The 1919–20 Prima Categoria season was won by Internazionale. It was the first championship after World War One.

Regulation

Struggles between minor and major clubs continued after four years of wartime break. The planned split between two national leagues had been forgotten, and the regional FAs became the lords of the tournament, which was expanded to 48 clubs. The championship was divided in a preliminary regional phase of ten matchdays, while the following national phase was split into a semifinal round of ten matchdays and a final round between three clubs. The main tournament was split in eight groups of six clubs. First and second clubs, together with the third teams of Piedmont, advanced to the national championship. Worst clubs had to ask for re-election. National championship was split in three groups of six clubs. Group winners advanced to the final group of three clubs. The whole tournament consequently had twenty-two matchdays. The experimental Southern groups had their own special regulations.

Teams

Six clubs had collapsed during the war. However, Regional FAs agreed to expand the league to 48 clubs. They variously chose to promote, re-elect, or invite clubs to fill the spots they had been granted to.

Pre-league qualifications

Piedmont

:''Played on October 5, 1919, in

Alessandria Alessandria (; pms, Lissandria ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, about east of Turin. Alessandria ...

.''

Lombardy

:''Played on October 5, 1919.''

Liguria

:''All matches played on November 5, 1919, in Genoa. Three available spots.''

Round 1

Round 2

Emilia

:''Matches played on September 29 and October 5, 1919, in Bologna.''

Round 1

Round 2

Campania

Round 1

Round 2

Verdicts

Atalanta, Enotria Goliardo, Grifone GC,

Sampierdarenese Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, S ...

, GS Bolognese, Pro Caserta, SPES Genova, Trevigliese and Alessandrina were admitted to the ''1a Categoria''. Amatori Giuoco Calcio Torino, Pastore, Ausonia Pro Gorla, Legnano, Saronno, Varese, Pavia, Carpi, Mantova, and Nazionale Emilia had been previously added to the championship by the Regional FAs.

Northern Italy

Qualifications

Piedmont - Group A

=Classification

=Results table

=Relegation play-off

= :''Played on February 2, 1920, in Novara.''

Piedmont - Group B

=Classification

=Results table

Liguria

=Classification

=Results table

Lombardy - Group A

=Classification

=Results table

=Qualification playoff

= :''Played on January 4, 1920, in Brescia.'' According to season 1919-20's FIGC rules in case of two teams sharing same position a playoff should have been played. When FIGC managers were noticed of too many matches programmed not for promotion or relegation sudden decided to change rules, just because of the few referees available for those matches, and upcoming matches (lower divisions) urged to get started. Later this playoff wasn't considered for the final table.

=Relegation playoff

= :''Played on February 15, 1920, in Brescia.''

Lombardy - Group B

=Classification

=Results table

Lombardy - Group C

=Classification

=Results table

=Relegation play-off

= :''Played on February 8, 1920, in Saronno.''

Veneto

=Classification

=Results table

=Relegation play-off

= :''Played on March 14, 1920, in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

.''

Emilia

=Classification

=Results table

Semifinals

The National semifinals had 18 clubs: six from Piedmont and Lombardy FAs, two from the other three Regional FAs.

Group A

=Classification

=Results table

Group B

=Classification

=Results table

Group C

=Classification

=Results table

Final round

Classification

Results

Southern Italy tournament

An experimental amatorial tournament was played in Southern Italy.

Final round

:''Played on 13 June 1920, in Bologna.''

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

qualified to the National Final.

National final

:''Played on 20 June 1920, in Bologna.''

Footnotes

References and sources

*''Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004'', Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Italian Football Championship 1919-20 Italy

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