The 2010–11 Serie B (known as the Serie bwin for sponsorship reasons) is the seventy-ninth season since its establishment in 1929, and the first one under the rule of the new Lega Serie B. A total of 22 teams contest the league, 15 of which returned from the 2009–10 season, 4 of which have been promoted from Lega Pro Prima Divisione, and three relegated from Serie A.
Events On 25 April 2010, Livorno became the first team to be mathematically relegated to the league from Serie A; on the same day, Novara put an end to a 33-year absence from the division by becoming Lega Pro Prima Divisione/A champions in advance of two weeks.
On 2 May 2010, Siena became the second team to get relegated from Serie A, putting an end to a seven-year consecutive stay in the Italian top flight.
On 9 May 2010, Atalanta were mathematically relegated into the Serie B; on the same day, Portogruaro won the Lega Pro Prima Divisione/B title, thus ensuring themselves participation in the Italian second tier in a historical first team for the small Venetian club.
On 13 June 2010, Varese and Pescara became the other two teams promoted from the third tier as playoff winners.
On 22 June 2010, it was announced that newly promoted Portogruaro would play the first games of the new season at the Stadio Friuli in Udine, in order to allow renovation plans for the club's home stadium in Portogruaro, which is considered too small for Serie B standards; according to the club's general manager Paolo Mio, Portogruaro is expected to play at least the first four or five home games in Udine.
On the deadline of 7 July, Ascoli and Ancona ultimately failed to fulfill the financial requirements and were expelled from the league, while Portogruaro was expelled because the club did not fulfill bureaucratic requirements. On July 16, 2010 the Federal Council readmitted Ascoli and Portoguraro to Serie B championship, and excluded Ancona, who subsequently announced their intention to appeal the decision to the Italian Olympic Committee.
On 23 July, Ancona's appeal was rejected, but the club filed another appeal to an administrative court in Rome. Such appeal was rejected on 3 August, thus formalizing Ancona's exclusion from the league. On 4 August, the Federal Council decided to bring back Triestina to fill the vacancy.
On 28 October, the Venice prefecture signed the authorization that allowed Portosummaga to play its home matches at the Stadio Piergiovanni Mecchia, which had undergone renovation works during the summer, including the installation of a new stand.
Teams
Stadiums and locations Club City Stadium Capacity 2009–10 season AlbinoLeffe Albino and Leffe(playing in Bergamo) Atleti Azzurri d'Italia 26,393 11th in Serie B Ascoli Ascoli Piceno Cino e Lillo Del Duca 20,000 9th in Serie B Atalanta Bergamo Atleti Azzurri d'Italia 26,393 18th in Serie A Cittadella Cittadella Pier Cesare Tombolato 7,500 6th in Serie B Crotone Crotone Ezio Scida 9,631 8th in Serie B Empoli Empoli Carlo Castellani 19,795 10th in Serie B Frosinone Frosinone Matusa 9,680 16th in Serie B Grosseto Grosseto Carlo Zecchini 9,909 7th in Serie B Livorno Livorno Armando Picchi 19,238 20th in Serie A Modena Modena Alberto Braglia 20,507 12th in Serie B Novara Novara Silvio Piola 10,106 Lega Pro Prima Divisione/A Champions Padova Padua Euganeo 32,336 19th in Serie B Pescara Pescara Adriatico 24,500 Lega Pro Prima Divisione/B Playoff Winners Piacenza Piacenza Leonardo Garilli 21,668 15th in Serie B Portogruaro Portogruaro Piergiovanni Mecchia1 3,335 Lega Pro Prima Divisione/B Champions Reggina Reggio Calabria Oreste Granillo 27,454 13th in Serie B Sassuolo Sassuolo(playing in Modena) Alberto Braglia 20,507 4th in Serie B Siena Siena Artemio Franchi 15,373 19th in Serie A Torino Turin Olimpico di Torino 27,994 5th in Serie B Triestina Trieste Nereo Rocco 32,454 18th in Serie B Varese Varese Franco Ossola 8,213 Lega Pro Prima Divisione/A Playoff Winners Vicenza Vicenza Romeo Menti 17,163 14th in Serie B 1Portogruaro played the first 5 home matches at Stadio Friuli in Udine.
