Association football league system in Italy

Italian football league system
Nation
Italy  San Marino
Regions
Abruzzo
Aosta Valley
Apulia
Basilicata
Calabria
Campania
Emilia-Romagna
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Lazio
Liguria
Lombardy
Marche
Molise
Piedmont
Sardinia
Sicily
Tuscany
Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol
Umbria
Veneto
Current Champions (2015–16)
Juventus

The Italian football league system, also known as the Italian football pyramid, refers to the hierarchically interconnected league system for the association football in Italy, that consists of 594 divisions having 3332 teams (excluding Seconda and Terza Categoria), in which all divisions are bound together by the principle of promotion and relegation, with one team from San Marino also competing. The system has a hierarchical format with promotion and relegation between leagues at different levels, allowing even the smallest club the theoretical possibility of ultimately rising to the very top of the system.

A certain number of the most successful clubs in each league can rise to a higher league, whilst those that finish at the bottom of their league can find themselves relegated. In addition to sporting performance, promotion is usually contingent on meeting criteria set by the higher league, especially concerning appropriate facilities and finances.

In theory it is possible for a lowly local amateur club to rise to the pinnacle of the Italian game and win the Scudetto. While this may be unlikely in practice (at the very least, in the short run), there certainly is significant movement within the pyramid. The top two levels contain one division each. Below this, the levels have progressively more parallel divisions, which each cover progressively smaller geographic areas.

The first leagues were started by English immigrants in the 1890s in Italy. The first club was Genoa Cricket and Athletic Club (now Genoa Cricket & Football Club). Initially there were separate leagues for Italians and foreigners, they merged around 1897. In March 1898, the Italian Football Federation (Federazione Italiana del Football, later re-called Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio, FIGC) was set up in Turin. With four clubs joining - Genoa, FC Torinese, Internazionale di Torino and the Società Ginnastica di Torino (Gymnastic Society of Torino). Other clubs existed but decided not to join. The first championship took place on a single day, May 8, 1898 in Torino. The title was won by Genoa.

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Wikipedia