San Siro Stadium, Milan

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The most beautiful and for me the friendliest stadium of the world was inaugurated as a gift of Mr. Pirelli for AC. Milan on 19. September 1926.
San Siro is a perfect sanctuary of the soccer, home of the teams FC. Internazionale (Nerazzurri - the Black-Blues) and AC. Milan (Rossoneri - the Red-Blacks)
The size of the playground 105x68 metres, while the stadium is fit for the reception of 85.433 visitors simultaneously. The corridor system enmeshes the two-storey building totally helping in the spectators' traffic.
The Milan arena received its name from the former legend, Giuseppe Meazza in 1990, who was playing for both team, but the fans call the stadium quite simple San Siro.

And when the hell gets away... the fanatic fans set the stadium on fire with Greek fires, the inevitable flags and banners recall the mood of the hell really. Milan is not a polite host: eighty thousand spectators bellow at every domestic goal, eighty thousand spectators sing their melodies, and eighty thousand spectators do not spare the adversary.
Never!!

Calling all sporting fans! Take a guided tour through San Siro Stadium, home to Italian and world famous Soccer teams, A.C. Milan and F.C. Inter.

Built in 1926, San Siro Stadium has undergone numerous renovations. Now reputed to be one of the most astounding sports buildings in the world, it holds a capacity of 85,000 people.

You'll visit the stadium's museum and site unique memorabilia as your English speaking guide recounts the glorious history surrounding the victories of A.C. Milan and F.C. Inter football clubs.

Before returning back to Milan by coach, choose to take home your own souvenir at the San Siro official merchandising store (optional).

Watching a football match in San Siro Stadium is a must if you like football. The ambiance, the acoustics, the size and many more things just make it an unforgettable experience. I used to live very close to San Siro and I had many chances of watching some incredible games there. If you come across a Champions League match, don't miss it.

What a fabulous stadium, the atmosphere is like a cup final in England, its great. Sipping espressos at half time in one of the four towers. The price was excellent aswell. For two tickets i think we paid something like £18, which wouldn't even get you in a premiership match. The fans are excellent and the whole football stadium is how it should be instead of the low atmosphere 'bowls' in England. Definately worth a visit!!!!

I am not a huge soccer fan, but it's definitely growing on me. I've enjoyed several games at the San Siro stadium (now known as Meazza) watching mostly AC Milan matches. The best way to get there is to take the metro (towards Rho-Fiera) on the red line and get off at Lotto. If you're lucky (or unlucky) you'll be stuck with hundreds of football fans (tifosi) on the tube as well.

Do not be alarmed when you get off the train / out of the station and see rows of police vans and caribinieri lining the streets. Just a typical Saturday or Sunday evening at the football.

From the Lotto station it's still about a 15 or 20 minute walk to get to the stadium (on the way there you'll pass the horse-racing tracks (Ippodromo) on your right - look out for the giant statue of a horse in the entrance modelled on one of Leonardo da Vinci's drawings).

Otherwise there are bus services (but I wouldn't want to be mashed up against other sweaty bodies!!!).

Alternatively the number 16 tram takes you close to the stadium. Again very packed!

The stadium itself is quite interesting architecturally, but I what I like most about it is that the seating is very steep hence you can get a good view from almost anywhere. Plus because there aren't running tracks around the actual field, you're much closer to the action.

Football tickets can be bought over the internet, or in town if you're in Milan early enough. AC Milan tickets can be bought at Banca Intesa branches or else at the Milan Point store at Piazza XXIV Maggio (Tram No. 3 from the town centre). New rules state that you have to bring ID with you to the stadium, i.e. when you purchase tickets they will take down your info (e.g. your codice fiscale or passport no.) so the tickets are not trasferable. The last time I went (Nov 6. 2005) they just zapped my ticket as we went in stadium but didn't ask me for proof of identity).

I usually get seats in the 2nd Ring Red section. Bring binoculars of course... for me it's to see Filippo Inzaghi up close, heh heh.

There are some special games every season that's more important than almost the rest of the season.

The derby Milan-Inter is the game the whole town is talking about weeks before. The atmosphere at that game is incredible and the choreographies by the two sets of supporters are amazing.
Only problem is to get a ticket...

The same is for the matches against Juventus. Both Milan and Inter always have a sold-out stadium against the arch rivals from Torino, and the atmosphere also here is great.
Another problem here is the incidents, that are more common than uncommon unfortunately. The supporters of Inter/Milan and Juventus definately don't like eachother.

Other good games to visit are Milan-Roma, Milan-Lazio, Milan-Sampdoria and Milan-Brescia.

For Inter the "friendship"-game against Lazio is always nice to see, plus Inter-Roma, Inter-Sampdoria and Inter-Atalanta.

Plus, of course, the big games in the European cups for both the teams!

The ultras of Milan and Inter are standing in the second “anello”, stage, in the curva. They are divided in different groups, who organize everything for the supporters, including away-trips and selling souvenirs.
The two biggest groups of Milan is the Fossa Dei Leoni and Brigate Rossoneri. They’re standing in the middle of the curva. A new group, that is growing bigger and bigger, is the Alternativo, who’s seated to the left when you enter the Curva Sud.

According to me, and a lot of other people, the Milan-supporters are the best in Italy. They make fantastic choreographies, and the atmosphere at 99 per cent of the Milan-games are great! The only negative thing with them might be that the last season's winning (Serie A and Champions League) has made the supporters a bit "tired" of winning. It's not as much fun as before, when they weren't used to win after some years without a title.

Anyway, the last choreographies have been even better than before, and the atmosphere is still great, so...

Inter has more big groups than Milan, even if they are less members in each of them. The most important groups in the Curva Nord are Viking, Ultras, Irriducibili and Boys.
But then there are also a lot of smaller groups, not all of them "ultras"-groups.

The supporters in the Inter-curva are wellknown, both for their team's problem to winning titles, but also because they are a good group. Even if the atmosphere normally is better on Milan-games it's always good to see a Inter-game, thanks to the supporters.

They have always have problem with the choreographies, since brother Milan always have been better, but the last seasons also the choreograph-guys in the Curva Nord has managed to do some really amazing choreograpies!