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San Siro

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For the town in the province of Como, see San Siro (Como). For the saint after which these places are named, see Syrus of Pavia or Syrus of Genoa.

45°28′40.89″N 9°7′27.14″E / 45.4780250°N 9.1242056°E / 45.4780250; 9.1242056

Stadio Giuseppe Meazza
Stadio San Siro
File:San Siro3.JPG UEFA
Map
LocationMilan, Italy
OwnerMunicipality of Milan
Capacity
82,955
SurfaceGrass
105m x 68m
Construction
Broke ground1925
OpenedSeptember 19 1926
Renovated1989
Tenants
A.C. Milan
F.C. Internazionale Milano

The Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, more commonly called the Stadio San Siro, is a football stadium in Milan, Italy. It is the home stadium for two of the three most successful Italian Football League clubs: A.C. Milan and F.C. Internazionale, and one of the most famous football stadia in the world. Although it has been officially renamed in honour of Giuseppe Meazza, the Inter and Milan player of the 1930s and 1940s, it is still commonly called the San Siro. With the spectators being so close to the pitch, the stands being so steep and with a large roof, it is considered to have one of the best atmospheres of any stadium in the world.

The stadium construction started in 1925 in the Milanese district of San Siro, which gave its original name. The idea to build a stadium in the same district of the horse racing track, belongs to the man who then was the president of A.C. Milan, Piero Pirelli. The architects designed a stadium only for football (there is no athletics track in it). The inauguration was on 19 September, 1926, when 35,000 spectators saw Inter defeat Milan 6-3. Originally the ground was home and property of AC Milan, later Internazionale became tenants and the two have shared the ground ever since. Although Giuseppe Meazza played for both Internazionale and AC Milan, he enjoyed more success at Inter and is more favoured by the Inter faithful; as a result, Milan fans favour the term San Siro for the ground. Fox Soccer Channel has often referred to the stadium as Stadio Giuseppe Meazza di San Siro when airing replays of past Milan home matches.

As well as being used by Milan and Inter, the Italian national side also plays occasional games there and it has also been used for the 2000/01, 1969/1970 and 1964/65 Champions League/European Cup finals. The stadium was also used for 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 $60m being spent, bringing the stadium up to standard. As part of the renovations, the stadium became all seated, with an extra tier being added to 3 sides of the stadium. This entailed the building of 11 concrete towers around the outside of the stadium. Four of these concrete towers located at the corner to support a new roof which has distinctive protruding red girders.

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 Milan Serie A winners
1988/89 73,209 58,175 Milan European Cup winners Inter Serie A winners
1989/90 59,054 50,142 Milan European Cup winners
1990/91 77,488 54,946 Inter UEFA Cup winners
1991/92 77,868 48,783 Milan Serie A winners
1992/93 75,830 45,126 Milan Serie A winners
1993/94 65,708 49,469 Milan Serie A winners and UEFA Champions League winners Inter UEFA Cup winners
1994/95 56,659 40,523
1995/96 60,973 46,873 Milan Serie A winners
1996/97 55,894 50,806
1997/98 54,432 67,825 Inter UEFA Cup winners
1998/99 57,760 68,459 Milan Serie A winners
1999/00 58,522 66,546
2000/01 52,304 55,582
2001/02 58,616 62,434
2002/03 61, 534 61, 943 Milan Coppa Italia winners and UEFA Champions League winners
2003/04 63,245 58,352 Milan Serie A winners
2004/05 63,595 57,295 Inter Coppa Italia winners
2005/06 59,993 51,371 Inter Serie A* and Coppa Italia winners
2006/07 45,854 47,052 Milan UEFA Champions League winners Inter Serie A winners

Renovations

  • 1939 End stands enlarged and corners filled in. A crowd of 55,000 for Italy 2 England 2.
  • 1939 65,000 for Italy v Germany.
  • 1940 Completion of two tiers giving a claimed capacity of 150,000 but actually around 125,000.
  • 1952 April 25, in front of 125,000 spectators for Italia - Brasil 3-0 (Goals: Virgili 2, De Sordi).
  • After the Heysel Stadium disaster the capacity was reduced to 90,000 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 88,500.
  • 2002 Sky Box: 20 for 200 seats. 400 all-seats for journalists.
  • 2003 Further renovations lowered the capacity to 82,955 seats.
  • 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.

Stadium growth

Growth by year
Year Total Capacity
1926 26.000
1939 55.000
1940 150.000
1952 100.000
1955 85.000
1988 72.000
1990 88.500
2002 85.955
2003 85.700
2006 82.955

Most famous matches

Live at San Siro

San Siro has been host to other important events outside the sphere of football. Notable events at the stadium include:

Preceded by European Cup
Final Venue
1965 		Succeeded by
Preceded by European Cup
Final Venue
1970 		Succeeded by
Preceded by UEFA Champions League
Final Venue
2001 		Succeeded by

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