Herbert Kilpin
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 24 January 1870 | ||
| Place of birth | Nottingham, England | ||
| Date of death | 22 October 1916 (aged 46) | ||
| Place of death | Milan, Italy | ||
| Playing position | Utility player | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Garibaldi Nottingham | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Notts Olympic | |||
| Saint Andrews | |||
| 1891–1899 | Internazionale Torino | ||
| 1899–1908 | Milan | 23 | (7) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1899–1906 | Milan | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | |||
Herbert Kilpin (24 January 1870 – 22 October 1916) was an English football pioneer, player and manager. He is best known as the founder of Italian club A.C. Milan.
Kilpin was born in Nottingham on 24 January 1870. The son of a butcher, he grew up with nine older sibilings at 129 Mansfield Road — though the place has been renumbered to 191 Mansfield Road since 1895. After leaving school he worked as a lace warehouse assistant in the city. He was a keen footballer and, aged only 13, he had taken part at the foundation of a small amateur club named after Italian national hero Giuseppe Garibaldi, whose players wore the typical red shirts.
Kilpin's footballing career went on with the now defunct Notts Olympic and then for St. Andrews, a church team based near the Forest Recreation Ground on Gregory Boulevard, where he played as a defender and midfielder.
In 1891, Kilpin moved to Turin, in Italy, in order to work for Edoardo Bosio, an Italian-Swiss textile merchant with links to a Nottingham lace manufacturer. In the same year Bosio founded Internazionale Torino, believed to be the first Italian football club. Kilpin played for the team, becoming the first-ever Englishman to play football abroad. During this time, he also took part in the first two editions of the Italian Football Championship, losing both times in the final against Genoa.
By 1898, Kilpin had already left Turin and settled in Milan with fellow Englishman Samuel Richard Davies. The following year, the duo were among the charter members of A.C. Milan, which was originally named Milan Foot-Ball and Cricket Club. The first elected president was Alfred Edwards; while Kilpin, who was arguably their most experienced man, would serve as player-manager. However, he decided to let his oldest teammate David Allison be the captain for the first season.
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