The 2014–15 Serie B was the 83rd season since its establishment in 1929. A total of 22 teams contested the league: 14 of which returning from the 2013–14 season, 5 of which promoted from Prima Divisione, and three relegated from Serie A. The original concept was that due to Siena's exclusion because of financial issues and the fact such vacancy will not be filled in preparation of a future reduction to a league composed by 20 teams, this season featured 21 participant clubs instead of the usual 22. However, on 11 August 2014, Novara won an appeal and the league confirmed a 22nd team. On 29 August, the league chose Vicenza Calcio as the 22nd participant.
The series have 42 weeks of play. The opening games of the season began on 30 August 2014, and the final matches took place on 22 May 2015.
Teams Relegated from 2013–14 Serie A:
Catania Bologna Livorno
From 2013–14 Serie B:
Latina Modena Crotone Bari Spezia Lanciano Avellino Carpi Brescia Trapani Pescara Ternana Cittadella Varese
Promoted from 2013–14 Prima Divisione:
Virtus Entella Perugia Pro Vercelli Frosinone Further: Vicenza, which took the place of Siena.
Stadia and locations
Team Home city Stadium Capacity 2013–14 season Avellino Avellino Partenio 11th in Serie B Bari Bari San Nicola 7th in Serie B Bologna Bologna Renato Dall'Ara 19th in Serie A Brescia Brescia Mario Rigamonti 13th in Serie B Carpi Carpi Sandro Cabassi 12th in Serie B Catania Catania Angelo Massimino 18th in Serie A Cittadella Cittadella Pier Cesare Tombolato 17th in Serie B Crotone Crotone Ezio Scida 6th in Serie B Frosinone Frosinone Matusa Lega Pro Prima Divisione/B Playoff Winners Latina Latina Domenico Francioni 3rd in Serie B Livorno Livorno Armando Picchi 20th in Serie A Modena Modena Alberto Braglia 5th in Serie B Perugia Perugia Renato Curi Lega Pro Prima Divisione/B Champions Pescara Pescara Adriatico 15th in Serie B Pro Vercelli Vercelli Silvio Piola Lega Pro Prima Divisione/A Playoff Winners Spezia La Spezia Alberto Picco 8th in Serie B Ternana Terni Libero Liberati 16th in Serie B Trapani Trapani(playing in Erice) Provinciale 14th in Serie B Varese Varese Franco Ossola 18th in Serie B Vicenza Vicenza Romeo Menti 5th in Lega Pro Prima Divisione/A Virtus Entella Chiavari Comunale Lega Pro Prima Divisione/A Champions Virtus Lanciano Lanciano Guido Biondi 10th in Serie B
Personnel and kits Team President Manager Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor (front)Shirt sponsor (back)Shorts sponsor Avellino Walter Taccone Massimo Rastelli Givova Metaedil.com, HS CompanyNGM MobileCAME Cancelli Automatici Bari Gianluca Paparesta Davide Nicola Erreà SuisseGasNGM MobileCAME Cancelli Automatici Bologna Joe Tacopina Delio Rossi Macron NGM Smartphones, +energiaNGM MobileCAME Cancelli Automatici Brescia Luigi Ragazzoni Alessandro Calori Joma UBI Banco di Brescia, FALAR serramentiNGM MobileCAME Cancelli Automatici Carpi Stefano Bonacini Fabrizio Castori Sportika Blumarine, Blusport/CAVA InternationalNGM MobileCAME Cancelli Automatici Catania Antonino Pulvirenti Dario Marcolin Givova Fortè Hard Discount, TTT LinesNGM MobileCAME Cancelli Automatici Cittadella Andrea Gabrielli Claudio Foscarini Garman Gruppo Gabrielli (H)/Gavinox (A), MetalserviceNGM MobileCAME Cancelli Automatici Crotone Raffaele Vrenna Massimo Drago Zeus V&V GroupNGM MobileCAME Cancelli Automatici Frosinone Maurizio Stirpe Roberto Stellone Legea Banca Popolare del Frusinate, GALANGM MobileCAME Cancelli Automatici Latina Pasquale Maietta Mark Iuliano Givova Bricofer, Recoma GroupNGM MobileCAME Cancelli Automatici Livorno Aldo Spinelli Christian Panucci Legea F.O.P. ItaliaNGM MobileCAME Cancelli Automatici Modena Angelo Forcina Mauro Melotti & Simone Pavan Erreà CoopGas, CPL ConcordiaNGM MobileCAME Cancelli Automatici Perugia Massimiliano Santopadre Andrea Camplone Frankie Garage Officine Piccini, Magna TestoneNGM MobileCAME Cancelli Automatici Pescara Daniele Sebastiani Marco Baroni Erreà Officina Metalmeccanica Angelucci, PharmapiùNGM MobileCAME Cancelli Automatici Pro Vercelli