beachesl Posted June 14, 2004 Share Posted June 14, 2004 Italy's Serie B is complete, final league matches were on Saturday. Serie B : The final table 2003-4 Palermo 83 - promoted Cagliari 83 - promoted Livorno 79 - promoted Messina 79 - promoted Atalanta 77 - promoted -------------------------- Fiorentina 73 - promotion playoff vs Perugia ------------------------- Ternana 69 Piacenza 68 Catania 67 Triestina 66 Ascoli 60 Torino 59 Vicenza56 Napoli 56 Treviso 55 Salernitana 55 Genoa 55 Albinoleffe 54 Verona 53 ------------------------- Venezia 51 - relegation playoff with Bari Bari 50 - relegation playoff with Venezia ------------------------- Pescara 46 - relegated Avellino 37 - relegated Como 33 - relegated Because Serie A is being increased to a 20 club league next year, three are being relgated automatically (Empoli, Modena and Ancona) and five are automatically promoted from B, and the 4th from bottom Perugia playoff in a home-and-away with Fiorentina on June 16 & 20 for the last Serie A position (Perugia has been waiting around for a month for this, but has played some exhibitions, including pounding a C1 side called Pesaro 11-0 on Saturday). Tim Parks should be happy that Verona Hellas just avoided relgation on the last day. George Clooney will be upset that the club in Como he purchased last summer is now in CI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcl_19 Posted June 15, 2004 Share Posted June 15, 2004 This is a bit weird that they're adding clubs, since FIFA or UEFA (one or the other) has said that they dont want the top divisions in the world to have too many clubs since they want the schedual to be reduced a bit...I think i remember them saying that 16 clubs was the ideal number. Maybe thgat whole idea was scrapped, i can't really remember. Anyone else remember anythign from this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massive Attack Posted June 15, 2004 Share Posted June 15, 2004 Marcl, these threads will help you understand what happened. http://www.canadian-soccer.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=897&SearchTerms=catania http://www.canadian-soccer.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1007&SearchTerms=catania Essentially, Serie B was turned into a 24 team league because of a legal battle by Catania. The rest of the teams in Serie B went on strike in protest. To end the strike, Serie A will have 2 extra teams next year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devioustrevor Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 quote:Originally posted by marcl_19 This is a bit weird that they're adding clubs, since FIFA or UEFA (one or the other) has said that they dont want the top divisions in the world to have too many clubs since they want the schedual to be reduced a bit...I think i remember them saying that 16 clubs was the ideal number. Maybe thgat whole idea was scrapped, i can't really remember. Anyone else remember anythign from this? That 'rule' still applies. But the professional leagues in Europe just ignore it because they can. FIFA has no power over Club Football, and UEFA isn't actually going to punish Serie A. Think about it, if the Italian teams didn't play in the Champions League and the UEFA Cup, UEFA's television partners would sue to recover most of their money. It would be the same if they took action against the top leagues in France, Germany, Spain or England. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcl_19 Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 True, its just one of those things you can't do anything about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachesl Posted June 18, 2004 Author Share Posted June 18, 2004 Not that many people are paying attention with the Euros and WCQs going on, but here are the results of the first legs on Wednesday: For Serie A Place: Perugia 0 Fiorentina 1 (the away goals rule applies to break a tie) Return leg on Sunday For Relegation to C1: Bari 1 Venezia 0 ( away goals are NOT being used as a tie-breaker: the rules state that Venezia wins on an overall tie, because they finished higher in the table ) Return leg on Saturday A lot of people would be happy to see the Perugia circus[)] leave Serie A, one of the 9 best leagues in Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TorontoInferno Posted June 18, 2004 Share Posted June 18, 2004 I for one wouldn't. Granted their owner is a giant jack-ass, It would be a shame if they left Serie A. But that is the life of a mid-to-small italian team, you live on a knife edge. I attended the first game of last season in Perugia and was treated very well when i picked up my ticket. I was invited for coffee by Alessandro Gaucci (the owner's son; the GM or Technical Director or someother title) when he found out that i was from Canada to watch the game. Nice guy, but bombastic like his father...When i told him i was a Juve fan, he laughed and said thats typical, wished me well, got me a Perugia shirt and scarf and left I may be a little biased, but Perugia is a good team (not that they showed it) and deserve to stay up...Whether that happens is another story... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJT Posted June 20, 2004 Share Posted June 20, 2004 I am definitely cheering for Perugia. Why? Because Fiorentina had no business being in Serie B this year. This to me was the worst result of the chaos last summer. If they get to Serie A then I will be hoping that they get relegated. Perugia have worked hard to get here. Their season actually began July 19, 2003 in the Intertoto Cup --- 11 months ago and they're still playing. They did very well in Europe (beat Nantes and Wolfsburg to win an Intertoto Cup, then passed two rounds of the UEFA Cup), but their results in Italy were poor, not winning a match until late February. They weren't actually playing poorly, however (in contrast to Ancona, who were also winless), earning lots of draws (including against Milan, which were the champions-to-be only dropped points in the first seven matches of the season) but unable to get over that final hurdle. They did enough to hang in there and do the seemingly impossible by passing Modena on the final day after winning their last three matches, two of which were against Juventus and Roma (who were both not playing for anything, granted, but still...). As for the other playoff, Venezia won the second leg 2-0. So Bari, in Serie A three seasons ago, have fallen to C1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachesl Posted June 20, 2004 Author Share Posted June 20, 2004 http://football.guardian.co.uk/breakingnews/feedstory/0,14546,-4226152,00.html Fiorentina earn fairytale return to Serie A ROME, June 20 (Reuters) - Twice Italian champions Fiorentina completed a fairytale return to Serie A on Sunday, when they drew the second leg of their playoff against Perugia 1-1, to triumph 2-1 on aggregate.More than 30,000 