The Italian League First Division (Italian: Serie A), known as Serie A for short and Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level competition in the football league for professional clubs in Italy, and is considered one of the elite leagues in the world. Its first launch in 1898.
About the league
Immediately after its founding on March 26, 1898, the Italian Football Federation launched the Italian League competition. The first edition was held with the participation of four teams in one day on a dirt field in the Umberto I Velodrome in Turin, in front of an audience of no more than 150 people. Since then, the Italian League has witnessed radical changes to its statute. It recorded major successes for its clubs on the continental and international scene, and great development in public following and attracting the brightest and most skilled football stars in the world, until it became described as a football paradise in the 1980s. Despite the decline in its reputation after the Calciopoli scandal, it has developed rapidly in the last decade, and is currently achieving tremendous growth in financial revenues that nearly 2.5 billion euros in the 2018-19 season.
Historically, Italian clubs are considered among the most European clubs in reaching the finals and winning continental titles after Spanish clubs, with 36 European championships divided as follows: UEFA Champions League 12 titles, UEFA Cup 9 titles, UEFA Super Cup 9 titles, Cup Winners’ Cup 7 titles, etc. AC Milan, the lion's share of it, with 14 titles, ranks second in Europe after Real Madrid. Milan is also one of the most successful clubs in the world in terms of winning international and continental titles with 18 titles. In contrast, Juventus is the most successful Italian team locally with 56 titles, and Inter Milan is proud to be the only Italian team to achieve the historic treble in the 2009-10 season. It should be noted that three of the founding clubs of the G-14 group, the lobbying force for European clubs in negotiations with UEFA, play in the Italian League: Juventus, AC Milan, and Inter Milan. In terms of individual awards, Italian clubs have the lion's share of winning the Ballon d'Or 20 times.
Currently (February 2021) the Italian League is ranked third among the European leagues based on the results of its clubs in the European Championships, and the best in the world at the end of 2020 according to the IFFHS classification.
Tournament history
The beginning of the Italian League championship was with the founding of the Football Association in March 1898, headed by engineer Mario Vicari. Four clubs joined the association: Genoa, Torinese, Internazionale di Torino, and the Gymnastics Society of Torino, that is, three clubs from the city of Turin and one club from Genoa. The championship was held in the city of Turin in May. 1898, in just one day, and the visiting team, Genoa, won. There were many clubs at this time, but they preferred not to participate due to disagreements with the Italian Federation and chose to participate instead in local regional tournaments.
After that, Genoa dominated the league title for years, and then the league began to witness the participation of the clubs Milan, Juventus, and Inter, and also the joining of the southern clubs, Napoli and others, after the year 1913. Although the period of World War I caused the suspension of the league championship, the championship continued in the form of local leagues in the north. And the South. It is also known that until the year 1929, the league championship was held in the form of two groups (North and South), but this system was canceled at the beginning of the 1929-1930 season, and the Italian Federation began to implement the basic championship system with 18 teams, and this is what led to the beginning of the professional league. The Italian first division, Serie A, and also the lower divisions, to which many modifications were made. As for the Italian Cup, it was launched in 1922 and was generally dominated by the clubs of the advanced north, while the clubs of the south only achieved a small number of cups.
Periodic system
Since its inception until now, the Italian League has witnessed several changes to its system.
Initially, the first edition was held in the form of an elimination tournament, and the team that wins the final wins the title and qualifies directly to the final of the following season. This system continued until 1903, when it was replaced by a system of knockout groups at the regional level, with the group winners qualifying for the final round. In the 1929–30 season, the current format will be adopted, with each team playing each other twice, home and away, as one group (round robin).
currently; The Italian Football League is divided into four professional divisions: Serie A, Serie B, Serie C1, and Serie C2. One semi-professional division is Serie D, and a final amateur division consists of five divisions.
Serie A is the highest sporting competition in Italy. It is one of the best football leagues in the world. The league consists of 20 clubs. Each team plays with the other twice, back and forth. The occupants of the last three places are relegated to the Italian second division, Serie B. The first and second place holders advance in the second division, and the third to sixth place holders play in the qualifiers. The third seat holder is determined (if the difference between third and fourth is less than ten points).
The champion is determined by the scale of the most points scored.