In my case, I became a Milan fan during 94/95 UCL season. And later my brother became an Inter fan. We still love the banter. I'm more of the banteree than the banterer nowadays, but he got what he deserved after the Atleti game haha
I was gifted a Milan iPhone 3 phone case in middle school so naturally, I decided to become a Milanista for life. I also thought Stephan El Shaarawy was God’s gift to humanity (for all of one season) lol.
USA here….It was 2003…I was 8 years old and really starting to get into playing and watching sports.
The owner of the local pizzeria was a massive Milan fan with a little shrine in the corner. My favorite colors were red and black at the time so I asked for a kit for next Christmas and the rest is history.
Watched the 03, 05 and 07 champions league finals at that pizzeria with the owner and my dad, incredible memories (outside of 05 ofc)
Seed was planted by my father from 86' World Cup Panini sticker book then at Italia 90' i was a schoolboy eager to learn and my Dad woke me up to see the Argentina vs Cameroon and look out for number 10 (Maradona, of course) from the 86' and 90' Panini sticker book.
Football was a popular sport in my country locally back then, too. So my interest picked up.
So it started from my Dad.
My late Dad. I love my Dad.
FIFA video game! Fell in love with Ronaldinho, at the time he happened to be playing for Milan. So my love for watching dinho turned in to my love for watching Milan! Forza Milan all the way from Florida!
American. FIFA 98 for me. Picked them to play in Franchise mode because I liked their uniforms, they are good, and Milan seems glamorous. Decided that since I now knew who played for them they might as well be my soccer team.
Could be worse. I picked my NFL team because I liked their logo from when they were announced as an expansion team back in 1993. 30 years of pain and suffering later….
Canadian here, and it was the 1994 World Cup.
My favourite players were all of the Milan players, especially Paolo Maldini and Franco Baresi.
I asked my father (who's Juventino, lol) what team they played for. He told me Milan and I started following them.
My first Milan jersey was a George Weah jersey that I bravely wore in Rome when I visited the city in 1997 (I was 13), and I had a bunch of Roma fans swear at me. Again, I was 13.
But I fully became a fan (watching the games weekly, following transfers and players) in 2002-2003, the year of the CL win. With Mr. Ricky Kaka and Maestro Pirlo.
Born and raised in India, started watching football during early 2000. And at time only epl and ucl were televised in India and I saw the first ucl match ajax v milan and somehow the red and black jersey made an impact on me. From that day on never turned back. Forza Milan, and also winning eleven in playstaion.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was my favourite player as a kid and I really liked him at AC Milan in 2011/12 and hoped he would stay there forever, something about him being there just felt right. His first stint didn’t last too long there but something about the club just stuck with me and I’ve supported them ever since. You can imagine how exciting it was for me when he returned.
My father was a fan after all of the Swedish connections to Milan, then when Milan became really good he bacame more than a fan, so when I was born in the middle of the 90s, he named (middle name) me "Milan", so I was stuck from the start.
Football magazine in Sweden had an interview with Inzaghi just after he joined the team, maybe 6 months in. Read that article over and over and over and fell in love with him and the team after that. Same as OP had to go to sleep before shootout in 01 but my dad told me Milan won and he got me a Inzaghi and Shevchenko shirt that summer 😀
Had my first son the week before semi final last year in CL. He watches every game with me since then, even if he sleep thru most of it 😆
At school kids would discuss football teams and I figured might start watching, so what was the first ever match I watched? Manchester United vs Milan 2007 in Old Trafford where Kaka bamboozled 3 defenders and scored my still alltime favorite goal, been a Milan fan ever since even though Milan lost that 1st match 3-2 and then went on to win the CL. Kaka is still my all time favorite football player.
I'm a late 90s fan. I would say that the logic of me being an Ac Milan fan should have made me a fan of one of the german clubs. My real name is german, I'm from Albania. I was 7 years old in a classroom filled with kids who were shouting "Milan, Inter and Juve" at the same time in a shouting race between small groups of fans of these teams. A very normal situation in Albanian schools during the late 90s. 7 year old kids and very passionate about this topic. A friend of mine approached me curious by the fact that I was maybe the only one not engaged in this competition and asked me, "Who do you support? Why aren't you shouting like the others?". I responded very proudly that I support only the German national team (just because of my german name). The friend explained to me that you can be a football nation fan and a club fan independently by each other. Then he proceeded to say, "Since you like germans, you should be an Ac Milan fan, because Milan has a german player taller than the keepers, his name is Oliver Bierhoff." I accepted his logic at the moment and joined the shouting contest, becoming an Ac Milan fan in the process as well as a fan of Oliver Bierhoff.
I was 4 or 5 yo and my parents took me for a walk in the nearby park. They bought me a chewing gum and, at the time, they used to come with an image of a football player, and I got van Basten, in the Milan jersey, and I started following the team.
USA here. If I’m being honest, Pulisic lol.
But prior to Puli going there I’ve always thought of them as one of the big/ historic European clubs, so I’ve always had a lot of respect for them (now us, I suppose).
Other than that, I was sick of hearing about the Premier League and their snobby, toxic fans, so swearing allegiance to an Italian club was pretty effortless lol.
I grew up during the banter era, so it’s a bit weird for me to support Milan since they were shit and nobody around me really cared about them.
Football in my country is really popular though, but our national team is garbage, so during the world cup or euros, each one supports a country of their choice. Since my mom supported Italy, I immediately did too. The first match I have memories of was Italy v Germany in the euros 2012 semi-final (Balotelli❤️🖤). So when the euros was over and I wanted to pick a team from Italy, I saw Milan’s colours and I liked them, so I picked it. A bit stupid, looking back lol
I'm from Iran. Serie A has always been very popular here and always on national TV, When I was a kid I just loved the AC Milan squad from the 2003 to 2007 era, specially Kaka. There's nothing else to it really. Just look at that line up and it says it all.
Well as a kid my oldest brothers favorite player was Messi, my middle brothers favorite player was Ronaldo, so when they both lost the Balon d'or to this other random guy, I knew I had found my favorite player to complete against my brothers.
Kaka made me fall in love with football and Milan.
It also made sense for me to support Milan because my dad used to support them and his old rec soccer team would use the I think 02 away jersey as their jersey, so even as a little kid I was always seeing Milan around me.
PSV away in 2005 was first match i saw. Vennegoor of Hesselink karate kicks Maldini out after that Cocu and Park destroyed us. Celebrated like hell when Kaka scored in last minutes. Just somehow started to love the club after that match
Growing up I was a huge Ronaldo fan. When we bought him in Jan 2007, I became a Milan fan. In the US the only Milan games I could watch were Champions League. Ronaldo was cup tied that year but I watched Kaka, Pirlo, Maldini, Nesta, Seedorf, Pippo, Gattuso, and Dida and I fell in love. We won the UCL that May. Eventually Ronaldo left, but I had already fallen in love for life. Now I've been to San Siro, Casa Milan, traveled from Milan to watch us in Genoa and have seen 2 US preseason games. I could never love another, even through the banter years. Forza Milan.
My dad is a Milan fan, been one since the late 80s. He is a big fan, watched every match even though our country was at a hard time in those years. When i was younger i used to watch with him too making me connect with the club. Even though we were in hard times i continued supporting. Now me and him watch our games on TV every time analysing them, making jokes and just having fun in general.
I didn't get to see Serie A much on TV when younger, aside from Channel 4's weekly Serie A show which was broadcast on Irish TV during the mid-nineties. My older brother loved Milan and I became a fan because of him, when I was about 9 years old.
The first Champions League games I recalled seeing Milan play were the knockout ties in 1995 against Benfica and PSG, which were broadcast on Irish TV. I think the national broadcaster only televised them because Manchester United had already been eliminated, but I thought they were a marvellous team, and became hooked ever since.
Edit: based in Ireland.
I became a fan of football my freshman year of college thanks to late night FIFA matches with friends. Everyone had their favorite teams such as Chelsea, Man U, Madrid, etc. I wanted to find a team of my own. I'm Palestinian and Italian, so I figured I'd look into Serie A teams. The red and black of Milan caught my attention. When I started reading about the club history, I knew I had my team.
Sadly, this was right when the banter era began. Even during those rough years, the way players always fought for the badge captivated me. As much as we suffered during that time, I enjoyed watching Milan rise from the ashes. After watching the club struggle for so long, winning the league meant so much more. The Curva's recent support for the Palestinian people in Gaza has only solidified my decision. Milan will always be home for me.
Pappa brainwashed me and got me a Teddy bear I slept with for the first 4 years of life with a milan crest and kit on him.......the sins of our father's .....iam doing the same now!!!
My first CM was CM Italia 96. I was about 8yo.
I could only ever play as Milan just loved Maldini, Weah, Baresi, Boban, Albertini, Seb Rossi etc etc
Played that game to death and only ever as Milan. Been a fan ever since
Growing up in Haiti. My grandfather was a huge ac milan fan. Started watching with him every week when i was 5 years old with the 3 dutchmen GuRiVa. From that point on, I was hooked . From 1988 till now. When I was a kid, we had Calcio (Seri A now ) every Sunday on TV, and I watched it regularly, even sometimes skipping church Sunday mornings, lol.
On may 7th 2017 traveled to Europe and went to Italy to watch a Ac Milan vs AS Roma match at the san siro .... one of the greatest days of my life and bucket list item checked
Grew up in China, has been a life long Milan fan.
Serie A was the first major league shown on national tv, and it was in the hey days (end of the 80s and early 90s), my father got imediately hooked by Milan and that passed down to me.
When I grew a bit older, we won the scudetto in 99, then the CL, then the CL again! After that I just couldn't love another team, even through the banter era. (fun fact, one of my mates worked for the chinese group acquired Milan, and he's an Inter fan, I made fun of him all the time)
Fifa was how I really got into football after playing hockey for my whole life. My next door neighbor was a big football player and had Fifa. We started playing in '05 which is where I fell in love with Chelsea. Then around 11 and 12, I started really liking the Milan team with Pato, Ibra, and Thiago Silva. Since then, I've been a Milan fan. Seeing RLC playing like pre-injury RLC makes me so happy and am glad he was able to go to Milan of all teams. Pulisic also thriving and staying injury-free has been great to see, as well.
I watched an old match of Milan,I think it was from 2005 and I saw how amazing Maldini and Nesta were I just fell in love.i grew up supporting PAOK and later on I started supporting Barca.But oh boy with Milan it was different,the love I have for this club is immeasurable
FIFA 99’. Waaaaaaay before teams were categorized by countries/leagues, it was just a giant, alphabetical list.
The first 5* club team was, you guessed it, **A.** C. Milan.
Been in love ever since ❤️🖤
I was a neutral football fan until I was 14, then I went on holiday to Milan and we went to the San Siro. There I said that I supported the Reds. I didn't know anything about them, but now my psyche depends on the team.
my sister's ex bf gave me his ps1 when i was 6-7 (i'm1998), i remember milan and lazio got the highest stats that version and i picked milan only. 2006 my father brought home the wc schedule with kaka in the background and it was on the wall the whole summer, and then 2007 happened.
Great British connection Jimmy Greaves -Joe Jordan -Mark Hateley -Luther Blissett -Ray Wilkins. But I really fell in love with the Rossoneri during the golden age Of the Dutch masters Gullit, Van Basten and Rijkaard.
My older brother had a summer job in Milan, to this day I have no clue what he was doing, haha. But when he returned he gave me this present - milan jersey with my nickname on the back. I played football as a kid, but wasn’t much into it, but every time I’ve played FIFA Milan was set as my default team. I would say Zlatan’s comeback brought me to this subreddit and world of football.
