San Siro

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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.

Coordinates: 45°28′40.89″N, 9°7′27.14″E

Stadio Giuseppe Meazza
Stadio San Siro

UEFA

Location Milan, Italy
Broke ground 1925
Opened September 19, 1926
Renovated 1989
Owner Municipality of Milan
Surface Grass
105m x 68m
Tenants
A.C. Milan
F.C. Internazionale Milano
Capacity
82,955

The Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, more commonly called the 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 stadiums 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.

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 UEFA 5-star 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.

Contents

[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 Serie A
1989–90 59,054 50,142 European 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 Serie A

* = Inter awarded Serie A title in wake of Italian Match-fixing Scandal.

[edit] 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 Italy - Brazil 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 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] Capacity

Changes in capacity
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 85,700
2003 82,955

[edit] Most famous matches

[edit] Live at San Siro

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

[edit] San Siro photo gallery

San Siro panorama
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[edit] External links