San Siro

May 18, 2009 by admin | 6,829 views
Filed under 80000 +, Europe, Italy

History

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 as the horse racing track, belongs to the man who then was the president of AC Milan, Piero Pirelli. The architects designed a stadium only for football (there is no athletics track in it). The inauguration was on September 19, 1926, when 35,000 spectators saw Internazionale defeat Milan 6-3. Originally, the ground was home and property of AC Milan. In 1947 Internazionale became tenants and the two have shared the ground ever since. Although Giuseppe Meazza played for both Inter and 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 $60 million 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.

Both Milan and Inter are in the process of new stadium feasibility studies

Events

Other than football matches, the San Siro has been host to many pop music concerts. Madonna, Bruce Springsteen, Vasco Rossi, Ligabue and The Rolling Stones,Laura Pausini have headlined at the stadium more than once. The San Siro was also the venue for the boxing match between Duilio Loi vs. Carlos Ortiz for the Junior Welterweight title in 1960.