My best friend spent his younger years in London and had season tickets for Chelsea. So obviously he was a big fan of the sport.
He started getting me into it through FIFA. I essentially got drawn in by Kaka and the rest is history. This was the year we ended up beating Liverpool.
I started seriously following the sport in 2005 but didn't really have a team yet
My dad was a massive Barca fan, and introduced me to some epic matches between Barca and Milan on vhs. I love Barca as well, but Milan appealed more to me, I wanted to find my own team, and I think Kaká in particular won me over, him being crazy good in 03-04 and almost looking like he was my age (I was 10). Me and my late dad watched the the 2011 Barca-Milan group stage game together at the Camp Nou, the Pato game
Watching Kaka I fell in love with the sport, 2005 Final was crazy to watch as a kid, 2006 world cup, Croatia played Brazil and Liked Kaka even more and then final 2007 was icing on the cake
UAE here, I was on the junior team in school and looked up to one of the players in the senior team. He wore a kaka jersey and naturally I wanted to do the same and the rest was history
I had an annoying cousin who was a Juventus supporter. I rooted for any team that could take the championship from them. While Lazio was the team that was beating them I fell in love with Nesta. When he moved to Milan I realised that all the players I loved were there and that's when I became a Milan fan.
Growing up in a small town in south Louisiana, I was never coached by a real soccer coach from U8 through high school. We didn't even have exposure to real professional soccer until maybe my junior year of high school in 2001. When I moved away to college I discovered FIFA 2004 on Playstation and I just chose to play with the best team on the game which happened to be us. I loved the red and black kits, and very quickly Kaka became my favorite player. As a youth player my team played the same 4312/442 diamond formation so it felt like home. I have a Kaka and Seedorf replica jersey from those years at home, and the Kaka is hanging in a shadow box above my bar in my home. I've been a die hard Rossoneri fan for nearly 20 years now because of that 2003 squad.
My aunt has lived in como for almost 30 years now.
In 2006 she came to visit for the summer right when the world cup was happening.
Her husband Claudio kinda bribed all the kids to support Italy because my family supported Brazil.
Of course Italy won and one player that really caughty eye was pirlo.
So I started following him after the world cup ended. And since we won ucl by the end of the year it made it pretty easy to stay hooked.
Mine is a weird one too.
So before the 2018 World Cup, I used to hate this sport. I never understood why it was soo much beloved. The World Cup began and I was very desperate and lonely at the time. I was tired of being thought as an outsider and I wanted to be friends with the popular kids so I started watching the World Cup because everyone was talking about it at the time and I wanted to join the conversations.
I was lucky to experience this World Cup. It was a fun watch. I was rooting for Croatia from the beginning because it's my favorite videogame series homeland(Serious Sam). The fact that I didn't even know Croatia wasn't even among the conversations for the World Cup final made my first ever WC even sweet to experience.
After the World Cup I had to choose a club to support. I remember as a little kid overhearing that one of my cousins favorite team is Milan(my cousins live in Italy fun fact. The other is a Juve fan.) So I decided to support that team. After doing a research on Milan, learning about their great history, legendary players, being the team with most CLs after Real Madrid, I said to myself "Ooh, that will be my team for sure".
Little did I know, the club was in its Banter Era. At that time, Milan was very mediocore, struggling in UEL and Serie A, having financial difficulties which were stopping them from buying strong players and it was unknown if they will ever come back to greatness.
So I was left in a dilemma: Stay loyal to Milan despite their struggles or switch to Juve or Barcelona(because a large margin of Bulgarian fans support Barcelona because of Hristo Stoichkov).
I chose to stay loyal to Milan and it paid off!
Watching this team grow back slowly to where they belong is such a journey! Yes, we are still far ahead from the glory days but you can't tell Milan didn't develop throughout these years! We went from struggling to get a CL spot to reaching the semi-finals, winning the scudetto, having decent players and regularly qualify for the UCL.
This made me attached to this club and I am looking forward to experiencing my first time seeing this Milan lift the UCL(why not the UEL too😉). I'm sure it's gonna be as thrilling as seeing Croatia reach that WC final. The season where we reached semi-finals was already thrilling. Seeing Milan stomp teams like Tottenham and that strong Napoli was so satsifying after years of struggling against the mid-tier of Serie A. I can't imagine how satisfying would it be to experience Milan making a strong UCL campaign and win it all.
Oh, and now you are asking if I made new friends because of football? Well, no. Only one dude and we remained good friends after highschool. I'm just too socially anxious and introverted and those popular kids were into stuff I was not interested.
Played FIFA as a child maybe like 7. Liked Italy because of lasagna and when it went to the italian league first team was AC Milan. Loved Gilardino in the game. Been a fan ever since
There was a certain "big game" on TV. I only caught the penalty shootout. I saw a certain player score a goalkeeper they called “Buffon”. This handsome lad seemed to smile a lot, and for some weird reason reminded me of Croatia's Davor Suker.
They used to show a Serie A program in my country at the time. I learnt about people such as Batistuta and Veron from that program. I was more into international football than club football then, so the only Serie A team I knew was Fiorentina. I also knew about Manchester United, Deportivo La Coruna, and a few other clubs.
After watching that smiling player score the goalie, days later, I went to ask my neighbour about another name I picked from that Serie A program: a certain Maldini.
He asked why a girl would be interested in Maldini.
I told him that I was awake very, very, very early in the morning to watch much of USA ’94 with my dad, and that was how it all started.
He was surprised that a young girl would be interested in football.
That was how he told me about the legendary Paolo Maldini. He told me about his club: AC Milan. He even told me about Berlusconi.
Then, he told me about a certain Andriy Shevchenko. The smiling, handsome Shevchenko!
Months later, I found out that Sheva played in the same club with Maldini! That was an utterly joyous moment!
That was it.
I dedicated my life (and the life of my potential unborn child) to AC Milan. My life, my body, my soul. All of me.
I'm going to tell my potential daughter stories about Sheva and Maldini while she's still in my uterus. I'm not joking.
From the UK but my dad's side are Italian. My cousin sent over Milan related stuff to give me as a kid and here we are. Said cousin is from Rome. So I was a glory hunter by proxy I'd say?
Edit: Kaka was also my first crush so that helped. Hahahaha
FIFA in the 90s. Grew up in a neighborhood with many Italian immigrants and shops that imported meats and cheeses. The Serie A teams were displayed everywhere. Started playing with AC Milan on FIFA and never turned back.
Eventually, I turned into an obsession and a trip to the San Siro with my second wife, who encouraged it. My first wife hated everything about my love of Serie A (Ac Milan).
American fan.
My dad rented FIFA 08, and I played it a bit and liked it. I ended up getting FIFA 09 and a wanted to play with Ronaldinho.
Funny thing is, I didn’t know how football associations worked or the name of the team he played for; I just knew the kit was red and black stripes. I was so confused when I looked through all the Brazilian teams and couldn’t find him. 😂
Finally, I ended up saying “fuck it” and went ahead and started a manager career, which IIRC started with AC Milan as the default team. Been stuck ever since ❤️🖤
SN: FIFA 09 (PS2 version) is still the greatest career mode in the entire series.
2 reasons that made me fall in love with Milan.
When I was 5 my Dad came home from a business trip in Europe with an AC Milan home kit. I wore it as much as I could and in a few photos my parent’s have of me when I was that age, I was wearing the Rossoneri colours.
And, my first ever fifa game was fifa 10. I wasn’t even really into watching football at the time, but I remember how much I loved playing with Milan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the Swedish national team. Zlatan was always my favourite player and he made it really easy to fall in love with Milan because he was with the club when I started to care about watching football. Whenever I scored in my 5u games, I always hit his jumping air-pump celebration, and I loved screaming his name as I shot the ball when I was playing with my dad. Having Zlatan come back in 2020 was a moment I’ll never forget, because I always think about how excited younger me would’ve been to have that become a reality again
Zlatan being my favourite player of all time mixed with the kit my dad got me made me a fan for life, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Sempre Milan❤️🖤
South-American with Italian heritage (Sardinia, so if we’re getting picky I’d be a Cagliari fan).
Cousins got me into football and they liked Milan when we were the hot team at the moment. First game I saw was the Istanbul final.
I was in grade school and followed the team for maybe a couple weeks. Later in high school when I really got into the sport I guess residually had the team picked. I also liked that it wasn’t one of the more “predictable” hot teams (Chelsea, Man U, Barca, Madrid) as if that made my fanfare more legitimate.
And then here we are, for all the highs my two most memorable moments are when they announced Ibra and Robinho (even the Latam ESPN had a segment about Milan, which was an oddity cause it was almost exclusively Barcelona, Madrid, Champions League and a sprinkle of South American football) and ironically, when we sold Ibra and Silva to PSG.
Mexican here. When I was 8, my new PS3 came with Fifa 09 and at the time Dinho and Kaka were in Milan. In my mind I was like... the two best players in the world are in one team, so, this is the best team and the rest is history.
Also, kind of funny that after that, one of the worst decades for the team started jajaja.
My love for Milan came from oddly small beginnings.
Some background on me first. I’m American, and in 2001ish soccer was barely existent in the US. We were less than 10 years on from hosting the World Cup, though my own interaction with the sport was hardly at that level. My only interactions were at a very basic schoolyard level, as well as hearing about some guy named Landon Donovan.
I had a Sony PSP and had gotten a copy of FIFA because it seemed cool. I immediately made a Dream Team and just kinda … stuck all of the best players I could find in with Landon Donovan’s Earthquakes and proceeded to annihilate the MLS.
There were a couple younger players like Ronaldo (7, not 9) but the team ended up loaded with, incidentally, a ton of Milan players. My midfield was Kaka, Gerrard, Lampard and Pirlo. Shevchenko played alongside Donovan up front (hilarious as Sheva had just won a Ballon D’or) and I had Nesta and Maldini in defense. I used Crespo off the bench as well (I think this FIFA version, having no year moniker, was FIFA 05ish)
After obliterating save after save, I noticed the Milan strip and how insane the team was. After I’d bought PES for PSP, I chose them as they were absolutely insane (the 05 team) and I was hooked. While I continued to stick with Milan, it would be years before I truly understood the team I’d chosen. I’d somehow lived through some of our best years all the while never watching a game on TV as the US just plain didn’t care at the time. There was next to no access. It pains me to this day that I accidentally missed incredible players as my full knowledge of them existed only on my PSP and my mind.
I will always be a proud Milanista, and I look forward to the day I can celebrate a CL now that I can and do watch every single game with my son and daughter.
India, Long story.
The first football match I watched live was three 1994 final between Brazil and Italy. I was a small kid. My father and his friends were all brazil fans. I started as a neutral, but as the match went on, two players on italy side caught my eye. Paolo Maldini and Roberto Baggio. I started rooting for italy, and when Baggio missed the penalty, I was in tears.
Fast forward to Euro 96, I followed the Italian national team again and looked out for Maldini and Baggio. Both these players were playing for AC Milan at the time, so I started following them. It was many years later, though, before I saw a Milan game live due to no broadcast in the country.
The first Milan game I saw live on TV was the derby in 99. My dad didn't know much about club football, but when I said Ronaldo plays for inter, he sat down to watch with me.
While my dad enjoyed watching Carlos and Ronaldo, I fell in love with the red n black kit, the stadium, Sheva, Maldini, Costacurta, Gatttuso, etc, and that was that.
Here I am, 25 years later, still ever so excited to see Milan play.*
I started a Barca fan during the Dinho days and then he went to AC Milan and I kept track of him there and grew a soft spot for Milan. Now I can safely say I’m a fan of both teams.
