Inter Milan

Internazionale

Inter logo Inter logo
Full name	Football Club Internazionale Milano SpA
Nickname(s)	Nerazzurri (the Black-Blues) La Beneamata (the Cherished) Il Biscione (the Big Grass Snake) Interista
Founded	9 March, 1908
Ground	Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, Milan, Italy
Capacity	85,700
Chairman	Massimo Moratti
Head Coach	Roberto Mancini
League	Serie A
2006-07	Serie A, 1st
Home colours Away colours

Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as simply Internazionale, Inter or Inter Milan, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy and was originally founded in 1908. The club are the only side in Italian football to have spent their entire history at the top tier, where they currently play in 2007–08 as defending champions.

Internazionale, who play in black and blue striped shirts with white shorts have fifteen Serie A titles to their name; only their rivals Juventus and AC Milan have won more. Including the Coppa Italia and the Italian Super Cup, Inter have a total of 23 trophies won in Italy.

Outside of their homeland the club have also had success in European and World tournaments; they won the European Cup in two successive finals during 1963–64 and 1964–65. They have also won the UEFA Cup three times and the World Club Championship twice. The Milanese team is one of the G-14’s founding members, a group that represents eighteen of the largest and most prestigious European football clubs.

Home games are played at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, also known as the San Siro. The ground which they share with rivals AC Milan is the largest in Italian football, it has a total capacity of 85,700.

History

The club was founded on March 9, 1908 as Internazionale FBC Milano, following a "schism" from the Milan Cricket and Football Club. A group of Italians and Swiss (Giorgio Muggiani, a painter who also designed the club's logo, Bossard, Lana, Bertoloni, De Olma, Enrico Hintermann, Arturo Hintermann, Carlo Hintermann, Pietro Dell'Oro, Ugo and Hans Rietmann, Voelkel, Maner, Wipf, and Carlo Ardussi) were unhappy about the domination of Italians in the AC Milan team, and broke away from them, leading to the creation of Internazionale. From the beginning, the club was open to foreign players and thus lived up to her founding name.

The club won its very first Scudetto (championship) in 1910 and its second in 1920. The captain and coach of the first Scudetto was Virgilio Fossati, who was killed in World War I. In 1928, during the Fascist era, the club was forced to merge with the Milanese Unione Sportiva and was renamed Ambrosiana SS Milano two years later it was altered to AS Ambrosiana Milano. They wore white shirts around this time with a red cross emblazoned on it. This shirt design was inspired by the flag and coat of arms of the city of Milan (which is derived from the flag of the patron saint of Milan, St. Ambrose and dates back to the 4th century AD). By 1933 the name was changed again, this time to AS Ambrosiana Inter Milano.

Their first Coppa Italia (Italian Cup) was won in 1938-39, led by the great legend Giuseppe Meazza, for whom the San Siro stadium is officially named, and a fifth league championship followed in 1940, despite an injury to Meazza. After the end of World War II, the club re-emerged under a name close to their original one; Internazionale FC Milano, they have kept this ever since.

La Grande Inter

Main article: La Grande Inter

Following the war, Inter won its sixth championship in 1953 and the seventh in 1954. Following these titles, Inter was to enter the best years of its history, affectionately known as the era of La Grande Inter (The Great Inter). During this magnificent period, with Helenio Herrera as head coach, the club won 3 league championships in 1963, 1965 and 1966. The most famous moments during this decade also include Inter's 2 back-to-back European Cup wins. In 1964, Inter won the first of those tournaments, playing against the famous Spanish club Real Madrid. The next season, playing in their home stadium, the San Siro, they defeated two-time former champion, Benfica.

Following the golden era of the 1960s, Inter managed to win their eleventh league title in 1971 and their twelfth in 1980. Inter were defeated for the second time in five years in the final of the European Cup, going down 0-2 to Johan Cruijff's Ajax Amsterdam in 1972. During the 1970s and the 1980s, Inter also added two to its Coppa Italia tally, in 1977-78 and 1981-82.

Led by the German trio of Andreas Brehme, Jürgen Klinsmann and Lothar Matthäus, Inter captured the 1989 Serie A championship and the Italian Supercup to open the following season.

Dark times

The 1990s was a period of disappointment. Whilst their great rivals AC Milan and Juventus were achieving success both domestically and in Europe, Inter were left behind, with some mediocre positions in the standings, their worst coming in 1994 when they finished just 1 point from relegation. Inter's fortunes started to improve in the 1990s. Inter achieved some European success with 3 UEFA Cup victories in 1991, 1994 and 1998.

