Milanello | Legendary AC Milan Sports Centre.

Milanello is a name well known all around the world for who is fond about sport and especially football to be the site of the legendary AC Milan Sports Centre, the iconic training headquarter of one of the most titled Clubs in the history of soccer.

Situated in the municipality of Carnago a small centre of approximately 6,500 inhabitants in proximity of Gallarate and Milan Malpensa Airport, a short distance from the city of Varese, at the border of a valley called Valle Olona Valley next to the towns of Cairate and Cassano Magnago and just 48, 0 kilometres north of the city of Milan. 

Historically that area was an ancient Celtic settlement before the Roman colonisation and situated in a green hilly plateau crossed by the streams Rile, Tenore and Riale which supported a notable agricultural activity in a former historic county named Seprio.

That land was for long time a territory of the Duchy of Milan but also a domain of Como and for a period ruled by French during Napoleonic times before to be part of the Austrian Empire and joining later the Kingdom of Italy led by the House of Savoy in the 19th century.

Totally surrounded by green forests in a very peaceful environment, that site has gained importance and popularity when it became an emblem linked to that prestigious sporting Institution called Associazione Calcio Milan founded in the year 1899 and well known with the nicknames of Rossoneri, the red & blacks or the Diavoli rossoneri, the red and black devils which wrote unforgettable pages in the history of football at National and International level.

 Milanello AC Milan Centre was opened in 1963 and that project  was to give the Club a modern and efficient complex very advanced considering that period corresponding to the early 60s,creating something of unique in comparison to other realities in Italy and abroad which had more limited surfaces, economic resources and structures than those established in more recent times.

The construction started when the owner of that neighbourhood of Carnago sold that territory to the former Club President Andrea Rizzoli, a famous international publishing Magnate but imposed him a sort of clause or agreement which stipulated that such site could not sell to anyone except to the Italian Football Federation which already had its headquarters since 1959 at Coverciano, a southeastern borough of Florence.

That never happened but  in several occasions it hosted the Italian National Team  to prepare many of the major tournaments such as a World Cup in the case of USA 1994 and some editions of the European Championships such as Germany 1988,England 1996 and Holland-Belgium 2000.

The suggestion to establish such legend was by Gipo Viani, the team manager in those years who considered that place more than appropriate and ideal to concentrate the squad also for some days before important matches. 

That corner of Northern Lombardy is a splendid ad tranquil haven, perfect for the serenity of the athletes far from noise, traffic, stressful urban rhythms, in short, the best choice for the footballers who could have their morning and afternoon sessions of training surrounded by a relaxing atmosphere, no buses networks, neither connections to trains, it was only reachable by car just like nowadays.

That operation was also arranged also to increase furthermore the image of that Institution giving it a distinguished ranking and the idea was extremely successful because since its inception the history of AC Milan was a cycle of triumphs and victories.

In that period with the supervision of that character there was the unforgettable coach Nereo Rocco, well known with the nickname Il Paron which means in the dialect of Trieste, the birthplace of that figure, the Boss, for its charisma and respected by all and with him in different periods the Rossoneri had glorious golden ages.

Despite that trainer left the Club at end of that season winning in his first stage the Italian Championship and the Cup of the Champions the current Champions League in a final celebrated at Wembley against the Benfica, those brilliant results took the team of Rizzoli on the top of Europe and Italy and the name Milanello became a sort of icon.

Rocco came back there four years later in 1967  with a further successful series of titles conquered and that sports centre had new improvements in terms of pitches, equipments and facilities starting to be admired, loved, envied and also hated by the rivals.

Those years at Milanello were also characterised by "doppie sedute" double training sessions, athletic and playing with the ball and the progress brought a perfect organisation in terms of management, medical and sporting staff and in addition structures which responded to the most demanding exigencies in those times.

In that winning team there were Gianni Rivera, nicknamed the Golden Boy and first Italian footballer who was awarded with the Golden Ball, Jose Altafini, a Brazilian star who won the World Cup in 1958, Cesare Maldini and Giovanni Trapattoni, defenders of excellent personality and charisma and later prominent coaches Roberto Rosato, considered one of the best European central defenders in the 60s and Karl Heinz Schnellinger, defencive pillar of the German National Team.

