The 2008–09

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1. Before the 1978 ...

season is the thirty-first since its renaming to

Serie C1 Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1. Before the 1978 ...

in 1978, and the first edition since the renaming from Serie C1 to Lega Pro. It was divided into two phases: the

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability ...

, played from September 2008 to May 2009, and the playoff phase from May to June 2009. The league was composed of 36 teams divided into two divisions of 18 teams each, whose teams was divided mainly according to geographical principles. Teams will play only other teams in their own division, once at home and once away for a total of 34 matches. Teams finishing first in the regular season, plus one team winning the playoff round from each division, were promoted to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...

; teams finishing last in the regular season, plus two relegation playoff losers from each division was relegated to

Lega Pro Seconda Divisione Lega Pro Seconda Divisione was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consisted of 36 teams, but in the 2011–12 season, there were 41 teams divided geographically into two divisions of ...

. In all, four teams was promoted to Serie B, and six teams were relegated to Lega Pro Seconda Divisione.

Events

Start of season

The league was to feature four teams relegated from

in 2007–08;

Avellino Avellino () is a town and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the ca ...

Spezia La Spezia (, or , ; in the local Spezzino dialect) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second largest city ...

, and

Cesena Cesena (; rgn, Cisêna) is a city and '' comune'' in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, served by Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine Mountains, about from the Adriatic Sea. The total population is 97,137. History Cesena was ...

. Two vacancies were created with the re-admission of Avellino to Serie B, and the bankruptcy of Spezia. It featured six teams promoted from 2007–08 Serie C2:

Pergocrema Unione Sportiva Pergolettese 1932 is an Italian association football club, based in Crema, province of Cremona, Lombardy. It currently plays in Serie C, the third level of Italian football. History From Pergolettese to Pergocrema The ori ...

, Reggiana,

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and '' comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and t ...

Lumezzane Lumezzane (Brescian: ; locally ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy. With a population of 22,255 () it is one of the largest towns in the province of Brescia. It is situated in the Gobbia Valley, which is a side va ...

, Portosummaga, and

Marcianise Marcianise is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy. History In the area of the commune of Marcianise numerous tombs of Etruscan and Roman age have been excavated, although Oscan elements should have pre-ex ...

. The remaining 26 teams were to come from the teams that played in

2007–08 Serie C1 The 2007–08 Serie C1 season was the thirtieth football league season of Italian Serie C1 since its establishment in 1978. It was divided into two phases: the regular season, played from September 2007 to May 2008, and the playoff phase from ...

that were neither promoted nor relegated. Of those, Lucchese (8th in Girone B), and Massese (13th in Girone B) were also banned creating two more vacancies. Three of the four vacancies were filled by Virtus Lanciano, Pro Patria and

Lecco Lecco (, , ; lmo, label= Lecchese, Lècch ) is a city of 48,131 inhabitants in Lombardy, northern Italy, north of Milan. It lies at the end of the south-eastern branch of Lake Como (the branch is named ''Branch of Lecco'' / ''Ramo di Lecco'') ...

which had lost in last year's Serie C1 relegation playoffs and were destined to play in Lega Pro Seconda Divisione. The fourth vacancy was filled by

SPAL Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor, commonly known as S.P.A.L. (), is a professional football club based in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The team plays in Serie B, the second tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in 1907, since ...

, which lost in last year's Serie C2 promotional playoffs and was thus destined to remain there.

Promotions

won direct promotion to Serie B for the 2009–10 season by finishing first in Girone A. Just one year ago Cesena was directly relegated from the same

for finishing in last place. Gallipoli also won direct promotion to Serie B by being crowned champions in Girone B. It was Gallipoli's third consecutive year in Lega Pro Prima Divisione/C1 after winning promotion from Serie C2 in 2005–06.

Relegations

Legnano and

Potenza Potenza (, also , ; , Potentino dialect: ''Putenz'') is a ''comune'' in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata (former Lucania). Capital of the Province of Potenza and the Basilicata region, the city is the highest regional capital and o ...

were the first two teams relegated by finishing last in their respective divisions. Both teams had been in Prima Divisione/C1 for two consecutive years after winning promotion from

2006–07 Serie C2 The 2006–07 Serie C2 was the football (soccer) league season of Italian Serie C2 for the years 2006 and 2007. It was divided into two phases: the regular season, played from September 3, 2006 to May 13, 2007 and the playoff phase. Once the regul ...

. Four teams were relegated by losing in the relegation playoffs. Pro Sesto was relegated after 4 seasons in Prima Divisione/C1, winning promotion from C2 in 2004–05. Pro Sesto was forced to play in the playouts two other times, winning one and losing the other in 2006, but asked to remain in C1 to fill vacancies. Sambenedettese also lost in the Girone A playouts after 7 seasons in Prima Divisione/C1, winning promotion from C2 in 2001–02. In Girone B,

Pistoiese Unione Sportiva Pistoiese 1921 is an Italian association football club, based in Pistoia, Tuscany. Currently, Pistoiese plays in Serie D. Originally founded on 21 April 1921 and later restored after bankruptcy, the team plays their home games ...

and Juve Stabia lost in the relegation playoffs. Pistoiese had been in

2001–02 Serie B The 2001–02 Serie B is the 70th season since its establishment in 1929. It is the second highest football league in Italy. Teams Modena, Palermo, Como and Messina had been promoted from Serie C, while Reggina, Vicenza, Napoli and Bari had ...

, and after being relegated that year, spent the next 7 years in Prima Divisione/C1. Juve Stabia was promoted from C2 2004–05, spending the next four seasons in C1/Lega Pro.

Teams

On 14 August 2008 the following clubs were confirmed to be competing in the division:

Girone A

Girone B

League tables

Girone A

Girone B

Promotion and relegation playoffs

Girone A

Promotion

:''Promotion playoff semifinals'' :''First legs played 31 May 2009; return legs played 7 June 2009'' :''Promotion playoff finals'' :''First legs played 14 June 2009; return legs played 21 June 2009'' :''Padova promoted to

Relegation

:''Relegation playoffs'' :''First legs played 31 May 2009; return legs played 7 June 2009'' :''Pro Sesto and Sambenedettese relegated to

Girone B

Promotion

Relegation

:''Relegation playoffs'' :''First legs played 31 May 2009; return legs played 7 June 2009'' :''Juve Stabia and Pistoiese relegated to

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2008-09 Lega Pro Prima Divisione Lega Pro Prima Divisione seasons

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...