With Massimo Moratti's takeover from Ernesto Pellegrini in 1995 Inter were promised more success with many high profile signings like Ronaldo, Christian Vieri and Hernán Crespo, with Inter twice breaking the world's record transfer fee in this period. However the 1990s remained a decade of disappointment and is the only decade in Inter's history in which they did not win a single Italian Serie A Championship. They were only 45 minutes away from capturing the Scudetto on May 5, 2002 when they needed to maintain a one goal advantage over Lazio at Rome's Olimpico stadium when Inter collapsed and let in three second-half Lazio goals that enabled Juventus to pip their bitter rivals to the championship. The 2003 Champions League was met with more disappointment. Being tied 1-1 with AC Milan, only for AC Milan to advance on the away goals rule.

Resurrection

On June 15 2005, Inter won the Coppa Italia, defeating AS Roma in the two-legged final 3-0 on aggregate (1-0 win in Milan and 2-0 win in Rome) and followed that up on 20 August 2005, by winning the Supercoppa Italiana after an extra-time 1-0 victory against original 04-05 Serie A champions Juventus (before being stripped of this title). This Super Cup win was Inter's first since 1989, coincidentally the same year since Inter last won the Scudetto before 2006. On 11 May 2006, Inter retained their Coppa Italia trophy by once again, defeating AS Roma with a 4-1 aggregate victory (A 1-1 scoreline in Rome and a 3-1 win at the Giuseppe Meazza, San Siro).

Inter were awarded the 2005-06 Serie A championship as they were the highest placed side in the season's final league table after points were stripped from Juventus and AC Milan - both sides involved in the match fixing scandal that year. On 14 July 2006, The Italian Federal Appeal Commission found Serie A clubs Juventus, Lazio, Fiorentina, Reggina and AC Milan guilty of match-fixing and charged the 5 clubs with their respective punishments, (although all charges were later reduced in some capacity). So with the confirmed relegation of Juventus to Serie B (for the first ever time in their history) and the 8-point deduction for city rivals AC Milan, Inter became favorites to retain their Serie A title for the upcoming 2006-07 Serie A season.

During the season, Inter went on a record-breaking run of 17 consecutive victories in Serie A, starting on September 25 2006 with a 4-1 home victory over Livorno, and ending on February 28 2007, after a 1-1 draw at home to Udinese. The 5-2 away win at Catania on February 25 2007 broke the original record of 15 matches held by both Bayern Munich & Real Madrid from the "Big 5" (the top flight leagues in England, Italy, Spain, France & Germany). The run lasted for almost 5 months and holds among the best in European league football, with just Benfica (29 wins), Celtic (25 wins) and PSV Eindhoven (22 wins) bettering the run. Inter's form dipped a little as they scored 0-0 and 2-2 draws against relegation-battlers Reggina and slumping Palermo (respectively), the latter game featuring a second-half comeback after Palermo went up 2-0 at halftime. They could not keep their invincible form near the end of the season as well, as they lost their first game of the domestic season to Roma in the San Siro 3-1 thanks to two late Roma goals. Inter had enjoyed an unbeaten Serie A run for just under a year.

On April 22, 2007 Inter were crowned Serie A champions for the 2nd consecutive season after defeating Siena 2-1 at Stadio Artemio Franchi. Italian World Cup winning defender Marco Materazzi scored both goals in the 18th and 60th minute, with the latter being a penalty. This is the first time Inter have won the Scudetto, on merit alone, since 1989. In addition, within hours after clinching their 2nd consecutive league title, the club confirmed head coach Roberto Mancini had signed a 4-year extension to his current contract, with an option to extend it for a further 12 months, which, if extended, would expire at the end of the 2011-12 campaign. Inter president Massimo Moratti claimed that this contractual agreement was made "some time ago".

Other historical information

Inter has never been relegated from the Italian top flight in their entire history, which dates back all the way to 1908; a fact Nerazzurri fans hold in high regard. By comparison, AC Milan has been relegated twice despite winning two more Scudetti. As of 2007, following Juventus' relegation to Serie B for the 2006-07 season following the "Calciopoli" scandal Inter remain the only Italian club that holds this honour, and its century in the top flight (counting the upcoming season) is one of the longest unbroken runs of any club in the world.

