This is the history of Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan (), an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy.

Foundation and early years

A.C. Milan was founded as Milan Foot-Ball and Cricket Club in 1899 by English expatriate Herbert Kilpin. The club claims 16 December of that year as their foundation date, but historical evidence seems to suggest that the club was actually founded on 18 December. However, with the club's charter being lost, the date remains debated. Alfred Edwards, was the club's first elected president, a former British vice-consul in Milan and a well-known personality of the Milanese high society. Initially, the team included a cricket section, managed by Edward Berra, and a football section, managed by Kilpin.

The official colours chosen were red and black. Immediately the team gained relevant notability under Kilpin's guidance. The first trophy to be won was the Medaglia del Re (King's Medal) in January 1900, and the team later won three national leagues, in 1901, 1906 and 1907. The triumph of 1901 was particularly relevant because it ended the consecutive series of wins of Genoa, which had been the only team to have won prior to 1901.

The club proved successful in the first decade of its existence, with several important trophies won, including, among others, two more editions of the aforementioned Medaglia del Re, the Palla Dapples 23 times and the FGNI tournament five times, a competition organized by the Italian Gymnastics Federation but not officially recognized by the Italian Football Federation.

In 1908, issues over the signing of foreign players led to a split and the formation of F.C. Internazionale Milano, which caused one of the former Milan founders Giovanni Paramithiotti to become president of Internazionale Milano instead.

In 1909 Milan experienced its first change of ownership, when Piero Pirelli became club's new chairman. He would remain in charge for 19 years, until he resigned in 1928, for a record timespan, which Silvio Berlusconi had only beaten 80 years later.

1910–1949 In 1916, Milan won the Federal Cup, a national trophy that had replaced the Italian league, suspended because of World War I. This cup was never recognized as an Italian title. In the following two seasons, Milan won the most important tournaments in place during the war at a regional level (the national championship was still suspended): the Coppa Lombarda in 1917 and the Coppa Mauro in 1918, in this case after beating Inter in the decisive match with a historic 8-1 score.

In 1919, the team changed its name to Milan Football Club. After their first triumphs, Milan could not continue with their former high-level success, obtaining only a number of half-table placements, even if always playing in the top Italian division.

Two of the most critical players in this decade were the Belgian forward Louis Van Hege, who scored 97 goals in 88 official matches, and the defender Renzo De Vecchi, nicknamed il figlio di Dio (the son of God).

Between the two World Wars, despite always remaining in the first division, Milan never went beyond the third place, which was achieved in 1937-38 and 1940-41. In 1924 Vittorio Pozzo, who won the World Cup in 1934 and 1938 as coach of the Italy national team, was hired as manager of the club. However, results were not positive, and after two seasons he was sacked.

In 1926, chairman Piero Pirelli built a new stadium exclusively for Milan to play in. The San Siro became the only home of Milan from that moment onwards. The stadium was inaugurated with a derby against Inter, won with a 6-3 final score. Among the Rossoneri's scorers of that day was Giuseppe Santagostino, one of the most relevant players of the club in the 1920s: he scored 103 goals in 233 appearances.

The 1930s marked Milan's debut in international competitions, with the participation to the 1938 Mitropa Cup. Between 1935 and 1939 Milan reached four consecutive Coppa Italia semifinals, with as many eliminations.

The most important player of the decade was Aldo Boffi, who was three times top scorer of the Serie A (in 1938-39, 1939–40 and 1941–42) and who scored a total of 136 goals for Milan, which made him the 5th all-time top scorer of the club.

In 1939, the fascist regime imposed a new italianized name, Associazione Calcio Milano, for the team. However, that name was partly abandoned after World War II, but the initial part was maintained: the team was called Associazione Calcio Milan, which remains the club's current official name.

1950s

In the post-war period, Milan was always among the top three Italian teams in the Serie A standings (with the exception of a 4th place in 1946–47), and won the Scudetto in 1951, the first time since 1907. Il Grande Milan included the famous "Gre-No-Li", a trio of Swedish players composed by Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl and Nils Liedholm, all previous Olympic winners. That team also fielded quality players such as Lorenzo Buffon, Cesare Maldini and Carlo Annovazzi. Domestically, Milan won the Serie A title also in 1955, 1957 and 1959. Between the 1947–48 and 1956–57 seasons, Milan always finished amongst the top three clubs in the league table. One of the most resounding victory of this period was the 7–1 win against Juventus in Turin on 5 February 1950, with Gunnar Nordahl scoring a hat-trick.

Béla Guttmann was appointed manager of A.C. Milan in 1953. Guttmann had them top of Serie A 19 games into his second season in charge when a string of disputes with the board led to his dismissal. He later told a stunned press conference "I have been sacked even though I am neither a criminal nor a homosexual. Goodbye." From then on he insisted on a clause in his contract that he could not be sacked if his team were top of the table.Contested Fields; A Global History of Modern Football

This decade witnessed also the first European successes of Milan, with the triumphs in the 1951 and 1956 Latin Cup. Milan was also the first Italian club to take part to the newly born European Cup in the 1955-56 season, and reached the final two years later, when they were defeated by Real Madrid.

