The 2011–12

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 ...

(known as the Serie bwin for sponsorship reasons) was the eightieth season since its establishment in 1929. A total of 22 teams will contest the league: 15 of which returning from the 2010–11 season, four of which promoted from

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest 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. Before the 1978� ...

, 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 ...

. It began on 27 August 2011 and ended on 27 May 2012.

Teams

The league will feature three clubs relegated from Serie A:

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. ...

returned to the second division after only a single season in the top flight, whereas

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 ...

were relegated after a two-year stint. The third relegated team,

Sampdoria 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, ...

, made instead a rather unexpected Serie B return after nine years. Four teams were promoted from Lega Pro Prima Divisione, three of them returning to Serie B after significant absences, and two of them will play Serie B for their second time in history,

Gubbio Gubbio () is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the far northeastern part of the Italian province of Perugia (Umbria). It is located on the lowest slope of Mt. Ingino, a small mountain of the Apennines. History The city's origins are very ancient. ...

after 63 years and Juve Stabia after 59 years, while Nocerina will take part to its third Serie B after 32 years. The fourth promoted team,

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

, make instead their return to Serie B after four years; Verona will also participate as one of only three teams in the league who won the Italian national championship at some point in history (the other two being Sampdoria and

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) 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. T ...

Events

The league started with a number of teams being punished with

Ascoli Ascoli may refer to: Places in Italy *Ascoli Satriano, a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region *Province of Ascoli Piceno, a province of the Marche region ** Ascoli Piceno, a city which is the seat of the province above ...

being docked six points (then reduced to three) as a consequence of the 2011 Italian football scandal. Ascoli were also docked one point due to failing to pay social security money in time, together with

Crotone Crotone (, ; nap, label= Crotonese, Cutrone or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( grc, Κρότων or ; la, Crotona) in Magna Graecia, it was known as Cotrone from the Middle Ages until ...

and Juve Stabia. Later in October 2011, Juve Stabia were docked five more points (successively reduced to three) due to their involvement in a matchfixing scandal regarding a 2008–09 Lega Pro Prima Divisione game against

Sorrento Sorrento (, ; nap, Surriento ; la, Surrentum) is a town overlooking the Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the south-eastern terminus of the Circumvesuviana rail ...

. Still in October, Ascoli were docked three more points (now totalling a seven-point overall deduction) due to failing to meet some financial deadlines. On 3 December 2011, the

Padova Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

–

league match was suspended with the home club leading 1–0 due to an electric stadium blackout; the game was completed 11 days later, and ended with the same result as earlier. Torino, however, appealed against Padova, claiming the home club was responsible for the blackout issue, and asked for being awarded the three points instead. In March 2012, the sports magistrature ultimately ruled in favour of the recurring club, and changed the result to a 3–0 win for Torino. Padova, however, successfully appealed at the Court of Federal Justice against the ruling, and on 27 April 2012 the result was switched back to a 1–0 win for the home club. On 14 April 2012, the

Pescara Pescara (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Pescàrë; nap, label= Pescarese, Piscàrë) is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 119,217 (2018) residents (and approxim ...

–

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 ...

game was halted after 30 minutes (the result being 0–2 at the time of suspension) after Livorno footballer

Piermario Morosini Piermario Morosini (5 July 1986 – 14 April 2012) was an Italian professional footballer who played as a midfielder. On 14 April 2012, during a match between Pescara and Livorno, Morosini suffered a fatal cardiac arrest on the pitch. Early lif ...

suffered a heart failure on the pitch and eventually died in transport to hospital. The event caused the immediate cancellation of all Italian football games for the week, with the involving matches (including the remaining 60 minutes of Pescara–Livorno) being delayed to mid-May. The first season verdict, AlbinoLeffe's relegation after nine consecutive years in the division, came on 5 May 2012. Seven days later,

became the second relegated club of the season, thus going down on their first season back. On 20 May 2012, the first promotion verdicts arrived as Torino, having already been champion of winter, and

mathematically ensured themselves a place in the top flight for the following season; on that same day, it was also made official that

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 ...

Varese Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label= Varesino, Varés ; la, Baretium; archaic german: Väris) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 has reached 80,559. It is the c ...

and

will be the four participants to the post-season promotion playoff tournament. The final regular season week marked Nocerina's direct relegation after only one season following a defeat at the hands of newly crowned champions Pescara, whereas

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 ...

and

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 ...

will play a two-legged relegation playoff to determine the fourth team destined to go down to

Stadia and locations

Managerial changes

League table

Results

Play-off

Promotion

:''Semifinals'' *In case of an aggregate tie, the higher seed advances. :''First legs will be played on 30 May 2012; return legs on 2 June 2012'' :''Finals'' *In case of an aggregate tie, the higher seed advances. :''First leg played 6 June 2012; return leg played 9 June 2012'' Sampdoria promoted to

Relegation

:''First leg played on 3 June 2012; return leg played on 8 June 2012'' *In case of an aggregate tie, the higher seed advances. Vicenza is relegated to

Top goalscorers

''Updated 21 May 2012'' ;28 goals *

Ciro Immobile Ciro Immobile (born 20 February 1990) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Lazio, which he captains, and the Italy national team. Immobile began his career at Sorrento. In 2009, he was purchased by Juv ...

(''

'') ;21 goals *

Marco Sau Marco Sau (, ; born 3 November 1987) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker. Early life Sau has been nicknamed ''Pattolino'' (Duckling) since childhood. His idol growing up was the striker Gianfranco Zola, also from his na ...

('' Juve Stabia'') ;20 goals * Ferdinando Sforzini (''

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 m ...

'') * Gianluca Sansone (''

'') ;19 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 ...

(''

'') ;18 goals *

Lorenzo Insigne Lorenzo Insigne (; born 4 June 1991) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Major League Soccer club Toronto FC and the Italy national team. Insigne began his professional career with čelik Niksic in 2009, making his ...

(''

'') ;17 goals *

Caetano Caetano is a Portuguese given name and surname derived from Latin ''Caietanus''. It also appears in Lusophone place names named after Saint Cajetan (''São Caetano'' in Portuguese). People with the given name Caetano * Caetano Prósperi Calil, ...

(''

'') ;16 goals *

Jonathas Jonathas is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Jonathas de Jesus (born 1989), Brazilian footballer *Jonathas Granville (1785–1839), Haitian educator, legal expert, soldier, and diplomat ;Other *''David et Jonathas'', French ope ...

(''

'') * Marco Sansovini (''

'') ;15 goals * Nicola Pozzi (''

'') *

Papa Waigo Papa Waigo N'Diaye (born 20 January 1984), often simplified as Papa Waigo, is a Senegalese international footballer who currently plays as a striker. Club career Early career Born in Saint-Louis, Senegal, Waigo began his career at Verona ...

(''

'') ;14 goals *

Juanito Juanito is a given name or nickname, meaning "Little Juan" or Johnny. Notable people with the name include: Professional footballers * Juan Ignacio Gomez Taleb (born 1985), Argentinian forward * Juan Díaz Sánchez (1948–2013), Spanish forwa ...

(''

'')

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2011-12 Serie B Serie B seasons 2

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 ...