Serie D facts for kids
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| Organising body | Lega Nazionale Dilettanti |
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| Founded | 1948 as Promozione 1992 as Campionato Nazionale Dilettanti |
| Country | Italy |
| Other club(s) from | San Marino |
| Confederation | UEFA |
| Divisions | 9 (8 in 2026) |
| Number of teams | 162 (160 in 2026) |
| Level on pyramid | 4 |
| Promotion to | Serie C |
| Relegation to | Eccellenza |
| League cup(s) | Coppa Italia Serie D |
| Current champions | Livorno (1st title) (2024–25) |
| Most championships | Siena (2 titles) |
The Serie D is a very important football league in Italy. It's the highest level for semi-professional teams. Think of it as the fourth main level in Italy's national football system. It's the lowest level that is organized across the whole country.
This league is just below Serie C, which is a fully professional league. Teams can move up from Serie D to Serie C, or move down to lower leagues. The Lega Nazionale Dilettanti (National Amateur League) manages Serie D. It's organized by a special committee in Rome called the Comitato Interregionale.
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History of Serie D Football
In 1948, there were too many teams in Italy's third football division, called Serie C. The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) decided to create a new league. This new league was named Promozione.
In 1952, Promozione changed its name to IV Serie (Fourth Division). Then, in 1959, it became known as Serie D. For a while, players in Serie D were considered "semi-professional." This meant they signed special forms to show they were semi-pro.
Later, in 1981, Serie D was reorganized and its name changed to Interregional. At this time, players became "amateurs" instead of semi-professionals. The league then moved under the control of the Lega Nazionale Dilettanti.
From 1992 to 1999, the league was called Campionato Nazionale Dilettanti. After that, it went back to its current name, Serie D. In 2014, some professional leagues merged. This caused Serie D and the leagues below it to move up one spot in the Italian football system.
How Serie D is Organized
Since the early 1990s, Serie D has been made up of 162 teams. These teams are divided into 9 different groups, called Gironi. Each group usually has 18 teams. The groups are organized by where the teams are located in Italy.
Here's how the teams are usually spread out by region:
- Girone A – Teams from Aosta Valley, Piedmont, Liguria, and Lombardy.
- Girone B – Teams from Lombardy and Veneto.
- Girone C – Teams from Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Veneto, and Lombardy.
- Girone D – Teams from Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, and Veneto.
- Girone E – Teams from Lazio, Tuscany, and Umbria.
- Girone F – Teams from Abruzzo, Lazio, Marche, and Molise.
- Girone G – Teams from Lazio and Sardinia.
- Girone H – Teams from Apulia, Basilicata, and Campania.
- Girone I – Teams from Calabria, Campania, and Sicily.
Moving Up: Promotions to Serie C
At the end of each season, the team that finishes first in each of the 9 Serie D divisions gets promoted. This means they move up to Serie C, the professional league above Serie D. Nine teams from Serie C are also moved down to Serie D each year.
Sometimes, a team that is supposed to be promoted to Serie C can't meet the rules. This might be because of financial reasons. If this happens, the second-placed team in that Serie D division might be asked to take their spot. If not, the third-placed team could be asked, and so on.
In recent years, it has been common for some professional teams to have problems. This creates empty spots in Serie C. These spots are then filled by teams from Serie D. For example, in the 2007–08 season, five Serie D teams were promoted this way.
Playoffs for Promotion
After the regular season, teams that finish second through fifth in each division play in special matches called playoffs. The first two rounds are single games. The team that finished higher in the standings gets to play at home.
If a game is tied after normal time, they play extra time. If it's still tied after extra time, the team that finished higher in the regular season wins. There are no penalty shootouts in these early rounds.
In the first round, the 5th-placed team plays the 2nd-placed team. The 4th-placed team plays the 3rd-placed team. The winners of these games play each other in the second round.
After the second round, one team from each of the nine divisions is left. These nine winners are then put into three groups of three teams. Each team plays the other two teams in their group once. The three group winners move on to the semi-finals. The winner of the Coppa Italia Serie D also gets a spot in the semi-finals.
The semi-finals are played over two games (home and away). The winners of the semi-finals play in a final match at a neutral location. The teams that do well in these playoffs are put on a list. This list is used to pick teams to fill any empty spots in Serie C.
Moving Down: Relegation Playouts
After the regular season, teams at the bottom of each division play special matches called "playouts." These are two-game series. The 6th-to-last team plays the 3rd-to-last team. The 5th-to-last team plays the 4th-to-last team.
The teams that win these playout matches stay in Serie D for the next season. The two teams that lose are moved down to Eccellenza. Eccellenza is a regional amateur league below Serie D. This means a total of 4 teams from each division, or 36 teams in total, are moved down.
However, if the difference in points between the teams is very large (more than eight points), the playouts might not happen. For example, if the 6th-to-last team is more than eight points ahead of the 3rd-to-last team, the 3rd-to-last team is automatically relegated.
How Ties are Broken
In Serie D, if teams have the same number of points, they sometimes play a special tie-breaker game. This game is played at a neutral location. This happens in specific situations:
- If the 1st and 2nd place teams are tied. The winner gets promoted directly, and the loser goes to the playoffs.
- If the 7th-to-last and 6th-to-last teams are tied. The winner avoids playing in the relegation playouts.
- If the 3rd-to-last and 2nd-to-last teams are tied. The winner goes to the relegation playouts, and the loser is moved down directly.
In all other situations, like when all tied teams are in the promotion playoffs or relegation playoffs, the league uses "head-to-head" results. This means they look at which team won when they played each other during the season.
The Scudetto Serie D Trophy
Each year, after the regular season ends, the winners of the nine Serie D divisions compete in a special tournament. This tournament is to decide who wins the Scudetto Dilettanti, which means "amateur champions' title."
In the first round, the nine division winners are split into three groups of three teams. Each team plays the other two teams in their group once. The three group winners and the best second-placed team then move on to the semi-finals.
The first scudetto dilettanti was awarded in the 1952–1953 season. Back then, Serie D was still called IV Serie. The award was paused for many years, from 1958–1959 to 1991–1992.
Champions of Serie D
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See also
In Spanish: Serie D para niños
- Italian football league system