The squad furthermore had talented attackers such as the fast Swedish wing Kurt Hamrin, the formidable forwards Pierino Prati, the Italian-Brazilian Angelo Benedicto Sormani and the glorious giant goalkeeper Fabio Cudicini nicknamed the Black Spider because he wore a uniform of that colour and for his long arms.

A super team and all them with others enjoyed Milanello, but all that which often created in the players some rejections and a veiled intolerance created a myth and the legendary history of the Club with other Italian titles, Intercontinental Cups ,Cup of the Cups and another Cup of the Champions reaching the top of the globe.

Famous and unforgettable was the final of the Cup of the Champions played in 1969 in that splendid football scenery of the Madrid Santiago Bernabeu Stadium when the Rossoneri won 4-1 against one of the most spectacular teams of the history the AFC Ajax Amsterdam of the young star Johan Cruijff,, Sjaak Swart,Wim Suurbier,Piet Keizer,Ton Pronk, Henk Groot and Barry Hulshoff among others.

That great Dutch team was practically the National Team of The Netherlands led by the prestigious coach Rinus Michels, famous to be the inventor of the Total Football and his modern interpretation of the game which will have resonance some years later with numerous victories in Holland and Europe.

Milanello was the place in which with new methods of training were created a football athletically fresh but at the same time creative and of a high technique level ,obviously merit of talented players but also for that hard and intense work made in that sort of fortress which in those times week became a destination of journalists, reporters and some day also open to the public with several people who could see their idols also if for just some minutes.

After almost two decades with including changes of presidents in 1986 the Club started to be managed by the famous Magnate Silvio Berlusconi and Milanello practically had a total reconstruction with the support of the company Edinord.

It was a new era with a massive renovation with an enlargement of a surface of approximately 160,000 square meters with six official football pitches another on artificial turf and a further one called gabbia, the cage which permits to improve speed, technique and reactivity in no stop matches playing on a pitch 42,0 metres long and 24,0 wide and surrounded by a wall 2,30 metres high.

The modern ideas and concepts of the new owner were that AC Milan with such glory  needed the best not only in terms of results but also as image, introducing  marketing plans and strategies,  starting to develop a merchandising network to conquer the markets with further goals in terms of business.

A new face had to be created also linked to an aspect of communication and brand transforming a Club in a true enterprise keeping obviously the historic value of the Entity and its marks.

 

It was since then after new projects the beginning of new successes and strategies in which the technology was becoming the queen of the progress with the establishment of sophisticated and modern equipments, a selected medical staff, a daily check in of the players probing their conditions, a scientific control of the performances and all that was totally integrated in that entity as a philosophy.

 A new young Coach Arrigo Sacchi with a professional experience training the club Parma but with new ideas and strategies for a modern and spectacular football and all those innovations formed a team in which every branch had to work together, public relations, medicine, managers all them in constant contact in a cooperation alive seven days a week as a perfect engine.

New methods of trainings supported by the latest science and technological tests came in the year 1991 when Vincenzo Pincolini, the physical and athletic trainer decided to travel to USA to watch Carl Lewis and other American athletes who were preparing the trials in occasion of the World Championships which took place in the same year at Tokyo.

 

When that man came back to Milanello after a deep analysis of all that he saw in America, the plan was to prepare a footballer just like an athlete, a choice and a strategy which was the prelude of  combination of sport and scientific analysis, testing speed and resistance, work based running along different distances, Cooper Test and medical checks in, a controlled  feeding and specific diets.

All that was combined to survey the maximum performances observing the capacity of recuperation, new methodical plans to safeguard the integrity of the player, and defined  tables for every athlete. 

Clinical tests under physical effort and at rest and avoiding injuries were other features particularly highlighted in those years. In that period Milanello was frequented by the football elite such as Franco Baresi, Marco Van Basten,  Ruud Gullit, Paolo Maldini, Roberto Donadoni and Frank Rijkaard among others.

