Serie B
The Serie B, officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, 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 B ever since. Common nicknames for the league are campionato cadetto and cadetteria, since cadetto is the Italian name for junior or cadet.
History
The first Italian football championships were composed of a small number of teams. It was in 1904 that the tournament expanded with the first edition of the Seconda Categoria : this was a competition in which, on one side, the reserve teams of clubs affiliated with the Prima Categoria participated, and on the other side, those provincial clubs that had recently joined the Italian Football Federation.For the provincial teams, it wasn't enough to beat the reserve teams of the metropolitan clubs by winning the second-tier championship: they had to prove to a Federal Technical Commission that they had acquired a sufficient level of technical ability to compete with the first-team players of the Prima Categoria. Therefore, they were required to demonstrate this in a unique test match, not comparable to a play-off, a match against a Prima Categoria team in front of prominent football figures of the time. The first team to reach the honour, was Pro Vercelli 1892|Pro Vercelli] in 1907, which even won the scudetto in 1908.
The status quo was challenged by a federal official with a letter published in the football columns of La Gazzetta dello Sport in February 1912: according to him, there was no movement between the Prima Categoria and the Seconda Categoria, which had to bear the expenses of an entire season only to see them wasted by a single match against the reserve teams of the larger clubs. The official proposed the introduction of a promotion-relegation system, which immediately gained the support of many clubs. As a result, several proposals for changes to the current Championship Regulations were drawn up in preparation for the annual Federal Assembly. This mechanism was introduced by the Federal Assembly on 31 August 1912, when the Valvassori-Faroppa plan was approved. This plan modified the Italian football pyramid, turning the Seconda Categoria into the new Promozione championship and creating a dedicated championship for Reserve teams. Just as the Seconda Categoria had been managed in the past, the Promozione was entrusted to the Regional Committees, which the FIGC had established in 1909.
It wasn’t until 1921 that the Pozzo Plan, made by manager Vittorio Pozzo, created a true national second-tier league by establishing the Seconda Divisione, a tournament in which all the clubs affected by the heavy trimming of the Prima Categoria, now renamed Prima Divisione, participated. The new introduced regulations, strongly supported by the secessionist Italian Football Confederation and approved along with the Pozzo Plan, involved the division of Italy into two large geographical areas, managed by the North and South Leagues, with a sharp cut at the center of the country. This meant teams from Tuscany played in the North, and those from Marche and Umbria played in the South. As a result, the Seconda Divisione experienced two different sets of rules, due to the stark geographical and organizational differences: in the North, the league was organized outside the regional framework directly by the Lega Nord, while in the South, it was still managed by the Regional Committees because the distances and means of transportation didn’t allow for interregional league management. Only in the 1925–26 season did the Lega Sud of major clubs organized the regional Seconda Divisione groups directly. The first teams to be relegated were Vicenza and Inter Milan even if, after the CCI reunion with FIGC, the regulations were changed, and Venezia was demoted instead of the Milanese club.
In the north, the new competition started in the 1922–23 season with 48 teams divided into six groups, structured at the interregional level but still vaguely corresponding to the jurisdictions of the regional committees. By 1924–25, the number dropped to 40 teams and four groups, now geographically more extensive. In the south, not all Regional Committees managed to organize the Seconda Divisione championship immediately, which was especially difficult in the island regions, where the number of regulation-sized fields was minimal. The first season saw about 25 teams participating, and by the following season, this increased to 40, but problems related to the particularly troubled political era began to emerge. Few clubs managed to complete all four championships organized by the Lega Sud between 1922–23 and 1925–26 due to high operating costs.
In 1926, the Viareggio Charter renamed the top league to Divisione Nazionale, consequently renaming the lower categories, with the Seconda Divisione becoming the Prima Divisione. The two bodies managing the tournament, the Lega Nord and Lega Sud, were merged into a national governing body called the Direttorio Divisioni Superiori. This led to one of the groups being reserved for southern clubs, with many northern teams effectively relegated by default.
File:Atalanta 1927-1928.jpg|thumb|Atalanta, winners of the 1927–28 Prima Divisione, the predecessor of the Serie B with a single league format. The Lombard club holds the record with 6 first-place finishes in the second-tier league.
