FC Internazionale - last updated on 10 December 2007
(Courtesy of Johnny Beaufays)
Club name: Football Club Internazionale Milano SpA
Foundation: March 9th 1908
City: Milano
Colours: Blue and black
Website: www.inter.it
Honours:
Intercontinental Cup - 2 (1964, 1965)
UEFA Champions League - 2 (1963-64, 1964-65)
UEFA Cup - 2 (1990
-91, 1993-94, 1997-98)
Serie A - 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)
Coppa Italia - 5 (1938-39, 1977-78, 1981-82, 2004-05, 2005-06)
Supercoppa Italia - 3 (1988-89, 2005-06, 2006-07)
A bit of 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, Hugo 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. 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). The new upcoming President Oreste Simonotti decided to change name to A.S. Ambrosiana in 1929. By 1931 the name changed again to AS Ambrosiana-Inter: new President Pozzani listened to elder shareholders complainings because supporters continued calling the team "Inter" instead of "Ambrosiana" (Italian Football Federation FIGC agreed adding -Inter).
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, which they have kept ever since.
For the majority of their history Inter have worn black and blue stripes. When the club was first founded in 1908, black was chosen to represent night and blue was chosen to represent the sky. After a merger in 1928 with Unione Sportiva Milanese, Inter changed its name to Ambrosiana SS Milano and its colours to a white shirt with a red cross ontop of it, the new colours represted the flag of Milan. After World War II the club changed their name and their colours back to the original incarnation, Inter continue on with the black and blue stripes to this day, leading to the nickname nerazzurri. The Milanese flag kit has been revived occasionally as an away kit however.
One of the nicknames of Inter is I biscione which means "the big grass snake". It was chosen because in Milanese heraldry the snake is historically important, it features on the coat of arms of the House of Sforza (who ruled over Italy from Milan during the Renaissance period), the city of Milan, the historical Duchy of Milan (a four hundred year state of the Holy Roman Empire) and Insubria (a historical regional area which the city of Milan falls within).
Club crests: (roll on the crest to get more informations)
FC Internazionale
