San Siro Stadium History

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 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, who used to play in the Arena Civica downtown, 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 of the stadium, which was meant to increase the capacity from 50,000 to 150,000 visitors. During construction, the realisation of the highest of the three tiers 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. The last major renovation took place between 1987 and 1990, for the 1990 FIFA World Cup, increasing capacity to 85,000 and building a cover.

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. It has 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). It was also used by Juventus for their 'home' leg in 1995. The San Siro has never hosted a final of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, but was the host stadium for the 1951 Latin Cup, won by Milan. In March 2020, the Associated Press dubbed the UEFA Champions League match between Atalanta and Valencia at the San Siro on 19 February as 'Game Zero'.

Did You Know?

• The design took inspiration from English football stadiums with four separated stands.
• In 1996, a museum was opened inside the stadium charting the history of AC Milan and Internazionale.
• Three Milan derby Champions League knockout ties have taken place at the San Siro, in 2003, 2005 and 2023.