WORLD LEAGUE'S IN FOCUS PART TWO - ITALIAN SERIE B

ITALIAN SERIE BKT TABLE FOR 2022/23 

POS	TEAM	P	GD	PTS
1. (P)	LECCE	38	+28	71
2. (P)	CREMONESE	38	+18	69
3.	PISA	38	+13	67(i)
4. (P)	MONZA	38	+22	67(i)
5.	BRESCIA	38	+20	66
6.	ASCOLI	38	+10	65
7.	BENEVENTO	38	+23	63
8.	PERUGIA	38	+8	58(ii)
9.	FROSINONE	38	+13	58(ii)
10.	TERNANA	38	-3	54
11.	CITTADELLA	38	+2	52
12.	PARMA	38	+5	49
13.	COMO	38	-5	47
14.	REGGINA	38	-18	46(iii)
15.	SPAL	38	-8	42
16.	COSENZA	38	-23	35
17. (R)	VICENZA	38	-21	34(iv)
18. (R)	ALESSANDRIA	38	-22	34(iv)
19. (R)	CROTONE	38	-20	26
20. (R)	PORDENONE	38	-42	18

(i) PISA FINISHED AHEAD OF MONZA ON H-2-H RECORD

(ii) PERGUGIA FINISHED AHEAD OF FROSINONE ON H-2-H RECORD 

(iii) REGGINA DEDUCTED 2 PTS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE IRREGULARITIES 

(IV) VICENZA FINISHED AHEAD OF ALESSANDRIA ON H-2-H RECORD

(P) denotes promoted. (R) denotes relegated.  

PROMOTED PROMOTION PLAY-OFFS RELEGATION PLAY-OFFS RELEGATED 

The above table shows how the Italian Second Serie BKT finished for the 21/22 season with Lecce, Cremonese and Monza moving up to Serie A.

Lecce have been a real yo-yo side in recent years having been in Serie B in 18/19, A in 19/20 and B for the past two seasons. The club spent 2012 to 2018 in Serie C.

Cremonose will play in Italy's top division for the first time since the 95/96 season - they have been as low as the fourth tier of football since their last time in Serie A. 

Monza take their place at the Italian top table for the first time in their history. The club were formed in 1912 and like many Italian clubs had a period of financial problems and instability in the 1990s, 2000 and 2010s until 2018 when a company called "Fininvest" took over the club. They are headed by former AC Milan president and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Belusconi. They were promoted to Serie B for the 20/21 season losing in play-off semi-finals in their first season.

The play-off final against Pisa this season was somewhat eventful. Monza won the home leg 2-1 with Pisa winning the second leg 3-2 - the match went into extra time with Monza scoring 2 goals and winning 6-4 on aggregate. 

At the bottom of the table Pordenone, Crotone, Alessandria and Vicenza are all relegated to the third tier. 

MANAGERIAL MERRY GO ROUND - YOU THINK NON-LEAGUE FOOTBALL HAS MANY CHANGES IN MANAGEMENT!

There were a large number of managerial changes over last season with Lecce, Parma, Monza, Perugia, Reggina, Crotone, Pordenone, Benevento, Brescia, SPAL, Cittadella and Cosenza all appointing new coaches in the pre-season. 

Once the season started Massimo Pacci of Pordenone was the first managerial casualty losing his job on the 30th August after only being appointed on the 1st July and signing a two year deal! 

Massimo Rastelli took over but only last until October when the club lying at the bottom of the table. He left with Bruno Tedino taking over. Tedino left at the end of the season following their relegation. 

Domenico Di-Carlo is the new man in charge of Pordenone for the forthcoming Serie C season - He was last in charge of Vicenza and guided them to promotion to Serie B but was sacked early in the 21/22 campaign following their dismal start to the campaign.

Crotone also had numerous changes in management with Francesco Modesto starting in July and sacked in October to be replaced by Pasquale Marino who stayed for only 7 games. Modesto returned to his home town club but left in May after relegation to Serie C was confirmed. Franco Lerda is the new man in charge for the 22/23 Serie C campaign. 

He was Crotone's coach on a previous occasion in 2009 and 2010 before a move to Torino who at the time were in Serie B. The had suffered major financial problems causing the historic club who had won Serie A and Coppa Italia as well as be runner's up in the UEFA Cup in 1992 to be declared bankrupt in 2005. 

He was announced a manager of Torino in June 2010 but left in March 2011 to be replaced by Giuseppe Papadopulo who was sacked 11 days later to be replaced by Lerda who stayed in charge until May when he was once again sacked! 

Cosenza started with Marco Zaffaroni in charge who was recruited in July. He was sacked in December to be replaced by Roberto Occhiuzzi who left in February with Pierpaolo Bisoli taking over. 