The far-reaching reform envisioned by the Viareggio Charter was completed in 1928 by the new FIGC president, the fascist politician from Bologna, Leandro Arpinati. The influential politician established the creation of a radically different second-tier league within a year, meaning no longer an interregional tournament but a single national group, exactly like the one planned for the top league. Thus, in 1929, the Serie B of the Divisione Nazionale was born. The establishment of a single group for the second-tier league sparked protests from smaller clubs, who complained about the high travel costs for matches across the entire country and the lower gate receipts compared to the top league. They unsuccessfully proposed expanding the first edition of Serie B of the Divisione Nazionale to two groups based on territorial criteria, admitting the semifinalists of the southern Prima Divisione championship by default. The two-group formula would have reduced the high operating costs of participating in the second-tier league and given more representation to the central and southern teams. However, the proposal was not accepted, and Serie B remained a single group.
The first edition saw 18 teams registered, a format that remained unchanged until the 1933–34 season, when an attempt was made to divide into two groups based on geography. However, this experiment was unsuccessful, and in 1935–36, the original model was reinstated, which, except for an attempt to reduce the number of teams between 1936 and 1938, continued until the break caused by World War II.
File:1972–73 Genoa 1893.jpg|thumb|Genoa, winners of the 1972–73 Serie B; with 6 total victories, the Ligurian club shares the record for most wins in the second tier with Atalanta.
In the immediate post-war years, the colossal wartime destruction and widespread poverty made it impossible to immediately restart the competition. The tournament developed with different formats between the two areas of the country, north and south. In the 1946–47 and 1947–48 seasons, the Serie B was played with a three-group format. In the 1948–49 season, the FIGC finally managed to recreate a single group with 22 teams, reduced again to 18 teams in the 1952–53 season. In the 1958–59 season, the league was expanded to 20 teams, a format that, except for one occasion, remained unchanged for 35 years.
It was the consequences of the so-called "Caso Catania" in the 2003–04 season that disrupted this consolidated tradition and brought the number of participating teams to a record high of 24, later reduced to 22 the following year.
From 1946, both Serie A and Serie B were run by Lega Calcio. However, on 30 April 2009, after divisions between Serie A and Serie B clubs regarding the future of the league, 19 of 20 top-flight clubs agreed on plans to split from Serie B to form another governing and financing body. Subsequently, on 1 July 2010, the Lega Calcio has officially ceased to exist and was replaced by the two newly formed leagues, Lega Serie A and Lega Serie B.
In the 2018–19 season, due to the bankruptcy of Avellino 1912|Avellino], Bari, and Cesena to register, and the inability to quickly relegate teams, the second-tier league once again had an odd number of teams, dropping from 22 to 19. By FIGC order, in the 2019–20 season, the league returned to having 20 teams, a format that had been in place from 1968 to 2003.
The second-tier league, following the example of the top division, introduced the VAR system: from 2018 to 2021, it was used only for the play-offs and play-outs, while starting from the 2021–22 season, it was implemented for the entire regular season.
Serie B is the lowest division in which five historic clubs have ever played: Torino, Juventus, Milan, Roma and Lazio.
Competition format
League
The single group format established in the 1929–30 season is identical to the Serie A : a round-robin group with home and away matches between the twenty participating teams for 38 games. Three points are awarded to the winner of the match, one point each for a draw, and no points for the losing team. The regulations provide for three promotions to the top tier, against four relegations to Serie C. The top two teams are automatically promoted; the last promotion is instead decided through the playoffs, in which teams ranked from 3rd to 8th place participate, unless there is a gap of more than 14 points between the 3rd and 4th place teams: in this case, the playoffs will not be played, and the 3rd place team will be promoted directly to Serie A. Conversely, the teams ranked 18th to 20th are directly relegated; the last relegation is decided by a play-out between the 16th and 17th placed teams, unless the 17th place is more than 5 points behind the 16th place: in this case, the play-out will not be played, and the 17th place team will be directly relegated to Serie C. Starting from the 2005-06 season, the "head-to-head" ranking is used to determine the final classification in the event of a tie.Since the 2006–07 season, Serie B introduced an on-field award ceremony for the first-place team, which is presented with a dedicated trophy. Until the 2019–20 season, the winning team of the tournament received the Ali della Vittoria cup. After an interim season, starting from the 2021–22 season, the new "Nexus Cup" was introduced; a smaller version of this cup is also awarded to the second-place team and the winner of the playoffs.