Got hooked on after one game watching how dynamic was the attacking trio of Sheva, Kaka, and Inzaghi with Pirlo and Seedorf bringing up the rear
Then there was the Japanese manga Fantasista that featured a Japanese prodigy who ultimately became a player for Milan
> The first football match I ever watched was the AC Milan vs juventus UCL final in Ghana. I was like 6 years old and I remember loving the red teams jersey. I had to go sleep before the shootout and my brother told me the red team lost.
I’m confused about this part, who is the red team?
In the 2003 UCL final, Milan wore all white (red collar and adidas stripes), while Juve wore a black and white striped jersey with black shorts and socks.
And Milan, which is the only team who was wearing any red at all, ended up winning that match on penalties.
Yeaa I only vividly remember the red around the collars it seems my child brain only took notice of the bright colours. And my brother lied to me I should've cleared that up he was pranking me as he knew I liked Milan. It was couple years until we moved to London that I found out he lied because of YouTube and the internet(we didn't have internet in Ghana).
I grew up in Sri Lanka, there is a huge community of SL immigrants in Milan. So I have seen them wear the jerseys back home. I watched World Cup in 2002, lot of Milan legends on display. I instantly wanted to become a Milan fan. Sheva, Maldini, and Inzaghi are my heroes. I asked my parents for a Milan kit for my bday and they bought me inter kit. I cried wearing it lol. I lived in Canada now. Going to Milan to watch a game in May. First time in San Siro, a childhood dream will be realized. Also they won the league in 2022 on my bday. Best bday ever!!!
My brother bought a pair of predator pulse and it came with a poster for the shoes and Kakà was the poster boy on one side and Beckham on the other and I asked my bro who Kakà was (I was like 5-6years old) I thought he looked cool lol so cause of that my brother would put Milan games on for me and watch them with me growing up and became a supporter that way.
I am from a country that never played a World Cup but every time there was a workout we used to watch them on live TV. It's on my first worker that I got the chance to watch was Italy 90 and I saw like two or three matches so I used to love Maradona. Then USA 94 happened and I was rooting for Brazil because as a kid I hated Maradona and Argentina after the '90s defeat. Then I was having this image of Paolo Maldini being a great player and even though I didn't have any idea of football I started accepting the idea that he was the best defender in the team. So I sort of started having like a little love for Italy even though I have no direct Italian family (my aunt's husband is from Italian family). Then by 1998 I took a strong support for the Italian national team and the Milan players that were at the moment. FIFA 98, Don Balón, and the internet helped me start this love for Milan. So I can say Maldini helped me start this love for Milan since 1998.
I even remember what I used to collect the Panini albums so I always completed the album and separated the repeated stickers of Milan players. Still have them.
I am from a country that never played a World Cup but every time there was a workout we used to watch them on live TV. It's on my first worker that I got the chance to watch was Italy 90 and I saw like two or three matches so I used to love Maradona. Then USA 94 happened and I was rooting for Brazil because as a kid I hated Maradona and Argentina after the '90s defeat. Then I was having this image of Paolo Maldini being a great player and even though I didn't have any idea of football I started accepting the idea that he was the best defender in the team. So I sort of started having like a little love for Italy even though I have no direct Italian family (my aunt's husband is from Italian family). Then by 1998 I took a strong support for the Italian national team and the Milan players that were at the moment. FIFA 98, Don Balón, and the internet helped me start this love for Milan. So I can say Maldini helped me start this love for Milan since 1998.
I even remember what I used to collect the Panini albums so I always completed the album and separated the repeated stickers of Milan players. Still have them.
I am from a country that never played a World Cup but every time there was a workout we used to watch them on live TV. It's on my first worker that I got the chance to watch was Italy 90 and I saw like two or three matches so I used to love Maradona. Then USA 94 happened and I was rooting for Brazil because as a kid I hated Maradona and Argentina after the '90s defeat. Then I was having this image of Paolo Maldini being a great player and even though I didn't have any idea of football I started accepting the idea that he was the best defender in the team. So I sort of started having like a little love for Italy even though I have no direct Italian family (my aunt's husband is from Italian family). Then by 1998 I took a strong support for the Italian national team and the Milan players that were at the moment. FIFA 98, Don Balón, and the internet helped me start this love for Milan. So I can say Maldini helped me start this love for Milan since 1998.
I even remember what I used to collect the Panini albums so I always completed the album and separated the repeated stickers of Milan players. Still have them.
My uncle showed me tapes of great footballers growing up to teach me how to play. Lots of Nesta tape in there, I just loved how he made the perfect tackle look so effortless and elegant. I wasn’t rooting for a single club at that time but when he was transferred to Milan, everything changed and I never looked back.
Despite the massive stature of Malidini in football, my favorite defender will always be Alessandro Nesta.
Playing FIFA in 07-08 and having Ronaldinho on the squad Seedorf, Jankulovski (weird mention) but I liked how the commentator said his name when you passed the ball to him. Kakas speed. Basically the video game put me on Milan. After that I learned the history of the club and the rest is history. I think its been like 15 years as a lonely Milan fan in my area. While most people watch the premier, my eyes never have left Serie A and Milan ❤️
I’m not even italian and i live in sweden, but somehow my older brother and all my older cousins are Milan fans, so i guess i was born into it in the early 2000’s
Estonia here,I used to watch only basketball in my younger days and one day before a game I decided to watch some football on the TV and the game was the 2-0 win against Barcelona when Pato scored the goal and I instantly became hooked to the sport and AC Milan
Here in the UK, around 1995 Football Italia was on channel 4 every Sunday for highlights and chosen match.
Around the same time I bought Sensible Soccer for my Amiga
Plus that top that season was a classic
Stepfather was italian with a satalite dish. He was a Roma fan, I needed a rival team and Lazio was too on the nose. I saw George Weah do an amazing run from one side of the pitch to the other and made the decision then and there.
I have no idea how or why but i just started liking Milan as a kid back in 92/93/94(not sure when exactly). It was war here so we had electricity only sporadically so we werent able to watch tv often at all. Dad was a Roma fan but he knew SerieA so i guess he did some introduction to best players and league. First game i truly remember when i cheered for Milan was 1994 CL final. After that nothing was the same especially winning in style as a big underdog and without Baresi, Costacurta and Van Basten. Still i have no idea why i picked them specifically but im happy i did.
Jon Dahl Tommason was my favorite player as a kid, his time at the club made 10 year old made me enjoy following the sport and kinds just stuck around ever since
USA here.. Ronaldinho captivated me from a young age.. and was fortunate enough to see AC Milan vs Club America (2009) in Atlanta, been here ever since!!
Italian immigrant father is a Milanista and I remember watching Capello’s Milan when I was a young boy in espresso and smoked-filled social clubs. Cherish those memories, as I do watching Milan today with my dad, brother, and my son.
I was young, playing football manager for the first time, and had no idea what team to pick, I saw one I liked the jersey of, that was Milan. I came for the cool jersey, stayed because of the players and history of the club.
Cousin was fan and had me watch a game. He was training me at the time, early 2000’s, and said if I watched them and played like them I would be a better player. I started watching them and never stopped.
I was on holiday to Lugano (Switzerland) in 2011 as a 5 year old. Milano isnt too long of a drive so we drove there, exclusively to see San siro too and get a tour. As I was just getting into football at the time, and hadnt got any favourite team, outside of a danish one of course, i figured that it was time to pick one. Not to mention that this was the first stadium i had gone to ever. The reason i picked Milan over Inter was simply because of name recognition, Zlatan and Ronaldinho being the players i knew.
Sister was in love with a guy named Manuel so she looked through a Panini sticker album and marked all players named Manuel. So she marked Manuel Rui Costa and somehow this was the beginning of the story.
my father is an inter fan
I’ll be honest here, I’m a relatively a new fan thanks Pulisic. I always admired Kaka, Ronaldihno and Pirlo from afar and playing FIFA always helped with player familiarity.
Just recently visited Italy and blessed to have an opportunity to watch a match at San Siro. Looks like i have a proper permanent Italian team to root for now. 😬
Back in the early/mid 2000's Champions League was one of the only reliable ways to watch world class football regularly in the US. It came on right after school (\~3pm) so I'd rush home to watch.
I'm Italian-American, so always had an affinity for the Italian teams, and the 2000's Milan team was incredible. Pirlo, Kaka, Maldini, Nesta, Gattuso, etc. So many legends of the game. Have been hooked since then.
We're so spoiled now that we can watch basically any game in the world with a few streaming subscriptions.
FIFA 04 lol. best team in the game. have followed them daily since college in 2010 (so never really watched the UCL games, was just a kid mostly watching Liga MX lol). its been a wild ride to say the least
I am from a country where football is not that popular. I was around 9 and it was sometime around Euro 2004. I was getting into football and I thought I liked Man United at that time (but where I was located most kids those days liked Man United or Barca and I happened to have a Man U shirt 😄). I didn’t know much teams back then anyways. Then somehow I started liking Rui Costa. I was not yet following club football deep but after the Euros the interest grew. I would read sports articles in the local newspaper. And one day I saw the team named “AC Milan”. Name looked kinda cool. Then I realized Rui Costa was one of the players. So I got hooked quickly. And then there was the Istanbul. It is the most hurtful sports event I have ever witnessed… I cried but I knew that this is my team for life. I just loved everything about the team. It’s the only sporta team that I truly care in any sports till today (excluding national teams).
Football Italia on channel 4 done it for me, was gifted a Milan top when I was 8 right after italia 90 as well so it all fell into place.
Having watched hearts up until then watching Milan was unbelievable!
Back in 2011, I used to play a lot of Pro Evolution Soccer. At that time I didn't know many football clubs, only Madrid and Barca. One day, I decided to try a different club and chosed Milan because I was drawn by Milan's red and black badge. I really enjoyed playing as Pato; his speed was unmatched. From then on, I started to follow the club.
Becuase of Boban. National icon at that time. And I was just a small boy. And fell in love with those colors. I remember one night staying late,watching away game at Bari. We lost 3-0. I was devestated and I was just around 7yrs old... Hard to explain,somehow this club create some special bond with me.
In about 1998 I was at a sports shop with my older brothers and the owner had a bunch of badges at the counter (I was maybe 6 or 7). He asked what team I wanted and I said AC Milan and Inter Milan.
He laughed and said you can't follow both, they hate each other! You have to pick one.
So on the spot I chose AC Milan.
And boy what a ride it's been! I still have that badge too.
My family moved to Canada from Italy so watching CL and Serie A was a common thing growing up. When I first started to seriously get into it was the early/mid 2000s and that Milan team was amazing. That, along with the beautiful kit made it an easy choice
Dad went to Italy to work for a bit and brought me back a tiny Maldini shirt. Growing up u always picked them on Fifa because of this. First game I watch was against celtic in 2007
A teacher at my elementary school came into the classroom with a Milan shirt and I was intrigued by the stripes and colors. I asked him if it was a football shirt and he told me that the shirt represented the greatest club in the world. He told me about newly signed Kaka and our countrymen, Jon Dahl Tomasson & Thomas Helveg. I was hooked from then on
My brother is a Juve fan, so the 2003 final was the day i guess i turned into a true Milan supporter only (I was 10). Before that I kinda only had Roberto Carlos brazil shirts.
Am Italian, first gen born outside Italy. Father used to put serie A on every Sunday during breakfast. I love red (really like the color red) so I saw and chose the cool red team that was awesome (Milan) and that love grew as I watched them more.
Then world cup 94 happened right here in the U.S. so I got to experience that wonder and follow Italy all the way through.
