The 2011–12

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as 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 b ...

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

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Serie C1 was the third highest football league in Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into ...

, and three had been relegated from

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

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

Changes from last season

The league will feature three clubs relegated from Serie A:

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

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

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

were relegated after a two-year stint. The third relegated team, Sampdoria, 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 Apennine Mountains, Apennines. History Prehistory The ol ...

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 ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

, 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 ( , ; ; , 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 ...

Events

The league started with a number of teams being punished with Ascoli 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 (; ; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( or ; ), it became a great Greek city, home of the renowned mathematician-philosopher Pythagoras amongst other famous citizens, and one ...

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 ( , ; ; ) is a City status in Italy, city and overlooking the Gulf of Naples, Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, Sorrento is located on the Sorrentine Peninsula at the southern terminus of a main branch o ...

. 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 ( ) 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 ...

–

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, 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. However, Padova successfully appealed at the Court of Federal Justice, 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 (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...

–

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 ...

game was halted after 30 minutes (the result being 0–2 at the time of suspension) after Livorno footballer Piermario Morosini 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 (; ) 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 is best known for being the centre of the Ita ...

Varese Varese ( , ; or ; ; ; archaic ) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 was 80,559. It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or exurban part ...

and Sampdoria 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 ( , ; or , archaically ) 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 Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and e ...

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 River, Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Ancient Ro ...

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

Teams

Stadia and locations

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

League table

Results

Play-off

Promotion

:''Semi-finals'' *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 (''

'') ;21 goals * Marco Sau ('' Juve Stabia'') ;20 goals * Ferdinando Sforzini (''

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

'') * Gianluca Sansone (''

'') ;19 goals * Francesco Tavano (''

'') ;18 goals *

Lorenzo Insigne Lorenzo Insigne (; born 4 June 1991) is an Italian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward or Midfielder#Winger, winger for Major League Soccer club Toronto FC. Insigne began his pro ...

(''

'') ;17 goals * Caetano (''

'') ;16 goals * Jonathas (''

'') * Marco Sansovini (''

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

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

('' Ascoli'') ;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 forw ...

(''

'')

References

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

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...