Think of Milan, iconic stadiums and World Cup stars and, understandably, the first team you land on may not be Brera Calcio, a side founded in 2000 by journalist and publisher Alessandro Aleotti with ambitions of becoming the city’s “third team”.
Former Italy goalkeeper Walter Zenga once managed them and they play at the historic Arena Civica, which opened in 1807 and is the oldest stadium in mainland Europe and has hosted Inter, AC Milan and the national team.
Brera’s 25-year existence has not always been straightforward from a footballing perspective. Once in Serie D they now reside in the amateur leagues.
Off the pitch, however, they are renowned for innovative social and cultural projects. One of the first involved entering a team of prisoners into a local league, while others have focused on helping immigrants to integrate through football or, from a cultural perspective, promoting and celebrating the district of Brera’s art heritage.
Most recently, and perhaps most well known outside of Italy, is the Fenix Trophy – a competition organised by Brera that has garnered a cult following as a “Champions League for semi-professional and amateur clubs” and has played its final at the iconic San Siro stadium.
“We always try to think outside the box and use the tools football has given us to create something unprecedented and very noticeable,” says Leonardo Aleotti, who has continued his father’s work and runs the Fenix Trophy.
It is this aspect that attracted a group of American investors to purchase Brera in 2022. They used the Milan club as the platform, establishing Brera Tchumene in Mozambique, Brera Ilch in Mongolia and acquiring Akademija Pandev – the Macedonian club founded by national team hero and ex-Inter forward Pandev, which became AP Brera Strumica.
The portfolio also includes Milan-based women’s volleyball team UYBA Volley.
“The whole message we took to the market was a new category called ‘social impact soccer’ – that means making friends not millionaires,” explains executive chairman Daniel McClory, borrowing a line from FC United of Manchester, two-time Fenix Trophy winners.
“It’s gone from being an interesting aspect that sets us apart to something recognised as a core value, that even parties we are talking to want to embrace and adopt.”
Maria Xing, who previously worked at Liverpool and 777 Partners, joined Brera as head of investments and corporate development earlier this year and found that aspect of the project attractive.
“All the clubs partner with the local communities,” she says. “Whether that is through local prison systems and trying to provide five-a-side matches to reform the way prisoners spend their time, or partnering with local schools and having players from Mozambique play with the children. It just seemed really impactful.”