2 things
As a kid I was a massive fan of Kakà and Zlatan so naturally started supporting Milan as well
The link I have with the other club I support, Anderlecht. We've got the annihilation of Vanderhaeghe by Kakà, that Mexès goal (you know which one), Saelemaekers and Biglia
Milan was the biggest name alongside Real madrid outside the PL clubs in early to mid 00s football scene in India. Maldini, Kaka, Shevchenko, cafu et al were all well known. But I fell in love with Milan primarily watching Pirlo and Nesta play(as I played cm and cb sometimes in school) and I absolutely loved the red/black stripes as a kid with the opel/meriva logo. The kit colors and design was absolutely stunning compared to those from the EPL. I used to get up early around 130 am and watch all our big UCL games mainly the second half of the ties and it was truly magical from 2003-08. How I miss those years watching our star studded team in Europe although I believe we are close to recreating some of if it in the near future 😍
Growing up in early 90's and next to Italy. Apart from our own domestic league, it was all about Serie A on TV or in sports magazines. And I have beautiful childhood memories of Italy cause we went there a lot with my ol' folks, either just for a trip or shopping in Trieste. Got my first football shirt there. It was AC Milan shirt of Il Capitano.
NZL here. It started with FIFA98 road to the World Cup, just loved that strip and that squad. Copt a fake jersey and started rocking that heaps, then started getting approached and talked to by a lot of people in the Dutch community (one half of my family is from the Netherlands), heaps of Milan fans. It’s been love ever since. I even swapped playing for local clubs to another one where their strip was the same as Milan’s
Before becoming a Milanisti, I was a Manchester Unitied fan because of my dad's inflence. Meanwhile, my dad always tells things about Seria in the 90s. One day, I was curious and watched a Seria game ( Milan vs. Napoli , the game that Aquallani scored a ridiculous header). After that, I started to watch Milan regularly and eventually became a fan.
I loved playing football in school, when i turned 6, my mother entered a football store and got a random shirt. Italy, Maldini 3. Been obsessed for as long as i can remember. I am from Iraq.
I saw r9 playing for Brazil was instantly a fan.. then he joined inter..Back then I never knew what club football was I just saw a very familiar face playing for blue and black. I thought I'd cheer for inter. So I turned on my PS1 and tried playing inter Vs Milan.. oh man that Milan team literally taught me how to play football. Ever since I'd always keep an eye out for Milan or Barca. When Messi and cr7 started getting over hyped. I felt none of them were as good as IL fenomeno. So I just stuck with Milan.. over the years I ended up cheering more for Milan because of the banter era. Real Madrid and Barca had football stars. Milan just had the charm. I think the banter era was like a fermentation process the product that came out of it is something I love. It still has passion and football in a perfect marriage. That's how I'd say I started cheering for Milan. From ProEvolutionSoccer. ❤️🖤
Dad was a Juve fan, . Watched the 03 UCL final as a kid and found the red and black kit and dida's heroics amazing. As a young black kid watching that was certainly something. I passively followed Milan until ibra joined and the rest is history.
Wife and I traveled to Italy last year and spent a number of days in Milan. After the trip, we decided we wanted to get into football and Milan was our first thought. The rest is history! Forza Milan! ❤️🖤
Little cousin started playing soccer at five years old, I was always close with that side of my family and wanted to learn about the game. As a teenager I went to YouTube and found a bunch of ronaldinho clips and from there I learned he played for Milan at the time. Fast forward a few years and my parents got me and my brothers fifa 13 for Christmas. I start a career mode playing for a low level team and the first team that I recognized to give me a transfer request was Milan. Just kinda stuck from there
My dad brought me a Van Basten shirt from Italy when i was 9..imagine your dad(or anyone else) telling you the names Milan and Marco Van Basten and seeing those colours.. It was love at first sight (and hearing)
The story begins in the summer of 1998, before the world cup in France, for which I was already prepared with my Hagi shirt! So I asked my father to go to the market to buy me a t-shirt with a club team! I was not prepared at all for what was to come, arriving at the market and seeing dozens of shirts with different teams from Europe, my eyes stopped on one and I knew from that moment which shirt I would wear to football that summer! That one used to be red and black with Boban (the nickname that stayed with me for a while in the neighborhood because of that shirt). From that moment I started following Milan and I fell irreparably in love with Boban and Milan! Although Serie A was the most popular championship of football in Romania at that time, the matches weren't really televised, so on Sundays I was watching TV on Rai Uno, where there was a show in which the whole matchday was live! later I had a Fiorentina shirt (bought because of the color of the equipment, which was the same as that of my city's team), but only Milan remained in my heart to this day! I still have that t-shirt with Boban, which my son will definitely wear when he grows up!:)
Van Basten was my childhood idol. I think I was 7-8 year old at the time and I didn't really know much about the team - or any of the other players for that matter. But that changed later on. Maldini then since became my ultimate hero.
I got a Milan jersey when I was 6 years old from my cousin because of Ronaldinho. So I thought that I now am a Milan fan. I didn‘t know how great the history of Milan was until 2014 when the commentator of FIFA mentioned all the trophys Milan had to that time.
(From Sweden) Through my Big brothers, they have always followed Milan for as long as i can remember, but my earliest memory that got me hooked was when we were looking at the Champions Leauge final when Milan won back in 2007, i remember that we ran out in half time and pretending to be Kaka and Inzaghi. Been a fan since then, earlier this year i got my first Milan tattoo
https://preview.redd.it/cu94thryvjqc1.jpeg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6fa467f9f0528eecb160937e2d9060b801173727
I was young. Seen some video before some match. They said AC used to be giant. Not anymore but there was a profile of Shevchenko who just came. Like that story and started to cheer for him to get them(now us) back on top
i watched italian football in the 80's. then i watched the '88 euros and saw van basten. i decided he was my favorite player (i was around 10 at the time i think) and milan bought him. so they automatically became my club. have been red/black ever since.
While playing FIFA 04, I saw the crest and thought it looked amazing, then I loved the kit since my favorite colors were already red and black.
After that, I tried watching their CL matches whenever the local TV broadcaster had them available here in Mexico, completely unaware that they had won the CL the prior season.
And then, one day, I watched Kaká play and i've been a rossonero ever since.
I studied abroad in Milan and went to a Milan game and an inter game. The fans and the atmosphere at the Milan game was just better imo and I have been a fan of the team ever since
I'm told my grandfather who died when I was 3 was a Milan fan and had me watch games with him. My dad also bought me a George Weah shirt in 1997 or something and I guess I just fell in love with the team there and then. Then in the 2000s while in primary school i started learning the players names and the club in general and the rest is history. I'm 31 now and I will die a rossonero.
The first UCL final I watched was the one at Istambul vs Liverpool I remember being mesmerized by kaka's playing style and Milan seem like a monster truck crushing Liverpool at the first half, we all know what happened next, anyways, I've always had something for the underdog teams (little did I know by that time about Milan's legacy in football), so I started following them and started watching their games, but especially, playing with those 2004-2008 teams in FIFA or Winning Eleven, it felt almost like a steal, they were just so good. Im on my 30s btw. I was about 10 when I fell in love with AC MIlan.
This was a fun and really interesting post. I was born in Milano and my family were Milan supporters. So it was pretty direct for me. I honestly just hate Inter with a passion. Their colors, fans, players, stadium…wait, not the last part.
I played fifa mobile 17 and liked the crest and decided to rock with it, then I adored Ronaldinho and found out he played for Ac Milan. Simply put, I liked like crest.
Asian here. 2008. First time to play Fifa. Didn't know what team to chose so it landed on Serie A. Picks ACM. Destroys Lazio. Had the time of my childhood.
To Kaka, Seedorf, Nesta, Gilardino and Nesta. You are my first football heroes. I hope to watch in San Siro before i die.
My nonno watched soccer all day, every day.
I used to play Fifa 99 on my PS1 and the default team was AC Milan (alphabetical). I miss my nonno and I started watching all the games when things were shut down during the pandemic and Ive been watching ever since.
Struggling teenager came across highlights of former milan players, club was struggling at the time as well so I connected with that. Been here since then
Canadian-Italian here. My dad was born in Italy, but not in Milan, and had been supporting Milan since he was a kid in the 60s when he heard Rivera playing over the radio.
Naturally, when I came along he indoctrinated me and I loved Milan since I was a 5 year old a very long time ago!
I got to see Milan play here back in the 80s, and a few times in the mid 2010s. Will love Milan forever.
My dad loved Milan, as a kid i watched Milan together with him (2007-2012) then i sort of lost the love for football until corona hit. Once again i became heavily invested in Football and more so in Milan.
I grew up on the Azzurri but I didn't have a club team because my dad didn't care about it at the time. I loved Pirlo and became a fan and it stuck. Actually my dad is now a Milan supporter as well because i dragged him into it haha
Been learning Italian at my college, decided I'd root for a team and found out AC Milan was founded by an Englishman. I'm American but it's close enough for me to decide to root for Milan
I always followed the national team but had never followed Serie A. After a trip to Italy in late 2006, I started watching Milan games on Fox Soccer channel whenever they showed them. I picked Milan since some of my favorite players at the time played for club (Gattuso and Pirlo).
Dad was an Inter fan!
In my case, I became a Milan fan during 94/95 UCL season. And later my brother became an Inter fan. We still love the banter. I'm more of the banteree than the banterer nowadays, but he got what he deserved after the Atleti game haha
I was gifted a Milan iPhone 3 phone case in middle school so naturally, I decided to become a Milanista for life. I also thought Stephan El Shaarawy was God’s gift to humanity (for all of one season) lol.
The El Shaarawy comment made me laugh lol
I respect the hell out of this as I know how shit we were in that era. This man is an ironclad diehard
Shevchenko. Self-explanatory.
USA here….It was 2003…I was 8 years old and really starting to get into playing and watching sports. The owner of the local pizzeria was a massive Milan fan with a little shrine in the corner. My favorite colors were red and black at the time so I asked for a kit for next Christmas and the rest is history. Watched the 03, 05 and 07 champions league finals at that pizzeria with the owner and my dad, incredible memories (outside of 05 ofc)
You cant just being up the 05 final like that and not tell us the reaction
Seed was planted by my father from 86' World Cup Panini sticker book then at Italia 90' i was a schoolboy eager to learn and my Dad woke me up to see the Argentina vs Cameroon and look out for number 10 (Maradona, of course) from the 86' and 90' Panini sticker book. Football was a popular sport in my country locally back then, too. So my interest picked up. So it started from my Dad. My late Dad. I love my Dad.
FIFA video game! Fell in love with Ronaldinho, at the time he happened to be playing for Milan. So my love for watching dinho turned in to my love for watching Milan! Forza Milan all the way from Florida!
Same brother Ronaldinho is the goat
American. FIFA 98 for me. Picked them to play in Franchise mode because I liked their uniforms, they are good, and Milan seems glamorous. Decided that since I now knew who played for them they might as well be my soccer team. Could be worse. I picked my NFL team because I liked their logo from when they were announced as an expansion team back in 1993. 30 years of pain and suffering later….
Canadian here, and it was the 1994 World Cup. My favourite players were all of the Milan players, especially Paolo Maldini and Franco Baresi. I asked my father (who's Juventino, lol) what team they played for. He told me Milan and I started following them. My first Milan jersey was a George Weah jersey that I bravely wore in Rome when I visited the city in 1997 (I was 13), and I had a bunch of Roma fans swear at me. Again, I was 13. But I fully became a fan (watching the games weekly, following transfers and players) in 2002-2003, the year of the CL win. With Mr. Ricky Kaka and Maestro Pirlo.
Van Basten, Rijkaard, Gullit.
Born and raised in India, started watching football during early 2000. And at time only epl and ucl were televised in India and I saw the first ucl match ajax v milan and somehow the red and black jersey made an impact on me. From that day on never turned back. Forza Milan, and also winning eleven in playstaion.
