The 2008–09

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

season was the seventy-seventh since its establishment. A total of 22 teams will contest the league, 15 of which will be returning from the 2007–08 season, four of which will have been promoted from

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 ...

(now Lega Pro Prima Divisione), and three relegated from

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

Teams

Noted teams featured in the league include

Parma F.C. Parma Calcio 1913 (), commonly known as Parma, is an Italian professional football club based in Parma, Emilia-Romagna, which competes in the Serie B, the second tier of Italian football. ''Parma Football Club'' was originally founded in Decembe ...

, who last played Serie B in 1989–90 when under coach

Nevio Scala Nevio Scala (; born 22 November 1947) is an Italian football sporting director, coach and former player. Throughout his footballing career, he played as a midfielder for several Italian clubs, and won several titles during his time with A.C. Mil ...

they won their first promotion to the top flight.

U.S. Sassuolo Calcio Unione Sportiva Sassuolo Calcio, commonly referred to as Sassuolo (), is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Sassuolo, Emilia-Romagna. Their colours are black and green, hence the nickname ''Neroverdi'' (literally "black and gre ...

, promoted to Serie B as Serie C1/A champions, are competing at the highest level in the club's history. A vacancy created by the withdrawal of Sicilian squad F.C. Messina Peloro was filled by the federation by including U.S. Avellino, who were the best team slated to be relegated in 2007–08.

Events

Following the end of the 2007–08 season, rumours spread out regarding

Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...

's financial struggles which might lead the team to insolvency and following exclusion from the Serie B teamlist. This was implicitly confirmed by the fact that Messina has not organized a pre-season camp as of 10 July, and the team being still without a coach. On 14 July 2008 the club board announced their intention to resign from the Serie B due to financial difficulties, also stating their intention to start again from amateur league

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

. On 25 July 2008 the Italian Football Federation confirmed that Avellino had been readmitted to

to replace Messina. On 31 July 2008 Treviso was penalized 3 points; however it ultimately changed to €15,000 fine by Camera di Conciliazione e Arbitrato per lo Sport of

CONI The Italian National Olympic Committee ( it, Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano, CONI), founded in 1914 and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is responsible for the development and management of sports activity in Italy. ...

. Brescia and Parma were the first clubs to sack their managers. The ''rondinelle'' sacked

Serse Cosmi Serse Cosmi (born 5 May 1958) is an Italian football coach, most recently in charge of Rijeka. Career Early career Cosmi was born in 1958 in Ponte San Giovanni, a Perugia ''frazione''. His father, a cycling fan, called him Serse after Faust ...

, with past UEFA Champions League experience at

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a ...

, replacing him with well-experienced 67-year-old boss

Nedo Sonetti Nedo Sonetti (born 25 February 1941) is an Italian football manager and former player, who played as a defender. Biography Sonetti was born in Piombino, southern Tuscany and lives now in Gorle. Playing career As a defender, Sonetti played in ...

, whereas Parma opted to dismiss

Luigi Cagni Luigi "Gigi" Cagni (born 14 June 1950 in Brescia) is an Italian former football player, who played as a defender. He most recently served head coach of Brescia in the Serie B league in the final weeks of the 2016–17 Serie B season. Playing ...

from the coaching post and appoint former

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

boss

Francesco Guidolin Francesco Guidolin (; born 3 October 1955) is an Italian football manager and former player, most recently the manager of Premier League team Swansea City. He has coached various Italian club sides in Serie A, winning the 1996–97 Coppa Ital ...

. Brescia completed its replacement prior to the two club's meeting in Brescia in Week 6, Parma the day after. Several other coaching dismissals soon followed, regarding Avellino (former

Foggia Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known ...

boss Salvatore Campilongo replacing Giuseppe Incocciati), Ascoli (former Juventus youth team coach

Vincenzo Chiarenza Vincenzo Chiarenza (born 27 September 1954 in Termini Imerese) is a former Italy, Italian association football, football coach (sport), coach and former player. Career Player Chiarenza started his professional playing career in 1973–74 with U ...

taking over from

Nello Di Costanzo Cuono "Nello" Di Costanzo (born 26 July 1961) is an Italian football manager and former player, who played as a forward, last in charge of Taranto. Career Playing A striker, he played in the youth ranks of AC Milan and Napoli, winning also a ...

) and Mantova (with former AC Milan assistant

Alessandro Costacurta Alessandro Costacurta (born 24 April 1966) is an Italian football pundit, manager and a former professional defender, who usually played as a centre back. Throughout his club career, Costacurta spent over twenty years with AC Milan between 19 ...

replacing Giuseppe Brucato). Chiarenza and

Salernitana Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919, commonly referred to as Salernitana, is an Italian football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recentl ...

gaffer

Fabrizio Castori Fabrizio Castori (born 11 July 1954) is an Italian football coach. He is currently in charge of club Perugia. Career Castori was born in San Severino Marche, but grew up in Tolentino. He started his coaching career in 1980 at the age of 26 ...

went in December, but Castori was soon reinstated after

Bortolo Mutti Bortolo Mutti (born 11 August 1954 in Trescore Balneario, Bergamo) is an Italian football manager and a former player, who was most recently manager of Livorno. His older brother Tiziano Mutti also played football professionally. To distinguish ...

