Italy’s Concrete Historic Pearl: The Giuseppe Meazza Stadium
A history of the incredible Giuseppe Meazza Stadium
The passion of Italians is visible in everything they do and build- and their stadiums are no exception!
With 64 football stadiums that have a capacity of 10,000+ people, Italy is home to some of the greatest stadiums Europe has to offer.
What is the best stadium Italians have to offer, you wonder?
The world-renowned Giuseppe Meazza stadium!
The Giuseppe Meazza Stadium is one of those buildings that speaks volumes about human capabilities and the power of great architecture.
Walking along the halls of such a capacious and voluminous stadium leaves people in awe with its elusive effect.
The earth-shattering euphoria, followed by the thundering noise of cheering fans and somehow even louder sound system, makes it impossible to remain indifferent as the ground reverberates outwards.
Every event is a spectacle, unique by nature, and completely unforgettable!
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza: a bit of background
The Giuseppe Meazza Stadium is neatly nested in Milan, on Via Piccolomini, 5, 20151 (with coordinates: 45.4781°N 9.1240°E).
The stadium has a field size of 105 m x 68 m, with the surface of the field being covered with GrassMaster hybrid grass; the total maximum spectators’ capacity is 85,000.
There are 30 executive suites, and the stadium is modernised with all the technology required for modern stadiums.
The Guiseppe Meazza Stadium has experienced several changes and renovations to get to its current look and to be considered a UEFA category four stadium.
The UEFA stadium categories are categories laid out in UEFA's Stadium Infrastructure Regulation to rank the stadiums as categories one to four based on their capacities and conditions.
If a stadium were to host games in the playoffs, it must be rated as category four. To meet the standards of UEFA, the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium has undergone reconstruction.
Construction of Stadio Giuseppe Meazza
The immense, far-reaching concrete structure of Giuseppe Meazza Stadium reminds us of the rich Italian architectural history.
The building was designed not so much to impress with aesthetics, but more with a momentous greatness that matches the awe factor of sports events.
It all started back in 1925 and 1926, when the Chairman of A.C. Milan at the time, Piero Pirelli, promoted the construction of the football stadium next to the horse racing course.
The stadium was originally designed by the architect Stacchini and the engineer Cugini, based on an Anglo-Saxon Model.
The original design plan was to create a private stadium only for football, without the athletics tracks – something that was typically characterised for Italian stadiums built with public funds during this period.
The structure of the stadium was made up of four huge, back straight bleachers, one of which was partially covered.
The grand opening was on the 19th of September 1926 and originally it provided a total capacity of 35,000 spectators.
Nonetheless, since then, the stadium has experienced several significant renovations.
Renovations at Guiseppe Meazza Stadium
The first renovation was supervised by engineer Bertera and architect Perlasca in 1935 when the stadium was bought by the City Council and it was decided the stadium would be enlarged for the first time.
This is when four curved stands were added to the existing straight stands, and the original two main stands were enlarged, creating the continuous ring that now is the signature look of the football stadiums.
This further increased the capacity to 55,000 spectators.
Almost two decades later, in 1945-1955, a second enlargement was decided, which was carried out by Ronca and Calzolari, who radically transformed the construction by adding a second layer to the strands.
The addition was made up of a load-bearing structure externally to the old construction and it entirely covered the already existing stands.
The new stands had spiral stairways that were providing access to the new stands and completely renewed and changed the overall architectural image of the structure.
This originally increased the capacity to 100,000 spectators.
Nonetheless, the future reconstructions reduced the capacity to a maximum of 80,000, and later on increased to the current 85,000 capacities.
The 1990 World Cup
In the 1990s, reconstruction done by Giancarlo Ragazzi, Henry Hoffer and Leo Finzi led to a third ring of stands, added with the intent to appear as a continuous unit.
This was done because the city decided that it would be too expensive and there was not enough time to build another stadium for the Football World Cup in the 1990s.
Therefore, to be able to hold the World Cup they needed to reconstruct the stadium. The requirement of the World Cup was 86,000 spectators, all covered with numbered seats.
While the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium was considered to already have over 85,000 capacities, this number included both standing places and places occupied in overcrowded conditions.
In reality, the total seating capacity was calculated to be around 60,000 seating.
To meet the requirements of the World Cup, the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium underwent another construction, which allowed the seating capacity to increase and meet the criteria for category four stadium.
This reconstruction included the third ring of stands, terraces and towers that provided access to the stands but are independent of the existing construction.
Alongside this formal and functional extension of the stadium, the field was also refurbished.
New drainage and heating systems were installed and new seat places were placed that were numbered and anatomically shaped alongside new, more-efficient catering facilities.
More importantly, the stadium was technologically improved, as a new floodlighting system for the pitch was added, which allowed the TV networks to broadcast the events at a much higher definition.
All of these changes transformed the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium into the modern, world-renowned stadium that meets all the standards for comfort and safety that we know today.