The current president and owner of Inter is Massimo Moratti. His father, Angelo Moratti, was the president of Inter during the club's golden era of the 1960s. Massimo, trying to emulate his father's great success, has spent an enormous amount of money in his time at the club to sign some of the world's best players in past and present generations, in an effort to win the Scudetto for the first time since 1989. Due to Inter's failure to win major silverware during most of his premiership, there was frequent criticism of Moratti by Interista. Massimo initially planned to put the club up for sale at the end of the 2005-06 season, but cancelled such plans after Inter was awarded the Serie A championship.

Supporters and rivalries

Inter fans celebrating in 2007.

Inter's supporters are among the most well known around Europe for having some of the oldest ultras around , they are known for being anti-semites and for theyer fascistic way it is known that they used not once the nazi salute after the team score a goal. The principal supporting group is Boys San, who were founded in 1969 making them the oldest group in Italy alongside Torino's Ultras Granata (1969), Sampdoria's Ultras Tito (1969) and AC Milan's now dissolved group, Fossa dei Leoni, which was founded in 1968.

These are the 5 major groups in Inter's Curva Nord (north stand):

• Boys San: Positioned at the centre of the terrace, the group was founded early in 1969. It is widely regarded as the leader of the curva and has a place in the history of the Italian Ultras. Firstly named only Boys, the group then changed its name to Boys San, which stands for Squadre d'Azione Nerazzurre.
• Viking: To the left of Boys San is the Viking Inter group, which was founded in 1984. This group is famous for once having the largest flag in the Curva.
• Irriducibili: To the extreme right of the stand is the banner of Inter's Irriducibili group. This is the most right winged group in the Curva, founded in 1987, it was created when the historic Skins group dissolved.
• Ultras: This group is to the right of the Boys San banner and is one of the oldest groups around, as it was founded in 1975.
• Brianza Alcoolica: The final major group is named Brianza Alcoolica, they were founded in 1985 and have the famous motto, 'You will never drink alone!'.

Inter has several principal rivalries, most obviously arch-rivals AC Milan. The rivalry is especially heated due to the fact that Inter broke off from AC Milan. Inter was seen as the club of the bourgeoisie (nicknamed bauscia, a Milanese term meaning "braggart"), whereas AC Milan was the working-class' team (nicknamed casciavit, meaning in the Milanese dialect "screwdrivers", with both reference to the workers that using these instruments, and to "awkwards") and was, and still is, mostly supported by migrants from Southern Italy.

During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, Inter was the more successful club, being World Champions twice in the sixties. However in recent times Silvio Berlusconi's Milan has been the more dominant team. This rivalry has been compounded by AC Milan acquiring a few Inter players in recent years with mixed results. This season, Inter have claimed the bragging rights, winning both competitive fixtures between the two; 4-3 and 2-1.

Another Inter rival, Juventus, were the only other club to have never been relegated, which changed with the match-fixing scandal of 2006 as Juve were relegated to Serie B. Matches with Juventus are generally referred to by the Italian press as Derby d'Italia (The great Italian derby) because of the fact that, before 2006, this was the only fixture that appeared in every Serie A season but also because Inter and Juventus are the first two fan bases in Italy.

Players

As of 8 September, 2007 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	ITA	Francesco Toldo
2	DF	COL	Iván Córdoba
4	DF	ARG	Javier Zanetti (captain)
5	MF	SRB	Dejan Stanković
6	DF	BRA	Maxwell
7	MF	POR	Luís Figo
8	FW	SWE	Zlatan Ibrahimović
9	FW	ARG	Julio Cruz
10	FW	BRA	Adriano
11	MF	CHI	Luis Jiménez (on loan from Ternana)
12	GK	BRA	Júlio César
13	DF	BRA	Maicon
14	MF	FRA	Patrick Vieira
15	MF	FRA	Olivier Dacourt

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
16	DF	ARG	Nicolás Burdisso
18	FW	ARG	Hernán Crespo (on loan from Chelsea)
19	MF	ARG	Esteban Cambiasso
21	MF	ARG	Santiago Solari
22	GK	ITA	Paolo Orlandoni
23	DF	ITA	Marco Materazzi
24	DF	COL	Nelson Rivas
25	DF	ARG	Walter Samuel
26	DF	ROU	Cristian Chivu
29	FW	HON	David Suazo
30	MF	POR	Pélé
31	MF	BRA	César
47	MF	ITA	Francesco Bolzoni
71	GK	ITA	Enrico Alfonso

For all transfers and loans pertaining to Inter for the current season, please see; 2007–08 transfers.

