The 2020–21 Serie C was the seventh season of the unified

Serie C The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega Pro ...

division, the third tier of the

Italian football league system The Italian football league system, also known as the Italian football pyramid, refers to the hierarchically interconnected league system for association football in Italy. It consists of nine national and regional tournaments, the first three be ...

Teams

The league was initially to be contested by 60 teams, but was reduced to 59 following the exclusion of

Trapani Trapani ( , ; scn, Tràpani ; lat, Drepanum; grc, Δρέπανον) is a city and municipality (''comune'') on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an imp ...

Relegated from Serie B

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...

(subsequently excluded) * Juve Stabia *

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 ...

Promoted from Serie D

* Lucchese (Girone A winners) *

Pro Sesto Pro Sesto 1913 S.r.l. (formerly ''Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica Nuova Pro Sesto'' and initially ''Associazione Calcio Pro Sesto'') is an association football club, based in Sesto San Giovanni, Lombardy, Italy. Pro Sesto currently plays ...

(Girone B winners) *

Legnago Legnago () is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy, with population (2012) of 25,439. It is located on the Adige river, about from Verona. Its fertile land produces crops of rice, other cereals, sugar, and toba ...

(Girone C runners-up) * Mantova (Girone D winners) *

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 ...

(Girone E winners) *

Matelica Matelica is a (municipality) of the Province of Macerata in the Italian region of Marche. Located about southwest of Ancona and west of Macerata, it extends over an area of . Geography Matelica lies in an ample valley where the Braccano cre ...

(Girone F winners) *

Turris ''Turris'' is a genus of sea snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Turridae, the turrids. Description The generally large shells are variegated with spots. The fusiform shell is turriculated with a long, sharp spire. The aperture is ...

(Girone G winners) * Foggia (Girone H winners) *

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 ...

(Girone I winners)

Readmissions

Following the disbandment of Sicula Leonzio and

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

, two relegated clubs were readmitted as members of Serie C. * Giana Erminio *

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...

During the season

On 4 October 2020, Trapani was excluded from the league after failing to play two consecutive matches.

Stadia and locations

Group A (North & Central West)

8 teams from

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

, 6 teams from

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze''). Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...

, 4 teams from

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, 1 team from

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

and 1 team from

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

Group B (North & Central East)

5 teams from

, 5 teams from

Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

, 3 teams from

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

, 2 teams from

Umbria it, Umbro (man) it, Umbra (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , ...

, 1 team from

Friuli-Venezia Giulia (man), it, Friulana (woman), it, Giuliano (man), it, Giuliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_t ...

, 1 team from

Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol it, Trentino (man) it, Trentina (woman) or it, Altoatesino (man) it, Altoatesina (woman) or it, Sudtirolesegerman: Südtiroler (man)german: Südtirolerin (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = Official ...

and 1 team from

Group C (Centre & South)

6 teams from

Campania Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...

, 5 teams from

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

, 3 teams from

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, 2 teams from

Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, 1 team from

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese Neapolitan, Abbrùzze , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; nap, label=Sabino dialect, Aquilano, Abbrùzzu; #History, historically Abruzzi) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy wi ...

, 1 team from Basilicata, 1 team from

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

and 1 from

League tables

Group A (North & Central West)

Group B (North & Central East)

Group C (Centre & South)

Promotion play-offs

A total of 28 teams qualified for the promotion play-offs. The winner of the play-offs earns promotion to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie 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. It had been ...

First preliminary round

The fixtures pair the 5th vs 10th, 6th vs 9th and 7th vs 8th-placed teams. In the group with the best 4th-placed team, the 5th placed team advances automatically to the second preliminary round and the revised fixtures are 6th vs 11th, 7th vs 10th and 8th vs 9th. If teams are tied after regular time, the higher-placed team advances. Matches were played on 9 May 2021. The

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 ...

Virtus Verona Virtus Verona, founded as Unione Sportiva Virtus Borgo Venezia in 1921, sometimes referred to as Virtus Vecomp Verona for sponsorship reasons, is an Italian association football club located in Borgo Venezia, a district of Verona, Veneto. It c ...

game, originally scheduled to be played on 9 May 2021, was delayed due to eight cases of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

infection involving the latter club. Match was later played on 16 May 2021.

Second preliminary round

The fixtures pair the 4th-placed team vs the worst-placed team and the best-placed team vs the 2nd best-placed team from the first preliminary round. The best 4th-placed team in regular season advances automatically to the first national round and their berth is transferred to the 5th-placed team of the same group. If teams are tied after regular time, the higher-placed team advances. Matches were played on 19 May 2021.

First national round

The three 3rd-placed teams, the best 4th-placed team and the best-placed team from the second preliminary round ( Bari) are seeded and host the second leg. No away goal rule applies. If teams are tied on aggregate, the seeded team advances. The draw for the first national round was held on 20 May 2021, 11:00

CEST CEST or cest may refer to: * Central European Summer Time (UTC+2), daylight saving time observed in the central European time zone * Cognitive-Experiential Self-Theory * Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer, a subset of Magnetization transfer in ...

(

UTC+2 UTC+02:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +02:00. In ISO 8601, the associated time would be written as 2020-11-08T23:41:45+02:00. This time is used in: As standard time (year-round) ''Principal cities: Cairo, Pretoria, Cape ...

). The first legs were played on 23 May 2021 and the second legs were played on 26 May 2021.

Second national round

The three 2nd-placed teams and the best-placed team from the first national round (

Südtirol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

) are seeded and host the second leg. No away goal rule applies. If teams are tied on aggregate, the seeded team advances. The draw for the second national round was held on 27 May 2021, 11:00

(

). The first legs were played on 30 May 2021 and the second legs were played on 2 June 2021.

Final Four

No away goal rule applies. If teams are tied on aggregate, the winner is decided by extra-time and a penalty shootout if required. The draw for Final Four was held on 27 May 2021, 11:00

(

), after the second national round draw. The semi-finals legs were played on 6 and 9 June 2021 and the final legs were played on 13 and 17 June 2021. Alessandria promoted to

Relegation play-outs

A total of 6 teams qualified for the relegation play-outs. The fixtures pair the 16th vs 19th and 17th vs 18th-placed teams, with higher-placed team playing at home for second leg. No away goal rule applies. If teams are tied on aggregate, the lower-placed team is relegated to

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 ...

. The first legs were played on 15 May 2021 and the second legs were played on 22 May 2021. The

Fano Fano is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the '' Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by po ...

vs Imolese game was postponed due to a cluster of confirmed

cases involving the former team. Match was played on 22 May 2021, whilst the second leg was played on 29 May 2021.

Top goalscorers

;Note ¹ Player scored 1 goal in the play-offs.
³ Player scored 3 goals in the play-offs.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2020-21 Lega Pro Serie C seasons 3

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 ...