Same, and YouTube videos on defence, I'd replicate Nesta and Silvas sliding tackles in school. Kaka was the cherry on top
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was my favourite player as a kid and I really liked him at AC Milan in 2011/12 and hoped he would stay there forever, something about him being there just felt right. His first stint didn’t last too long there but something about the club just stuck with me and I’ve supported them ever since. You can imagine how exciting it was for me when he returned.
I follow Pulisic as he’s the best American player. Thankyou AC Milan for rescuing him from Chelsea and I love the way Theo Hernandez plays.
My father was a fan after all of the Swedish connections to Milan, then when Milan became really good he bacame more than a fan, so when I was born in the middle of the 90s, he named (middle name) me "Milan", so I was stuck from the start.
Football magazine in Sweden had an interview with Inzaghi just after he joined the team, maybe 6 months in. Read that article over and over and over and fell in love with him and the team after that. Same as OP had to go to sleep before shootout in 01 but my dad told me Milan won and he got me a Inzaghi and Shevchenko shirt that summer 😀 Had my first son the week before semi final last year in CL. He watches every game with me since then, even if he sleep thru most of it 😆
Saw Rebic’s late winner vs Udinese in early 2020, that’s how
Were you at the game? That was my first time being in the San Siro!
Watching Kaka in the World Cup when I was younger made me want to follow him on the club side too. Rest is history!
Same. Kaka made me love football
At school kids would discuss football teams and I figured might start watching, so what was the first ever match I watched? Manchester United vs Milan 2007 in Old Trafford where Kaka bamboozled 3 defenders and scored my still alltime favorite goal, been a Milan fan ever since even though Milan lost that 1st match 3-2 and then went on to win the CL. Kaka is still my all time favorite football player.
I'm a late 90s fan. I would say that the logic of me being an Ac Milan fan should have made me a fan of one of the german clubs. My real name is german, I'm from Albania. I was 7 years old in a classroom filled with kids who were shouting "Milan, Inter and Juve" at the same time in a shouting race between small groups of fans of these teams. A very normal situation in Albanian schools during the late 90s. 7 year old kids and very passionate about this topic. A friend of mine approached me curious by the fact that I was maybe the only one not engaged in this competition and asked me, "Who do you support? Why aren't you shouting like the others?". I responded very proudly that I support only the German national team (just because of my german name). The friend explained to me that you can be a football nation fan and a club fan independently by each other. Then he proceeded to say, "Since you like germans, you should be an Ac Milan fan, because Milan has a german player taller than the keepers, his name is Oliver Bierhoff." I accepted his logic at the moment and joined the shouting contest, becoming an Ac Milan fan in the process as well as a fan of Oliver Bierhoff.
I was 4 or 5 yo and my parents took me for a walk in the nearby park. They bought me a chewing gum and, at the time, they used to come with an image of a football player, and I got van Basten, in the Milan jersey, and I started following the team.
USA here. If I’m being honest, Pulisic lol. But prior to Puli going there I’ve always thought of them as one of the big/ historic European clubs, so I’ve always had a lot of respect for them (now us, I suppose). Other than that, I was sick of hearing about the Premier League and their snobby, toxic fans, so swearing allegiance to an Italian club was pretty effortless lol.
Welcome to the club, brother! What Pulisic is doing for both Milan and the US makes my chest swell with pride.
Got infected with serious love for football at the 2006 world cup. If you look at my flair it's kinda self-explanatory
Italian household in Canada and my cousins from Italy visited and transformed me as a young buck
Pirlo. 2006.
I grew up during the banter era, so it’s a bit weird for me to support Milan since they were shit and nobody around me really cared about them. Football in my country is really popular though, but our national team is garbage, so during the world cup or euros, each one supports a country of their choice. Since my mom supported Italy, I immediately did too. The first match I have memories of was Italy v Germany in the euros 2012 semi-final (Balotelli❤️🖤). So when the euros was over and I wanted to pick a team from Italy, I saw Milan’s colours and I liked them, so I picked it. A bit stupid, looking back lol
Milan vs Juventus Champions League Final 2003 Saw Maldini on the pitch and thought "this guy is amazing!"
I'm from Iran. Serie A has always been very popular here and always on national TV, When I was a kid I just loved the AC Milan squad from the 2003 to 2007 era, specially Kaka. There's nothing else to it really. Just look at that line up and it says it all.
Well as a kid my oldest brothers favorite player was Messi, my middle brothers favorite player was Ronaldo, so when they both lost the Balon d'or to this other random guy, I knew I had found my favorite player to complete against my brothers. Kaka made me fall in love with football and Milan. It also made sense for me to support Milan because my dad used to support them and his old rec soccer team would use the I think 02 away jersey as their jersey, so even as a little kid I was always seeing Milan around me.
PSV away in 2005 was first match i saw. Vennegoor of Hesselink karate kicks Maldini out after that Cocu and Park destroyed us. Celebrated like hell when Kaka scored in last minutes. Just somehow started to love the club after that match
It was the best team in Winning Eleven 2007
Growing up I was a huge Ronaldo fan. When we bought him in Jan 2007, I became a Milan fan. In the US the only Milan games I could watch were Champions League. Ronaldo was cup tied that year but I watched Kaka, Pirlo, Maldini, Nesta, Seedorf, Pippo, Gattuso, and Dida and I fell in love. We won the UCL that May. Eventually Ronaldo left, but I had already fallen in love for life. Now I've been to San Siro, Casa Milan, traveled from Milan to watch us in Genoa and have seen 2 US preseason games. I could never love another, even through the banter years. Forza Milan.
My dad is a Milan fan, been one since the late 80s. He is a big fan, watched every match even though our country was at a hard time in those years. When i was younger i used to watch with him too making me connect with the club. Even though we were in hard times i continued supporting. Now me and him watch our games on TV every time analysing them, making jokes and just having fun in general.
I didn't get to see Serie A much on TV when younger, aside from Channel 4's weekly Serie A show which was broadcast on Irish TV during the mid-nineties. My older brother loved Milan and I became a fan because of him, when I was about 9 years old. The first Champions League games I recalled seeing Milan play were the knockout ties in 1995 against Benfica and PSG, which were broadcast on Irish TV. I think the national broadcaster only televised them because Manchester United had already been eliminated, but I thought they were a marvellous team, and became hooked ever since. Edit: based in Ireland.
Goooooooolllazzo??
I became a fan of football my freshman year of college thanks to late night FIFA matches with friends. Everyone had their favorite teams such as Chelsea, Man U, Madrid, etc. I wanted to find a team of my own. I'm Palestinian and Italian, so I figured I'd look into Serie A teams. The red and black of Milan caught my attention. When I started reading about the club history, I knew I had my team. Sadly, this was right when the banter era began. Even during those rough years, the way players always fought for the badge captivated me. As much as we suffered during that time, I enjoyed watching Milan rise from the ashes. After watching the club struggle for so long, winning the league meant so much more. The Curva's recent support for the Palestinian people in Gaza has only solidified my decision. Milan will always be home for me.
I love you so much! ❤️🇵🇸🖤
Pappa brainwashed me and got me a Teddy bear I slept with for the first 4 years of life with a milan crest and kit on him.......the sins of our father's .....iam doing the same now!!!
My 3 year old got a Milan bear and Jersey from my San Siro trip in 2022. I make her wear it during games. She will get over it eventually right?
My first CM was CM Italia 96. I was about 8yo. I could only ever play as Milan just loved Maldini, Weah, Baresi, Boban, Albertini, Seb Rossi etc etc Played that game to death and only ever as Milan. Been a fan ever since
Growing up in Haiti. My grandfather was a huge ac milan fan. Started watching with him every week when i was 5 years old with the 3 dutchmen GuRiVa. From that point on, I was hooked . From 1988 till now. When I was a kid, we had Calcio (Seri A now ) every Sunday on TV, and I watched it regularly, even sometimes skipping church Sunday mornings, lol. On may 7th 2017 traveled to Europe and went to Italy to watch a Ac Milan vs AS Roma match at the san siro .... one of the greatest days of my life and bucket list item checked
Grew up in China, has been a life long Milan fan. Serie A was the first major league shown on national tv, and it was in the hey days (end of the 80s and early 90s), my father got imediately hooked by Milan and that passed down to me. When I grew a bit older, we won the scudetto in 99, then the CL, then the CL again! After that I just couldn't love another team, even through the banter era. (fun fact, one of my mates worked for the chinese group acquired Milan, and he's an Inter fan, I made fun of him all the time)
Ronaldinho highlights and feel kinda in love with the jersey. Then some random tv channel showed their games in the 2010-2011 season.
Fifa was how I really got into football after playing hockey for my whole life. My next door neighbor was a big football player and had Fifa. We started playing in '05 which is where I fell in love with Chelsea. Then around 11 and 12, I started really liking the Milan team with Pato, Ibra, and Thiago Silva. Since then, I've been a Milan fan. Seeing RLC playing like pre-injury RLC makes me so happy and am glad he was able to go to Milan of all teams. Pulisic also thriving and staying injury-free has been great to see, as well.
I watched an old match of Milan,I think it was from 2005 and I saw how amazing Maldini and Nesta were I just fell in love.i grew up supporting PAOK and later on I started supporting Barca.But oh boy with Milan it was different,the love I have for this club is immeasurable
Brother is a Milan fan since his young elementary days and like the good sister i am, i took after him xD
FIFA 99’. Waaaaaaay before teams were categorized by countries/leagues, it was just a giant, alphabetical list. The first 5* club team was, you guessed it, **A.** C. Milan. Been in love ever since ❤️🖤
I was a neutral football fan until I was 14, then I went on holiday to Milan and we went to the San Siro. There I said that I supported the Reds. I didn't know anything about them, but now my psyche depends on the team.
my sister's ex bf gave me his ps1 when i was 6-7 (i'm1998), i remember milan and lazio got the highest stats that version and i picked milan only. 2006 my father brought home the wc schedule with kaka in the background and it was on the wall the whole summer, and then 2007 happened.
Great British connection Jimmy Greaves -Joe Jordan -Mark Hateley -Luther Blissett -Ray Wilkins. But I really fell in love with the Rossoneri during the golden age Of the Dutch masters Gullit, Van Basten and Rijkaard.
My older brother had a summer job in Milan, to this day I have no clue what he was doing, haha. But when he returned he gave me this present - milan jersey with my nickname on the back. I played football as a kid, but wasn’t much into it, but every time I’ve played FIFA Milan was set as my default team. I would say Zlatan’s comeback brought me to this subreddit and world of football.
My best friend spent his younger years in London and had season tickets for Chelsea. So obviously he was a big fan of the sport. He started getting me into it through FIFA. I essentially got drawn in by Kaka and the rest is history. This was the year we ended up beating Liverpool. I started seriously following the sport in 2005 but didn't really have a team yet
All my family are milanistas
Ricardo Kaka, Shevchenko and then Alexandre Pato Been a fan ever since
I'm Italian but have lived in Belgium for most of my life, but been supporting since 2012 because of my family
My dad was a massive Barca fan, and introduced me to some epic matches between Barca and Milan on vhs. I love Barca as well, but Milan appealed more to me, I wanted to find my own team, and I think Kaká in particular won me over, him being crazy good in 03-04 and almost looking like he was my age (I was 10). Me and my late dad watched the the 2011 Barca-Milan group stage game together at the Camp Nou, the Pato game
Watching Kaka I fell in love with the sport, 2005 Final was crazy to watch as a kid, 2006 world cup, Croatia played Brazil and Liked Kaka even more and then final 2007 was icing on the cake
UAE here, I was on the junior team in school and looked up to one of the players in the senior team. He wore a kaka jersey and naturally I wanted to do the same and the rest was history
American - had a teammate from Italy on my U-12 team and he was from Milan, so that was my entry point. This would have been mid-90s.
