San Siro

Stadio Giuseppe Meazza

San Siro
UEFA
Location	Via Piccolomini 5, 20151 Milan, Italy
Coordinates	45°28′41″N 9°07′26″E / 45.478080°N 9.12400°E / 45.478080; 9.12400Coordinates: 45°28′41″N 9°07′26″E / 45.478080°N 9.12400°E / 45.478080; 9.12400
Public transit	San Siro Stadio, M5
Owner	Municipality of Milan
Executive suites	30[1]
Capacity	80,018[2]
Record attendance	83,381 (Inter–Schalke 04, 1997)[3]
Field size	105m x 68m
Surface	Desso GrassMaster
Construction
Broke ground	December 1925
Opened	September 19, 1926 (1926-09-19)[4]
Renovated	1955, 1990
Construction cost	£5 million (€1,8 million)
Architect	Alberto Cugini Ulisse Stacchini
Tenants
Milan (1926–present) Inter Milan (1947–present)

The Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium located in the San Siro district in Milan. It is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has an all-seater capacity of 80,018 making it one of the top ten largest stadia in Europe, and the largest stadium in Italy.

On 3 March 1980, the stadium was named in honour of Giuseppe Meazza, the two-time World Cup winner (1934, 1938) who played for Inter Milan and briefly for Milan in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.^[5]

The San Siro is a UEFA category four stadium. It hosted six games at the 1990 FIFA World Cup and three UEFA Champions League finals in 1965, 1970 and 2001, and will host the 2016 UEFA Champions League Final.^[6]

The stadium is also used for concerts and other sporting events. Major acts such as The Rolling Stones, Bob Marley, U2, Robbie Williams, Muse, Tiziano Ferro, Jovanotti, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, One Direction, Madonna and Michael Jackson have performed here.

History

Construction of the stadium commenced in 1925 in the district of Milan named San Siro, with the new stadium originally named "Nuovo Stadio Calcistico San Siro" (San Siro New Football Stadium).^[7] The idea to build a stadium in the same district as the horse racing track belongs to the man who then was the president of AC Milan, Piero Pirelli. The architects designed a private stadium only for football, without the athletics tracks which characterized Italian stadiums built with public funds.^[8] The inauguration was on 19 September 1926, when 35,000 spectators saw Inter Milan defeat Milan 6–3. Originally, the ground was home and property of AC Milan. Finally, in 1947, Inter, who used to play in the classy Arena Civica downtown,^[9] became tenants and the two have shared the ground ever since.

As well as being used by Milan and Inter, the Italian national team also plays occasional games there and it has also been used for the 1965, 1970, and 2001 UEFA Champions League finals. The stadium was also used for Inter Milan's 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 has been chosen by UEFA to host the 2016 Champions League Final.^[10]

The stadium underwent further renovations for the 1990 World Cup with $60 million being spent, bringing the stadium up to UEFA category four standard. As part of the renovations, the stadium became all seated, with an extra tier being added to three sides of the stadium. This entailed the building of 11 concrete towers around the outside of the stadium. Four of these concrete towers were being located at the corners to support a new roof which has distinctive protruding red girders.

Inter is in the process of new stadium feasibility studies.

The first rugby union international at the San Siro took place when Italy played New Zealand in the 2009 end of year rugby tests.

2015-16 UEFA Champions League Final will take place at San Siro stadium.

Renovations

• 1939 End stands enlarged and corners filled in. A crowd of 55,000 for Italy – England 2–2.
• 1940 65,000 for Italy vs. Germany.
• 1955 Completion of two tiers giving a claimed capacity of 100,000.
• 1956 25 April, in front of 100,000 spectators, Italy – Brazil 3–0 (Goals: Virgili 2, De Sordi).
• After the Heysel Stadium disaster, the capacity was reduced to 80,000 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 metres 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.

Average attendances

In the 2014/15 season in which Inter finished the season 8th and Milan 10th,^[12] the average attendances at the San Siro were 37,270 and 36,661 respectively.^[13]

Music events

Italy vs All Blacks in 2009.

Other than football matches, the San Siro has been host to many music concerts.

Bob Marley performed the first concert in the history of San Siro Stadium on 27 June 1980, in front of an all-time Italian record audience of about 120,000 people, which was also a European audience record for a music concert in an enclosed venue at that time.

Bob Dylan performed on 24 June 1984.

Madonna performed to a sold out crowd of 55,338 people on 14 July 2009 during her Sticky & Sweet Tour and again in front of 53,244 people on 14 June 2012 as part of her MDNA Tour.

Bruce Springsteen performed at the stadium on 21 June 1985 during his Born in the U.S.A. Tour. He performed other three sold-out show at the stadium: on 25 June 2008 during his Magic Tour, on 28 June 2003 during his The Rising Tour and on 7 June 2012 during his Wrecking Ball Tour. The American rockstar performed at the venue for the fifth time on 3 June 2013 as part of the second leg of his Wrecking Ball Tour in front of a crowd of 56,670 people.