History of the ‘San Siro’ stadium: The name battle
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza is also known as Stadio Comunale di San Siro or just San Siro.
The stadium was nicknamed “Soccer’s Cathedral” by Forbes and “The Temple of Soccer” by football fans, as it is certainly a place where football fans come to worship all of their heroes.
The Giuseppe Meazza stadium is the sixth largest stadium in Europe and Italy’s largest stadium in terms of capacity, with a maximum capacity of 85,700 (80,018 pre-1990s-renovation) people.
The original construction of Guiseppe Meazza Stadium commenced in 1929 in the district of Milano, named San Siro under the name Nuovo Stadio Calcistico San Siro (San Siro New Football Stadium).
The stadium received its current name, Guiseppe Meazza Stadium, back in the 1980s. It was named in honour of Guiseppe Meazza, who has both played for Milan and served two stints as Inter’s manager.
More importantly, Meazza secured World Cup victory twice (in 1934 and 1938) for Italy, which earned him the title of Milan hero.
When he passed away in 1979, they decided to rename the stadium in his honour.
Nonetheless, since Giuseppe only spent a couple of years playing for A.C.Milan and the rest of his career for Inter Milan, the Inter Millan fans were more than happy to honour Meazza by naming the great stadium after him.
However, this does not sit well with the Inter Milan rivals, the fans of A.C. Milan, who much to the annoyance of Inter fans, continue to use the stadium’s original name San Siro.
Events at Giuseppe Meazza stadium
The events held in this stadium are forever engraved in the history books and in the stadium’s clubs!
The home to A.C. Milan and Inter Milan, the Giuseppe Meazza stadium has hosted significant games including:
Three games at the 1934 FIFA World Cup
Six games at the 1990 FIFA World Cup
Three games at the UEFA Euro 1980
Four European Cup finals, in 1965, 1970, 2001 and 2016
For some time, it was also considered that the stadium would be hosting the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo.
The stadium has also hosted Central European International Cups, many friendly international football matches, as well as events for other sports:
In 1960 - the boxing match between Duilio Loi vs. Carlos Ortiz for the Junior Welterweight title
In 2009 – the first and only top-level Rugby Union match between Italy and New Zealand
Moreover, this stadium was also configured to hold other, non-sport related events, such as concerts.
Some of the most famous concerts of worldwide famous superstars took place in the Giuseppe Meazza stadium, including:
Uprising Tour of Bob Marley & The Wailers on 27th of June 1980s
Bob Dylan 1984 European Tour on the 29th of June 1984
Born in the U.S.A Tour of Bruce Springsteen on 21st of June 1985, and a couple of others in the following years
Milano Suono Festival in the 1986
Strange Behaviour Tour of Duran Duran on the 5th of June 1987
Glass Spider Tour of David Bowie on the 10th of June 1987
History World Tour of Michael Jackson on 18th of June 1997
Several tours of Vasco Rossi
Roll on the Red tour of Red Hot Chili Peppers on the 8th of June 2004
Vertigo Tour of U2 in July 2005 and their U2 360° Tour IN July 2009
A Bigger Bang tour of The Roling Stones on 11th of July 2006
Io Canto Tour of Laura Pausini on 2nd of June 2007 and her Similli Tour on June 2016
Sticky & Sweet Tour of Madonna on 14th of July 2009 and her The MDNA Tours on 14th of June 2012
Because We Can Tour of Bon Jovi on 29th of July 2013
Where We Are Tour of One Direction on June 2014
Anti World Tour of Rihanna on 13th of July 2016
Formation World Tour of Beyonce on 18th of July 2016 and her tour with Jay-Z - On The Run II Tour in July 2018
A Head Full of Dreams Tour of Coldplay in July 2017
Simulation Theory World Tour of Muse in July 2019
… and many more!
The future of Giuseppe Meazza Stadium
The future of the stadium stands on glass legs.
On 24th of June 2019, A.C. Milan and Internazionale announced their intention to replace the stadium with a new-build stadium.
This will be constructed right next to the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium and have a capacity of 60,000 people.
The current Mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala noted that Giuseppe Meazza Stadium will be kept until at least the 2026 Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics, to be held in Milan.
Cortina d'Ampezzo will also take place in the stadium.
There were backlashes and opposition by several fans of both teams who play here.
The A.C. Milan and Internazionale decided to release two potential designs for the stadium that would be built next to the original ground.
Originally, it was planned for the Meazza stadium to be partly demolished after holding the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, and it would then be converted as part of the wider sports and entertainment district vision for the site.
Nonetheless, after A.C. Milan and Internazionale released their two potential designs (Populous and MANICA) for the new stadium next to the Meazza stadium on 26 September 2019, the future of the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium changed swiftly.
Just the next year, on 22 May 2020, it was decided that the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium would be demolished after Italy's heritage authority raised no objections.
A little bit over a year later, on the 21st of December 2021, the Populous project was chosen for the new stadium that would be built to replace the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium.