Below is a complete record of how many teams played in each season throughout the league's history:
- 18 clubs: 1929–1933
- 26 clubs : 1933–1934
- 32 clubs : 1934–1935
- 18 clubs: 1935–1936
- 16 clubs: 1936–1937
- 17 clubs: 1937–1938
- 18 clubs: 1938–1943
- 60 clubs : 1946–1947
- 54 clubs : 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
Play-offs
Play-offs were introduced in Serie B in the 2004–05 season to determine the third team promoted to Serie A.The original formula provided for the participation of four teams who faced each other in semifinals and finals. If the gap between the 3rd and 4th place teams was greater than nine points, the third-place team would be directly promoted to Serie A; otherwise, the play-offs would take place. In the 2012–13 season, there was a change in the final regulation: extra time was abolished in the away leg if the score was tied after 180 minutes.
In the 2013–2014 season, the play-off bracket was expanded to include a maximum of six teams, which had to be within a fourteen-point margin. As a result, the number of clubs participating in the promotion play-offs could vary, and thus the structure of the tournament changed depending on how many teams were involved. The third-place team would still be directly promoted if it had a gap of more than 9 points from the fourth place.
From the 2017–2018 season onwards, the play-offs involve teams ranked from 3rd to 8th place, but the point difference between the 3rd and 4th place teams must not exceed fourteen points. The format is no longer variable based on the number of participating teams.
The current format is as follows:
- The teams ranked from 5th to 8th place enter the preliminary round: 5th place faces 8th, and 6th faces 7th. There is only one match at the home of the higher-ranked team at the end of the season, and in case of a draw, extra time is played. If still tied after 120 minutes, the higher-ranked team in the regular season advances to the semifinals.
- The teams ranked 3rd and 4th place automatically advance to the semifinals, along with the 2 winners from the preliminary round. The 3rd place team faces the winner of the match between 6th and 7th place from the preliminary round. Semifinal matches are played home and away, and in case of a tie after 90 minutes in the return leg, the team better placed in the regular season advances to the final.
- The final consists of one home and one away match. If there is an overall tie after 180 minutes, the team better placed in the regular season is promoted to Serie A. Only if both teams finished the season with the same number of points, starting from the 2015–2016 season, extra time and possibly penalty kicks are played. In both the semifinals and the final, the away goals rule is not applied.
Play-out
Play-outs were introduced in the 2003–04 season to determine the fourth team relegated to Serie C: the bottom three teams are directly relegated, followed by the fourth-to-last team if the gap from the fifth-to-last team exceeds four points. Otherwise, the play-out takes place with a home and away match: in the event of a draw in the final score, the fifth-to-last placed team at the end of the season retains its place in Serie B. Only if the two teams have finished the season with the same points in the standings, starting from the 2015–16 season, the away match includes extra time and possibly penalty kicks. Just like in the play-offs, the away goals rule does not apply in the play-out.Clubs
Seasons in Serie B
This is the complete list of the 144 clubs that have taken part in the 94 Serie B seasons played from the 1929–30 season until the 2025–26 season.The teams in bold compete in Serie B in the 2025–26 season. The teams in italics represent defunct teams. The year in parentheses represents the most recent year of participation at this level.
