The Campionato Nazionale Primavera – Trofeo Giacinto Facchetti, was an Italian football youth competition. It is organised by the Lega Serie A and the participating teams that take part in Serie A and Serie B: the first edition was held in the 1962–63 season, in place of the "Campionato Cadetti". Due to ceremonial reasons, the league is officially called Campionato Primavera Tim – Trofeo Giacinto Facchetti.
Torino have the highest number of titles, having won the Campionato Primavera nine times.
From the 2017–18 season, the league was replaced with Campionato Primavera 1 and Campionato Primavera 2.
Competition format
From the 2012–13 season players who are at least 15 years old and who are under 19 in the calendar year of the season ends (i.e. born 1994 for 2012–13 season). At the discretion of the league, teams are allowed a maximum of four "non-quota" () players, of which one has no age limit and the rest must be under 20; until the 2011–12 season the age limit was 20 and for the "non-quota" player was 21.
The initial phase of the Primavera Championship consists of 3 rounds, each consisting of 14 teams, organised by geographical criteria: teams play in a true robin-round format, for a total of 26 games in the regular season. The top two in each group have direct access to the final phase: the remaining two positions are assigned via the play-offs, with the participation of eight teams (the third and fourth ranked, plus the fifth best). The matching pattern is as following:
First round: Best 3rd vs. second-best 5th (match n. 1); Best 4th vs. second-best 4th (match n. 2); Best 5th vs. second-best 3rd (match n. 3); Worst 3rd vs. worst 4th (match n. 4); Second round: Winner of match 1 vs. winner of match 2; Winner of match 3 vs. winner of match 4;
The latest slots (two) are awarded after a play-off series, in which eight teams are involved: the final stage (also «Final Eight»), held on a neutral venue, is based on knockout format. The final phase of the Primavera Championship is hosted every year by a different region: the winning team is awarded a trophy, like the Serie A trophy (received, as a reward, by the Italian Champions). The winners are eligible for Supercoppa Primavera, against Coppa Italia Primavera winners: if the same club wins both competitions, the runners-up of Coppa Italia are admitted in Supercoppa.
Past winners
1962–63 Juventus (A) and Como (B) 1963–64 Internazionale (A) and Udinese (B) 1964–65 Milan (A) and SPAL (B) 1965–66 Internazionale (A) and Padova (B) 1966–67 Torino (A) and Hellas Verona (B) 1967–68 Torino (A) and Verona (B) 1968–69 Internazionale (A) and Brescia (B) 1969–70 Torino 1970–71 Fiorentina 1971–72 Juventus 1972–73 Roma 1973–74 Roma 1974–75 Brescia 1975–76 Lazio 1976–77 Torino 1977–78 Roma 1978–79 Napoli 1979–80 Fiorentina 1980–81 Udinese 1981–82 Cesena 1982–83 Fiorentina 1983–84 Roma 1984–85 Torino 1985–86 Cesena 1986–87 Lazio 1987–88 Torino 1988–89 Internazionale 1989–90 Roma 1990–91 Torino 1991–92 Torino 1992–93 Atalanta 1993–94 Juventus 1994–95 Lazio 1995–96 Perugia 1996–97 Perugia 1997–98 Atalanta 1998–99 Empoli 1999–2000 Bari 2000–01 Lazio 2001–02 Internazionale 2002–03 Lecce 2003–04 Lecce 2004–05 Roma 2005–06 Juventus 2006–07 Internazionale 2007–08 Sampdoria 2008–09 Palermo 2009–10 Genoa 2010–11 Roma 2011–12 Internazionale 2012–13 Lazio 2013–14 Chievo Verona 2014–15 Torino 2015–16 Roma 2016–17 Internazionale Since 2017–18 Replaced by Campionato Primavera 1 and Campionato Primavera 2
See also Coppa Italia Primavera Supercoppa Primavera Serie A Serie B Młoda Ekstraklasa – Polish equivalent
References
External links