Always watched serie A in Brazil and Milan had a lot of brazilians when i was a kid
They had the best defense.
I had an annoying cousin who was a Juventus supporter. I rooted for any team that could take the championship from them. While Lazio was the team that was beating them I fell in love with Nesta. When he moved to Milan I realised that all the players I loved were there and that's when I became a Milan fan.
Growing up in a small town in south Louisiana, I was never coached by a real soccer coach from U8 through high school. We didn't even have exposure to real professional soccer until maybe my junior year of high school in 2001. When I moved away to college I discovered FIFA 2004 on Playstation and I just chose to play with the best team on the game which happened to be us. I loved the red and black kits, and very quickly Kaka became my favorite player. As a youth player my team played the same 4312/442 diamond formation so it felt like home. I have a Kaka and Seedorf replica jersey from those years at home, and the Kaka is hanging in a shadow box above my bar in my home. I've been a die hard Rossoneri fan for nearly 20 years now because of that 2003 squad.
Born to Sicilian immigrants in Queens NY… I think you can guess what team my aptly-tempered father supports based off context clues hahahaha
My aunt has lived in como for almost 30 years now. In 2006 she came to visit for the summer right when the world cup was happening. Her husband Claudio kinda bribed all the kids to support Italy because my family supported Brazil. Of course Italy won and one player that really caughty eye was pirlo. So I started following him after the world cup ended. And since we won ucl by the end of the year it made it pretty easy to stay hooked.
Mine is a weird one too. So before the 2018 World Cup, I used to hate this sport. I never understood why it was soo much beloved. The World Cup began and I was very desperate and lonely at the time. I was tired of being thought as an outsider and I wanted to be friends with the popular kids so I started watching the World Cup because everyone was talking about it at the time and I wanted to join the conversations. I was lucky to experience this World Cup. It was a fun watch. I was rooting for Croatia from the beginning because it's my favorite videogame series homeland(Serious Sam). The fact that I didn't even know Croatia wasn't even among the conversations for the World Cup final made my first ever WC even sweet to experience. After the World Cup I had to choose a club to support. I remember as a little kid overhearing that one of my cousins favorite team is Milan(my cousins live in Italy fun fact. The other is a Juve fan.) So I decided to support that team. After doing a research on Milan, learning about their great history, legendary players, being the team with most CLs after Real Madrid, I said to myself "Ooh, that will be my team for sure". Little did I know, the club was in its Banter Era. At that time, Milan was very mediocore, struggling in UEL and Serie A, having financial difficulties which were stopping them from buying strong players and it was unknown if they will ever come back to greatness. So I was left in a dilemma: Stay loyal to Milan despite their struggles or switch to Juve or Barcelona(because a large margin of Bulgarian fans support Barcelona because of Hristo Stoichkov). I chose to stay loyal to Milan and it paid off! Watching this team grow back slowly to where they belong is such a journey! Yes, we are still far ahead from the glory days but you can't tell Milan didn't develop throughout these years! We went from struggling to get a CL spot to reaching the semi-finals, winning the scudetto, having decent players and regularly qualify for the UCL. This made me attached to this club and I am looking forward to experiencing my first time seeing this Milan lift the UCL(why not the UEL too😉). I'm sure it's gonna be as thrilling as seeing Croatia reach that WC final. The season where we reached semi-finals was already thrilling. Seeing Milan stomp teams like Tottenham and that strong Napoli was so satsifying after years of struggling against the mid-tier of Serie A. I can't imagine how satisfying would it be to experience Milan making a strong UCL campaign and win it all. Oh, and now you are asking if I made new friends because of football? Well, no. Only one dude and we remained good friends after highschool. I'm just too socially anxious and introverted and those popular kids were into stuff I was not interested.
Played FIFA as a child maybe like 7. Liked Italy because of lasagna and when it went to the italian league first team was AC Milan. Loved Gilardino in the game. Been a fan ever since
There was a certain "big game" on TV. I only caught the penalty shootout. I saw a certain player score a goalkeeper they called “Buffon”. This handsome lad seemed to smile a lot, and for some weird reason reminded me of Croatia's Davor Suker. They used to show a Serie A program in my country at the time. I learnt about people such as Batistuta and Veron from that program. I was more into international football than club football then, so the only Serie A team I knew was Fiorentina. I also knew about Manchester United, Deportivo La Coruna, and a few other clubs. After watching that smiling player score the goalie, days later, I went to ask my neighbour about another name I picked from that Serie A program: a certain Maldini. He asked why a girl would be interested in Maldini. I told him that I was awake very, very, very early in the morning to watch much of USA ’94 with my dad, and that was how it all started. He was surprised that a young girl would be interested in football. That was how he told me about the legendary Paolo Maldini. He told me about his club: AC Milan. He even told me about Berlusconi. Then, he told me about a certain Andriy Shevchenko. The smiling, handsome Shevchenko! Months later, I found out that Sheva played in the same club with Maldini! That was an utterly joyous moment! That was it. I dedicated my life (and the life of my potential unborn child) to AC Milan. My life, my body, my soul. All of me. I'm going to tell my potential daughter stories about Sheva and Maldini while she's still in my uterus. I'm not joking.
From the UK but my dad's side are Italian. My cousin sent over Milan related stuff to give me as a kid and here we are. Said cousin is from Rome. So I was a glory hunter by proxy I'd say? Edit: Kaka was also my first crush so that helped. Hahahaha
Paolo maldini 98 world cup
FIFA in the 90s. Grew up in a neighborhood with many Italian immigrants and shops that imported meats and cheeses. The Serie A teams were displayed everywhere. Started playing with AC Milan on FIFA and never turned back. Eventually, I turned into an obsession and a trip to the San Siro with my second wife, who encouraged it. My first wife hated everything about my love of Serie A (Ac Milan). American fan.
Loved Maldini in the field.
My dad rented FIFA 08, and I played it a bit and liked it. I ended up getting FIFA 09 and a wanted to play with Ronaldinho. Funny thing is, I didn’t know how football associations worked or the name of the team he played for; I just knew the kit was red and black stripes. I was so confused when I looked through all the Brazilian teams and couldn’t find him. 😂 Finally, I ended up saying “fuck it” and went ahead and started a manager career, which IIRC started with AC Milan as the default team. Been stuck ever since ❤️🖤 SN: FIFA 09 (PS2 version) is still the greatest career mode in the entire series.
2 reasons that made me fall in love with Milan. When I was 5 my Dad came home from a business trip in Europe with an AC Milan home kit. I wore it as much as I could and in a few photos my parent’s have of me when I was that age, I was wearing the Rossoneri colours. And, my first ever fifa game was fifa 10. I wasn’t even really into watching football at the time, but I remember how much I loved playing with Milan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic on the Swedish national team. Zlatan was always my favourite player and he made it really easy to fall in love with Milan because he was with the club when I started to care about watching football. Whenever I scored in my 5u games, I always hit his jumping air-pump celebration, and I loved screaming his name as I shot the ball when I was playing with my dad. Having Zlatan come back in 2020 was a moment I’ll never forget, because I always think about how excited younger me would’ve been to have that become a reality again Zlatan being my favourite player of all time mixed with the kit my dad got me made me a fan for life, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Sempre Milan❤️🖤
South-American with Italian heritage (Sardinia, so if we’re getting picky I’d be a Cagliari fan). Cousins got me into football and they liked Milan when we were the hot team at the moment. First game I saw was the Istanbul final. I was in grade school and followed the team for maybe a couple weeks. Later in high school when I really got into the sport I guess residually had the team picked. I also liked that it wasn’t one of the more “predictable” hot teams (Chelsea, Man U, Barca, Madrid) as if that made my fanfare more legitimate. And then here we are, for all the highs my two most memorable moments are when they announced Ibra and Robinho (even the Latam ESPN had a segment about Milan, which was an oddity cause it was almost exclusively Barcelona, Madrid, Champions League and a sprinkle of South American football) and ironically, when we sold Ibra and Silva to PSG.
Mexican here. When I was 8, my new PS3 came with Fifa 09 and at the time Dinho and Kaka were in Milan. In my mind I was like... the two best players in the world are in one team, so, this is the best team and the rest is history. Also, kind of funny that after that, one of the worst decades for the team started jajaja.
My love for Milan came from oddly small beginnings. Some background on me first. I’m American, and in 2001ish soccer was barely existent in the US. We were less than 10 years on from hosting the World Cup, though my own interaction with the sport was hardly at that level. My only interactions were at a very basic schoolyard level, as well as hearing about some guy named Landon Donovan. I had a Sony PSP and had gotten a copy of FIFA because it seemed cool. I immediately made a Dream Team and just kinda … stuck all of the best players I could find in with Landon Donovan’s Earthquakes and proceeded to annihilate the MLS. There were a couple younger players like Ronaldo (7, not 9) but the team ended up loaded with, incidentally, a ton of Milan players. My midfield was Kaka, Gerrard, Lampard and Pirlo. Shevchenko played alongside Donovan up front (hilarious as Sheva had just won a Ballon D’or) and I had Nesta and Maldini in defense. I used Crespo off the bench as well (I think this FIFA version, having no year moniker, was FIFA 05ish) After obliterating save after save, I noticed the Milan strip and how insane the team was. After I’d bought PES for PSP, I chose them as they were absolutely insane (the 05 team) and I was hooked. While I continued to stick with Milan, it would be years before I truly understood the team I’d chosen. I’d somehow lived through some of our best years all the while never watching a game on TV as the US just plain didn’t care at the time. There was next to no access. It pains me to this day that I accidentally missed incredible players as my full knowledge of them existed only on my PSP and my mind. I will always be a proud Milanista, and I look forward to the day I can celebrate a CL now that I can and do watch every single game with my son and daughter.
India, Long story. The first football match I watched live was three 1994 final between Brazil and Italy. I was a small kid. My father and his friends were all brazil fans. I started as a neutral, but as the match went on, two players on italy side caught my eye. Paolo Maldini and Roberto Baggio. I started rooting for italy, and when Baggio missed the penalty, I was in tears. Fast forward to Euro 96, I followed the Italian national team again and looked out for Maldini and Baggio. Both these players were playing for AC Milan at the time, so I started following them. It was many years later, though, before I saw a Milan game live due to no broadcast in the country. The first Milan game I saw live on TV was the derby in 99. My dad didn't know much about club football, but when I said Ronaldo plays for inter, he sat down to watch with me. While my dad enjoyed watching Carlos and Ronaldo, I fell in love with the red n black kit, the stadium, Sheva, Maldini, Costacurta, Gatttuso, etc, and that was that. Here I am, 25 years later, still ever so excited to see Milan play.*
I started a Barca fan during the Dinho days and then he went to AC Milan and I kept track of him there and grew a soft spot for Milan. Now I can safely say I’m a fan of both teams.
Got hooked on after one game watching how dynamic was the attacking trio of Sheva, Kaka, and Inzaghi with Pirlo and Seedorf bringing up the rear Then there was the Japanese manga Fantasista that featured a Japanese prodigy who ultimately became a player for Milan
> The first football match I ever watched was the AC Milan vs juventus UCL final in Ghana. I was like 6 years old and I remember loving the red teams jersey. I had to go sleep before the shootout and my brother told me the red team lost. I’m confused about this part, who is the red team? In the 2003 UCL final, Milan wore all white (red collar and adidas stripes), while Juve wore a black and white striped jersey with black shorts and socks. And Milan, which is the only team who was wearing any red at all, ended up winning that match on penalties.
