The 1909-10 Prima Categoria was the thirteenth edition of the

Italian Football Championship Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

and the seventh since the rebrand to

Prima Categoria The Prima Categoria is the seventh level (since 2014–15) in the Italian football league system and is organized by the National Amateur League by the Regional Committees. Each individual league winner within the Prima Categoria level progress ...

. This was the first season in which the Italian Football Championship was contested in all-round-robin format, (other than the excluding the tie-break play-off that was ultimately needed). The play-off was won by

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Since 1 ...

. Their play-off opponents and champions of the two previous and three subsequent seasons were

Pro Vercelli Football Club Pro Vercelli 1892, commonly referred to as Pro Vercelli, is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Vercelli, Piedmont. The club is mostly renowned as one of the most successful teams in the early football era of Ital ...

. Vercelli fielded a team of 15-year-old boys to protest against the scheduling of the play-off that season. This was Inter’s first title as Italian champions.

Regulation

Following the creation of the

Italy national football team The Italy national football team () has represented Italy in men's international Association football, football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing body for fo ...

, the

Italian Football Federation The Italian Football Federation (, ; FIGC ), known colloquially as (), is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano, the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence. It manages a ...

revamped its championship. The round robin was introduced in Italy this season. The competition was expanded from eight clubs the previous season to nine. All clubs came from the 3 Northern Italian regions of

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

and

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

. Registration was free and only subject to a quality committee. The eight clubs of the last years were joined by Ausonia, a Milanese

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‘s club which paid the enrolment tax to try the experience of a national football championship.Meanwhile, Piemonte F.C. refused to join the championship, leaving incomplete the FIGC’s desired top-ten format.

Final classification

Results table

Championship tie-breaker

''Played in

Vercelli Vercelli (; ) is a city and ''comune'' of 46,552 inhabitants (January 1, 2017) in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, around 600 BC. ...

on April 24'' Pro Vercelli had previously planned to participate two football exhibitions on April 17 and 24, and asked the FIGC to postpone the tie-breaker to May 1; however, Inter was opposed playing the match on May 1 due to its own scheduled exhibitions. The FIGC granted the first postponement, but since Pro Vercelli ultimately did not take part in the April 17 exhibition, the second postponement was withdrawn and the tie-breaker was scheduled for April 24. Pro Vercelli fielded its fourth team, composed of 15-year-old boys in protest; after that, the FIGC imposed a penalty on the club for insubordination and unsportsmanlike conduct.

References and sources

*''Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004'', Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005 *Carlo Chiesa, ''La grande storia del calcio italiano'', Chapter 2: ''Juve, scippati due titoli! Inter, l'atroce beffa'', pp. 17–32, Guerin Sportivo #5, May 2012.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Italian Football Championship 1909-10 1909-10

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