's inconsistency. The shortest reign was former

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

striker

Abel Balbo Abel Eduardo Balbo (; born 1 June 1966) is an Argentine football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the current manager of Estudiantes de La Plata. Balbo played for various clubs in Argentina and Italy during the course o ...

, who resigned after only 4 weeks in the job. Castori was sacked again after a 2–2 draw with Treviso, and Grosseto, Modena, Pisa and Mantova also lost their coaches. On 8 May 2009

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 ...

0–1 home loss to

Triestina Unione Sportiva Triestina Calcio 1918, commonly referred to as Triestina, is an Italian football club based in Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Originally founded in 1918, the club has been re-established several times in its history. As of the ...

ensured

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

to be mathematically promoted to Serie A in advance of four weeks. The ''galletti'', coached by former

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

player

Antonio Conte Antonio Conte (; born 31 July 1969) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur. Playing as a midfielder, Conte began his career at local club Lecce and later ...

, will therefore make their return to the top flight after eight years in the Italian second division. On 11 May,

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...

was mathematically relegated to Lega Pro Prima Divisione following a 0–1 home loss to Veneto rivals

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a th ...

after being in the Serie A as late as the 2005–06 season. On 16 May,

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

joined

by ensuring automatic promotion to Serie A in Week 40, following a 2–2 tie with

Cittadella Cittadella ( vec, Sitadeła) is a medieval walled city in the province of Padua, northern Italy, founded in the 13th century as a military outpost of Padua. The surrounding wall has been restored and is in circumference with a diameter of around ...

that left a gap of seven points between

's team and closest rivals

with only two games remaining.

League table

Results

Top goalscorers

''Updated to games played on 30 May 2009''Titolo articolo – Risultati e ultime notizie calcio e calciomercato – La Gazzetta dello Sport
/ref> ; 24 goals *

Francesco Tavano Francesco "Ciccio" Tavano (born 2 March 1979) is an Italian football coach and former striker. He is currently in charge as head coach of Eccellenza amateurs Tuttocuoio. Playing career Tavano started his professional career with Pisa, before ...

''(

)'' ; 23 goals * Barreto ''(

)'' ; 18 goals * Salvatore Bruno ''(

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

)'' *

Riccardo Meggiorini Riccardo Meggiorini (born 4 September 1985) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a forward for an amateur side San Giovanni Lupatoto. Club career Early career Meggiorini took his first steps as a footballer at age eight, in a sma ...

''(

)'' ; 17 goals *

Salvatore Mastronunzio Salvatore Mastronunzio (born 5 September 1979) is an Italian footballer who plays as a forward for Anconitana on amateur levels. Club career Early career Born in Empoli, Tuscany, Mastronunzio started his career at Empoli F.C. He made his Ser ...

''(

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic S ...

)'' * Daniele Vantaggiato ''(

Rimini Rimini ( , ; rgn, Rémin; la, Ariminum) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It sprawls along the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient ''Ariminu ...

)'' ; 16 goals * Alessandro Noselli ''(

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label=Modenese dialect, Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town ...

)'' ; 15 goals * Andrea Caracciolo ''(

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

)'' * Éder ''(

Frosinone Frosinone (, local dialect: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, the administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is located about south-east of Rome close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of the Va ...

)'' * Marco Sansovini ''(

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the Province of Grosseto. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the Maremma, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the Ombrone river. It is the ...

)'' ; 13 goals * Arturo Di Napoli ''(

)'' *

Alessandro Diamanti Alessandro Diamanti (; born 2 May 1983) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for A-League club Western United. At club level, he has previously played for Prato, Empoli, Fucecchio, Fiorentina, AlbinoLeffe, West Ham Uni ...

''(

)'' *

Francesco Ruopolo Francesco Ruopolo (born 10 March 1983) is an Italian former footballer who played as a forward. He spent most of his career in the 2nd highest division of Italian football, Serie B. Club career Parma Born in Aversa, Campania region, Ruopol ...

''( AlbinoLeffe)'' ; 12 goals *

Saša Bjelanović Saša Bjelanović (; born 11 June 1979) is a Croatian retired footballer who played as a striker. He has held an Italian passport since 2007, as his grandmother was from Trieste, Venezia Giulia; this made him eligible to acquire Italian nationa ...

''(

)'' * Francesco Lodi ''(

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...

)'' *

Cristiano Lucarelli Cristiano Lucarelli (; born 4 October 1975) is an Italian football manager and a former player who played as a striker from 1992 until 2012. He was most recently the manager of Serie B club Ternana. Club career Lucarelli was born in Livorno, ...

''(

)'' *

Alberto Paloschi Alberto Paloschi (; born 4 January 1990) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Siena. Club career Milan Paloschi won the National Under-17s Championship with Milan in the 2006–07 season. He scored 3 goals in a ...

''(

)'' * Thomas Pichlmann ''(

)'' * Nicola Pozzi ''(

)''

Play-off

Promotion

:''Semifinals'' :''First legs played 7 June 2009; return legs played 11 June 2009'' :''Finals'' :''First leg played 14 June 2009; return leg played 20 June 2009''

Relegation

:''First leg played 6 June 2009; return leg played 13 June 2009''

Managerial changes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2008-09 Serie B Serie B seasons 2008–09 in Italian football leagues

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...