"Why is AC Milan officially known as AC Milan, not Milano?"
Inter's name is Internazionale Milano, Rome is Roma, Florence is
Fiorentina, even Bayern is officially Bayern München. Yet Milan's
name is written in English. Why?
AC Milan's name is a legacy of its English origins. Like many
fledgling Italian football clubs at the turn of the century, Milan
were first conceived by a group of English expats - chief among
them Nottingham native Herbert Kilpin and former British
vice-consul Alfred Edwards. With the help of local industrialists,
a group of Swiss footballers and Milan's Mediolanum gymnastic
society, the Milan Cricket and Football Club was founded in
1899.
The club continued to operate under this name until 1939, when
Mussolini's fascist government issued a diktat compelling Italian
teams to drop all foreign words from their titles. Milan Cricket
and Football Club therefore became Associazione Calcio Milano (a
straight translation of "Milan Football Club" ). In 1945, with the
war over and the fascists out of power, club chiefs decided not to
rebrand all over again, but out of respect for their English
founders tweaked their new name to become Associazione Calcio
Milan.
Italians themselves actually refer to AC Milan as 'Milan'
(pronounced in the James Richardson style of 'Meelan'), not 'AC
Milan', which although technically correct is equivalent to always
referring to, for instance, 'Arsenal FC' rather than just
'Arsenal'. Similarly their old rivals are known as 'Inter', and
occasionally 'Internazionale' and very rarely 'FC Internazionale
Milano' (their official title), but never 'Inter Milan'. This is an
anglicisation and roughly equivalent to calling Everton: 'Everton
Liverpool'.
Formed in 1908 by a group of players and officials who had split
away from Milan, Inter were known as Football Club Internazionale
until 1928, when they became Ambrosiana SS Milano following a
merger with fellow Milanese club Unione Sportiva. A year later they
became AS Ambrosiana, and in 1931 - following pressure from fans -
AS Ambrosiania-Inter. After the war they reverted to their original
name, but tacked 'Milano' on the end to become Football Club
Internazionale Milano.