Retired numbers

Main article: Retired numbers in football

3 – Giacinto Facchetti, left fullback, 1960–1978 (posthumous honor)

Noted players

For a more detailed list, see List of F.C. Internazionale Milano players.

For a list of all former and current Inter players with a Wikipedia article, see Category:Internazionale players.

Presidential history

Inter have had numerous presidents over the course of their history, some of which have been the owners of the club, others have been honorary presidents, here is a complete list of them.

Name Years Giovanni Paramithiotti 1908–1909 Ettore Strauss 1909–1910 Carlo De Medici 1910–1912 Emilio Hirzel 1912–1914 Luigi Ansbacher 1914 Giuseppe Visconti Di Modrone 1914–1919 Giorgio Hulss 1919–1920

Name Years Francesco Mauro 1920–1923 Enrico Olivetti 1923–1926 Senatore Borletti 1926–1929 Ernesto Torrusio 1929–1930 Oreste Simonotti 1930–1932 Ferdinando Pozzani 1932–1942 Carlo Masseroni 1942–1955

Name Years Angelo Moratti 1955–1968 Ivanoe Fraizzoli 1968–1984 Ernesto Pellegrini 1984–1995 Massimo Moratti 1995–2004 Giacinto Facchetti 2004–2006 Massimo Moratti 2006–present

Managerial history

Name Nationality Years Virgilio Fossati 1909–1920 Nino Resegotti 1920–1922 Bob Spotiswood 1922–1924 Paolo Schiedler 1924–1926 Árpád Weisz 1926–1928 József Viola 1928–1929 Árpád Weisz 1929–1931 István Tóth 1931–1932 Árpád Weisz 1932–1934 Gyula Feldmann 1934–1936 Albino Carraro 1936 Armando Castellazzi 1936–1938 Tony Cargnelli 1938–1940 Giuseppe Peruchetti 1940 Italo Zamberletti 1941 Ivo Fiorentini 1941–1942 Giovanni Ferrari 1942–1945 Carlo Carcano 1945–1946 Nino Nutrizio 1946 Giuseppe Meazza 1947–1948 Carlo Carcano 1948 John David Astley 1948 Giulio Cappelli 1949–1950 Aldo Olivieri 1950–1952 Alfredo Foni 1952–1955 Aldo Campatelli 1955 Giuseppe Meazza 1955–1956 Annibale Frossi 1956 Luigi Ferrero 1957 Giuseppe Meazza 1957 Jesse Carver 1957–1958 Giuseppe Bigogno 1958 Aldo Campatelli 1959–1960 Camillo Achilli 1960

Name Nationality Years Giulio Cappelli 1960 Helenio Herrera 1960–1968 Alfredo Foni 1968–1969 Heriberto Herrera 1969–1971 Giovanni Invernizzi 1971–1973 Enea Masiero 1973 Heriberto Herrera 1973 Enea Masiero 1974 Luis Suárez 1974–1975 Giuseppe Chiappella 1976–1977 Eugenio Bersellini 1977–1982 Rino Marchesi 1982–1983 Luigi Radice 1983–1984 Ilario Castagner 1984–1986 Mario Corso 1986 Giovanni Trapattoni 1986–1991 Corrado Orrico 1991 Luis Suárez 1992 Osvaldo Bagnoli 1992–1994 Giampiero Marini 1994 Ottavio Bianchi 1994–1995 Luis Suárez 1995 Roy Hodgson 1995–1997 Luciano Castellini 1997 Luigi Simoni 1997–1998 Mircea Lucescu 1999 Luciano Castellini 1999 Roy Hodgson 1999 Marcello Lippi 1999–2001 Marco Tardelli 2001 Héctor Raul Cúper 2001–2003 Corrado Verdelli 2003 Alberto Zaccheroni 2003–2004 Roberto Mancini 2004–present

Records and statistics

The players in italics typeface are still active in football.

