Serie C1 was the third highest football league and second lowest professional league in Italy. It consisted of 36 teams, divided geographically into two divisions.

History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Serie C. The league managing the C was also organizing the semi-professional Serie D. In 1978, it was decided to split the Serie C into Serie C1 (the third highest league) and Serie C2, that included the worst C and the best D clubs. Upon its inception in 1978–79, Serie C1 consisted of two groups of 18 teams, with two promotions and four relegations. During the season, teams only played the other teams in their division, according to the round robin method. The remnants of the Serie D were later, in 1981, moved to the amatorial sector as Campionato Interregionale.

Play-offs were introduced in 1992, together with the 3-victory-points rule. In each division, two teams were promoted to Serie B, and three teams were relegated to Serie C2. In total, the league promoted 4 teams to Serie B and relegated 6 teams to C2. The team finishing first in the regular season was directly promoted to Serie B, while teams placing 2nd to 5th were entered into a play-off semi-final for the chance of gaining the second promotional spot for that particular division. From 2000, the overall champions were decided through the Supercoppa di Serie C. From 2008 the competition was known as Lega Pro Prima Divisione.

The reform decided by the FIGC led to the reunification with the Serie C2 starting from 2014-2015 and with the subsequent rebirth of the third division championship with 60 teams divided into three groups of 20 as Serie C.

Past champions Source for league winners:

Group A

Season Winner Runner up 1978–79 Como Parma 1979–80 Varese Rimini 1980–81 Reggiana Cremonese 1981–82 Atalanta Monza 1982–83 Triestina Padova 1983–84 Parma Bologna 1984–85 Brescia Lanerossi Vicenza 1985–86 Parma Modena 1986–87 Piacenza Padova 1987–88 Ancona Monza 1988–89 Reggiana Triestina 1989–90 Modena Lucchese 1990–91 Piacenza Venezia 1991–92 SPAL Monza 1992–93 Ravenna Vicenza

Group B

Season Winner Runner up 1978–79 Matera Pisa 1979–80 Catania Foggia 1980–81 Cavese Sambenedettese 1981–82 Arezzo Campobasso 1982–83 Empoli Pescara 1983–84 Bari Taranto 1984–85 Catanzaro Palermo 1985–86 Messina Taranto 1986–87 Catanzaro Barletta 1987–88 Licata Cosenza 1988–89 Cagliari Foggia 1989–90 Taranto Salernitana 1990–91 Casertana Palermo 1991–92 Ternana Fidelis Andria 1992–93 Palermo Acireale

Season Winner Playoff Winner 1993–94 Chievo Como 1994–95 Bologna Pistoiese 1995–96 Ravenna Empoli 1996–97 Treviso Monza 1997–98 Cesena Cremonese 1998–99 Alzano Virescit Pistoiese 1999–00 Siena Cittadella 2000–01 Modena Como 2001–02 Livorno Triestina 2002–03 Treviso AlbinoLeffe 2003–04 Arezzo Cesena 2004–05 Cremonese Mantova 2005–06 Spezia Genoa 2006–07 Grosseto Pisa 2007–08 Sassuolo Cittadella

Season Winner Playoff Winner 1993–94 Perugia Salernitana 1994–95 Reggina Avellino 1995–96 Lecce Castel di Sangro 1996–97 Fidelis Andria Ancona 1997–98 Cosenza Ternana 1998–99 Fermana Savoia 1999–00 Crotone Ancona 2000–01 Palermo Messina 2001–02 Ascoli Catania 2002–03 Avellino Pescara 2003–04 Catanzaro Crotone 2004–05 Rimini Avellino 2005–06 Napoli Frosinone 2006–07 Ravenna Avellino 2007–08 Salernitana Ancona

Lega Pro Prima Divisione

Group A

Season Winner Playoff Winner 2008–09 Cesena Padova 2009–10 Novara Varese 2010–11 Gubbio Verona 2011–12 Ternana Pro Vercelli 2012–13 Trapani Carpi 2013–14 Virtus Entella Pro Vercelli

Group B

Season WinnerPlayoff Winner 2008–09 Gallipoli Crotone 2009–10 Portogruaro Pescara 2010–11 Nocerina Juve Stabia 2011–12 Spezia Virtus Lanciano 2012–13 Avellino Latina 2013–14 Perugia Frosinone

References

External links Lega Pro current season tables, fixtures and results at Soccerway Italian Clubs Divisional Movements 1929-1996 - RSSSF Lega Pro official website Lega Pro at data sport.it