Back in 2016 Author Robert Nieri released a book The Lord of Milan about Herbert Kilpin, the 19th century Notts-born butchers son who emigrated to Italy and went on to found AC Milan football club. A crew from LeftLion joined him out there for its release and ended up making an award-winning film too. Here he updates us on what’s happened since, including a reburial for Herbert and another influx of Italian visitors to Nottingham…
Eighteen years ago I read an article in the Nottingham Evening Post about an unknown local hero Herbert Kilpin, a Victorian textile worker and amateur footballer who emigrated to Italy as part of the booming lace trade of the time. Once out there, in 1899 he founded and captained one of the all-time great European football clubs, AC Milan.
The irony of Kilpin being integral to the seven-time European champions while not being good enough to play for Forest or County back home was not lost on me and led to the writing of a book of historical fiction The Lord of Milan about Herbert’s story in the context of the turbulent Italian history of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
It took another nine years to finish the book but little did I know the fun had only just begun. An interview with Jared Wilson for LeftLion in the soon-to-be opened Kilpin bar led to a LeftLion film crew joining me for the launch of the book at AC Milan’s HQ in October 2016 on the centenary of Herbert’s death.
Together we watched Herbert’s team beat fierce historic rivals Juventus in the San Siro for the first time in four years and careered around the roads of Milan to film the obsessions of Luigi, Enrico and Pierangelo; three ultra-dedicated fans, before returning to Nottingham to record their pilgrimage to their hero’s birthplace. They were the guests of honour at the unveiling of a heritage plaque at 129 Mansfield Road in the presence of Herbert’s sole surviving descendant, great grandniece Helen Stirland; and riding on a special Kilpin bus to Herbert’s childhood haunt at the Forest Recreation ground for a kickaround in the colours of Milan.
The ordinary fans who spend a significant part of their disposable income following their team around Europe and on occasion further afield comprise the priceless spirit of the club that cannot be bought
A year of riding a wave with LeftLion culminated in the documentary film The Lord of Milan receiving two awards at the Milan International Film Festival in October 2017 (red carpet and all), before it was back to the day job. If you’d like to watch that film, LeftLion have very kindly made it free for all to view on Youtube since.
If there was one lesson I learned from the experience, from piecing together Herbert’s story and meeting so many impassioned and interesting people along the way, it’s that you can achieve your end goal, despite the fact that almost all resources and influence seems increasingly concentrated in the hands of a powerful few. This is especially so in the world of football where the sport of the masses has been monetised and priced out of reach of many. At the elite level, games are now tourist destinations and players are required to fit more and more games and tournaments into a season that never seems to end.
In 2022 Herbert’s team won another league title, in Italy known as the scudetto, under Stefano Pioli. But the path of the true fan never runs smooth. In 2024, despised city rivals Inter Milan won the scudetto: Internazionale were the derivative team formed from the ranks of Milan after a schism within the club in 1908 when non-Italians were temporarily banned from playing in the domestic championship. It’s never great for a Milan fan when Inter win the title, but on 22 April 2024 Inter won their twentieth scudetto against Milan. This meant they now have one more title than Milan, entitling the upstart club to be first to display two stars on their jersey.
This season promised to be an auspicious one – December 2024 marked the 125th anniversary of the club and Herbert’s remains were moved a hundred yards or so across Milan’s famous Monumental Cemetery from an unassuming vault to a place among the great and good in the crypt of the Famedio (aka the Hall of Fame). The club invited Helen Stirland and her husband Roger as guests of honour to witness the final laying to rest of her posthumously-famous ancestor. The story of Herbert has also inspired Roger to unleash his talents as a diligent researcher of the lives of early pioneers of Italian football, including those hailing from the East Midlands.
Milan looked set to qualify automatically for the last sixteen of the reconfigured Champions League but managed to lose away to Dinamo Zagreb and then over two legs to the Dutch club Feyenoord. At the time of writing, they sit mid-table and look unlikely to qualify for next season’s competition. Unfortunately for them, Inter sit at the top of the table. However, the true fans know this is all the light and shade of following your club and that you can never change your allegiance because your football team is an important part of your identity, of your culture.
Banda Scalino are a group of Milan fans who have experienced all the highs and lows: from the pain of Istanbul (losing the Champions League final of 2005 to Liverpool on penalties after having led 3-0 at half time) to the redemption of Athens two years later against the same opposition when Milan reclaimed the European title for the seventh time.
This March, to celebrate the birthday of Mattia, the Banda of Merry Men (and Women) decided to visit Nottingham in homage to Kilpin. Like other dedicated fans around the world, they have a different perspective to private equity specialists who seek to monetise the vast goodwill associated with the storied clubs of Europe. Where business will enhance branding with new colour combinations for second and third strips, Banda Scalino hold fast to those red and black stripes Herbert bequeathed to his team: “We will be a team of devils. Our colours will be red like fire and black like the fear we will invoke in our opponents.”
Recently Milan fans have boycotted the first fifteen minutes of games in a silent protest at the way they see their club is being run, an especially meaningful and costly gesture for the thousands of ordinary fans who made a 1,280-mile round trip to the heel of Italy for an away game at Lecce. It is the fans who define a club and their affections are trifled with at the peril of those who may have paid billions of dollars for the IP rights and player contracts of the club.
The ordinary fans who spend a significant part of their disposable income following their team around Europe and on occasion further afield comprise the priceless spirit of the club that cannot be bought. Stefano of Banda Scalino acknowledged that man for man the current crop of Milan players probably constitute a more talented group that the 2022 title winners, but that squad had the likes of local legend Paolo Maldini in their corner who as Sporting Director was on hand to offer wise counsel at crucial times of the season to players who had not experienced being on the cusp of winning a scudetto. Maldini has gone, and a current senior advisor to the club is Zlatan Ibrahimović, also a former Milan player but less discernibly Milan “DOC”, having played for eight other clubs during his professional career, including for Inter and Juventus.
Banda Scalino lament a perceived bias towards Inter in their city: Milan has more AC Milan than Inter fans but institutions like the Mayor’s office have named more places after people connected with Inter. Although finally Herbert’s remains have been laid to rest in the Famedio, so far only a small roundabout outside the club’s offices has been named after its founder. Years ago there was talk of a new street in Nottingham being named after Kilpin: perhaps this might still happen, to honour a prophet in his home town?
The Lord Of Milan is available to watch for free via Youtube.
We have a favour to ask
LeftLion is Nottingham’s meeting point for information about what’s going on in our city, from the established organisations to the grassroots. We want to keep what we do free to all to access, but increasingly we are relying on revenue from our readers to continue. Can you spare a few quid each month to support us?
