Associazione Calcio Milan is an Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy. One of the most successful clubs in the world, A.C. Milan has won the prestigious UEFA Champions League/European Cup seven times, the World Club crown (Intercontinental Cup) 3 times, the European Super Cup 5 times and the Cup Winners Cup twice. In total they have won 14 European trophies (a record) and 17 international titles overall as of winning the UEFA Super Cup on 31 August 2007, making it the equal most successful international club with Boca Juniors of Argentina. Milan also boasts domestic successes winning the Serie A title 17 times (only rivals Juventus F.C. have more Scudetti), the Coppa Italia (Italian Cup) five times and the Italian Super Cup a record five times. It is one of the most supported football clubs in the world, and along with Juventus and Inter are one of the most popular teams in Italy. They play in red and black stripes, giving them the nickname Rossoneri ("red-blacks"). The team is known colloquially as Milan, and are sometimes referred to as il Diavolo (the devil).
The club was founded as a cricket club in 1899 by British expatriates Alfred Edwards and Herbert Kilpin. In honour of its origins, the club has retained the English spelling of its city's name, instead of changing it to the Italian Milano (though it was forced to do it during the fascist regime, like Genoa and Inter); it should be noted that the Italian pronunciation is actually MEE-lahn, even though the English one is the same as in the local dialect and many other dialects of Northern Italy.
Historically, AC Milan was supported by the city's working class and trade unionists many of whom were migrants from the South of Italy. Inter, the other big club from the city which was founded by supporters that broke away from AC Milan, was mainly supported by the more prosperous and typically Milanese middle-class. However, in recent years, the clubs have seen a notable reversal in their political positions, since Milan is now owned by media magnate and past conservative Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi, while Inter is now owned by a centre-left oil businessperson, Massimo Moratti. However, AC Milan's fans still tend to be mainly left-wing as opposed to Inter Milan fans who always have been traditionally right-wing. In 1980 Milan were involved in the Totonero scandal and were relegated to Serie B as punishment. The scandal was centred on a betting syndicate paying players and officials to fix the outcome of matches. Milan were allegedly involved in the 2006 Serie A scandal where five teams were accused of fixing matches by selecting favourable referees. Milan were initially punished with a 15 point deduction and banned from the Champions League. An appeal saw their penalty reduced to 8 points and allowed to retain their 2006-07 Champions League participation, where they won the competition.
The club was founded as a cricket club in 1899 by British expatriates Alfred Edwards and Herbert Kilpin. In honour of its origins, the club has retained the English spelling of its city's name, instead of changing it to the Italian Milano (though it was forced to do it during the fascist regime, like Genoa and Inter); it should be noted that the Italian pronunciation is actually MEE-lahn, even though the English one is the same as in the local dialect and many other dialects of Northern Italy.
Historically, AC Milan was supported by the city's working class and trade unionists many of whom were migrants from the South of Italy. Inter, the other big club from the city which was founded by supporters that broke away from AC Milan, was mainly supported by the more prosperous and typically Milanese middle-class. However, in recent years, the clubs have seen a notable reversal in their political positions, since Milan is now owned by media magnate and past conservative Prime Minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi, while Inter is now owned by a centre-left oil businessperson, Massimo Moratti. However, AC Milan's fans still tend to be mainly left-wing as opposed to Inter Milan fans who always have been traditionally right-wing. In 1980 Milan were involved in the Totonero scandal and were relegated to Serie B as punishment. The scandal was centred on a betting syndicate paying players and officials to fix the outcome of matches. Milan were allegedly involved in the 2006 Serie A scandal where five teams were accused of fixing matches by selecting favourable referees. Milan were initially punished with a 15 point deduction and banned from the Champions League. An appeal saw their penalty reduced to 8 points and allowed to retain their 2006-07 Champions League participation, where they won the competition.
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