San Siro

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Construction of the stadium commenced in 1925 in the San Siro district of Milan, with the new stadium originally named Nuovo Stadio Calcistico San Siro. The idea to build a stadium in the same district as the Ippodromo di San Siro belonged to the president of AC Milan at the time, Piero Pirelli. The architects designed a private stadium only for football, without athletics tracks. The design took inspiration from English football stadiums with four separated stands. The new stadium was inaugurated on 19 September 1926, when 35,000 spectators saw Inter defeat Milan 6–3. Originally, the ground was the home and property of Milan, then acquired by the City Council in the 1930s. In 1947, Inter became tenants and the two teams have shared the ground ever since. From 1948 to 1955, engineers Armando Ronca and Ferruccio Calzolari developed the project for the second extension, which was meant to increase the capacity from 50,000 to 150,000. They proposed three additional, vertically arranged rings. Nineteen spiralling ramps – each 200 metres long – gave access to the upper tiers, popularly called "the second ring." During construction, the highest tier was abandoned and the number of visitors limited to 100,000. Then for security reasons, the capacity was reduced to 60,000 seats and 25,000 standing. On 2 March 1980 the stadium was named for Giuseppe Meazza (1910–1979). For a time, Inter fans called the stadium Stadio Meazza due to Meazza's stronger connections with Inter (14 years as a player, two stints as manager). However, in recent years both Inter and Milan fans have called the stadium simply San Siro. The last major renovation took place between 1987 and 1990, for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. It was decided to modernise the stadium by increasing its capacity to 85,000 and building a cover. The Municipality of Milan entrusted the work to architects Giancarlo Ragazzi and Enrico Hoffer, and engineer Leo Finzi. To increase capacity, a third tier was built (only on three of the four sides) which rests on eleven support towers surrounded by helical ramps that allow access to the public. Four of these eleven concrete towers were located at the corners to additionally support a new roof, which has distinctive protruding red girders. In 1996, a museum was opened inside the stadium charting the history of AC Milan and Internazionale.

In Their Own Story

The lights hummed low over the empty pitch, casting long shadows from the eleven concrete support towers that hold up the roof with their distinctive protruding red girders. A single blue scarf lay forgotten on the steps where thousands had stood just hours prior, their chants still ringing in the hollow echoes of the stands. The wind whistled through the spiral ramps, carrying the ghostly memory of a roar that once shook the very foundations of Milan. Here, under the vast sky, the silence felt heavy with history, waiting for the next chapter to be written on this sacred green canvas.

Reader's Guide

The San Siro is a UEFA category four stadium. It hosted three games at the 1934 FIFA World Cup, the opening ceremony and six games at the 1990 FIFA World Cup, three games at the UEFA Euro 1980 and four European Cup finals, in 1965, 1970, 2001 and 2016. The stadium also hosted the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics. Three Milan derby Champions League knockout ties have taken place at the San Siro, in 2003, 2005 and 2023 with Milan winning the first of two ties with the latter being won by Inter Milan. Inter's fans reacted to impending defeat in the 2005 second leg by throwing flares and other objects at Milan players and forcing the match to be abandoned; this earned the club a large fine and a four-game ban on spectators attending European fixtures there the following season. Apart from being used by Milan and Inter, the Italy national team occasionally plays matches there. It has also been used for the European Cup finals of 1965 (won by Inter), 1970 (won by Feyenoord), and the UEFA Champions League finals of 2001 (won by Bayern Munich) and 2016 (won by Real Madrid). The stadium was also used for the home leg of three UEFA Cup finals in which Inter was competing (1991, 1994, 1997) when these were played over two legs. It was also used by Juventus for their 'home' leg in 1995. On each occasion, apart from 1991, the second leg was played at the San Siro and the winners lifted the trophy there. The San Siro has never hosted a final of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, but was the host stadium for the 1951 Latin Cup, a four-team event won by Milan. In March 2020, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, the Associated Press dubbed the UEFA Champions League match between Bergamo club Atalanta and Spanish club Valencia at the San Siro on 19 February as "Game Zero."

Did You Know?

• The stadium has 11 support towers surrounded by helical ramps, not 19 spiral ramps.
• The stadium was named after Giuseppe Meazza on 2 March 1980.
• Giuseppe Meazza had two stints as Inter's manager, not three.