Info & Something good: San Siro

The Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, originally and commonly referred to as the San Siro because of its location, officially given its current name on 3 March 1980,^[2] is a football stadium located in the San Siro district in Milan, Italy. It is the home of both A.C. Milan and F.C. Internazionale Milano. The stadium is named in honour ofGiuseppe Meazza, the two-time World Cup winner (1934, 1938) who played for Internazionale, and briefly for Milan, in the 1930s and 1940s. It held UEFA five-star stadium status which was superseded by a new system of classification.

History

Construction of the stadium commenced in 1925 in the district of Milan named San Siro, with the new stadium originally named "Nuovo Stadio Calcistico San Siro" (San Siro New Football Stadium).^[3] The idea to build a stadium in the same district as the horse racing track, belongs to the man who then was the president of AC Milan, Piero Pirelli. The architects designed a private stadium only for football, without the athletics tracks which characterized the Italian stadia built with public funds.^[4] The inauguration was on September 19, 1926, when 35,000 spectators saw Internazionale defeat Milan 6–3. Originally, the ground was home and property of AC Milan. In 1947 Internazionale became tenants and the two have shared the ground ever since.

As well as being used by Milan and Inter, the Italian national team also plays occasional games there and it has also been used for the 1965, 1970, and 2001 UEFA Champions League finals. The stadium was also used for Internazionale's UEFA Cup finals when played over home and away legs but has never featured since the competition changed to a single final structure in 1997–98.

The stadium underwent further renovations for the 1990 World Cup with $60 million being spent, bringing the stadium up to UEFA category four standard. As part of the renovations, the stadium became all seated, with an extra tier being added to three sides of the stadium. This entailed the building of 11 concrete towers around the outside of the stadium. Four of these concrete towers were being located at the corners to support a new roof which has distinctive protruding red girders.

Inter is in the process of new stadium feasibility studies.

The first Rugby Union international at the San Siro took place when Italy played New Zealand national rugby union team in the 2009 end of year rugby tests.

[edit]Renovations

1939 End stands enlarged and corners filled in. A crowd of 55,000 for Italy – England 2–2.
1940 65,000 for Italy vs. Germany.
1955 Completion of two tiers giving a claimed capacity of 100,000.
1956 April 25, in front of 100,000 spectators, Italy – Brazil 3–0 (Goals: Virgili 2, De Sordi).
After the Heysel Stadium disaster, the capacity was reduced to 80,000 in the mid 1980s.
1987 As a preparation for the 1990 World Cup, the Italian government gave the Milanese council $30 million for its modernization, but in the end, the cost was more than double that. Project 1990 by Ragazzi e Hoffner e Salvi: 11 concrete towers of 50 meters in height. Of the 11 towers, 4 at each corner, protruded above the 3rd tier as support for the new roof.
1990 Third tier completed on three sides giving an all seated capacity of 85,700.
2002 Sky Box: 20 for 200 seats. 400 all-seats for journalists.
Future renovation may involve the completion of the 3rd tier on the east side of the stadium, although this would involve purchasing land from the present hippodrome, behind the stadium.

[edit]Pitch

Length: 105 metres
Width: 68 metres
Surface: Grass
Inauguration: September 19, 1926

[edit]Average attendances

Season	Milan average	Inter average	Milan trophies	Inter trophies
1980–81	31,282	42,248
1981–82	45,781	43,970
1982–83	35,111	45,171
1983–84	53,136	43,388
1984–85	60,941	52,572
1985–86	56,782	53,622
1986–87	66,210	53,215
1987–88	73,284	47,812	Serie A
1988–89	73,209	58,175	European Cup Intercontinental Cup	Serie A
1989–90	59,054	50,142	European Cup Intercontinental Cup
1990–91	77,488	54,946		UEFA Cup
1991–92	77,868	48,783	Serie A
1992–93	75,830	45,126	Serie A
1993–94	65,708	49,469	Serie A UEFA Champions League	UEFA Cup
1994–95	56,659	40,523
1995–96	60,973	46,873	Serie A
1996–97	55,894	50,806
1997–98	54,432	67,825		UEFA Cup
1998–99	57,760	68,459	Serie A
1999–00	58,522	66,546
2000–01	52,304	55,582
2001–02	58,616	62,434
2002–03	61,534	61,943	Coppa Italia UEFA Champions League
2003–04	63,245	58,352	Serie A
2004–05	63,595	57,295		Coppa Italia
2005–06	59,993	51,371		Serie A* Coppa Italia
2006–07	47,117	48,284	UEFA Champions League	Serie A
2007–08	56,579	52,010	UEFA Super Cup	Serie A
2008–09	59,731	55,345		Serie A
2009–10	43,084	53,493		Serie A Coppa Italia UEFA Champions League
2010-11	53,924	59,277	Serie A	Coppa Italia

* = Inter awarded Serie A title in wake of Italian match-fixing scandal.

[edit]Capacity

Changes in capacity
Year	Total capacity
1926	26,000
1939	55,000
1955	100,000
1956	90,000
1988	72,000
1990	88,500
2002	85,700
2003	82,955
2008	81,277^[5]

Italy vs All Blacks in 2009.

[edit]Other events

Other than football matches, the San Siro has been host to many music concerts.

The San Siro was also the venue for the boxing match between Duilio Loi vs. Carlos Ortiz for the Junior Welterweight title in 1960.

In November 2009, Italy played the All Blacks in rugby in front of a sold out crowd of 80,000, a record for Italian Rugby. The score finished at 20–6 in the All Blacks' favour.

[edit]Location

The stadium is located in the western part of Milan. The stadium can be reached bytram, line 16 ends right in front, or using the Lotto metro station (line 1, red color, direction Rho Fiera) which is approx a 15 minutes walk from San Siro. Before sport events and concerts, a free bus connection is available from Lotto station to the stadium.