Prima Categoria

Prima Categoria

Country	Italy
Confederation	UEFA
Founded	1959
Divisions	106
Number of teams	1,668
Level on pyramid	7
Promotion to	Promozione
Relegation to	Seconda Categoria

Prima Categoria is a level of football in Italy. It is the seventh level (since 2014-15) in the Italian football league system and is organized by the National Amateur League by the Regional Committees. Each individual league winner within the Prima Categoria level progresses to their closest regional league in the Promozione level. Depending on each league's local rules, a number of teams each year are relegated from each league, to the eighth level of Italian football, the Seconda Categoria.

This level of Italian football is completely amateur and is run on a regional level.

History

Main article: Football in Italy § Rules, the first tournament, the FIF and the first championship

Originally, the first category was the equivalent of the Serie A, until 1922 this was in fact the official name of the Italian top division. Below is the list of winners of the First Category.

With the reform of the Pro League before the 2014-2015 season in which the Lega Pro Prima Divisione and Lega Pro Seconda Divisione were unified restoring Serie C as the new third national level, the championship became the seventh national level, but remained the third highest regional competition.

Features

Established recently in 1959, is organized by regional committees of the FIGC, and therefore does not have a predefined structure. The number of rounds in which the league is at the regional level varies, as does the number of teams participating in each league, today www.datasport.it seconds (source) teams in the first category are 1686.

Promotion

The promoted teams go in and promotion are the winners of their group. Varies from region to region, there is a mechanism that allows the playoffs to winning teams to be included in a list that would result (in case of vacancies) in Promozione.

Relegation

The reduction relegated to the Seconda Categoria.

Groups

• Abruzzo: 5 groups of 16 teams
• Basilicata: 2 groups of 16 and 15 teams
• Calabria: 4 groups of 16 teams
• Campania: 8 groups of 16 teams
• Emilia-Romagna: 8 groups of 16 teams
• Friuli-Venezia Giulia: 3 groups of 16 teams
• Lazio: 8 groups of 16 teams
• Liguria: 4 groups of 16 teams
• Lombardia: 12 groups of 16 teams
• Marche: 4 groups of 16 teams
• Molise: 3 groups of 16 teams
• Piedmont (including Valle d'Aosta): 8 groups of 16 teams
• Puglia: 3 groups of 16 teams
• Sardinia: 4 groups of 16 teams
• Sicilian: 8 groups of 14 teams
• Tuscany: 6 groups of 16 teams
• Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol: 5 groups of 14 teams on a provincial basis
• Umbria: 3 groups of 16 teams
• Veneto: 8 groups of 16 teams (7 days) and 15 teams (one group)

Total: 1,668 teams.

See also

• Italian football league system
• Italian Football Championship
• Prima Divisione

References

• Carlo F. Chiesa, La grande storia del calcio italiano, Guerin Sportivo, 2012-