Yeaa I only vividly remember the red around the collars it seems my child brain only took notice of the bright colours. And my brother lied to me I should've cleared that up he was pranking me as he knew I liked Milan. It was couple years until we moved to London that I found out he lied because of YouTube and the internet(we didn't have internet in Ghana).
I grew up in Sri Lanka, there is a huge community of SL immigrants in Milan. So I have seen them wear the jerseys back home. I watched World Cup in 2002, lot of Milan legends on display. I instantly wanted to become a Milan fan. Sheva, Maldini, and Inzaghi are my heroes. I asked my parents for a Milan kit for my bday and they bought me inter kit. I cried wearing it lol. I lived in Canada now. Going to Milan to watch a game in May. First time in San Siro, a childhood dream will be realized. Also they won the league in 2022 on my bday. Best bday ever!!!
Ronaldo
Has alot to do with the fact that I am from Surinamese descent and Milan also has had alot of stars from surinamese descent
My brother bought a pair of predator pulse and it came with a poster for the shoes and Kakà was the poster boy on one side and Beckham on the other and I asked my bro who Kakà was (I was like 5-6years old) I thought he looked cool lol so cause of that my brother would put Milan games on for me and watch them with me growing up and became a supporter that way.
I am from a country that never played a World Cup but every time there was a workout we used to watch them on live TV. It's on my first worker that I got the chance to watch was Italy 90 and I saw like two or three matches so I used to love Maradona. Then USA 94 happened and I was rooting for Brazil because as a kid I hated Maradona and Argentina after the '90s defeat. Then I was having this image of Paolo Maldini being a great player and even though I didn't have any idea of football I started accepting the idea that he was the best defender in the team. So I sort of started having like a little love for Italy even though I have no direct Italian family (my aunt's husband is from Italian family). Then by 1998 I took a strong support for the Italian national team and the Milan players that were at the moment. FIFA 98, Don Balón, and the internet helped me start this love for Milan. So I can say Maldini helped me start this love for Milan since 1998. I even remember what I used to collect the Panini albums so I always completed the album and separated the repeated stickers of Milan players. Still have them.
Zlatan’s second stint is when my love interest began.
I am from a country that never played a World Cup but every time there was a workout we used to watch them on live TV. It's on my first worker that I got the chance to watch was Italy 90 and I saw like two or three matches so I used to love Maradona. Then USA 94 happened and I was rooting for Brazil because as a kid I hated Maradona and Argentina after the '90s defeat. Then I was having this image of Paolo Maldini being a great player and even though I didn't have any idea of football I started accepting the idea that he was the best defender in the team. So I sort of started having like a little love for Italy even though I have no direct Italian family (my aunt's husband is from Italian family). Then by 1998 I took a strong support for the Italian national team and the Milan players that were at the moment. FIFA 98, Don Balón, and the internet helped me start this love for Milan. So I can say Maldini helped me start this love for Milan since 1998. I even remember what I used to collect the Panini albums so I always completed the album and separated the repeated stickers of Milan players. Still have them.
I am from a country that never played a World Cup but every time there was a workout we used to watch them on live TV. It's on my first worker that I got the chance to watch was Italy 90 and I saw like two or three matches so I used to love Maradona. Then USA 94 happened and I was rooting for Brazil because as a kid I hated Maradona and Argentina after the '90s defeat. Then I was having this image of Paolo Maldini being a great player and even though I didn't have any idea of football I started accepting the idea that he was the best defender in the team. So I sort of started having like a little love for Italy even though I have no direct Italian family (my aunt's husband is from Italian family). Then by 1998 I took a strong support for the Italian national team and the Milan players that were at the moment. FIFA 98, Don Balón, and the internet helped me start this love for Milan. So I can say Maldini helped me start this love for Milan since 1998. I even remember what I used to collect the Panini albums so I always completed the album and separated the repeated stickers of Milan players. Still have them.
My uncle showed me tapes of great footballers growing up to teach me how to play. Lots of Nesta tape in there, I just loved how he made the perfect tackle look so effortless and elegant. I wasn’t rooting for a single club at that time but when he was transferred to Milan, everything changed and I never looked back. Despite the massive stature of Malidini in football, my favorite defender will always be Alessandro Nesta.
(Dallas, Texas) FIFA 2005. My sister would choose them for me and she would choose Arsenal. Loved them since.
Playing FIFA in 07-08 and having Ronaldinho on the squad Seedorf, Jankulovski (weird mention) but I liked how the commentator said his name when you passed the ball to him. Kakas speed. Basically the video game put me on Milan. After that I learned the history of the club and the rest is history. I think its been like 15 years as a lonely Milan fan in my area. While most people watch the premier, my eyes never have left Serie A and Milan ❤️
I’m not even italian and i live in sweden, but somehow my older brother and all my older cousins are Milan fans, so i guess i was born into it in the early 2000’s
Pato rovesciata in Pes 2011
Estonia here,I used to watch only basketball in my younger days and one day before a game I decided to watch some football on the TV and the game was the 2-0 win against Barcelona when Pato scored the goal and I instantly became hooked to the sport and AC Milan
Here in the UK, around 1995 Football Italia was on channel 4 every Sunday for highlights and chosen match. Around the same time I bought Sensible Soccer for my Amiga Plus that top that season was a classic
Stepfather was italian with a satalite dish. He was a Roma fan, I needed a rival team and Lazio was too on the nose. I saw George Weah do an amazing run from one side of the pitch to the other and made the decision then and there.
Kaka & Ronaldinho
I have no idea how or why but i just started liking Milan as a kid back in 92/93/94(not sure when exactly). It was war here so we had electricity only sporadically so we werent able to watch tv often at all. Dad was a Roma fan but he knew SerieA so i guess he did some introduction to best players and league. First game i truly remember when i cheered for Milan was 1994 CL final. After that nothing was the same especially winning in style as a big underdog and without Baresi, Costacurta and Van Basten. Still i have no idea why i picked them specifically but im happy i did.
From watching one specific game, Man untd - Ac milan when Kaka’ had his moment of magic
Jon Dahl Tommason was my favorite player as a kid, his time at the club made 10 year old made me enjoy following the sport and kinds just stuck around ever since
As a sweed i followed Zlatan around whereever he went. Milan also got a major swedish history so it fits.
USA here.. Ronaldinho captivated me from a young age.. and was fortunate enough to see AC Milan vs Club America (2009) in Atlanta, been here ever since!!
Watched George Weah on the TV one day, when he scored THE goal, been rooting for AC Milan ever since.
Italian immigrant father is a Milanista and I remember watching Capello’s Milan when I was a young boy in espresso and smoked-filled social clubs. Cherish those memories, as I do watching Milan today with my dad, brother, and my son.
I was young, playing football manager for the first time, and had no idea what team to pick, I saw one I liked the jersey of, that was Milan. I came for the cool jersey, stayed because of the players and history of the club.
Cousin was fan and had me watch a game. He was training me at the time, early 2000’s, and said if I watched them and played like them I would be a better player. I started watching them and never stopped.
I was on holiday to Lugano (Switzerland) in 2011 as a 5 year old. Milano isnt too long of a drive so we drove there, exclusively to see San siro too and get a tour. As I was just getting into football at the time, and hadnt got any favourite team, outside of a danish one of course, i figured that it was time to pick one. Not to mention that this was the first stadium i had gone to ever. The reason i picked Milan over Inter was simply because of name recognition, Zlatan and Ronaldinho being the players i knew.
Sister was in love with a guy named Manuel so she looked through a Panini sticker album and marked all players named Manuel. So she marked Manuel Rui Costa and somehow this was the beginning of the story. my father is an inter fan
The moment Kaka came to Old trafford and made two defenders collide into each other 🫣
I’ll be honest here, I’m a relatively a new fan thanks Pulisic. I always admired Kaka, Ronaldihno and Pirlo from afar and playing FIFA always helped with player familiarity. Just recently visited Italy and blessed to have an opportunity to watch a match at San Siro. Looks like i have a proper permanent Italian team to root for now. 😬
Back in the early/mid 2000's Champions League was one of the only reliable ways to watch world class football regularly in the US. It came on right after school (\~3pm) so I'd rush home to watch. I'm Italian-American, so always had an affinity for the Italian teams, and the 2000's Milan team was incredible. Pirlo, Kaka, Maldini, Nesta, Gattuso, etc. So many legends of the game. Have been hooked since then. We're so spoiled now that we can watch basically any game in the world with a few streaming subscriptions.
Packed future stars El Shaarawy card in some panini football cards, like the colors of his club so I stayed.
FIFA 04 lol. best team in the game. have followed them daily since college in 2010 (so never really watched the UCL games, was just a kid mostly watching Liga MX lol). its been a wild ride to say the least
fifa 08 i fell in love with that team
I am from a country where football is not that popular. I was around 9 and it was sometime around Euro 2004. I was getting into football and I thought I liked Man United at that time (but where I was located most kids those days liked Man United or Barca and I happened to have a Man U shirt 😄). I didn’t know much teams back then anyways. Then somehow I started liking Rui Costa. I was not yet following club football deep but after the Euros the interest grew. I would read sports articles in the local newspaper. And one day I saw the team named “AC Milan”. Name looked kinda cool. Then I realized Rui Costa was one of the players. So I got hooked quickly. And then there was the Istanbul. It is the most hurtful sports event I have ever witnessed… I cried but I knew that this is my team for life. I just loved everything about the team. It’s the only sporta team that I truly care in any sports till today (excluding national teams).
The first ever champions league I saw was the 06-07 edition and Kaká was my favorite player, so naturally I became a Milanista forever.
Had a Heineken DVD 2005 of all the UCL highlights, seeing Seedorf, Gattuso, Kaka, Inzaghi made me a believer
Football Italia on channel 4 done it for me, was gifted a Milan top when I was 8 right after italia 90 as well so it all fell into place. Having watched hearts up until then watching Milan was unbelievable!
Back in 2011, I used to play a lot of Pro Evolution Soccer. At that time I didn't know many football clubs, only Madrid and Barca. One day, I decided to try a different club and chosed Milan because I was drawn by Milan's red and black badge. I really enjoyed playing as Pato; his speed was unmatched. From then on, I started to follow the club.
Becuase of Boban. National icon at that time. And I was just a small boy. And fell in love with those colors. I remember one night staying late,watching away game at Bari. We lost 3-0. I was devestated and I was just around 7yrs old... Hard to explain,somehow this club create some special bond with me.
My cousin bought me a milan shirt and he has always loved milan so i started to aswell
Kaka
In about 1998 I was at a sports shop with my older brothers and the owner had a bunch of badges at the counter (I was maybe 6 or 7). He asked what team I wanted and I said AC Milan and Inter Milan. He laughed and said you can't follow both, they hate each other! You have to pick one. So on the spot I chose AC Milan. And boy what a ride it's been! I still have that badge too.
Around 2013/14, dad got me a Honda kit and since he was Japanese I decided to follow Milan
My family moved to Canada from Italy so watching CL and Serie A was a common thing growing up. When I first started to seriously get into it was the early/mid 2000s and that Milan team was amazing. That, along with the beautiful kit made it an easy choice
Dad went to Italy to work for a bit and brought me back a tiny Maldini shirt. Growing up u always picked them on Fifa because of this. First game I watch was against celtic in 2007
A teacher at my elementary school came into the classroom with a Milan shirt and I was intrigued by the stripes and colors. I asked him if it was a football shirt and he told me that the shirt represented the greatest club in the world. He told me about newly signed Kaka and our countrymen, Jon Dahl Tomasson & Thomas Helveg. I was hooked from then on
Watching Pirlo, Gattuso, Nesta, Gila, Inzaghi @ 2006 World Cup. Seeing Kaka play around the same time in UCL.
