The Geography of Soccer in Italy *20-21 Update*

With the new season kicking off this month, it’s time to revise our Calcio Map to reflect the 100 teams that will be competing in Italy’s professional leagues. Once again, the map is interactive, with the ability to remove and replace the different leagues as layers, and clicking on the icons to learn more about the team located there. Clubs are located at their home stadiums even if they are playing at different places this season (such as Spezia). Sassuolo is placed at the Enzo Ricci in Sassuolo, rather than the Mapei stadium in Reggio- Emilia, and Albinoleffe keeps bouncing around so much I just had to put them somewhere up there. For teams that share a stadium, I tried to place their marker in the stand that their home supporters usually occupy.

The map looks pretty similar to last year, with a few key changes in each division:

Serie A:

The top division is still dominated by teams from the north, but there is a tiny bit more north-south balance in this season. While Puglia saluted Serie A with Lecce’s narrow relegation, Lombardia (Brescia) and Emilia-Romagna (SPAL) each lost one of their four teams playing at the highest level of the Italian pyramid. Two of the three new teams hail from the south, with Calabria making its return to Serie A via Crotone, and Napoli getting company in Campania from i Stregoni of Benevento. Making their debut in Serie A, Spezia’s entry means that Liguria will equal Lombardia and Emilia-Romagna as the regions most represented in the 2020-21 season with three each.

There are still only four teams located south of Rome, but it is at least an increase of one over last season. In total, 11 of Italy’s 20 regions are included, with Sicily, at almost five million residents, being the largest region without representation in the top flight.

Serie B:

While Serie A became slightly more southern, Serie B moved in the opposite direction. As mentioned, two southern teams were promoted to Serie A, but two of the four relegated teams from La Cadetta were also from the south (Trapani and Juve Stabia). They joined Livorno, and surprisingly, Perugia, in demotion to Serie C. As always, the winners from each of the three geographically based Serie C Gironi, or divisions, made the move up. Ambitious Monza from the outskirts of Milan won the northwestern Girone A, Vicenza took the northeastern Girone B, and Reggina paced the southern Girone C. The fourth team is always the winner of a national tournament among the teams that fell short in their respective divisions, and this year Emilia-Romagna’s Reggiana beat Bari in the playoff final to take the final spot.

All in all, 12 of Itay’s 20 regions have a stake in the second division, with Veneto at the top of the class with four teams, followed by Lombardia with three, and Calabria, Emilia-Romagna, and Toscana at two each. Due to Trapani’s relegation, there will be no Sicilian teams in either of the top two flights, for the first time in a while.

Serie C:

Except for tiny Valle d’Aosta and Molise, and interestingly Liguria, every region of Italy is represented in Serie C.

Serie C – Girone A will feature Lombardian and Tuscan Derbies almost every week, and Livorno will be hoping to make a swift return back to Serie B.

Serie C – Girone B is mainly comprised of teams from Emilia-Romagna, Veneto, and Le Marche, but alpine Sudtirol will be trying to finally climb the mountain into Serie B. Surprise relegants, Perugia want to carry the standard of Umbria back into Serie B.

Serie C – Girone C is certainly going to be interesting this season. The return to the professional ranks by giants such as Palermo, Foggia, and even Avellino to go along with Bari and Catania and the recently relegated Juve Stabia and Trapani mean that this will be one of the most competitive seasons in recent memory in the third division. With all of this firepower, I think that a playoff winner coming from this group is also likely.