After the Great War, Inter got back to business in 1919, the first season of the Italian league after it was put on hold during the conflict. Among their ranks were four of the five Cevenini brothers. The Cevenini’s were a famous footballing dynasty comprised of siblings Ciro, Aldo, Luigi, Cesare and Carlo. Giuseppe Fossati, whose brother Virgilio, a former Inter player, died in the war, also made his first team debut in the blue and black. With defeats of Brescia, Juventus Italia, Trevigliese, Cremonese and Libertas, Inter easy claimed a spot in the Northern group final. As soon as Inter won the match, they were crowned as champions by the Federation even though the national final still had to be played. This was because the quality difference between clubs from the north and those from the south was so huge, that the national final was always a foregone conclusion and in fact, the Northern group final was usual considered the real national final. But it took Inter more effort than expected to win the national final and claim the Italian championship, eventually beating Livorno 3-2 in Bologna.

 

The period following this championship was one of mediocrity, marred by a conflict between two federations controlling Italian football: the CCI and the FIGC, who each organised their own championships with Inter participating the CCI First Division. They finished dead bottom in this competition, but instead of relegation they were forced to play-off against the team finishing second in the Second Division (Sport Club Italia in this case). If Inter were to lose, they would be relegated to the Second Division and their opponents would be promoted. If they were to win, the clubs would remain in their relative divisions. In the meantime, the CCI and FIGC decided to try to get along, so they met in order to combine and reformulate the Italian league. They reached a compromise which complicated things for Nerrazzuri, as they now found themselves having to participate in an inter-federal play-off again to survive relegation. Against Libertas Firenze, Inter Milan imposed themselves with a 4-1 win over two legs, cementing their place in the new top division. Due to this fact, Inter Milan remain the only team to play in the top flight of Italian football for their entire history.

 

In the 1926/27 season and with future manager and Holocaust victim Arpad Weisz on their books, Inter found themselves on equal points with Juventus at the top, but their run was unsustainable and they fell to fifth place by the end of the season. That year, it was Torino who won the championship, but this was eventually made null and void due to their dodgy dealings. Following the debut of all-time legend Giuseppe Meazza in  1927, the club underwent an identity change because the Italian Fascist Party were not fans of the name “Internazionale” which they felt was disrespectful to traditional Italian spirit. The name, they believed, also alluded to Germany’s Communist International Party. Simulataneously, the Fascists intended to reduce the number of professional clubs in each city to one wherever possible. Thus, Inter merged with Unione Sportiva Milanese and became Associazone Sportiva Ambrosiana Milan. In addition, their famous blue and black stripes were replaced by a large red cross on a white base (the seal of Milan) and marked with the symbol of the Fascist Party. The new look didn’t last long, and by 1929 Inter were again playing in the blue and black, this time with Arpad Weisz as their manager, but the Ambrosiana name remained throughout the 30’s.

 

The club became champions in the very first season of the brand new Serie A right at the death rattle of the season. A number of excellent performances including a 6-0 thrashing of Fulvio Bernardini’s Roma led them to second place on the third to last day of the season, when Inter found themselves 3-0 down against Genoa. Just when it looked as though the title had slipped from their fingers, along came Giuseppe Meazza who scored a hat-trick in the second half of the match to earn a crucial point as the club crept up on Juventus at top spot. Juve happened to be Inter’s next opponents and despite their trusty defender Luigi Allemandi being involved in car crash and fist fight on the way to the stadium resulting in his late arrival, Ambrosiana won the game and subsequently, the first ever edition of the Serie A, with Meazza as the leagues highest scorer (31 goals in 33 games).

 

In what was an interesting era for the club, they also did well in the Mitropa Cup against teams from Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia, reaching the smei-final. After some time away, Arpad Weisz returned to the helm of the club in 1932, guiding them to second place in both the Serie A and the Mitropa Cup. The following year, marked by the tragic death of Ambrosiana player Tito Frione, Ambrosiana and Juventus were again tied on points at season’s end. While the Biaconeri won in Florence, the Nerazzurri were defeated by Lazio and became runners-up in the Serie A for the third consecutive season. Ambrosiana-Inter’s fourth Scudetto also came in dramatic fashion – they amassed 39 points with Juventus on 38, and Bologna, Genoa and AC Milan equal third on 37. Thousands of fans waited at Milan station for the triumphant teams return that evening. Under Tony Cagnelli, author of “The System” tactic, Ambrosiana-Inter won their first Coppa Italia in 1939 plus a fifth Scudetto. Just 8 days later, Benito Mussolini announced to the nation that Italy had entered World War II. 

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Achievements: 
Serie A- Champions x4
Coppa Italia- Winners x1
Mitropa Cup- Runners up x2

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Star player: Giuseppe Meazza DoB 23 August 1910, Milan, Italy

Meazza is simply a legend in Italian football, and, in fact, world football, being ranked the forth best World Cup player of all time. A Milan native, he scored 242 goals in 365 games for Internazionale, and captained Italy to victory in two World Cups. His father was killed in World War I when Meazza was just 7, so he grew up with his mother, helping her sell fruit at a market. His mother used to hide his boots so he wouldn’t ‘waste his time’, and as a result Giuseppe learned to play football barefoot, using a ball made of rags. A notorious ladies man, he was known for having a passion for Tango (and women), and employed his dancing skills to make himself unpredictable on the football field, scoring with a foxtrot tempo. His trademark goals were ones where he would collect the ball at the half-line, dribble through several opponents with a series of twinkle-toed shuffles and turns, until arriving in front of the goal, where he would stop and invite the goalkeeper to attack him like a matador, before faking a shot, then dribbling past the beaten goalkeeper to slot home easily. San Siro Stadium is now officially called Stadio Giuseppe Meazza in his honor.