The Serie B (Italian pronunciation:[ˈsɛːrjeˈbi][1]), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons,[2] is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010 and the Lega Serie B ever since. Common nicknames for the league are campionato cadetto and cadetteria, since cadetto is the Italian name for junior or cadet.
History
A junior football championship was created in Italy in 1904; after seven editions of the major tournament of FIGC. It was called Second Category, and was composed of senior squads of town clubs and by youth teams of city clubs. If the first ones won the championship, they would be promoted to First Category, which consequently improved in size: the first team to reach the honour, was Pro Vercelli in 1907, which even won the scudetto in 1908. FIGC attempted many times to introduce relegations on the contrary, but the reform was really adopted only in 1921 by the secessionist CCI in its Northern League, which consisted of a First Division and a Second Division: the first teams to be relegated were AC Vicenza and FC Inter even if, after the reunion with FIGC, the regulations were changed, and Venezia was demoted instead of the Milanese club. Even if part of the same league, differently from First Division, Second Division was based on local group with proximity criteria.
Only in 1928 was the big reform conceived by FIGC president Leandro Arpinati: after a year, a new second division based on the same national format of the major tournament would be born. Serie B began in 1929 with 18 clubs and continued until World War II, after which it was divided again between the northern and the southern part of the country in the aftermath of the war. The championship became national again in 1948, and for many years in the second half of the 20th century, it was played by 20 clubs. In 2003–04, a single group of 24 teams was formed, the largest in the history of all levels of the Italian championship. After 2004, a 22-team format was introduced together with playoffs.
After Serie A split with Serie B to form Lega Serie A, Lega Serie B was reformed on 7 July 2010. The league signed a new sponsor bwin for 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons; changed the league name from Serie B TIM to Serie Bwin.[3] The League changed again its name in Serie B ConTe.it due to sponsorship reasons.[4]
During the regular season each club plays the others twice (a double round-robin system), once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for 38 games. The games of the first leg (andata) and of the second leg (ritorno) are played in the same order. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss.
From the 2006–07 season to 2019–20, the Serie B champion was awarded the Ali della Vittoria (Wings of Victory) cup. The trophy was 63 cm high and weighed 5 kg. Its design represented the wings of Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, holding a cup similar to an Olympic flame. From the 2021–22 season, the Coppa Nexus replaced the previous trophy.[5]
Serie B was composed of 20 teams until the 2002–03 season. It was enlarged to 24 teams for the 2003–04 season due to legal problems relating to Calcio Catania relegation. The league reverted to 22 teams for the 2004–05 season, while Serie A expanded from 18 to 20 teams.
Below is a complete record of how many teams played in each season throughout the league's history;
18 clubs: 1929–1933
26 clubs (in two groups): 1933–1934
32 clubs (in two groups): 1934–1935
18 clubs: 1935–1936
16 clubs: 1936–1937
17 clubs: 1937–1938
18 clubs: 1938–1943
60 clubs (in three groups): 1946–1947
54 clubs (in three groups): 1947–1948
22 clubs: 1948–1950
21 clubs: 1950–1951
22 clubs: 1951–1952
18 clubs: 1952–1958
20 clubs: 1958–1967
21 clubs: 1967–1968
20 clubs: 1968–2003
24 clubs: 2003–2004
22 clubs: 2004–2018
19 clubs: 2018–2019
20 clubs: 2019–present
Promotion and relegation
At the end of the season, three teams are promoted to Serie A and four teams are relegated to Serie C.
The top two teams are automatically promoted and the third place team is only automatically promoted if they are more than 14 points clear of the fourth placed team.
If the third place team is not more than 14 points clear of the fourth place team then the teams from third place to eighth place enter a play-off to decide the final promotion spot.
The play-off system has three rounds and the rules are as follows.[6]
The preliminary round between fifth and eighth and between sixth and seventh are a single match on the ground of the best placed in the regular season . In the event of a tie at the end of normal time, extra time will be played. If the game is still tied at the end of extra time, the highest ranked team goes through, without taking a penalty shootout.
The semi-finals are a two-legged competition with a first leg at home for the teams that played in the preliminary round and a second leg at home for the third and fourth placed teams in the regular season. In the event of a tie in the aggregate result, the best-ranked team in the regular season progresses to the final, without extra time and penalties.
The final is played between the winners of the semi-finals over two legs, the latter at the home of the best-placed team in the league. In the event of a tie, the best-placed team in the regular season is promoted to Serie A, without the need for extra time or penalties. In the event that the two finalists have finished the regular season on equal points, the second leg includes extra time and penalties if required.
In the relegation zone, the three last-placed teams (18th, 19th and 20th) are automatically demoted to Serie C. If the 16th-placed team is 5 or more points ahead of the 17th-placed team, then the 17th-placed team becomes the 4th and final team to be demoted, otherwise, the conditions for a playoff more commonly called playout exist.
If the playout is necessary, the 16th and 17th-placed teams are paired in a two-legged series with home-field advantage in the 2nd leg going to the 16th-placed team. The team with the higher aggregate score remains in Serie B while the loser becomes the fourth team relegated to Serie C. If an aggregate tie exists at the end of regulation play of the 2nd leg, the 16th-placed team is saved, and the 17th-placed team is demoted, unless the two teams ended the season with equal points, in which case there will be extra-time and a penalty shoot-out if still tied.
^Feralpisalò temporarily relocated to Stadio Leonardo Garilli (home stadium of Piacenza) after Stadio Lino Turina did not meet Serie B requirements.
^Lecco played in Stadio Euganeo (home stadium of Padova) the first home game of the season because Stadio Rigamonti-Ceppi initially did not meet Serie B requirements.
Seasons in Serie B
This is the complete list of the 142 clubs that have taken part in the 91 Serie B seasons played from the 1929–30 season until the 2023–24 season.[7][a]
The teams in bold compete in Serie B in the 2023–24 season. The teams in italics represent defunct teams. The year in parentheses represents the most recent year of participation at this level.
This championship was organized by geographical criteria with only Northern Italy Serie B and the best Northern Italy Serie C teams taking part. Southern Italy Serie B teams took part to 1945–46 Serie A. For this reason, this championship is not included in the statistics.
^The championship was suspended from 1943 to 1945 due to WWII, and the 1945–46 northern edition is not statistically considered by FIGC, even if its promotion result was official.
^Pursuant to the Federal Internal Organizational Rules of the Italian Football Federation (NOIF, art. 20, subsection 5), Unione Calcio Sampdoria inherits and continues the sporting tradition of its most valuable ancestor, A.C. Sampierdarenese, which played at Serie B for 5 seasons.