Vicenza sacked Domenico Di-Carlo (as detailed above) in September with former AC Milan coach Cristian Brocchi taking over until April when Francesco Baldini took over. 

Reggina recruited Alfredo Aglietti in July who was replaced by Domenico Toscano in December who left in January when Roberto Stellone took over. 

Parma, SPAL and Brescia also had one change of management during the season. 

Already in this pre-season for the 22/23 campaign Ascoli, Perugia, Sudtirol, Parma, Brescia and Pisa parted company with their manager/coach or caretaker manager/coach in Venezia and Cagliari's cases.  

The teams coming down form Serie A for the 22/23 campaign are Cagliari, Genoa and Venezia. 

Since 1990 Cagliari have been a firm fixture in the top division playing from 1990 to 1997, 1998 to 2000, 2004 to 2015 and 2016 to 2022. In 15/16 when they last competed in Serie B they bounced back as Champions at the first attempt. 

Genoa drop down to Serie B for the first time since the 06/07 season. 

Venezia move back to the second tier of Italian football after one season in Serie A. The club are another who have been declared bankrupt and had severe financial problems on several occasions with several reformations recently. They were formed in 1907 but were reformed in 2005 as Societa Sportiva Calcio Venezia, 2009 as Foot Ball Club Unione Venezia and in 2015 as Venezia Football Club. 

Moving up to the 22/23 Serie B are Suditrol, Modena, Bari and Palermo. 

Suditrol were an Amateur team up until 2000 and have risen rapidly through the leagues in recent times. The 22/23 season will be it's first in the second tier. 

Modena last played in the top flight from 2002 to 2004 and are another club to be declared bankrupt. In 2017 whilst playing in the third tier they were officially excluded from football and were reformed as Modena FC for the 18/19 season in Serie D. Could they make a return to Serie A for the 23/24 season? 

Bari will be well known to English football fans of a certain age due to David Platt's £5.5 million transfer to then AS Bari in 1991 when they were a Serie A team. They last played in the second tier in the 17/18 and, I feel like I'm repeating myself, they are another Italian club to have suffered financial problems. The club were excluded from the 2018/19 Serie B and a phoenix/re-formed club restarted in Serie D for the new season named SSC Bari. By winning Group C of Serie C last season they move back up to Serie B. 

Palermo are a famous name in Italian football having been formed in 1900 - From 2004 to 2017 (barring one season in Serie B in 13/14) they played in the top flight and regularly played in the UEFA/Europa League. They move back up to Serie B for the first time since 18/19 when after 'serious financial irregularities' they were firstly relegated to Serie C but ended up in Serie D. 

FACTS ABOUT EVERY SERIE B CLUB FOR THE 22/23 SEASON 

ASCOLI last played in Serie A in the 06/07 seaoson. 

BARI averaged 10,648 in their 18 home league games last season. 

BENEVENTO CALCIO have an image of a witch on their club badge which relates to folklore from the 13th century and the belief that the City was the gathering place for Italian witches. 

Italian legend Roberto Baggio finished his playing career with BRESCIA from 2000 to 2004 during which time Pep Guardiola also played a handful of games for the club. 

CAGLIARI won Serie A in the 1969/70 season. 

CITTADELLA averaged 1,653 in their Serie B home games last season. 

COMO were relegated three seasons in a row from 02/03 (Serie A), 03/04 (Serie B) and 04/05 (Serie C1A).

COSENZO won the 1983 Anglo Italian Cup. 

FROSINONE were first founded in 1906 but have only played two seasons in Serie A which were very recent. In both the 15/16 and 18/19 campaigns they were relegated.  

GENOA CRICKET & FOOTBALL CLUB to give them their full name are the oldest club in Italy being formed in September 1893. 

MODENA were last crowned champions of Serie B in the 1942/43 season. 

PALERMO last played in Europe in the 11/12 season losing to Swiss side Thun on the away goal rule after a 3-3 draw on aggregate. 

PARMA were declared bankrupt in 2015 and reformed in Serie D. They won promotion back to the top flight in three seasons - Serie D/Girone D in 15/16, runners up in Serie C Group B in 16/17 and runners up in 17/18 Serie B. They then finished 14th and 11th in Serie A before 20th place and relegation followed by a 12th place Serie B finish last season. 

PERUGIA were the first Italian club to have kit sponsorship which was in the 1979/80 season.  

In January 2021 British businessman Alexander Knaster acquired a 75% stake in PISA. 

Between 2013 to 2015 REGGINA had six single managers and two joint manager teams in charge.

SPAL stands for Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor. 

SUDTIROL play in the Stadio Druso which has a capacity of 5,500. 

TERNANA have played for two seasons in Serie A between 1972 and 1974. 

VENEZIA lost 23 of their 38 Serie A game last season.