The story of the Milan giants Inter and AC. How disagreements split one club into two irreconcilable rivals

AC and Inter Milan. They may be fierce rivals, but the two Milanese football clubs have many things in common and a very interesting history. How did one club actually become two and why was it so in those days?

Even city rivals have a common enemy

When it comes to clubs that were once among the top of European competitions, it is impossible not to mention AC Milan and its biggest city rival Internazionale. This Italian duo have been European champions ten times and have 36 league titles to their name.

Both clubs have one thing in common, namely their fierce rivalry with Juventus. However, the rivalry between the Milan clubs and the Turin giants is not only about football. But also about the political, economic and cultural rivalry between the two cities. It can definitely be said that the irreconcilability between the Milan clubs and the Old Lady, as Juventus is nicknamed, is on a par with that between the two San Siro sides.

It is true that there are many things that divide AC and Inter. But there are also many things that unite the Rossoneri (the “Reds”) and the Nerazzurri (the “Blacks”) as both teams are nicknamed. We already know the common rival, the clubs unusually share a home stadium for decades. One club was formed as a splinter of the other and their periods of success and failure have often mirrored each other.

The shared history thus creates a huge rivalry on the pitch and in the stands. The Derby della Madonnina, as the derby between the Milanese sides is called, is one of the most attractive and wildest in world football. The derby takes its name from the statue of the Virgin Mary, which sits atop Milan’s Duomo.

AC Milan aka “Rossoneri”

As with other city rivals, people have begun to bring social differences between the two clubs. Nowadays, this rule no longer applies.

AC was founded in 1899 as a cricket and football association. Originally AC adopted the transliteration of Milan from the English. Mussolini and his regime at the time forced the club to change the English transcription to the Italian form. AC was said to be supported primarily by the working class and used to have a strong union influence. The working-class origins of the fan base led to their first nickname, the Cacciavite aka the Screwdrivers.

The origins of the Rossoneri actually go back to England. The club’s founder, Herbert Kilpin, came from Nottingham.

Inter Milan aka “Nerazzurri”

Internazionale or also Inter was formed in 1908 after the death of club founder Herbert Kilpin, breaking away from AC Milan. The dispute and subsequent split between the clubs arose from disagreements over the recruitment of foreign players. Some of AC’s representatives had the intention of focusing on Italian-born players. The dispute went so far that eight Swiss-born members helped found Internazionale.

The Italian spelling of the name suggests a different approach to accepting players of other nationalities. Inter was thus seen as a team that felt no loyalty to having purely Italian players in their team and began to be associated with the upper social strata of the fan base. In the early days, Inter was nicknamed bauscia, a Milanese term meaning “braggart”, reflecting the supposed snobbish reputation of its fans.

During the Mussolini regime in Italy, the club was forced to merge with another city club, Union Sportiva Milanese. This is a former football, cycling and basketball club that no longer exists.

Two roosters on one field

In 1947, Inter began using the San Siro stadium as their home ground. Before that, they used the Civica Arena as their home stadium, which is still used by smaller Milanese club Brera Calcio. AC, on the other hand, have used the San Siro since its construction in 1926. The stadium takes its name from the surrounding neighbourhood to the north-west of the centre of the Milan metropolis.

With both clubs operating in the same stadium, the rivalry has naturally risen that much higher, emphasising the social background of the fans. Inter supporters were referred to as motoretta. The reason was the possibility to get to the stadium on a motorbike. While AC fans, the so-called trams, mostly had to arrive at the match by public transport and on foot.

Source: AC Milan, Inter Milan, Serie A