Genesis and Paul Young performed at the stadium on 19 May 1987 during their Invisible Touch Tour.

Duran Duran performed at the stadium on 5 June 1987 during their Strange Behaviour Tour.

David Bowie performed on 10 June 1987 during the Spider Glass Tour.

Michael Jackson performed on 18 June 1997 during his HIStory World Tour in front of a crowd of about 70,000 people. This concert was the first and only Jackson solo performance in Milan.

The Rolling Stones performed on 10 June 2003 during their Licks Tour. They returned on 11 July 2006 during their A Bigger Bang Tour in front of a crowd of 56,175 people.

Red Hot Chili Peppers performed at the stadium on 8 June 2004 during their Roll on the Red Tour.

U2 performed at the stadium four times: the first and the second were on 20 and 21 July 2005 during their Vertigo Tour, in front of a total sold out crowd of 137,427 people. The third and the fourth were on 7 and 8 July 2009 during their U2 360° Tour, in front of a total sold out crowd of 153,806 people. Part of the 2005 shows were recorded for the group's live album U2.COMmunication. Part of the second 2005 show was also filmed for the group's concert film Vertigo 05: Live from Milan. The performances of "Breathe" and "Electrical Storm" from the second 2009 show were recorded for the group's live album From the Ground Up: Edge's Picks from U2360°.

In 2006, Robbie Williams performed in front of a crowd of about 70,000 people during his Close Encounters Tour. He performed at San Siro again on 31 July 2013 as part of his Take The Crown Tour

On 2 June 2007, Italian singer Laura Pausini was the first woman ever to sing at the stadium, breaking all records for sold-out concerts. The performance was later released as the live album San Siro 2007. Two years later, on 21 June 2009, following the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake, Pausini organized a concert in which she and 42 more singers (all women) performed to raise money for charity institutions in the L'Aquila area. This concert was later released on the DVD "Amiche per l'Abruzzo".^[14]

Negramaro performed at the venue for the second time on 13 July 2013.

Jovanotti played two shows at San Siro on 19–20 June 2013.

Depeche Mode performed at the stadium two times: the first one was on 18 June 2009 during their Tour of the Universe, in front of a crowd of 57,544 people. The second one was on 18 July 2013 during their Delta Machine Tour, in front of a sold out crowd of 57,919 people. The 2009 show was recorded for the group's live albums project Recording the Universe.

Muse performed on 8 June 2010 during their Resistance Tour in front of a crowd of 62,000 people.

In 2011, Take That performed a show during their Progress Live tour.

Bon Jovi performed at the stadium on 29 June 2013 during their Because We Can, in front of a sold out crowd of 51,531 people.

Pearl Jam, 20 June 2014.

One Direction, performed on 28 and 29 June 2014 during their Where We Are, in front of a sold out crowd. Both shows were recorded for the group's second movie "One Direction: Where We Are - The Concert Film".

Tiziano Ferro, performed on 4 and 5 July 2015 during his Lo stadio Tour 2015

San Siro during a concert of Italian rockstar Vasco Rossi

Other sports

Boxing

San Siro was the venue for the boxing match between Duilio Loi vs. Carlos Ortiz for the Junior Welterweight title in 1960.

Rugby union

In November 2009, Italy played New Zealand in rugby in front of a sold out crowd of 80,000, a record for Italian rugby. The score finished at 20–6 in the All Blacks' favour.

Location

The stadium is located in the northwestern part of Milan. It can be reached by underground via the dedicated San Siro metro station (at the end of the "lilac" line 5), located just in front of the stadium,^[15] or by tram, with line 16 ending right in front. The Lotto metro station (line 1, the "red line", and line 5) is about 15 minutes walk away from San Siro.

San Siro Museum

In the stadium there is also a museum about AC Milan and Inter Milan's story with historical shirts, cups and trophies, shoes, art objects and souvenirs of all kinds.

Panorama

Panorama of the stadium

1990 FIFA World Cup

The stadium was one of the venues of the 1990 FIFA World Cup, and held six matches. The first was a Group B match between Argentina and Cameroon who stunned Argentina 1 - 0. The other matches involved Germany. All their Group D matches (a 4 - 1 win over Yugoslavia on June 10, a 5 - 1 win over the United Arab Emirates on June 15 and a 1 - 1 draw with Colombia on June 19), their Round of 16 match against the Netherlands winning 2 - 1 on June 24 and their Quarter-finals against Czechoslovakia winning 1 - 0 on July 1.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stadio Giuseppe Meazza.

• Official website
• San Siro Museum & Tour Website
• 3d Panoramic view
• AC Milan website
• Inter Milan website
• ACMilan.it.pn