Associazione Calcio Milan was founded on 13 December 1899 by English expatriates Alfred Edwards and Herbert Kilpin as the Milan Cricket and Football Club. The club retains its Anglicised "Milan" (rather than the Italian "Milano") in tribute to its English roots. AC Milan is one of football's most decorated clubs, sharing the iconic San Siro stadium with city rival Inter since 1947.
Milan's seven UEFA Champions Leagues (most recently 2006-07) place them second only to Real Madrid in European football's all-time list. The Sacchi-Capello era of the late 1980s and early 1990s remains football's gold standard for club football: Arrigo Sacchi's pressing system and Fabio Capello's 1992-94 unbeaten 58-match league run featured the legendary Dutch trio of Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard, alongside Italian icons Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini, Roberto Donadoni and Demetrio Albertini. Back-to-back European Cups in 1988-89 and 1989-90 capped the era. The 1993-94 final saw Milan demolish Barcelona 4-0 in Athens — one of the great club performances.
The Carlo Ancelotti era (2001-2009) brought two more Champions Leagues (2002-03 against Juventus on penalties, and 2006-07 redemption against Liverpool after the 2005 Istanbul collapse), plus Coppa Italia and Serie A success. Andrea Pirlo, Andriy Shevchenko, Kaká, Filippo Inzaghi and Cafu starred. The Maldini family legacy — Cesare Maldini and son Paolo Maldini, both club legends and captains — represents Milan's ethos of generational continuity. Paolo Maldini's 902 appearances over 25 years remain a club record. The 2021-22 Scudetto under Stefano Pioli ended an 11-year drought, and after RedBird Capital's takeover from Elliott Management in 2022, the club continues to rebuild. The Derby della Madonnina against Inter is football's most heated derby.