- 66 seasons: Brescia
- 54 seasons: Modena
- 53 seasons: Verona F.C.|Hellas Verona]
- 50 seasons: Bari
- 48 seasons: Palermo
- 41 seasons: Monza
- 40 seasons: Delfino [Pescara 1936|Pescara], Venezia
- 39 seasons: Padova
- 38 seasons: Pisa
- 37 seasons: Vicenza Virtus|Vicenza], Como, Reggiana 1919|Reggiana]
- 34 seasons: Catania, Novara, Genoa, Cesena
- 33 seasons: Cremonese
- 32 seasons: Messina
- 31 seasons: Taranto, Salernitana 1919|Salernitana], Catanzaro 1929|Catanzaro]
- 30 seasons: Cagliari, Parma, Ternana, Spezia
- 29 seasons: Lecce, Perugia Calcio|Perugia]
- 28 seasons: Atalanta
- 27 seasons: Livorno 1915|Livorno], Ascoli
- 26 seasons: Cosenza
- 25 seasons: Foggia 1920|Foggia], Reggina
- 24 seasons: SPAL
- 23 seasons: Empoli
- 22 seasons: Triestina 2012 S.S.D.|Triestina]
- 21 seasons: Sambenedettese, Ancona, Varese Calcio|Varese], Alessandria Calcio 1912|Alessandria]
- 20 seasons: Avellino
- 19 seasons: Lucchese, Pistoiese 1921|Pistoiese]
- 18 seasons: Udinese, Piacenza Calcio 1919|Piacenza], Cittadella
- 16 seasons: Arezzo, Treviso 2013|Treviso], Mantova
- 15 seasons: Crotone
- 14 seasons: Legnano Calcio 1913|Legnano], Frosinone, Sampdoria
- 13 seasons: Pro Patria 1919|Pro Patria], Siena 1904|Siena], F.C. Pro [Vercelli 1892|Pro Vercelli]
- 12 seasons: Fanfulla 1874|Fanfulla], Napoli, Torino, Bologna, Lecco 1912|Lecco]
- 11 seasons: Vigevano, Lazio
- 10 seasons: Marzotto, Prato, ChievoVerona
- 9 seasons: Rimini, AlbinoLeffe
- 7 seasons: Siracusa Calcio 1924|Siracusa], Ravenna, Juve Stabia, Virtus Entella
- 6 seasons: Viareggio, U.S.D. 1913 [Seregno Calcio|Seregno], Brindisi, Fidelis Andria 1928|Fidelis Andria], Grosseto F.C.|Grosseto], Sassuolo Calcio|Sassuolo]
- 5 seasons: Savona, Potenza, Campobasso 1919|Campobasso], Fiorentina, Carpi, Trapani, Benevento
- 4 seasons: Monfalcone, Casale Calcio|Casale], Pro Sesto Calcio|Pro Sesto], Pavia 1911 S.S.D.|Pavia], Barletta 1922|Barletta], Virtus Lanciano 1924|Virtus Lanciano], Latina Calcio|Latina], Carrarese, Südtirol
- 3 seasons: Derthona, Grion Pola, L'Aquila, Sanremese, Sampierdarenese, Piombino, Cavese 1919|Cavese], Savoia 1908|Savoia], Nocerina, Pordenone
- 2 seasons: La Dominante, Fiumana, Biellese Libertas|Biellese], Crema 1908|Crema], Gallaratese A.S.D.|Gallaratese], Pro Gorizia, Rieti, Scafatese Calcio 1922|Scafatese], Suzzara, Vogherese, Trani, AC Milan, Licata 1931|Licata], Casertana, Acireale Calcio 1946|Acireale], A.S.D. [Castel di Sangro Calcio|Castel di Sangro], Gubbio 1910|Gubbio]
- 1 season: Molinella, Maceratese 1922|Maceratese], M.A.T.E.R., Alba Trastevere, Arsenale Taranto, Forlì, Mestrina, Sestrese Calcio 1919|Sestrese], Bolzano 1996|Bolzano], Centese A.S.D. 1986|Centese], Magenta, A.C. [Ponte San Pietro Isola S.S.D.|Vita Nova], Roma, Massese, Sorrento, Matera, Alzano Virescit, Fermana, Juventus, Gallipoli Football 1909|Gallipoli], Portogruaro, Feralpisalò
The Serie B–C Alta Italia post-war championship
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.- Alessandria – Alessandria
- Ausonia Spezia – La Spezia
- Biellese – Biella
- Casale – Casale Monferrato
- Cesena – Cesena
- Como – Como
- Crema – Crema
- Cremonese – Cremona
- A.C. [Cuneo 1905|Cuneo] – Cuneo
- Fanfulla – Lodi
- Forlì – Forlì
- Gallaratese – Gallarate
- Lecco – Lecco
- Legnano – Legnano
- Mantova – Mantua
- Novara – Novara
- Padova – Padua
- Panigale – Bologna
- Parma – Parma
- Piacenza – Piacenza
- Pro Gorizia – Gorizia
- Pro Patria – Busto Arsizio
- Pro Sesto – Sesto San Giovanni
- Pro Vercelli – Vercelli
- Reggiana – Reggio Emilia
- Savona – Savona
- Seregno – Seregno
- Sestrese – Genoa
- SPAL – Ferrara
- Suzzara – Suzzara
- Trento – Trento
- Treviso – Treviso
- Udinese – Udine
- Verona – Verona
- Vigevano – Vigevano
- Vogherese – Voghera
Champions and promotions
Note: a cadet title had already been awarded by the DDS’s First Division to Novara in 1927 and to Atalanta in 1928.a Not promoted for Serie A reduction.
b Modena and Novara were both awarded champions in 1937–38.
c Six teams were promoted in 2003–04 due to the expansion of Serie A from 18 to 20 teams.