Serie A

Most appearances Giuseppe Bergomi 519 Giacinto Facchetti 476 Sandro Mazzola 418 Mario Corso 414 Javier Zanetti 395 Giuseppe Baresi 392 Giuseppe Meazza 365 Tarcisio Burgnich 359 Walter Zenga 328 Alessandro Altobelli 317

Top scorers Giuseppe Meazza 246 Luigi Cevenini 156 Benito Lorenzi 138 István Nyers 133 Alessandro Altobelli 128 Sandro Mazzola 116 Roberto Boninsegna 113 Ermanno Aebi 106 Christian Vieri 103 Attilio Demaria 76

European Cup/UEFA Champions League

Most appearances Giuseppe Bergomi 117 Javier Zanetti 105 Giuseppe Baresi 73 Giacinto Facchetti 73 Iván Córdoba 73 Walter Zenga 71 Alessandro Altobelli 69 Sandro Mazzola 67 * Riccardo Ferri 62 Tarcisio Burgnich 61

Top scorers Alessandro Altobelli 35 Giuseppe Meazza 29 Roberto Boninsegna 22 Sandro Mazzola 16 Adriano Leite Ribeiro 16 Álvaro Recoba 13 Jair da Costa 11 Aldo Serena 12 Christian Vieri 12 Obafemi Martins 12

Italian Cup

Most appearances Giuseppe Bergomi 122 Giuseppe Baresi 94 Giacinto Facchetti 85 Alessandro Altobelli 80 Sandro Mazzola 80 Giampiero Marini 77 Walter Zenga 74 Gabriele Oriali 70 Graziano Bini 66 Riccardo Ferri 66

Top scorers Alessandro Altobelli 46 Roberto Boninsegna 36 Sandro Mazzola 24 Giuseppe Meazza 12 Eddie Firmani 11 Aldo Serena 10 Giacinto Facchetti 10 Mario Corso 9 Karl-Heinz Rummenigge 9 Julio Ricardo Cruz 9

Italian Supercup

Most appearances Javier Zanetti 3 Esteban Cambiasso 3 Dejan Stanković 3 Iván Córdoba 3 Marco Materazzi 3 Adriano Leite Ribeiro 2 Francesco Toldo 2

Top scorers Patrick Vieira 2 Aldo Serena 1 Dejan Stanković 1 Enrico Cucchi 1 Javier Farinós 1 Hernán Crespo 1 Juan Sebastián Verón 1 Luís Figo 1 Vampeta 1

Honours

National titles

Serie A / Italian Football Championship:

• Champions (15): 1909–10; 1919–20; 1929–30; 1937–38; 1939–40; 1952–53; 1953–54; 1962–63; 1964–65; 1965–66; 1970–71; 1979–80; 1988–89; 2005–06; 2006–07
• Runners-up (14): 1932–33; 1933–34; 1934–35; 1940–41; 1945–46; 1948–49; 1950–51; 1961–62; 1963–64; 1966–67; 1969–70; 1992–93; 1997–98; 2002–03

Coppa Italia:

• Champions (5): 1938–39; 1977–78; 1981–82; 2004–05; 2005–06
• Runners-up (5): 1958–59; 1964–65; 1976–77; 1999–00; 2006–07

Supercoppa Italiana:

• Champions (3): 1988–89; 2005–06; 2006–07
• Runners-up (2): 2000–01; 2007–08

International titles

The following titles include only those which are recognised by UEFA and FIFA.

European titles

UEFA Champions League (former European Cup):

• Champions (2): 1963–64; 1964–65
• Runners-up (2): 1966–67; 1971–72

UEFA Cup:

• Champions (3): 1990–91; 1993–94; 1997–98
• Runners-up (1): 1996–97

Mitropa Cup:

• Runners-up (1): 1932–33

World-wide titles

World Club Championship (former Intercontinental Cup):

• Champions (2): 1964; 1965

FC Internazionale Milano as a company

File:FC Internazionale logo.png

Former logo

According to The Football Money League published by consultants Deloitte, in season 2005-06 Inter were the 7th highest earning football club in the world with an estimated revenue of €206.6 million

Kit providers and sponsors

Years Sponsors 1981–1982 Inno-Hit 1982–1991 Misura 1991–1992 FitGar 1992–1995 Fiorucci 1995–present Pirelli

Years Kit providers 1979–1982 Puma 1982–1986 Mec Sport 1986–1988 Le Coq Sportif 1988–1991 Uhlsport 1991–1998 Umbro 1998–present Nike

External links

• Official Website
• Inter Games Live and On Demand

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