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A.C. Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Italian football club based in
Milan, Lombardy, that plays in Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English
lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others.24 The
club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980每81 and 1982每83
seasons, in the top flight of Italian football, known as Serie A since 1929每30.2
They are the second most successful club in world football in terms of
international trophies along with Boca Juniors, with 18 officially recognized
UEFA and FIFA titles.5 Milan has won a record of three Intercontinental Cups and
one of its successor, the FIFA Club World Cup.5 Milan have also won the European
Cup/Champions League on seven occasions,5 second only to Real Madrid.6 They have
also won the UEFA Super Cup a record five times and the Cup Winners' Cup twice.5
Milan has won every major competition in which it has competed, with the
exception of the Europa League (in this competition they have lost two
semi-finals in 1972 and in 2002). Domestically, with 18 league titles Milan is
the joint-second most successful club in Serie A behind Juventus (29 titles),
along with local rivals Inter.7 They have also won the Coppa Italia five times,
as well as a record six Supercoppa Italiana triumphs.5
Milan's home games are
played at San Siro, also known as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. The stadium, which
is shared with Inter, is the largest in Italian football, with a total capacity
of 80,018.8 Inter are considered their biggest rivals, and matches between the
two teams are called Derby della Madonnina, which is one of the most followed
derbies in football.9 As of 2010, Milan is the third most supported team in
Italy,10 and the seventh most supported team in Europe, ahead of any other
Italian team.11
The owner of the club is former Italian Prime Minister and
controlling shareholder of Mediaset Silvio Berlusconi, and the vice-president is
Adriano Galliani. The club is one of the wealthiest and most valuable in Italian
and world football.12 It was a founding member of the now-defunct G-14 group of
Europe's leading football clubs as well as its replacement, the European Club
Association.
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 is 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每3 in a
friendly match against Internazionale. Milan played its first league game in San
Siro on 19 September 1926, losing 1每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.31 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.
Milan is one of the best supported football clubs in
Italy, according to research conducted by Italian newspaper La Repubblica.32
Historically, Milan was supported by the city's working-class and trade
unionists.33 On the other hand, crosstown rivals Internazionale were mainly
supported by the more prosperous and typically Milanese middle-class.33 One of
the oldest ultras groups in all of Italian football, Fossa dei Leoni, originated
in Milan.34 Currently, the main ultras group within the support base is Brigate
Rossonere.34 Politically, Milan ultras have never had any particular
preference,34 but the media traditionally associated them with the left-wing,35
until recently, when Berlusconi's presidency somewhat altered that view.
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