Perhaps one of the most frustrating things about the past
five years at Milan is how management have treated the fans like worthless
peasants. They insulted our sensibilities for years by selling favorite players
to balance their incompetent budgets. When the Curva spoke out against the big
problems they saw, they ignored them or even worse, added insults to their
sound bytes, leaving their legacy as fat, spoiled aristocrats who no longer
cared about the club and certainly not the fans. But that seems to be changing
with the new management. They recognize the schism between club and fans, and
are wooing fans back with words that are like music to our ears. They seem to
understand that a club is nothing without its fans, and are beginning their reign
with a fan focus.
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| The new owners will attempt to honor not just the Chinese fans, but all Milan fans |
There is an interview in today’s La Gazzetta dello Sport with Han Li in which he talks about his
lifelong love for the club as well as the plans for the future. He said “Milan fans are located in every corner of
the planet, especially in China.” Later, he said “We want the club to belong to all the fans.” Amongst all of the
plans, which seem to coincide with the majority of fans’ desires, he spoke of
the stadium issue. “We are speaking
carefully with the fans and the managers to decide whether to renovate San Siro
or build a new stadium.” (translations courtesy of @MilanEye
on Twitter.)
This level of thoughtfulness and respect of the fans is
completely foreign to Milan fans, who have not only had our hearts repeatedly
crushed by the heartless decisions of management, but have also been publicly
insulted by their words again and again. It’s hard not to put trust in people
who at least claim to value our opinion, and are even seeking the opinions of
fans in making the big decisions ahead.
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| Something fans have begged for all of these years... the return of great ones |
The first quote, “Milan
fans are located in every corner of the planet, especially in China,” showed
acknowledgement of the longtime fans of Serie A and Milan in China, but also the
rest of the world. He followed that up with a quote about bringing Milan back
to the top. Isn’t that the desire of every Milan fan in the world?
He then opened a welcoming hand by saying “We want the club to belong to all the
fans.” Followed by “After the closing
we’ll do everything to improve the club.” He talked about bringing past
players into the club, about keeping the history and culture of Milan and Italy
alive, and bringing great players to the club to honor the passion, glory, and
success of Milan in the past. What’s not to love?
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| The San Siro is unparalleled... but hey, let's find out what the fans want... |
As for the stadium issue, he was wise not to make a decision
yet, but is clearly open to the input of both the fans and the new managers of
the club. This is probably the one issue that divides the fans the most, the
nostalgia of the beautiful San Siro, as well as its large capacity. Or the
prospect of a new stadium, lower in capacity, but likely to sell out more often
and with better bathrooms and amenities, amongst other things. The ownership of
a stadium is probably the biggest determining factor, and with the San Siro,
that decision would only be able to be made by the local government and stadium
management, as well as our evil cugini.
It’s impossible to read these words and not be optimistic. I
mean we’ve been burned so much in the past, it’s difficult to read anything
without skepticism. But certainly the Sino Europe group are saying all of the
right things. If they can do the right things, too, then maybe they truly can
restore Milan to the glory and success that fans associate the club with.
Certainly, the very least we can see is that the new owners have a fan tocus.
This post inspired by the music of Keane’s “Somewhere
Only We Know”
Our next match is a friendly
FC Chiasso vs. AC Milan
Saturday, October 8 • 16:00 CEST (10am EDT)