The 2011–12 Serie B (known as the Serie bwin for sponsorship reasons) was the eightieth season since its establishment in 1929. A total of 22 teams contested the league: 15 of these were returning from the 2010–11 season, four had been promoted from Lega Pro Prima Divisione, and three had been relegated from Serie A. It began on 27 August 2011 and ended on 27 May 2012.
Changes from last season The league will feature three clubs relegated from Serie A: Brescia returned to the second division after only a single season in the top flight, whereas Bari were relegated after a two-year stint. The third relegated team, Sampdoria, made instead a rather unexpected Serie B return after nine years.
Four teams were promoted from Lega Pro Prima Divisione, three of them returning to Serie B after significant absences, and two of them will play Serie B for their second time in history, Gubbio after 63 years and Juve Stabia after 59 years, while Nocerina will take part to its third Serie B after 32 years. The fourth promoted team, Verona, make instead their return to Serie B after four years; Verona will also participate as one of only three teams in the league who won the Italian national championship at some point in history (the other two being Sampdoria and Torino).
Events The league started with a number of teams being punished with Ascoli being docked six points (then reduced to three) as a consequence of the 2011 Italian football scandal. Ascoli were also docked one point due to failing to pay social security money in time, together with Crotone and Juve Stabia.
Later in October 2011, Juve Stabia were docked five more points (successively reduced to three) due to their involvement in a matchfixing scandal regarding a 2008–09 Lega Pro Prima Divisione game against Sorrento. Still in October, Ascoli were docked three more points (now totalling a seven-point overall deduction) due to failing to meet some financial deadlines.
On 3 December 2011, the Padova–Torino league match was suspended with the home club leading 1–0 due to an electric stadium blackout; the game was completed 11 days later, and ended with the same result as earlier. Torino, however, appealed, claiming the home club was responsible for the blackout issue, and asked for being awarded the three points instead. In March 2012, the sports magistrature ultimately ruled in favour of the recurring club, and changed the result to a 3–0 win for Torino. However, Padova successfully appealed at the Court of Federal Justice, and on 27 April 2012 the result was switched back to a 1–0 win for the home club.
On 14 April 2012, the Pescara–Livorno game was halted after 30 minutes (the result being 0–2 at the time of suspension) after Livorno footballer Piermario Morosini suffered a heart failure on the pitch and eventually died in transport to hospital. The event caused the immediate cancellation of all Italian football games for the week, with the involving matches (including the remaining 60 minutes of Pescara–Livorno) being delayed to mid-May.
The first season verdict, AlbinoLeffe's relegation after nine consecutive years in the division, came on 5 May 2012. Seven days later, Gubbio became the second relegated club of the season, thus going down on their first season back. On 20 May 2012, the first promotion verdicts arrived as Torino, having already been champion of winter, and Pescara mathematically ensured themselves a place in the top flight for the following season; on that same day, it was also made official that Sassuolo, Verona, Varese and Sampdoria will be the four participants to the post-season promotion playoff tournament. The final regular season week marked Nocerina's direct relegation after only one season following a defeat at the hands of newly crowned champions Pescara, whereas Vicenza and Empoli will play a two-legged relegation playoff to determine the fourth team destined to go down to Lega Pro Prima Divisione.
