Serie A
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| Serie A | |
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 Serie A 2006-07 |
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| Sport | Football (soccer) |
| Founded | 1898 |
| No. of teams | 20 |
| Country |  Italy |
| Current champions | F.C. Internazionale Milano(by default) |
Serie A is the top division of the Italian Football League, the highest football league in Italy. Italian mobile phone company TIM is the main sponsor, so the official name is Serie A TIM.
[edit] Format
There have been twenty clubs in Serie A since the 2004-05 season. During the course of a season (which lasts from August to May) each club plays the others twice: once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponent for a total of 38 games for each club, and a total of 380 games in a season. In Italian football, a true round-robin format is used. In the first half of the season, called 'andata', each team will play one time against all its opponents, a total of 19 games. In the second half of the season, called 'ritorno', each team will play the exact same teams in the exact same order, the only difference being that a home game played in the first half will be an away game with that same team in the second half, and visa versa.
Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. Teams are ranked by total points, with goal difference used to separate teams on equal points. The only case where goal difference is not used is for teams who finish joint top on equal points. If this happens during season where there is no international tournament containing the Italian national team, then the Scudetto is settled via a one match play-off. At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned as champion. The three lowest placed teams are relegated into the Serie B.
The top four teams in the Serie A qualify for the UEFA Champions League, with the top two teams directly entering the group phase. The third and fourth placed teams enter the competition at the third qualifying round and must win a two-legged knockout tie in order to enter the group phase. Teams finishing 5th and 6th qualify for the UEFA Cup Tournament. A third UEFA Cup spot is reserved for the winner of the Italian Cup; however, if both the Italian Cup finalists have already qualified for UEFA Champions League, the 7th classified team in Serie A gets the UEFA Cup spot.
[edit] History
Serie A, as it is structured today, began in 1929. From 1898 to 1929 the competition was organised into regional groups. No title was awarded in 1927 after Torino were stripped of the championship by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). Torino were declared champions in the 1948-49 season following a plane crash near the end of the season in which the entire team was killed.
The Serie A Championship title is often referred to as the Scudetto (small shield) because the winning team will bear a small coat of arms with the Italian tricolour on their strip in the following season. The most successful league club is Juventus F.C. with 27 championships, followed by A.C. Milan (17), Internazionale Milano (14) and Genoa C&FC (9). For every ten titles won, clubs are allowed to wear a golden star above their club badge; so Juventus has two stars, while Milan and Internazionale have one star each. From 2004-05 onwards an actual trophy was instated and awarded to clubs, prior to this there was none.
In 2006 the Serie A league was shaken by a match-fixing scandal. Juventus F.C., A.C. Milan, S.S. Lazio and ACF Fiorentina were put under trial, along with the referee designators and league managers. A first grade trial took away the last two titles from Juventus (the 2005-2006 title was awarded to Internazionale), put Milan out of European competition, and relegated Juventus Serie B, and deducted points from Lazio, Milan and Fiorentina for season 2006/07.[2] On appeal the relegation of Juventus was upheld; however, Lazio and Fiorentina were reinstated into Serie A, and Milan were allowed into the Champions League (though at the third qualifying round instead of directly into the group stage). [3]
On 2nd February 2007, Italian Football Federation commissioner Luca Pancalli called a halt to the weekend's fixtures after police officer Filippo Raciti was killed in football-related violence during the Sicilian derby between rivals Catania and Palermo [4]. This tragic event forced football authorities to enforce new security regulations concerning stadia, which render the majority unfit to receive spectators at this time.
[edit] Television rights
As of 2006 Italian clubs have the right to sell their broadcast rights, unlike most other European sides. As a result there are three broadcasters in play: Sky Italia, which broadcasts all matches on satellite television, plus terrestrial broadcasters Mediaset and La7, which is owned by Telecom Italia. The latter two have broadcast pay television services: Mediaset Premium and Cartapiu, which require no cable or satellite hookup.
The two pay TV servies have held the rights since autumn 2005 and sublease those rights back to Sky for the benefit of those having satellite or cable.
Mediaset Premium sides:
- Atalanta (home only)
- Inter (home and away, includes Champions League matches)
- Lazio (home and away)
- Livorno (home only, UEFA Cup matches on La7's 7 Gold service)
- Messina (home only)
- Milan (home and away, includes Champions League matches)
- Reggina (home only)
- Roma (home and away, includes Champions League matches)
- Siena (home only)
- Torino (home and away)
(Serie B sides Juventus, Genoa and Napoli are all broadcast on Mediaset Premium as well.)
Cartapiu sides:
- Ascoli (home only)
- Cagliari (home and away)
- Catania (home and away)
- Chievo (home only, UEFA Cup matches on La7)
- Empoli (home and away)
- Fiorentina (home and away)
- Palermo (home and away, UEFA Cup matches on La7)
- Parma (home and away)
- Sampdoria (home and away)
- Udinese (home only)
[edit] Champion clubs
[edit] Champions by season
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[edit] Performance by club
[edit] Titles by region
[edit] Titles by city
[edit] Complete team list[edit] From 1898 to 1929
[edit] The 1921-22 C.C.I. championship[edit] After 1928-1929 seasonIn 1929 FIGC changed the mechanism of the championship, and created the Serie A as we know it today (1 league only with 16, 18 or 20 teams). These are the 61 teams which took part to the championships played from 1929-30 to 2005-06: Inter is the only team which played all the seasons following Juventus' relegation to Serie B after the 2005/2006 season. [edit] By season
[edit] By team
[edit] The 1945-46 war championshipThis championship is not usually included in the statistics, because some of the southern sides that took part to the competition were Serie B teams. The winner was Torino.
[edit] Top scorers (capocannonieri) by season[edit] Team records[edit] Most seasons75, Internazionale [edit] Most championships won27, Juventus [edit] Most consecutive championships won5, Juventus (1930/31 - 1934/35) and Torino F.C. 1906 (1942/43 - 1948/49) [edit] Most Points per season[edit] 18 Teams & win = 2 points - 1929-30 - 1933-34, 1988-89 - 1993-94
[edit] 16 Teams & win = 2 points - 1934-35 - 1987-88[edit] 18 Teams & win = 3 points - 1994-95 - 2003-04
[edit] 20 Teams &win = 3 points - 2004-05 -
[edit] Most consecutive wins
[edit] Most matches won1982, Juventus [edit] Most goals scored4852, Juventus (1.72 goals per match) [edit] Most non-Italian players of the same nationality on the starting lineup7, Internazionale, against Treviso, January 18 2006 (Julio Cruz, Nicolás Burdisso, Javier Zanetti, Juan Sebastián Verón, Esteban Cambiasso, Kily González and Walter Samuel, all Argentine footballers)[1] [edit] Most non-Italian players on the starting lineup
[edit] Individual records[edit] Most championships won8 Championships
7 Championships
6 Championships
5 Championships
[edit] GoalscoringTop ten most goals scored, all-time (only Serie A)
Most goals from direct free kicks
[edit] AppearancesAs of March 19, 2007. Most appearances
Oldest players
Youngest player
Youngest foreign player
[edit] References and notes
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
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