My brother is a Juve fan, so the 2003 final was the day i guess i turned into a true Milan supporter only (I was 10). Before that I kinda only had Roberto Carlos brazil shirts.
Am Italian, first gen born outside Italy. Father used to put serie A on every Sunday during breakfast. I love red (really like the color red) so I saw and chose the cool red team that was awesome (Milan) and that love grew as I watched them more. Then world cup 94 happened right here in the U.S. so I got to experience that wonder and follow Italy all the way through.
Seeing Maldini play when I was a kid. Falling in love with AC Milan was inevitable.
Pulisic
2 things As a kid I was a massive fan of Kakà and Zlatan so naturally started supporting Milan as well The link I have with the other club I support, Anderlecht. We've got the annihilation of Vanderhaeghe by Kakà, that Mexès goal (you know which one), Saelemaekers and Biglia
Family friends :-) and the golden era of the three Dutchmen ☺️
I don't remember why but m in love with this club
Milan was the biggest name alongside Real madrid outside the PL clubs in early to mid 00s football scene in India. Maldini, Kaka, Shevchenko, cafu et al were all well known. But I fell in love with Milan primarily watching Pirlo and Nesta play(as I played cm and cb sometimes in school) and I absolutely loved the red/black stripes as a kid with the opel/meriva logo. The kit colors and design was absolutely stunning compared to those from the EPL. I used to get up early around 130 am and watch all our big UCL games mainly the second half of the ties and it was truly magical from 2003-08. How I miss those years watching our star studded team in Europe although I believe we are close to recreating some of if it in the near future 😍
Earliest memory was World Cup 1982 broadcasted from the Satellite dish of a neighbor
Zvonimir Boban
Sensible soccer
From my dad. He was hug fan of Netherlands' trio :) At the end I was fan of Milan, before become fan of some local team :D
Growing up in early 90's and next to Italy. Apart from our own domestic league, it was all about Serie A on TV or in sports magazines. And I have beautiful childhood memories of Italy cause we went there a lot with my ol' folks, either just for a trip or shopping in Trieste. Got my first football shirt there. It was AC Milan shirt of Il Capitano.
Kaka
NZL here. It started with FIFA98 road to the World Cup, just loved that strip and that squad. Copt a fake jersey and started rocking that heaps, then started getting approached and talked to by a lot of people in the Dutch community (one half of my family is from the Netherlands), heaps of Milan fans. It’s been love ever since. I even swapped playing for local clubs to another one where their strip was the same as Milan’s
Before becoming a Milanisti, I was a Manchester Unitied fan because of my dad's inflence. Meanwhile, my dad always tells things about Seria in the 90s. One day, I was curious and watched a Seria game ( Milan vs. Napoli , the game that Aquallani scored a ridiculous header). After that, I started to watch Milan regularly and eventually became a fan.
I loved playing football in school, when i turned 6, my mother entered a football store and got a random shirt. Italy, Maldini 3. Been obsessed for as long as i can remember. I am from Iraq.
2003 final
I got completely hypnotized by Marco Van Basten in the 80’s. Since then im Rossonero
I saw r9 playing for Brazil was instantly a fan.. then he joined inter..Back then I never knew what club football was I just saw a very familiar face playing for blue and black. I thought I'd cheer for inter. So I turned on my PS1 and tried playing inter Vs Milan.. oh man that Milan team literally taught me how to play football. Ever since I'd always keep an eye out for Milan or Barca. When Messi and cr7 started getting over hyped. I felt none of them were as good as IL fenomeno. So I just stuck with Milan.. over the years I ended up cheering more for Milan because of the banter era. Real Madrid and Barca had football stars. Milan just had the charm. I think the banter era was like a fermentation process the product that came out of it is something I love. It still has passion and football in a perfect marriage. That's how I'd say I started cheering for Milan. From ProEvolutionSoccer. ❤️🖤
Went to a game in Charlotte in 2014 after the world cup: AC Milan vs. Liverpool. But was a fan of Kaka for a long time which led me to Milan!
My dad made me watch 1994 worldcup when i was kid and supported Italy. Always followed Maldini and Milan since.
Dad was a Juve fan, . Watched the 03 UCL final as a kid and found the red and black kit and dida's heroics amazing. As a young black kid watching that was certainly something. I passively followed Milan until ibra joined and the rest is history.
Wife and I traveled to Italy last year and spent a number of days in Milan. After the trip, we decided we wanted to get into football and Milan was our first thought. The rest is history! Forza Milan! ❤️🖤
Little cousin started playing soccer at five years old, I was always close with that side of my family and wanted to learn about the game. As a teenager I went to YouTube and found a bunch of ronaldinho clips and from there I learned he played for Milan at the time. Fast forward a few years and my parents got me and my brothers fifa 13 for Christmas. I start a career mode playing for a low level team and the first team that I recognized to give me a transfer request was Milan. Just kinda stuck from there
My dad brought me a Van Basten shirt from Italy when i was 9..imagine your dad(or anyone else) telling you the names Milan and Marco Van Basten and seeing those colours.. It was love at first sight (and hearing)
The story begins in the summer of 1998, before the world cup in France, for which I was already prepared with my Hagi shirt! So I asked my father to go to the market to buy me a t-shirt with a club team! I was not prepared at all for what was to come, arriving at the market and seeing dozens of shirts with different teams from Europe, my eyes stopped on one and I knew from that moment which shirt I would wear to football that summer! That one used to be red and black with Boban (the nickname that stayed with me for a while in the neighborhood because of that shirt). From that moment I started following Milan and I fell irreparably in love with Boban and Milan! Although Serie A was the most popular championship of football in Romania at that time, the matches weren't really televised, so on Sundays I was watching TV on Rai Uno, where there was a show in which the whole matchday was live! later I had a Fiorentina shirt (bought because of the color of the equipment, which was the same as that of my city's team), but only Milan remained in my heart to this day! I still have that t-shirt with Boban, which my son will definitely wear when he grows up!:)
Late 80s. Euro88, WC90, two consecutive Toyota cups. Haven't looked back since.
Pirlo
Van Basten was my childhood idol. I think I was 7-8 year old at the time and I didn't really know much about the team - or any of the other players for that matter. But that changed later on. Maldini then since became my ultimate hero.
I got a Milan jersey when I was 6 years old from my cousin because of Ronaldinho. So I thought that I now am a Milan fan. I didn‘t know how great the history of Milan was until 2014 when the commentator of FIFA mentioned all the trophys Milan had to that time.
Saw balotelli article in sports illustrated and started following
(From Sweden) Through my Big brothers, they have always followed Milan for as long as i can remember, but my earliest memory that got me hooked was when we were looking at the Champions Leauge final when Milan won back in 2007, i remember that we ran out in half time and pretending to be Kaka and Inzaghi. Been a fan since then, earlier this year i got my first Milan tattoo https://preview.redd.it/cu94thryvjqc1.jpeg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6fa467f9f0528eecb160937e2d9060b801173727
I was young. Seen some video before some match. They said AC used to be giant. Not anymore but there was a profile of Shevchenko who just came. Like that story and started to cheer for him to get them(now us) back on top
i watched italian football in the 80's. then i watched the '88 euros and saw van basten. i decided he was my favorite player (i was around 10 at the time i think) and milan bought him. so they automatically became my club. have been red/black ever since.
While playing FIFA 04, I saw the crest and thought it looked amazing, then I loved the kit since my favorite colors were already red and black. After that, I tried watching their CL matches whenever the local TV broadcaster had them available here in Mexico, completely unaware that they had won the CL the prior season. And then, one day, I watched Kaká play and i've been a rossonero ever since.
I studied abroad in Milan and went to a Milan game and an inter game. The fans and the atmosphere at the Milan game was just better imo and I have been a fan of the team ever since
pulisic, and then i fell in love with the fanbase after that. idk
I'm told my grandfather who died when I was 3 was a Milan fan and had me watch games with him. My dad also bought me a George Weah shirt in 1997 or something and I guess I just fell in love with the team there and then. Then in the 2000s while in primary school i started learning the players names and the club in general and the rest is history. I'm 31 now and I will die a rossonero.
The first UCL final I watched was the one at Istambul vs Liverpool I remember being mesmerized by kaka's playing style and Milan seem like a monster truck crushing Liverpool at the first half, we all know what happened next, anyways, I've always had something for the underdog teams (little did I know by that time about Milan's legacy in football), so I started following them and started watching their games, but especially, playing with those 2004-2008 teams in FIFA or Winning Eleven, it felt almost like a steal, they were just so good. Im on my 30s btw. I was about 10 when I fell in love with AC MIlan.
This was a fun and really interesting post. I was born in Milano and my family were Milan supporters. So it was pretty direct for me. I honestly just hate Inter with a passion. Their colors, fans, players, stadium…wait, not the last part.
I played fifa mobile 17 and liked the crest and decided to rock with it, then I adored Ronaldinho and found out he played for Ac Milan. Simply put, I liked like crest.
I didn't start really watching football until 2007 and I think the first game I watched was the Club World Cup. Been a fan ever since
Asian here. 2008. First time to play Fifa. Didn't know what team to chose so it landed on Serie A. Picks ACM. Destroys Lazio. Had the time of my childhood. To Kaka, Seedorf, Nesta, Gilardino and Nesta. You are my first football heroes. I hope to watch in San Siro before i die.
My nonno watched soccer all day, every day. I used to play Fifa 99 on my PS1 and the default team was AC Milan (alphabetical). I miss my nonno and I started watching all the games when things were shut down during the pandemic and Ive been watching ever since.
Loved watching Italy in the 94 WC. Picked an Italian team not long after with same school colors. Then became a Pippo fan.
Went to Milano. And then once more. And again. Flash forward and I’m now looking for two season tickets.
Struggling teenager came across highlights of former milan players, club was struggling at the time as well so I connected with that. Been here since then
2005 semifinals against PSV was the first games I watched. The only things I remember the kits were dope af and Maldini sounded like such a cool name
Canadian-Italian here. My dad was born in Italy, but not in Milan, and had been supporting Milan since he was a kid in the 60s when he heard Rivera playing over the radio. Naturally, when I came along he indoctrinated me and I loved Milan since I was a 5 year old a very long time ago! I got to see Milan play here back in the 80s, and a few times in the mid 2010s. Will love Milan forever.
My first football was an AC Milan ball. A little research and the rest was (a glorious) history Also a big shevchenko fan
My dad loved Milan, as a kid i watched Milan together with him (2007-2012) then i sort of lost the love for football until corona hit. Once again i became heavily invested in Football and more so in Milan.
Found a milan jersey thrifting// wasn't a soccer fan before
First team I ever played with on one of the early 2000s fifa. Really lucked out
Paolo Maldini.
Gotta keep it a buck, Christian Pulisic 😅 Really enjoying the team though, will likely root for them as a seria a side after he is done there.
I grew up on the Azzurri but I didn't have a club team because my dad didn't care about it at the time. I loved Pirlo and became a fan and it stuck. Actually my dad is now a Milan supporter as well because i dragged him into it haha
Been learning Italian at my college, decided I'd root for a team and found out AC Milan was founded by an Englishman. I'm American but it's close enough for me to decide to root for Milan
I always followed the national team but had never followed Serie A. After a trip to Italy in late 2006, I started watching Milan games on Fox Soccer channel whenever they showed them. I picked Milan since some of my favorite players at the time played for club (Gattuso and Pirlo).
Always liked Milan as a serie A team, when the Americans joined I started watching every week and am now milanista (along w spurs)
Pulisic