The 2008–09 Lega Pro Prima Divisione season is the thirty-first since its renaming to

Serie C1 Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football (soccer), football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1 ...

in 1978, and the first edition since the renaming from Serie C1 to Lega Pro. It was divided into two phases: the regular season, played from September 2008 to May 2009, and the playoff phase from May to June 2009. The league was composed of 36 teams divided into two divisions of 18 teams each, whose teams was divided mainly according to geographical principles. Teams will play only other teams in their own division, once at home and once away for a total of 34 matches. Teams finishing first in the regular season, plus one team winning the playoff round from each division, were promoted to Serie B; teams finishing last in the regular season, plus two relegation playoff losers from each division was relegated to

Lega Pro Seconda Divisione Lega Pro Seconda Divisione was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consisted of 36 teams, but in the 2011–12 season, there were 41 teams divided geographically into two divisions of 2 ...

. In all, four teams was promoted to Serie B, and six teams were relegated to Lega Pro Seconda Divisione.

Events

Start of season

The league was to feature four teams relegated from Serie B in 2007–08;

Avellino Avellino () is a town and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...

, Ravenna, Spezia, and Cesena. Two vacancies were created with the re-admission of Avellino to Serie B, and the bankruptcy of Spezia. It featured six teams promoted from

2007–08 Serie C2 The 2007–08 Serie C2 season was the thirtieth football (soccer) league season of Italian Serie C2 since its establishment in 1978 . It was divided into two phases: the regular season, played from September 2007 to May 2008, and the playoff phas ...

Pergocrema Unione Sportiva Pergolettese 1932 is an Italian association football club, based in Crema, province of Cremona, Lombardy. It currently plays in Serie C, the third level of Italian football. History From Pergolettese to Pergocrema The ori ...

, Reggiana,

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and ''comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the ...

, Lumezzane, Portosummaga, and Marcianise. The remaining 26 teams were to come from the teams that played in

2007–08 Serie C1 The 2007–08 Serie C1 season was the thirtieth football league season of Italian Serie C1 since its establishment in 1978. It was divided into two phases: the regular season, played from September 2007 to May 2008, and the playoff phase from ...

that were neither promoted nor relegated. Of those, Lucchese (8th in Girone B), and Massese (13th in Girone B) were also banned creating two more vacancies. Three of the four vacancies were filled by Virtus Lanciano, Pro Patria and Lecco which had lost in last year's Serie C1 relegation playoffs and were destined to play in Lega Pro Seconda Divisione. The fourth vacancy was filled by SPAL, which lost in last year's Serie C2 promotional playoffs and was thus destined to remain there.

Promotions

Cesena won direct promotion to Serie B for the 2009–10 season by finishing first in Girone A. Just one year ago Cesena was directly relegated from the same Serie B for finishing in last place.

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

also won direct promotion to Serie B by being crowned champions in Girone B. It was Gallipoli's third consecutive year in Lega Pro Prima Divisione/C1 after winning promotion from Serie C2 in 2005–06.

Relegations

Legnano Legnano (; or ''Lignàn'') is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the north-westernmost part of the Metropolitan City of Milan, Province of Milan, about from central Milan. With 60,259, it is the thirteenth-most populous township in Lombardy. Le ...

and

Potenza Potenza (, also , ; , Potentino dialect: ''Putenz'') is a ''comune'' in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata (former Lucania). Capital of the Province of Potenza and the Basilicata region, the city is the highest regional capital and one ...

were the first two teams relegated by finishing last in their respective divisions. Both teams had been in Prima Divisione/C1 for two consecutive years after winning promotion from

2006–07 Serie C2 The 2006–07 Serie C2 was the football (soccer) league season of Italian Serie C2 for the years 2006 and 2007. It was divided into two phases: the regular season, played from September 3, 2006 to May 13, 2007 and the playoff phase. Once the regul ...

. Four teams were relegated by losing in the relegation playoffs. Pro Sesto was relegated after 4 seasons in Prima Divisione/C1, winning promotion from C2 in 2004–05. Pro Sesto was forced to play in the playouts two other times, winning one and losing the other in 2006, but asked to remain in C1 to fill vacancies. Sambenedettese also lost in the Girone A playouts after 7 seasons in Prima Divisione/C1, winning promotion from C2 in 2001–02. In Girone B, Pistoiese and

Juve Stabia Società Sportiva Juve Stabia is an Italian football club based in Castellammare di Stabia, Campania. Juve Stabia currently plays in Serie C, the third tier of Italian football system. History The football in Castellammare di Stabia From St ...

lost in the relegation playoffs. Pistoiese had been in

2001–02 Serie B The 2001–02 Serie B is the 70th season since its establishment in 1929. It is the second highest football league in Italy. Teams Modena, Palermo, Como and Messina had been promoted from Serie C, while Reggina, Vicenza, Napoli and Bari had bee ...

, and after being relegated that year, spent the next 7 years in Prima Divisione/C1. Juve Stabia was promoted from C2 2004–05, spending the next four seasons in C1/Lega Pro.

Teams

On 14 August 2008 the following clubs were confirmed to be competing in the division:

Girone A

Girone B

League tables

Girone A

Girone B

Promotion and relegation playoffs

Girone A

Promotion

:''Promotion playoff semifinals'' :''First legs played 31 May 2009; return legs played 7 June 2009'' :''Promotion playoff finals'' :''First legs played 14 June 2009; return legs played 21 June 2009'' :''Padova promoted to Serie B''

Relegation

:''Relegation playoffs'' :''First legs played 31 May 2009; return legs played 7 June 2009'' :''Pro Sesto and Sambenedettese relegated to

Girone B

Promotion

Relegation

:''Relegation playoffs'' :''First legs played 31 May 2009; return legs played 7 June 2009'' :''Juve Stabia and Pistoiese relegated to

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2008-09 Lega Pro Prima Divisione Lega Pro Prima Divisione seasons Italy 3