Club performances
Performance by club
Updated as of 2023–24 season| Club | Winners | Runners-up | Winning years |
| Genoa | 6 | 2 | 1935, 1953, 1962, 1973, 1976, 1989 |
| Atalanta | 5 | 3 | 1940, 1959, 1984, 2006, 2011 |
| Palermo | 5 | 2 | 1932, 1948, 1968, 2004, 2014 |
| Bari | 4 | 6 | 1935, 1942, 1946, 2009 |
| Brescia | 4 | 6 | 1965, 1992, 1997, 2019 |
| Hellas Verona | 3 | 5 | 1957, 1982, 1999 |
| Como | 3 | 3 | 1949, 1980, 2002 |
| Torino | 3 | 2 | 1960, 1990, 2001 |
| Varese | 3 | 1 | 1964, 1970, 1974 |
| Vicenza | 3 | 1 | 1955, 1977, 2000 |
| Fiorentina | 3 | – | 1931, 1939, 1994 |
| Novara | 3 | 3 | 1927, 1938, 1948 |
| Empoli | 3 | 1 | 2005, 2018, 2021 |
| Napoli | 2 | 3 | 1946, 1950 |
| Venezia | 2 | 3 | 1961, 1966 |
| Lecce | 2 | 2 | 2010, 2022 |
| Pescara | 2 | 2 | 1987, 2012 |
| Udinese | 2 | 2 | 1956, 1979 |
| Ascoli | 2 | 1 | 1978, 1986 |
| Bologna | 2 | 1 | 1988, 1996 |
| Livorno | 2 | 1 | 1933, 1937 |
| Salernitana | 2 | 1 | 1947, 1998 |
| Lucchese | 2 | – | 1936, 1947 |
| Milan | 2 | – | 1981, 1983 |
| Sampierdarenese | 2 | – | 1934, 1941 |
| SPAL | 2 | – | 1951, 2017 |
| Modena | 1 | 4 | 1943 |
| Pisa | 1 | 4 | 1985 |
| Cagliari | 1 | 3 | 2016 |
| Padova | 1 | 3 | 1948 |
| Lazio | 1 | 2 | 1969 |
| Parma | 1 | 2 | 2024 |
| Perugia | 1 | 2 | 1975 |
| Pro Patria | 1 | 2 | 1947 |
| Alessandria | 1 | 1 | 1946 |
| Catania | 1 | 1 | 1954 |
| Foggia | 1 | 1 | 1991 |
| Frosinone | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Mantova | 1 | 1 | 1971 |
| Piacenza | 1 | 1 | 1995 |
| Reggiana | 1 | 1 | 1993 |
| Sampdoria | 1 | 1 | 1967 |
| Siena | 1 | 1 | 2003 |
| Ternana | 1 | 1 | 1972 |
| Benevento | 1 | – | 2020 |
| Carpi | 1 | – | 2015 |
| Casale | 1 | – | 1930 |
| Chievo | 1 | – | 2008 |
| Juventus | 1 | – | 2007 |
| Messina | 1 | – | 1963 |
| Roma | 1 | – | 1952 |
| Sassuolo | 1 | – | 2013 |
| Triestina | 1 | – | 1958 |
| Spezia | 1 | – | 1929 |
| Legnano | – | 4 | – |
| Catanzaro | – | 2 | – |
| Cesena | – | 2 | – |
| Cremonese | – | 2 | – |
| Crotone | – | 2 | – |
| Lecco | – | 2 | – |
| Pistoiese | – | 1 | – |
| Treviso | – | 1 | – |
Titles by region
Updated as of 2023–24 season| Region | Titles | Winning club | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Lombardy|name=LombardiaTitles by cityUpdated as of 2023–24 seasonPromotions by regionUpdated as of 2023–24 season
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