1960s

Milan returned to win a football league in 1961–62 under manager Nereo Rocco, an innovative football coach known as the inventor of the catenaccio tactic. The team included a young Gianni Rivera and José Altafini. The following season, in large part due to Altafini's prolific goal-scoring, Milan won their first European Cup (later known as UEFA Champion League) by defeating Portugal's Benfica 2–1. This also marked the first time an Italian team won the European Cup.

Despite the successes of the decade's early years, Milan won fewer trophies throughout the 1960s, mainly because of the heavy competition of Helenio Herrera's Internazionale, Milan's city rivals. Its next Scudetto arrived only in 1967–68 through the offense output of Pierino Prati, the Serie A's top-scorer that season, as well as the European Cup Winners' Cup, won against Hamburger SV thanks to the two goals of Kurt Hamrin. In the next season, Milan won its second European Cup, 4–1 over Ajax, and in 1969 won its first Intercontinental Cup after defeating Argentina's Estudiantes La Plata in two dramatic legs (3–0, 1–2).

1970s In the 1970s, Milan won three Coppa Italia and its second Cup Winners' Cup during the 1972–73 season after beating Leeds United with a 1-0 score. In 1972, they reached the semi-final of the UEFA Cup, although falling to eventual Cup winners Tottenham Hotspur. But the main goal of the Rossoneri was the tenth Scudetto, which would have awarded the first stella ("star") to the team. For three consecutive seasons (1971, 1972 and 1973), Milan ended as second in the league, after some memorable duels with Inter and Juventus. Despite a strong 1972–73 season providing their best opportunity to achieve it, a dramatic defeat against Hellas Verona on the last day of the season end the chance.

Milan had to wait until 1979 to win their tenth Scudetto, primarily being led by Gianni Rivera, who retired from football after this final triumph. That year the debut of Franco Baresi, at his first full season with the club.

After this success, the team went into decline. The club in 1980 was involved in the Totonero scandal and as punishment was relegated to Serie B for the first time in its history. The scandal was centred around a betting syndicate paying players and officials to fix the outcome of matches.

1980s

In 1980–81, Milan handily won the Serie B championship enjoying a swift return in 1981–82 to Serie A, but then suffering its worst season ever and being relegated again. In 1983, Milan won the Serie B title for the second time in three seasons to return to Serie A, where they achieved a sixth-place finish in 1983–84.

Financial troubles following with poor times and a lack of success on the pitch. Milan was saved from bankruptcy on 20 February 1986 by Silvio Berlusconi, a Milanese entrepreneur. He brought in rising coach Arrigo Sacchi, three Dutch players (Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard and Ruud Gullit), and the Italian internationals Roberto Donadoni, Carlo Ancelotti, Giovanni Galli and Paolo Maldini in the attempt to return the team to glory,

Sacchi and Milan won the 1987–88 Scudetto after an impressive recovery over the Diego Maradona-led Napoli. The next season (1988–89), Milan won its third European Cup after defeating Steaua București 4–0 in the final, and its second Intercontinental Cup against National de Medellín (1–0, goal in the last minute of extra time).

1990s

The team repeated their European Cup triumph the following season after defeating Benfica 1–0, then earned its third overall and second consecutive Intercontinental Cup, after beating Olimpia Asunción in 1990. Their European-winning line-up were: Giovanni Galli; Mauro Tassotti, Alessandro Costacurta, Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini; Angelo Colombo, Frank Rijkaard, Carlo Ancelotti, Roberto Donadoni; Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten. The team was referred to as Gli Immortali ("The Immortals"). This team has been voted the best club side of all time in a global poll of experts conducted by World Soccer magazine.

With Sacchi leaving Milan in 1991 to coach the Italy national team, Fabio Capello was hired and under him, the Rossoneri kept being successful and came to be known as Gli Invicibili ("The Invincibles"). With an unprecedented 58-match run with no defeats, the Invincibili boasted the likes of Mauro Tassotti, Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta and Paolo Maldini as one of the strongest defenses in football history, along with Marcel Desailly and Roberto Donadoni in midfield and Dejan Savićević, Zvonimir Boban and Daniele Massaro in attack.

In addition to three consecutive Scudetti from 1992 to 1994, including the feat going undefeated in 1991–92, Milan reached the Champions League final in a record three consecutive years. In 1993 Milan was defeated by Marseille, a result later disputed by a match-fixing scandal in the French Ligue 1 involving Marseille's then-club president Bernard Tapie. In 1994, however, Milan defeated Barcelona after a sensational 4–0 win, while in 1995, Milan fell to Ajax. Then, in 1995–96, led by stars Roberto Baggio, Marco Simone and George Weah, Milan earned its 15th Italian championship. Milan's primary line-up under Capello in that winning season was: Sebastiano Rossi; Christian Panucci, Alessandro Costacurta, Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini; Roberto Donadoni, Demetrio Albertini, Marcel Desailly; Zvonimir Boban; George Weah, Roberto Baggio.

1996–97