AC Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan was founded 16 December 1899 by Alfred Edwards and Herbert Kilpin (from Nottingham, England) as the Milan Cricket and Football Club. Edwards, a former British vice-consul in Milan and well-known personality of the Milanese high society, was the club’s first elected president. Initially the team included a cricket section, managed by Edward Berra, and a football section managed by David Allison. The official colours chosen were red and black. Immediately the team gained relevant notability under Herbert Kilpin’s guide. The first trophy to be won was theMedaglia del Re (King’s Medal) on 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. In 1908, issues over the signing of foreign players led to a split and the formation of F.C. Internazionale Milano.
In 1916, Milan won the Federal Cup, a national trophy which had replaced the Italian league, suspended because of World War I. This cup was never recognized as an Italian title. In 1939 the fascist regime imposed a new italianized name, Associazione Calcio Milano, for the team. However, that name was abandoned immediately after the World War II, but maintaining the initial part: the team was called Associazione Calcio Milan, which is the current official name. In 1919, the team changed its name to Milan Football Club. After their first triumphs, Milan was unable to continue with their former high-level success, obtaining only a number of half-table placements, even if always playing in the top Italian division.
In the post-war period, Milan was among the three top Italian teams, 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 who were Olympic winners. That team also fielded quality players such as Lorenzo Buffon, Cesare Maldini and Carlo Annovazzi. Perhaps the most resounding victory of this period was the 7–1 defeat of Juventus in Turin on 5 February 1950, with Gunnar Nordahl bagging a hat-trick. After the 1951 Scudetto, Milan won another three Serie A seasons, in 1955, 1957 and 1959, and two Latin Cups, in 1951 and 1956. In the end, Milan always placed among the top three teams from 1947/1948 to 1956/1957.
Despite that, during the 1960s Milan won less trophies, mainly because of the heavy concurrence ofHelenio Herrera’s Inter. Its next Scudetto arrived only in 1967/1968, thanks to the goals of Pierino Prati, the Serie A topscorer in that season, as well as the Cup Winners’ Cup, won againstHamburger SV thanks to the two goals of Kurt Hamrin. The next season Milan won its second European Cup (4–1 to AFC Ajax), and in 1969 won its first Intercontinental Cup, after having defeatedEstudiantes de La Plata of Argentina in two dramatic legs (3–0, 1–2). Milan returned to win a football league in 1961/1962. Its manager wasNereo Rocco, an innovative football coach, known as inventor of thecatenaccio tactic. The team included a young Gianni Rivera and José Altafini. The following season, thanks also to Altafini’s goals, Milan won their first European Cup (later known as UEFA Champion League) by defeating Benfica 2–1. This was also the first time an Italian team won the European Cup.
Juventus
Juventus Football Club also known as Juventus Turin (or Juventus Torino), Juventus, or simply Juve, is a football club from Turin, Italy.
The club is currently playing in the Italian Serie B , for its first time after having spent its whole history in the top Italian league Serie A. Juventus is the most successful team in the history of Italian football. Overall, Juventus has won 51 official trophies, more than any other Italian team; 40 in its country (also a record), and 11 in European and the world competitions (see Honours). Juventus is the third club from Europe and fifth in the world with the most international titles recognized by the Union of European Football Associations and the International Federation of Association Football.
In 1985, Juventus became the first club in the history of the European football to have won all three Major European trophies and also, the only team in the world to have won all international cups and championships (which includes all official European tournaments and the Intercontinental Champions Clubs’ Cup ). Juventus is also one of the G-14’s founding members, a group that represents eighteen of the largest and most prestigious European football clubs.
The club was founded on November 1, 1897 by a group of youngsters from the grammar school of Massimo D’Azeglio Lyceum in Turin. The people who decided to form the club were all between the ages of fourteen and seventeen, they came up with the idea of forming a club while sitting on a bench in Corso Re Umberto park.
Very little early documentation exists of the foundation, as during this early period in Italian football newspapers did not devote much space to the sport. One of the founding members; Enrico Canfari later wrote a document (in 1914) describing the birth of the club. The young founders heatedly discussed what to name the club; after a round of voting, the name was narrowed down to three choices, Società Via Fori, Società Sportiva Massimo D’ Azeglio and Sport Club Juventus, they chose the latter. The men who were involved in the founding of Juventus were: -Gioacchino Armano
-Alfredo Armano
-Enrico Canfari
-Eugenio Canfari
-Francesco DaprÃ
-Domenico Donna
-Carlo Ferrero
-Luigi Forlano
-Luigi Gibezzi
-Umberto Malvano
-Enrico Piero Molinatti
-Umberto Savoia
-Vittorio Varetti
The first ever president was Eugenio Canfari (brother of Enrico), they played very early on at Piazza D’Armi in Crocetta, Turin. Juventus changed their name to Football Club Juventus in 1899 the first ever colours of the club were pink and black, known in Italy as rosanero.
Since 2004, Fabio Capello had taken over the club, and lead them to two more Serie A titles. But during May 2006, Juventus were one of four clubs (along with AC Milan, Fiorentina, and Lazio) linked to a Serie A match fixing scandal. At the center of the acusations was Juventus general manager Luciano Moggi, who was acused of influencing referees and even the false imprisonment of one; no players were accused of any wrong-doing. Moggi along with two other members of the board resigned on May 13. The clubs involved were ordered to stand trial, around this time Gianluca Pessotto almost lost his life when he fell from a 4th story window, the media suggested that it could have been a suicide attempt because of the stress of trial.
Manager Capello, left for Real Madrid before the verdict had been handed out. IFF prosecutor, Stefano Palazzi, called the four clubs to be thrown out of Serie A and that Juventus have their last two title’s stripped. The sentences saw Juventus stripped of two titles, and relegated to Serie B for the first time in their history. The club was also docked points for the 2006-2007 season, which was eventually reduced after an appeal. Numerous players left the club, including European Footballer of the Year and 2006 World Cup winning captain, Fabio Cannavaro, two players were also sold to rivals Inter for €34.3 million. However, some highly rated players remained loyal; Gianluigi Buffon, captain Alessandro Del Piero, Pavel Nedvěd, Mauro Camoranesi and David.