spectators, including ex-Fiorentina striker Gabriel Batistuta, packed into Florence's Franchi stadium to watch striker Enrico Fantini put the home side ahead in the 47th minute. Fantini, who had also scored in the first leg, was sent off for a second bookable offence ten minutes later. Perugia grabbed a late equalizer through Brazilian striker Guilherme Do Prado, but could not fine a second goal to avoid relegation to next season's Serie B. For Fiorentina the win ended a turbulent two-year exile from the top-flight. "We're delighted -- for the team, for the fans, for the city," said club president Diego Della Valle. "We've returned to Serie A as fast as possible." Two years ago Fiorentina were relegated to Serie C2, Italy's fourth division, after being declared bankrupt. They lost their name and most of their leading players. Renamed Florentia Viola, their prospects of a speedy return to Serie A appeared slim. But with the financial backing of their new owner, the shoe manufacturer Della Valle, allied to hefty local support, the club bought back the right to use their historic name and duly won the C2 title. Fiorentina were then elevated to Serie B at the beginning of this season as part of the expansion of the division taken after a series of legal disputes during the close season. Earlier this month they finished sixth in Serie B to win the right to a playoff against the 15th-placed Serie A side, Perugia, for a place in the top division. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJT Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 quote:Originally posted by beachesl Fiorentina were then elevated to Serie B at the beginning of this season as part of the expansion of the division taken after a series of legal disputes during the close season. Details glossed over. [xx(] BOOOOO Fiorentina BOOOOO! I wonder if Perugia were hurt by the time off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Massive Attack Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 Fiorentina were also allowed to go to Serie C2 when they went bankrupt. Usually a team is put in Serie D when they go bankrupt (see Cosenza). Its not fair that they are back in Serie A so soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachesl Posted June 21, 2004 Author Share Posted June 21, 2004 Hmmmm, complaining that something in Italian football is "not fair" is a bit like complaining that a certain fight in WWF is fake. At least Fiorentina's rapid advancement was done in an aboveboard manner by the club, even if some of the policy that was set which allowed it was questionable. Italy has the world's worst and most corrupt referees (Collina is an incredible exception), yet they dare to complain when their underinspired national team gets the odd questionable call against them in international matches. Italy's domestic play, all levels, has world records on fixed matches (both for betting and relegation/promotion), yet the Italians are already ironically complaining about a non-existent fix that hasn't happened yet supposedly by squeaky-clean Scandinavians. Fiorentina went bankrupt because of poor finacial management, the same thing threatening Parma. Fiorentina's fans are some of the best, and they shouldn't have to suffer because of that. The health of the Italian league is only helped by having a team in a larger centre and stadium. That was a factor in their leapfrog to B, as well as their overwhelming superiority in C2. Fiorentina was demoted all the way to Serie C2 was as a result of a riduculous rule, and their rapid success shows that their administrative promotion from C2 to B was justified, as does there promotion in one season back to Serie A. They followed the rules, it is not their fault that the politicians openly interfere with the process. What is patently worse is the under the table corruption that has allowed some of the big richer teams from surviving in Serie A and keeping their lofty positions in the table by bribery, shady influence and intimidating the referees towards clear favouritism (anybody who hasn't seen this by watching the TLN matches has to have their heads buried in the sand). Let's appreciate Italian football for what it is, a movable feast of tasty contradictions in which football passion and skill still survive. It's enough to look at the absurdity of what happens in Italy and laugh, but let's not complain about the odd slap in the face while ignoring the many knives in the back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachesl Posted June 28, 2004 Author Share Posted June 28, 2004 More slapstick fun in Italia! http://soccernet.espn.go.com/headlinenews?id=304207&cc=5901 ---------------------------------------------------------- Perugia plan legal action against drop ROME, June 28 (Reuters) - The president of Perugia, Luciano Gaucci, plans to take legal action to prevent the club being relegated to Serie B, Italian newspapers said on Monday. Perugia dropped out of Italy's top flight after losing a playoff against Fiorentina earlier this month. Gaucci, however, hopes to preserve their Serie A status by appealing against a Federal Court ruling made in April that any club in administration would not automatically lose its place in the championship. If he succeeds, Perugia could take the place of Parma in Serie A. Parma went into administration following the collapse of parent company Parmalat last year. 'We are not against Parma - only opposed to the opinion expressed by the Federal Court,' Perugia's lawyer, Ruggero Stincardini, was quoted as saying in La Gazzetta dello Sport on Monday. 'The bankruptcy laws are very clear and equate the declaration of insolvency with the procedure for bankruptcy. 'In this case the president (of the Italian Football Federation) must revoke the club's affiliation (to the championship).' Gaucci won a legal battle against the Italian Football Federation (Federcalcio) last year when another club he owned, Catania, successfully appealed against their relegation from Serie B. Catania's readmission last August forced an expansion of the division from 20 to 24 teams. The Serie A season starts on September 12. ------------------------------------------------------------------ The whole scene there is juicy with irony, churning in its own digestive juices. For one, it was Perugia/Catania's owner's legal action last year that forced the politicians to intervene in expanding Serie B, leading to another avalanche of more politics to expand Serie A this year. Interesting that it was Fiorentina, one of the benficiaries of the Serie B expansion last year, that beat Gaucci's other club Perugia for the last place in Serie A. Now it is Parma, who had a magnificent season, who are now threatened by the whirlwind stirred up by Gaucci[xx(]. This makes Scotland's mess look like kindergarten. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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