FC Internazionale Milano

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The club was founded on 9 March 1908 as Football Club Internazionale, when a group of players left the Milan Cricket and Football Club (now AC Milan) to form a new club because they wanted to accept more foreign players. The club won its first championship in 1910 and its second in 1920. In 1922, Inter was at risk of relegation to the Second Division of Northern League, but they remained in the top league after winning two play-offs. During the Fascist era, the club merged with Unione Sportiva Milanese and was renamed Società Sportiva Ambrosiana. Inter won its third championship in 1930 and its fourth in 1938. The club's main star in this period was Giuseppe Meazza, who scored 284 goals for Inter and remains the greatest scorer in club history. Inter won its fifth championship in 1940, its sixth in 1953, and its seventh in 1954. In 1960, manager Helenio Herrera joined Inter, and in his first season, after leading the table for most of the season, lost the title in the last games. The 'Grande Inter' period ran from 1960 to 1967 under Herrera, during which Inter won three Serie A titles, two European Cups, and two Intercontinental Cups.

In Their Own Story

In 1960, manager Helenio Herrera joined Inter from Barcelona. After his first season, he brought Spanish midfielder Luis Suárez for a record fee of 25 million pesetas. Suárez had won the European Footballer of the Year in 1960 for his role in Barcelona's La Liga/Fairs Cup double. Herrera transformed Inter into one of the leading teams in Europe, winning three Serie A titles in four years, two European Cups, and two Intercontinental Cups in a row. He modified a 5–3–2 tactic known as the 'Verrou' ('door bolt'), creating greater flexibility for counterattacks. The core of Herrera's team were goalkeeper Giuliano Sarti, full-backs Tarcisio Burgnich and Giacinto Facchetti, sweeper Armando Picchi, playmaker Suárez, right winger Jair, left winger Mario Corso, and Sandro Mazzola on the inside-right. In 1964, Inter reached the European Cup Final by beating Borussia Dortmund in the semi-final and Partizan in the quarter-final, then won the final in the Praterstadion in Vienna.

Reader's Guide

Inter has won 39 domestic trophies, including 21 league titles, 10 Coppa Italia, and 8 Supercoppa Italiana. From 2006 to 2010, the club won five successive league titles. It has won the European Cup/Champions League three times, with its latest win in 2010 completing an unprecedented Italian seasonal treble. The club has also won three UEFA Cups, two Intercontinental Cups, and one FIFA Club World Cup. Inter has the highest home game attendance in Italy and the fourth-highest attendance in Europe. Since May 2024, the club has been owned by American asset management company Oaktree Capital Management.

Did You Know?

• Inter is the only team to have never been relegated from the top division of Italian football since its debut in 1909.
• Giuseppe Meazza scored 284 goals for Inter, making him the club's all-time top scorer.
• The San Siro stadium is officially named after Giuseppe Meazza following his death in 1980.
• Inter's 6–0 victory over Juventus in 1954 is the club's biggest win in the Derby d'Italia.