Serie D facts for kids
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| Organising body | Lega Nazionale Dilettanti |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1948 as Promozione 1981 as Campionato Interregionale |
| Country | Italy |
| Other club(s) from | San Marino |
| Confederation | UEFA |
| Divisions | 9 |
| Number of teams | 166 |
| Level on pyramid | 5 (1959–2014) 4 (2014–) |
| Promotion to | Serie C |
| Relegation to | Eccellenza |
| League cup(s) | Coppa Italia Serie D |
| Current champions | Sestri Levante (1st title) (2022–23) |
| Most championships | Siena (2 titles) |
| TV partners | Rai Sport Sportitalia |
The Serie D (pronounced "SEH-ree-eh DEE") is a very important football league in Italy. It's the highest level for semi-professional teams. This means players might get paid, but not as much as in fully professional leagues.
Serie D is the fourth level in the Italian football system. It sits right below Serie C, which is a professional league. The Lega Nazionale Dilettanti (National Amateur League) manages Serie D. It's like a "league within a league" run by a special committee in Rome.
Contents
History of Serie D
How the League Started
Back in 1948, there were too many teams in the third division, called Serie C. The Italian football federation (FIGC) didn't want to send all these extra teams to regional leagues. So, they created a new league for them.
This new league was first called Promozione. In 1952, its name changed to IV Serie (Fourth Division). Then, in 1959, it became known as Serie D.
Changes Over the Years
For a while, players in Serie D were considered "semi-professional." This meant they had a special status. But in 1981, the league was reorganized and renamed Interregional. At this point, players became amateurs again. The league then moved under 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 big changes happened in Italian football. Serie C was brought back, and this caused Serie D to move up one level in the system. This reduced the total number of leagues in Italy.
How Serie D is Organized
Since the early 1990s, Serie D has had about 162 teams. These teams are divided into 9 regional groups, called Gironi (pronounced "jee-ROH-nee"). Each group usually has 18 teams. They are divided based on where the teams are located in Italy.
For example, in the 2014–15 season, the groups were set up like this:
- 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, and Veneto.
- 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.
Promotions to Serie C
The team that finishes first in each of the 9 Serie D divisions gets promoted to Serie C every year. These 9 teams replace 9 teams that are relegated (sent down) from Serie C to Serie D.
Sometimes, a team that wins Serie D might not meet the rules or financial needs to play in Serie C. If this happens, the second-placed team from that Serie D division might be asked to take their spot. If they can't, the third-placed team might get the chance, and so on.
In recent years, it's been common for some professional teams to have problems. This creates empty spots in Serie C. When this happens, Serie D teams get a chance to move up and fill those spots. For example, in the 2007–08 season, five Serie D teams were chosen to fill empty spots in the professional leagues.
Playoffs for Promotion
After the regular season ends, teams that finished second through fifth in each division play in special matches called playoffs. These playoffs help decide which teams might get promoted if there are extra spots in Serie C.
How Playoffs Work
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. Since 2007–08, if it's still tied after extra time, the team that finished higher in the regular season wins. There are no penalty shootouts.
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 matches then 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 put into three groups of three. Each team plays the other two teams in their group once. The three winners of these groups go to the play-off semi-finals. Also, the winner of the Coppa Italia Serie D (a cup competition) gets the fourth semi-final spot.
The semi-finals are played over two games (one home, one 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. If there are empty spots in Serie C, teams from this list might be chosen to fill them. The number of teams promoted this way changes each year.
Relegation Playouts
At the end of the regular season, teams near the bottom of each division play special matches called playouts. These games decide which teams will stay in Serie D and which will be relegated (sent down) to Eccellenza. Eccellenza is a regional amateur league below Serie D.
How Relegation Playouts Work
The 6th-to-last team plays the 3rd-to-last team. The 5th-to-last team plays the 4th-to-last team. These are two-game series (one home, one away). The winners of these playouts stay in Serie D for the next season. The two losing teams from each division are relegated to Eccellenza. This means a total of 4 teams from each division, or 36 teams in total, are relegated each year.
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 directly relegated without a playout.
Tie-Breakers
Sometimes, teams finish with the same number of points. Serie D has special rules to decide which team ranks higher in certain situations. They don't always use head-to-head results (who won when the two teams played each other).
When Special Tie-Breakers Happen
A single tie-breaker game is played at a neutral location in these situations:
- If two teams are tied for 1st and 2nd place. The winner gets direct promotion, and the loser goes to the playoffs.
- If two teams are tied for 5th and 6th place. Only the 5th-placed team qualifies for the playoffs.
- If two teams are tied for 7th-last and 6th-last place. The winner avoids the relegation playout.
- If two teams are tied for 3rd-last and 2nd-last place. The winner goes to the relegation playout, and the loser is directly relegated.
In all other situations where teams are tied in points, like when all tied teams are in the playoff spots or all are in the relegation playout spots, the head-to-head results are used to decide their ranking.
Scudetto Serie D
Each year, after the regular season, the winners of the nine Serie D divisions play in a special tournament. This tournament is to decide the overall "amateur champions' title," called the Scudetto Dilettanti.
How the Scudetto Tournament Works
The nine division winners are divided into three groups of three teams. Each team plays one game against the other two teams in their group. 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. At that time, Serie D was still called IV Serie. The award was stopped for a long time, from 1958–1959 to 1991–1992, but then it started again.
Champions of Serie D
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See also
In Spanish: Serie D para niños
- Italian football league system