All them openly declared that in any club including national teams existed a Sport Centre so efficient, advanced and modern, confirmed later by many others who continued a new cycle with the new coach Fabio Capello who started his career with a marked local philosophy with his previous experience in the youth teams of the Club and just like Carlo Ancelotti who also played for AC Milan continuing the winning tradition as trainer.

In the year 2002 born Milan Lab for desire of the General Manager Adriano Galliani as a sort of continuation of all what that established years before with a medical centre providing the most sophisticated digital systems, devices and scientific equipments.

Many studies were focused to limit injuries, foresee relapses, refinements regarding a specific athletic preparation closely linked to recuperation and a total  vision of each athlete.

A great highlight of Milanello is the extremely modern gym complex arranged on a surface of over 3,000 square meters. The structure provides over 70 exercise machines for all muscle groups and cardiovascular, 3 machines for the rehabilitation and 100 Techno gyms System equipments. The complex is developed around a two-story building providing press and meeting rooms, auditorium, offices, bar and dining rooms.

Other further structures are sauna and massages spaces, fitness centre and in addition golf course, swimming pool and a small lake. All that is very special and it seems due to such impressive presence of services and facilities an accessorised resort.

That is an incentive and joy for the athletes who find in that legendary Sports Centre to have relaxing times fun, leisure in a special environment which offers all those amenities and comforts.

AC Milan Milanello also provides a special trail of approximately 1,2 kilometres developed  in the nearest verdant forest adapted for the physical tests always used during the preparation and for the rehabilitation of  injured players with diversified stages of training and apart running it is also ideal for cycling thanks to different slopes highlighting that hilly territory.

Other modern facilities are a great covered synthetic football pitch especially used in winter and an area is devoted to provide all the services for the youth teams as well as their homes. The Club looks after the young players who have their spaces for recreation and study and they are followed by a very professional staff consisting in educators, doctors and psychologists.

 

Some of them have left their families coming from other Italian regions and abroad and also for that such environment has to be as a family.AC Milan is very sensitive to the education of those young guys, they need not only sport and fame but also a future  becoming not just footballers but also men able to face life with its nice and bad times and that philosophy born a long time ago continues nowadays.

The reality of Milanello so beloved is that when some players who have left that Sports Centre moving to other clubs or former players who ended their career from time to time return there. Some of them because they miss the pleasant atmosphere of that site, other to re-see a familiar place in which they felt so good. 

Some of them are prestigious superstars and it is enough to mention Marco Van Basten, Andriy Shevchenko and Zvonimir Boban among others.

In the proximity of Milanello if you want to visit something really very interesting and of relevant historic value you can visit the Castelseprio with its Roman rests and the beautiful Monastery of Torba.(I wrote a short about that place and another one regarding a cycling route Castelseprio-Lake Varese in the case you are interested) Both sites are very close and including in Cairate, a nearest municipality boasts an old Monastery very interesting. 

It is not difficult to reach Milanello, if you are in Milan downtown, taking the Motorway Milano-Laghi in direction Como-Chiasso you have to follow the indications towards Malpensa Airport and continuing in direction Varese by A8 Motorway  and taking the exit Solbiate Arno. From there follow the indications to Carnago and you will be there in a very short time.

If you are spending holidays in that area I suggest you a couple of accommodations indicated below and they are very close to that place.

A visit to Milanello to see the legendary sporting icon is great, if you love sport and especially football, it is a wonderful opportunity to admire an imitable complex, also that is tourism filling a day in an alternative way, an autograph by such champions a picture for the children with those famous players can be a pleasant experience in its kind to remember.

 Francesco Mari


Recommended accommodations in the Area if you want to stay very close to Milanello.

B&B La Canonica (at Cairate)
Relais Villa Buttafava (At Cassano Magnago)

www.comune.carnago.va.it
www.acmilan.com
www.beb-lacanonica.com
www.relaisvillabuttafava.it