Teams
Stadia and locations Team Home city Stadium Capacity 2010–11 season AlbinoLeffe Albino and Leffe(playing in Bergamo) Atleti Azzurri d'Italia 18th in Serie B Ascoli Ascoli Piceno Cino e Lillo Del Duca 17th in Serie B Bari Bari San Nicola 20th in Serie A Brescia Brescia Mario Rigamonti 19th in Serie A Cittadella Cittadella Pier Cesare Tombolato 14th in Serie B Crotone Crotone Ezio Scida 11th in Serie B Empoli Empoli Carlo Castellani 9th in Serie B Grosseto Grosseto Carlo Zecchini 15th in Serie B Gubbio Gubbio Pietro Barbetti Prima Divisione/A champions Hellas Verona Verona Marc'Antonio Bentegodi Prima Divisione/A play-off winners Juve Stabia Castellammare di Stabia Romeo Menti Prima Divisione/B play-off winners Livorno Livorno Armando Picchi 7th in Serie B Modena Modena Alberto Braglia 10th in Serie B Nocerina Nocera Inferiore San Francesco Prima Divisione/B champions Padova Padua Euganeo 5th in Serie B Pescara Pescara Adriatico 13th in Serie B Reggina Reggio Calabria Oreste Granillo 6th in Serie B Sampdoria Genoa Luigi Ferraris 18th in Serie A Sassuolo Sassuolo(playing in Modena) Alberto Braglia 16th in Serie B Torino Turin Olimpico di Torino 8th in Serie B Varese Varese Franco Ossola 4th in Serie B Vicenza Vicenza Romeo Menti 12th in Serie B
Personnel and kits TeamPresidentManagerKit manufacturerShirt sponsorAlbinoLeffe Gianfranco Andreoletti Alessio PalaAcerbisUBI Assicurazioni / UBI Banca Popolare di Bergamo, Studio Casa Agenzie ImmobiliariAscoli Roberto Benigni Massimo SilvaLegeaCarisap, CIAMBari Francesco Vinella Vincenzo TorrenteErreàBanca Popolare di Bari, RadionorbaBrescia Gino Corioni Alessandro CaloriMassUBI Banco di Brescia, SAMACittadella Andrea Gabrielli Claudio FoscariniGarmanSiderurgica Gabrielli, MetalserviceCrotone Giovanni Vrenna Massimo DragoZeusSovreco, Associazione Italiana Sclerosi MultiplaEmpoli Fabrizio Corsi Alfredo AgliettiAsicsNGM Mobile, Computer GrossGrosseto Piero Camilli Francesco StatutoErreàIndustria Lavorazione Carni Ovine, Banca della MaremmaGubbio Marco Fioriti Luigi ApolloniGivovaColacemHellas Verona Giovanni Martinelli Andrea MandorliniAsicsagsm / Sicurint Group, Protec / LeaderformJuve Stabia Francesco Giglio Piero BragliaFly LineBonavita Jeans, Gef Consulting SpA / Concilium ItaliaLivorno Aldo Spinelli Attilio PerottiLegeaBanca CarigeModena Maurizio Rinaldi Cristiano BergodiGivovaCoopGas, ImmergasNocerina Giovanni Citarella Gaetano AuteriGivovaAlfa Recupero Crediti, Savenergy GroupPadova Marcello Cestaro Alessandro Dal CantoJomaFamila, Cassa di Risparmio del VenetoPescara Daniele Sebastiani Zdeněk ZemanErreàGamenet, RisparmioCasaReggina Pasquale Foti Roberto BredaGivovaCanale Group / Goalsbet Italia / Diano Cementi / Progetto5 / Centro Commerciale La Gru, Stocco & StoccoSampdoria Riccardo Garrone Giuseppe IachiniKappaGamenetSassuolo Carlo Rossi Fulvio PeaSportikaMapeiTorino Urbano Cairo Gian Piero VenturaKappaRoyal Caribbean International / Valmora, aruba.itVarese Antonio Rosati Rolando MaranAdidasOro in Euro, Gruppo Ing. Claudio Salini / Temporary Agenzia per il lavoroVicenza Massimo Masolo Luigi CagniMax SportBanca Popolare di Vicenza