Massimo Secondo Cristiano Scazzola Erreà SeniorService/Punto Service, Riso di PastaNGM MobileCAME Cancelli Automatici Spezia Matteo Volpi Nenad Bjelica Lotto CarispeziaNGM MobileCAME Cancelli Automatici Ternana Edoardo Longarini Attilio Tesser Macron Banca Mediolanum, TascoutNGM MobileCAME Cancelli Automatici Trapani Vittorio Morace Serse Cosmi Macron Ustica LinesNGM MobileCAME Cancelli Automatici Varese Nicola Laurenza Stefano Bettinelli Zeus Oro in Euro, Unendo Energia ItalianaNGM MobileCAME Cancelli Automatici Vicenza Tiziano Cunico Pasquale Marino Macron Banca Popolare di VicenzaNGM MobileCAME Cancelli Automatici Virtus Entella Antonio Gozzi Alfredo Aglietti Acerbis Creditis, ArinoxNGM MobileCAME Cancelli Automatici Virtus Lanciano Valentina Maio Roberto D'Aversa Legea Gruppo Maio, Marfisi CarniNGM MobileCAME Cancelli Automatici
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Replaced by Date of appointment Bologna Davide Ballardini End of contract Pre-season Diego López Carpi Giuseppe Pillon Fabrizio Castori Virtus Lanciano Marco Baroni Mutual consent Roberto D'Aversa Bari Roberto Alberti End of contract Devis Mangia Pescara Serse Cosmi Marco Baroni Latina Roberto Breda Mario Beretta Livorno Davide Nicola Mutual consent Carmine Gautieri Spezia Devis Mangia Sacked Nenad Bjelica Catania Maurizio Pellegrino 20th Giuseppe Sannino Latina Mario Beretta Mutual consent 14th Roberto Breda Vicenza Giovanni Lopez Sacked 20th Pasquale Marino Bari Devis Mangia 14th Davide Nicola Brescia Ivo Iaconi 18th Ivan Javorčić (caretaker) Catania Giuseppe Sannino Resigned 17th Maurizio Pellegrino Maurizio Pellegrino Sacked 19th Dario Marcolin Livorno Carmine Gautieri Mutual consent 6th Ezio Gelain Latina Roberto Breda Sacked 21st Mark Iuliano Brescia Ivan Javorčić End of caretaker spell 15th Salvatore Giunta Salvatore Giunta Sacked 17th Alessandro Calori Modena Walter Novellino Mutual consent 18th Mauro Melotti and Simone Pavan Varese Stefano Bettinelli Sacked 21st Davide Dionigi Varese Davide Dionigi 22nd Stefano Bettinelli Trapani Roberto Boscaglia 18th Serse Cosmi Livorno Ezio Gelain 6th Christian Panucci Virtus Entella Luca Prina 19th Alfredo Aglietti Bologna Diego López 3rd Delio Rossi Pescara Marco Baroni 9th Massimo Oddo
Ownership changes Team Previous owner New owner Date Bologna Joe Tacopina and Joseph Christopher Vita Brescia Gino Corioni Profida Italia
League table
Playoffs
Promotion play-offs Because 3rd place team finished less than 10 points ahead of 4th and five teams from 4-8 finished within 14 points of third, six teams will play in the promotion playoffs. A preliminary one-legged round, played at the home venue of the higher placed team, involved the teams from 5th to 8th place. The two winning teams will then play against the 3rd and 4th-placed teams in two-legged semifinals. The higher placed team plays the second leg of the promotion playoff at home. If scores are tied after both games in the semifinals, the higher placed team progresses to the final. The same conditions apply to the final.
Relegation play-out In case of an aggregate tie, the higher placed team wins.
The matches later became null and void following Catania’s disqualification.
Results
Statistics
Top goalscorers Updated including all games played up until May 22, 2015 Rank Player Club Goals1 Andrea CoccoVicenza19 Andrea CatellaniSpezia Pablo GranocheModena4 Riccardo ManieroPescara / Catania18 Emanuele CalaiòCatania6 Ettore MarchiPro Vercelli17 Camillo CianoCrotone8 Luigi CastaldoAvellino169 Jerry MbakoguCarpi15 Daniele VantaggiatoLivorno Source: Official Goalscorers' Standings
Attendances
# Club Average 1 Bari 19,272 2 Bologna 15,177 3 Catania 13,476 4 Perugia 10,837 5 Vicenza 7,868 6 Avellino 7,167 7 Pescara 7,006 8 Livorno 6,335 9 Spezia 6,299 10 Brescia 5,946 11 Modena 5,634 12 Frosinone 5,246 13 Trapani 5,038 14 Ternana 4,923 15 Crotone 4,527 16 Latina 3,810 17 Virtus Lanciano 3,024 18 Carpi 3,020 19 Pro Vercelli 2,988 20 Varese 2,977 21 Cittadella 2,643 22 Virtus Entella 2,176 Source:
References