Football

History of the Serie B

The second division league in the hierarchy of professional football in Italy is called the Serie B. It is second only to Serie A. Serie B is fondly called the ‘Cadetti’. When professional football started in 1929, the Serie B started simultaneously along with the Serie A. The Serie B was made up of 20 teams for a long time till 2003, when there was a need to accommodate 4 more teams. The number of football teams participating was reduced to 22 from 2004-05 onwards. In the whole season which is split into two halves, the teams play each other home and away in a total of 42 games.

Three teams from Serie B qualify for promotion to Serie A. The top two teams secure their spots without having to partake in additional play-off matches. The third and final place is decided by a playoff between teams placed from third to sixth unless the third placed team is over ten points ahead of the fourth positioned team; in which case the team in the third position is also promoted without the required play-offs. The Serie B trophy presented to the winners from the 2006-07 season onwards is designed on the lines of the symbolic representation of Goddess Nike holding a cup, Goddess Nike is believed to be the goddess of victory.

Previous Serie B season(s)

The 2006-07 edition of Serie B football was one of the most controversial seasons because 17-time Serie A champions Juventus were relegated for the first time from Serie A. In the 2007-08 edition, Chievo and Bologna were the direct qualifiers while Lecce qualified after two rounds of playoffs. The Serie B football last season was eventful as well, Parma FC featured in Serie B for the first time in more than a decade. At the end of an exciting soccer season, Bari and Parma were the teams to be promoted directly, and Bari won the Serie B title. The teams to be relegated to the Lega Pro Prima Divisione were Treviso F.B.C, U.S. Avellino, Pisa Calcio and Rimini.