The first coach of the future legendary team was Herbert Kilpin, who also designed its uniform and colours: black and red. The red colour represented the devil, the patron saint of the club, and the black symbolised the danger to rivals. Thus, the team received the nickname "Devils". The club's emblem is a shield depicting the coat of arms of Milan: a purple cross on a white background.
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On March 11, 1900, Milan played its first unofficial match against Mediolanum, another Milan club, and won a landslide 3-0 victory. This success inspired the team to join the Italian Football Federation and participate in the national championship.
In its first official match against the Torinese, held on April 15, 1900, Milan was defeated with a score of 0:3. However, two seasons later, in 1901, the club became the champion of Italy. The following titles were won in 1906 and 1907. Later, after a conflict in one of the Milan cafes, a new club was founded called Internazionale, which became Milan's main rival.
In 1936, the Milan Football Club changed its name to the Milan Sports Association. At this time, there were changes in the management of the club, and Umberto Trabbatoni took over as president, remaining in this position from 1940 to 1954. At that time, the team faced difficulties in the Italian Championship and experienced instability.
In the spring of 1951, Milan won its fourth Scudetto. A week later, the team won the Latin Cup, defeating Lille 5-0 in the final with Gunnar Nordahl scoring a hat-trick.
The golden days of the AC Milan team
In the 1961-62 season, the Rossoneri club won its eighth Italian championship title, which marked the beginning of one of the most successful periods in its history. Gianni Rivera and Brazilian Jose Altafini played a key role in this achievement. The following season, Milan became the first Italian team to win the European Champions Cup, defeating Portuguese Benfica at Wembley Stadium in London, where Eisebio played.
In 1964, the Rossoneri, under the leadership of new head coach Giuseppe Viani, who replaced Nereo Rocco after his transfer to Torino, were defeated by Brazilian Santos 1-0 at the Maracana in the Intercontinental Cup, conceding the decisive goal in the last minutes of the match.
In the early 1980s, the Milan club faced serious difficulties when it was demoted to Serie B due to a betting scandal. Nevertheless, despite these problems, the team managed to sign the talented defender Paolo Maldini, who made his debut in January 1985. He continued the tradition of his family by becoming captain of both the club and the Italian national team.
In March 1986, Silvio Berlusconi became president of Milan. Ahead of the 1986-87 season, the team signed players such as Roberto Donadoni, Dario Bonetti, Giuseppe Galderisi, Daniele Massaro, and Giovanni Galli. Milan was able to qualify for the UEFA Cup by defeating Sampdoria, where Massaro scored the decisive goal in extra time. In the 1987/88 season, the team was led by coach Arrigo Sacchi.
With the arrival of famous Dutch players Marco Van Basten and Ruud Gullit, a new era of success began for the club. Young defender Alessandro Costacurta was also included in the main squad.
Despite some off-field difficulties, the team defeated Napoli with a score of 2:3 at the San Paolo Stadium in Naples and won the Italian championship title on May 18, 1988. After the successful performance of the Dutch national team at Euro 1988, the Dutch pair Gullit-Van Basten was strengthened by compatriot Frank Rijkard, forming a Dutch trio similar to the famous trio of the 1950s with Gunnar Nordahl, Niels Lidholm, and Gunnar Groen.
In the 1988/89 season, Milan won the Champions Cup, defeating Steaua Bucharest in the final. More than a hundred thousand spectators gathered at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona to witness Milan's 4-0 victory, with Van Basten and Gullit scoring two goals each.
Under Sacchi's leadership, the team won the Italian championship, two Champions Cups, two Intercontinental Cups, two European Super Cups, and one Italian Super Cup. At the beginning of the 1992/93 season, Sacchi was replaced as coach by former Milan midfielder Fabio Capello, but the team continued to demonstrate its superiority both on and off the home field.
The team has won four consecutive league titles, three Italian Super Cups, one Champions League (in the final against Barcelona), and one European Super Cup. In the 2002-03 season, Milan, under the leadership of Carlo Ancelotti, became champions of the Champions League, defeating Juventus in the final.
In the 2004-05 season, Milan reached the Champions League final in Istanbul, where they lost in a penalty shootout in a famous match against Liverpool after leading 3-0. The team was able to take revenge two years later in Athens. The success of the club was based not only on the composition and coaching work but also on the efforts of the Belgian doctor Jean-Pierre Meersemann, who has been cooperating with the club since 1998 and served as chief physician from 2002 to 2012 and also headed the MilanLab laboratory created by him.
Before the start of the 2009/2010 season, the club's management decided to form a new team. Several key players left the club: midfielder Kaka was sold to Real Madrid for 68.5 million euros, striker Andriy Shevchenko moved to Chelsea, and legendary Milan captain defender Paolo Maldini ended his career. Head coach Carlo Ancelotti had also resigned.
