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A.C. Milan

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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