The 1920-21 Prima Categoria season was the twentieth 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 fourteenth since the re-brand 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 ...

. The 1920–21 Italian Football Championship was the sixth won by

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 ...

Regulation

Struggles between minor and major clubs continued, more, they went out of control. The

regional In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

FAs expanded the championship to 64 clubs. The preliminary regional phase became the bulk of the tournament, with even sixteen matchdays and regular regional football champions, while the following national phase was reduced to a spring tournament of eight matchdays. The main tournament was completely divided in five independent sections, and each region had its own football champions. The spots to the national championship were divided according to the agreements between the Regional FAs. National championship was split in four groups of four clubs. Group winners advanced to the

final four In sports, the final four is the last four teams remaining in a playoffs, playoff tournament. Usually the final four compete in the two games of a single-elimination tournament's semi-final (penultimate) round. Of these teams, the two who win in ...

. The whole tournament could have twenty-two matchdays. The experimental Southern groups had their own special regulations.

Teams

Regional FAs agreed to expand the league to 64 clubs. They variously chose to promote, re-elect, or invite clubs to fill the spots they had been granted to.

Pre-league qualifications

Liguria

Round 1

Round 2

Verdicts

Rivarolese and Sestrese were admitted to the ''1a Categoria''.

Northern Italy

Qualifications

Liguria

=Classification

= Rivarolese was demoted by the

Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio The Italian Football Federation (, ; FIGC ), known colloquially as (), is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence. It manages and coordinates the Italian football l ...

after incidents caused by its supporters during the match Rivarolese-

Savona Savona (; ) is a seaport and (municipality) in the west part of the northern Italian region of Liguria, and the capital of the Province of Savona. Facing the Ligurian Sea, Savona is the main center of the Riviera di Ponente (the western se ...

(0–2). Rivarolese's remaining matches were all considered forfeits. The side was readmitted to the championship for the following season.

=Results table

Piedmont

=Group A

= ;Classification ;Results Table ;Leadership playoff :''Played on 13 March 1921 in

Alessandria Alessandria (; ) is a city and commune in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. It is also the largest municipality of the region. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, ...

.''

=Group B

= ;Classification ;Results Table

=Qualification playoff

= :''Played on 20 February 1921 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. ...

.'' ;Repetition :''Played on 20 March 1921 in

.'' US Torinese qualified for the Northern Italy semifinals. Casale resigned from the

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

=Regional final

= :''Played on 20 March 1921 in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

.'' *Alessandria Champions of Piedmont 1921

Lombardy

=Group A

= ;Classification ;Results Table

=Group B

= ;Classification ;Results Table

=Group C

= ;Classification ;Results Table ;Relegation playoff :''Played on 5 December 1920 in

Busto Arsizio Busto Arsizio (; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the south-easternmost part of the province of Varese, in the Italy, Italian region of Lombardy, north of Milan. The economy of Busto Arsizio is mainly based on industry and commerce. It is the ...

.''

=Group D

= ;Classification ;Results Table ;Relegation playoff :''Played on 5 December 1920 in

Saronno Saronno (; ) is a ''comune'' of Lombardy, Italy, in the province of Varese. It received the honorary title of city with a presidential decree in 1960. With an estimated population of inhabitants, it is the most densely populated among the big m ...

.'' The match was voided due to irregularities. ;Repetition :''Played on 19 December 1920 in

.''

=Group E

= ;Classification ;Results Table

=Group F

= ;Classification ;Results Table

=Final round

= ;Classification ;Results Table

Veneto

=Group A

= ;Classification ;Results Table * The home teams are read down the left hand side while the away teams are indicated along the top.

=Group B

= ;Classification ;Results Table * The home teams are read down the left hand side while the away teams are indicated along the top.

=Relegation playoff

= :''Played on 27 February 1921 in

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

.''

=Final round

= ;Classification ;Results Table * The home teams are read down the left hand side while the away teams are indicated along the top.

Emilia

=Group A

= ;Classification ;Results table

=Group B

= ;Classification ;Results table

=Regional Finals

= :''Played on 6 February and 13 March 1921 to determine Emilia's regional champion.'' Since the aggregate rule wasn't applied, a tie-breaker was needed. ;Tie-breaker :''Played on 3 April 1921 in

Ferrara Ferrara (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, capital of the province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main ...

.''

=Qualification play-off

= :''Played on 2 and 20 February 1921.''

=Relegation playoff

= :''Played on ? in ?.''

Semifinals

Group A

=Classification

=Results table

Group B

=Classification

=Results table

=Qualification playoff

= :''Played on 3 July 1921 in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

.''

Group C

=Classification

=Results table

=Qualification play-off

= :''Played on 26 June 1921 in

.'' A tie-breaker was due, but both Legnano and Torino decided to retire from the championship and to resign from the FIGC.

Group D

=Classification

=Results table

Finals

Round 1

:''Played on 10 July 1921 in

.'' Bologna F.C. advanced directly to Round 2 due to

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

and

Legnano Legnano (; or ''Lignàn'') is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan, province of Milan, about from central Milan. With 60,259, it is the thirteenth-most populous township in Lombardy. Legnano is located in the ...

's retirement. Alessandria resigned from the FIGC.

Round 2

:''Played on 17 July 1921 in

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...

.'' Bologna resigned from the FIGC.

Southern Italy tournament

An experimental amatorial tournament was played in Southern Italy.

Final round

:''Played on 3 July 1921 in

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

.'' Livorno resigned from the FIGC.

National final

:''Played on 24 July 1921 in

.'' Both teams resigned from the FIGC.

Footnotes

References and sources

*''Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio – La Storia 1898–2004'', Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:1920-21 Italian Football Championship

1921 Events January * January 2 ** The Association football club Cruzeiro Esporte Clube, from Belo Horizonte, is founded as the multi-sports club Palestra Italia by Italian expatriates in First Brazilian Republic, Brazil. ** The Spanish lin ...