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner ofdeparture Date ofvacancy Positionin table Replaced by Date of appointment Brescia Resigned 2 June 2011 Before the start of the season 29 June 2011 Varese End of contract 6 June 2011 16 June 2011 Vicenza Sacked 6 June 2011 13 June 2011 Reggina End of contract 8 June 2011 23 June 2011 Sampdoria 9 June 2011 9 June 2011 Sassuolo End of caretaker spell 9 June 2011 9 June 2011 Grosseto Resigned 13 June 2011 28 June 2011 Gubbio Signed by Bari 15 June 2011 18 June 2011 Bari End of contract 15 June 2011 15 June 2011 Pescara Mutual consent 21 June 2011 21 June 2011 AlbinoLeffe Resigned 17 June 2011 17 June 2011 Varese Sacked 1 October 2011 16th 1 October 2011 Empoli 2 October 2011 17th 3 October 2011 Vicenza 4 October 2011 20th 6 October 2011 Gubbio 16 October 2011 21st (caretaker) 18 October 2011 Grosseto 29 October 2011 7th 29 October 2011 Ascoli 2 November 2011 22nd 2 November 2011 Sampdoria 13 November 2011 7th 14 November 2011 Modena 14 November 2011 19th (caretaker) 14 November 2011 Empoli 20 November 2011 17th 20 November 2011 Grosseto Resigned 3 December 2011 8th 5 December 2011 Brescia Sacked 12 December 2011 18th 12 December 2011 Livorno Consensual termination 21 December 2011 18th 21 December 2011 Nocerina Sacked 7 January 2012 21st 7 January 2012 Reggina 8 January 2012 6th 8 January 2012 Crotone 23 January 2012 16th (caretaker) 23 January 2012 Nocerina Consensual termination 23 January 2012 22nd 23 January 2012 AlbinoLeffe Sacked 28 January 2012 18th 28 January 2012 Grosseto 1 February 2012 11th 1 February 2012 Empoli 12 February 2012 17th 12 February 2012 Modena (caretaker) 26 February 2012 17th 26 February 2012 Vicenza 4 March 2012 16th (caretaker) 4 March 2012 Gubbio (caretaker) End of caretaker spell 20 March 2012 20th 20 March 2012 Gubbio Sacked 2 April 2012 20th 2 April 2012 AlbinoLeffe 7 April 2012 22nd 7 April 2012 Reggina 15 April 2012 10th 15 April 2012 Vicenza (caretaker) 29 April 2012 19th 29 April 2012 Livorno 6 May 2012 18th (caretaker) 6 May 2012 Grosseto 14 May 2012 14th (caretaker) 14 May 2012
League table
Results
Play-off
Promotion Semi-finals In case of an aggregate tie, the higher seed advances. First legs will be played on 30 May 2012; return legs on 2 June 2012
Finals In case of an aggregate tie, the higher seed advances. First leg played 6 June 2012; return leg played 9 June 2012
Sampdoria promoted to Serie A.
Relegation First leg played on 3 June 2012; return leg played on 8 June 2012 In case of an aggregate tie, the higher seed advances.
Vicenza is relegated to Lega Pro Prima Divisione.
Top goalscorers Updated 21 May 2012
28 goals Ciro Immobile (Pescara) 21 goals Marco Sau (Juve Stabia) 20 goals Ferdinando Sforzini (Grosseto) Gianluca Sansone (Sassuolo) 19 goals Francesco Tavano (Empoli) 18 goals Lorenzo Insigne (Pescara) 17 goals Caetano (Crotone) 16 goals Jonathas (Brescia) Marco Sansovini (Pescara) 15 goals Nicola Pozzi (Sampdoria) Papa Waigo (Ascoli) 14 goals Juanito (Verona)
Attendances
# Club Average 1 Sampdoria 20,854 2 Torino 15,897 3 Hellas 14,084 4 Pescara 13,940 5 Padova 8,094 6 Vicenza 6,221 7 Bari 5,275 8 Modena 5,265 9 Livorno 4,822 10 Nocerina 4,821 11 Reggina 4,629 12 Brescia 4,386 13 Varese 3,797 14 Crotone 3,630 15 Gubbio 3,540 16 Juve Stabia 3,369 17 Sassuolo 3,250 18 Ascoli 3,091 19 Empoli 2,757 20 Cittadella 2,354 21 AlbinoLeffe 2,265 22 Grosseto 1,980 Source:
References