Personnel and kits TeamPresidentManagerKit manufacturerShirt sponsorMainOther(s)AlbinoLeffe Gianfranco Andreoletti Daniele FortunatoAcerbisUBI AssicurazioniAscoli Roberto Benigni Fabrizio CastoriLegeaCarisapAtalanta Antonio Percassi Stefano ColantuonoErreàAxaCittadella Andrea Gabrielli Claudio FoscariniGarmanSiderurgica GabrielliCrotone Salvatore Gualtieri Leonardo MenichiniZeusSovrecoEmpoli Fabrizio Corsi Alfredo AgliettiAsicsNGM MobileFrosinone Maurizio Stirpe Salvatore CampilongoLegeaBanca Popolare del FrusinateGrosseto Piero Camilli Michele SerenaErreàIndustria Lavorazione Carni OvineLivorno Aldo Spinelli Walter NovellinoLegeaBanca CarigeNoneModena Ninetto Sgarbi Cristiano BergodiGivovaCPL ConcordiaNovara Carlo Accornero Attilio TesserSportikaBanca Popolare di NovaraPadova Marcello Cestaro Alessandro Dal CantoLottoFamilaPescara Giuseppe De Cecco Eusebio Di FrancescoLegeaPail SerramentiPiacenza Fabrizio Garilli Armando MadonnaMacronUNICEFPortogruaro Francesco Mio Andrea AgostinelliGivovaCAP ArreghiniReggina Pasquale Foti Gianluca AtzoriOnzeProvincia di Reggio Calabria / Zappalà / La Fabbrica dello Sport / Canale Group / Mobilya Design / Progetto5 / Goalsbet ItaliaSassuolo Carlo Rossi Paolo MandelliSportikaMapeiNoneSiena Massimo Mezzaroma Antonio ConteKappaBanca Monte dei PaschiNoneTorino Urbano Cairo Franco LerdaKappaItalporteTriestina Stefano Fantinel Sandro SalvioniLegeaFantinel (Home) & Testa & Molinaro (Away)Varese Antonio Rosati Giuseppe SanninoOnzeOro in EuroVicenza Danilo Preto Rolando MaranMax SportBanca Popolare di Vicenza
Managerial changes
Before the start of the season Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Ascoli Giuseppe Pillon End of contract Elio Gustinetti Siena Alberto Malesani End of contract Antonio Conte Livorno Gennaro Ruotolo End of caretaker spell Giuseppe Pillon Empoli Salvatore Campilongo End of contract Alfredo Aglietti Piacenza Massimo Ficcadenti End of contractsigned by Cesena Armando Madonna Sassuolo Stefano Pioli Mutual consent Daniele Arrigoni Torino Stefano Colantuono Resigned Franco Lerda Atalanta Bortolo Mutti End of contract Stefano Colantuono Crotone Franco Lerda End of contract Leonardo Menichini Reggina Roberto Breda End of contract Gianluca Atzori Padova Carlo Sabatini End of contract Alessandro Calori Portoguraro Alessandro Calori Mutual consent Eugenio Corini Grosseto Maurizio Sarri End of contract Luigi Apolloni Modena Luigi Apolloni End of contract Cristiano Bergodi Portogruaro Eugenio Corini Resigned Fabio Viviani
During the regular season
Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointment Grosseto Luigi Apolloni Sacked Francesco Moriero Sassuolo Daniele Arrigoni Sacked Angelo Gregucci Ascoli Elio Gustinetti Sacked Fabrizio Castori Crotone Leonardo Menichini Sacked Eugenio Corini Portogruaro Fabio Viviani Sacked Andrea Agostinelli Triestina Ivo Iaconi Sacked Sandro Salvioni Frosinone Guido Carboni Sacked Salvatore Campilongo Grosseto Francesco Moriero Sacked Michele Serena AlbinoLeffe Emiliano Mondonico Sick leave Daniele Fortunato (a.i.) Livorno Giuseppe Pillon Sacked Walter Novellino AlbinoLeffe Daniele Fortunato (a.i.) End of sick leave Emiliano Mondonico Crotone Eugenio Corini Sacked Leonardo Menichini Torino Franco Lerda Sacked Giuseppe Papadopulo Padova Alessandro Calori Sacked Alessandro Dal Canto (caretaker) Torino Giuseppe Papadopulo Sacked Franco Lerda Sassuolo Angelo Gregucci Sacked Paolo Mandelli (caretaker)
League table
Results
Play-off
Promotion Semi-finals First legs played on 2 June 2011; return legs on 5 June 2011
(*)Higher seed advances when aggregate score is tied.
Finals First leg played 9 June 2011; return leg played 12 June 2011
Relegation First leg played on 4 June 2011; return leg played on 11 June 2011
Piacenza is relegated to Lega Pro Prima Divisione 2011-12.
Top goalscorers 23 goals Federico Piovaccari (Cittadella)
19 goals Elvis Abbruscato (Vicenza) Rolando Bianchi (Torino)
18 goals Emanuele Calaiò (Siena)
17 goals Cristian Bertani (Novara) Emiliano Bonazzoli (Reggina) Daniele Cacia (Piacenza) Claudio Coralli (Empoli)
15 goals Pablo González (Novara) Davide Succi (Padova)
Updated: 29 May 2011
Attendances
# Club Average 1 Atalanta 18,737 2 Torino 11,413 3 Pescara 8,048 4 Siena 7,281 5 Padova 6,362 6 Ascoli 6,012 7 Vicenza 5,740 8 Novara 5,449 9 Modena 5,284 10 Varese 5,012 11 Reggina 4,569 12 Livorno 4,451 13 Triestina 4,379 14 Crotone 3,372 15 Empoli 2,778 16 Sassuolo 2,756 17 Frosinone 2,747 18 Piacenza 2,715 19 Cittadella 2,503 20 Grosseto 2,182 21 Albinoleffe 2,141 22 Portogruaro 1,369Source:
References