Inter Milan's 110 years book: the perfect present for Nerazzurri fans this Christmas

Inter Milan are fighting for their future in the Champions League tonight. The three-time European champions are away to PSV Eindhoven and need to secure a better result than Tottenham's at Barcelona to secure a place in the last 16.

Whatever happens, the Italian giants are one of Europe’s historic clubs and the Nerazzurri celebrated their 110th anniversary earlier this year. To mark that milestone, a new book has been edited, unearthing numerous previously unseen images from the club’s illustrious past.

Actor, playwright and theatre director Gianfelice Facchetti, son of the late Inter legend Giacinto, is the book’s editor. He spoke to Standard Sport about the project and what Inter means in his life.

“My father joined the club when he was just a kid and, with the exception of the Italian national team, he only played for our beloved black and blue shirt, until becoming president,” he said. “That’s why Inter is part of my life. When I was a child, life sometimes seemed like a fairytale... Today, this club is still the source of strong feelings to me, particularly thanks to all the people that expresses their really deep sense of belonging, beyond the boundaries of the stadium.”

The Inter 110th anniversary book was published by Skira and came out earlier this year. It includes exclusive interviews with club legends, such as Javier Zanetti, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Diego Milito, Lothar Matthaus, Diego Simeone and more, as well as a wonderful collection of photographs and anecdotes.

“The idea of this book came together one year before Inter’s 110th anniversary,” Facchetti said.

“Discovering all this old pictures, must unpublished, was the first step to figure out a century-long story.

“We’re lucky to have a lot of anecdotes, that means that Nerazzurri’s history brings with it beauty, humanity and glory. Since the very beginning, this club was at the forefront of the worldwide affirmation of a new concept of “team”: F.C. Internazionale Milano is born indeed of a division of AC Milan; in order to give everyone, Italians and foreigners, the same chance to wear the same shirt, black and blue.

“Creating this book was like playing with our champions, but instead of a football field, we gave them paper on which to let the memories run in place of legs. Among a lot of stars, Javier Zanetti was a captain once again…”

Zanetti has written an introduction in the book and also played a key part in curating the work. The Argentine defender, of course, is a legend at Inter and featured in the club’s treble-winning campaign under Jose Mourinho in 2010.

“The treble era was definitely an unforgettable season,” Facchetti said. “But it’s also very important to recall all the success and the great victories gained before the arrival of the ‘Special One’.”

After looking all but through earlier on in their Group B campaign, Inter will now have to beat PSV and hope Barcelona can do them a favour by getting a result against Spurs.

“We’ll see how far the performances of the team and the strong sense of belonging of our supporters take us,” Facchetti said.

Inter 110, FC Internazionale Milano 110th Anniversary (1908-2018 the official story of Inter’s 11 decades) is written in both English and Italian. The 400-page book features 400 colour photographs and tells the story of key players, trainers and presidents throughout the club’s history.

It is the perfect present for any Inter fan this Christmas and is available for £48 here at Skira.net.

The book is also available on Amazon.