Early History
AC Milan was founded on December 16, 1899, by a group of English expatriates in Milan, led by Herbert Kilpin and Alfred Edwards. Both Kilpin and Edwards were Englishmen who moved to Italy for work and to found a football club. Kilpin was born in 1870 and raised in Nottingham in the United Kingdom. He began playing football when he was 13 and played for a few local teams while working in the lace industry. In the 1880s he met a work colleague from Turin, Edoardo Bosio. Bosio was an Italian businessman who moved to Nottingham for work also in the lace and textile industry. In Nottingham, Bosio got involved in football, and when he returned to Turin he brought the sport he loved with him. He founded the Torino Football and Cricket Club in 1887. Four years later he offered Kilpin a job and brought him to play on his Torino based football team. Kilpin moved to Italy at the age of 21, and became one of the first English footballers to play abroad. Kiplin initially moved to Turin and played for Bosio’s football club for 8 years before moving to Milan and founding his own club. Author of the Book Lord of Milan, a novel about Herbert Kiplin, Robert Nieri explained, “Kilpin moved to Milan for work in 1897. At first he travelled back to Turin on weekends to continue to play for Internazionale until he tired of this, and then finally, after much work building a constituency of support, he founded the Milan Foot-ball and Cricket Club in December 1899.” Kilpin infused a culture from the very beginning as a player, captain and coach. At the founding of the team Kilpin stated, “Our colours will be red, because we will be the devils, and black because of the fear we will strike into the hearts of our opponents.” They became known as the Rossoneri which translates to “the Red and Blacks” which is prominently reflected on their iconic striped kit.
This success was largely due to the strategy and philosophy of Kiplin. According to Nieri:
Kilpin taught Italians how to play football as it was played in England. Before his arrival, a more primitive version was played by the Italian gymnasium clubs. While always an amateur, he paved the way for the professional era, teaching his players about formations and tactics, diet and fitness—despite the fact he was a chain smoker and loved drinking Black & White whisky, win or lose, either to celebrate victories or to forget defeats.
Kiplin was determined to bring English strategy and style to Italy in order to create a winning club, which it was. As a Player, Kiplin spent nine years with Milan. During this time, he helped “assert the club as one of the finest in Italy, leading them to three national championships.” This English influence is still present today as Kilpin is celebrated on banners and flags and the club is still called Milan in English and not Milano – the city's Italian name.