Associazione Calcio Milan (Italian pronunciation: [assotʃatˈtsjone ˈkaltʃo ˈmiːlan] ( listen)), commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899.[2][4] The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seasons, in the top flight of Italian football, known as Serie A since 1929–30.[2]
With 18 officially recognised UEFA and FIFA titles, they are the fourth most successful club in the world and the most successful Italian club at international level.[5][6][7][8] Milan has won a joint record three Intercontinental Cups and one FIFA Club World Cup,[8] seven European Cup/Champions League titles (Italian record),[8] the UEFA Super Cup a joint record five times and the Cup Winners’ Cup twice.[8] With 18 league titles, Milan is the joint-second most successful club in Serie A, along with local rivals Internazionale.[9] They have also won the Coppa Italia five times, and the Supercoppa Italiana seven.[8]
Milan’s home games are played at San Siro, also known as the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. The stadium, which is shared with city rivals Internazionale, is the largest in Italian football, with a total capacity of 80,018.[10] 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.[11]
The former owner of the club was former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, which owned the club for 31 years. The club is one of the wealthiest 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.[13]