi's presidency somewhat altered that view.
According to a study from 2010, Milan is the most supported Italian team in Europe and seventh overall, with over 18.4 million fans. AC Milan has the ninth highest average attendance of European football clubs behind Borussia Dortmund, FC Barcelona, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Schalke, Arsenal, and Hamburg.
Genoa fans consider Milan a hated rival after Genoa fan, Vincenzo Spagnolo was stabbed to death by a Milan supporter in January 1995. However, Milan's main rivalry is with neighbor club, Internazionale; both clubs meet in the widely anticipated Derby della Madonnina twice every Serie A season. The name of the derby refers to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose statue atop the Milan Cathedral is one of the city's main attractions. The match usually creates a lively atmosphere, with numerous (often humorous or offensive) banners unfolded before the start of the game. Flares are commonly present and contribute to the spectacle but they have occasionally led to problems, including the abandonment of the second leg of the 2004–05 Champions League quarterfinal match between Milan and Inter on 12 April 2005, after a flare thrown from the crowd by an Inter supporter struck Milan keeper Dida on the shoulder.Help us grow , pls click on the ad. beneath the News.. Thx.
