
The2008–09Lega Pro Prima Divisione season is the thirty-first since its renaming toSerie C1 in 1978, and the first edition since the renaming from Serie C1 to Lega Pro. It was divided into two phases: theregular 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 toSerie B; teams finishing last in the regular season, plus two relegation playoff losers from each division was relegated toLega Pro Seconda Divisione. In all, four teams was promoted to Serie B, and six teams were relegated to Lega Pro Seconda Divisione.
The league was to feature four teams relegated fromSerie B in2007–08;Avellino,Ravenna,Spezia, andCesena. Two vacancies were created with the re-admission of Avellino[1][2] to Serie B, and the bankruptcy of Spezia.[3]
It featured six teams promoted from2007–08 Serie C2:Pergocrema,Reggiana,Benevento,Lumezzane,Portosummaga, andMarcianise.
The remaining 26 teams were to come from the teams that played in2007–08 Serie C1 that were neither promoted nor relegated. Of those,Lucchese[3] (8th in Girone B), andMassese[3] (13th in Girone B) were also banned creating two more vacancies.
Three of the four vacancies were filled byVirtus Lanciano,[4]Pro Patria[4] andLecco[5] 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 bySPAL,[4] which lost in last year's Serie C2 promotional playoffs and was thus destined to remain there.
Cesena won direct promotion toSerie B for the 2009–10 season by finishing first in Girone A. Just one year ago Cesena was directly relegated from the sameSerie B for finishing in last place.Gallipoli 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 fromSerie C2 in 2005–06.
Legnano andPotenza 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 from2006–07 Serie C2.
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 andJuve Stabia lost in the relegation playoffs. Pistoiese had been in2001–02 Serie B, 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.
On 14 August 2008 the following clubs were confirmed to be competing in the division:[5]
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cesena(C, P) | 34 | 17 | 9 | 8 | 42 | 26 | +16 | 60 | Promotion toSerie B |
| 2 | Pro Patria | 34 | 16 | 10 | 8 | 50 | 27 | +23 | 58 | Qualification forPromotion play-off |
| 3 | Ravenna | 34 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 48 | 36 | +12 | 56 | |
| 4 | Padova(O, P) | 34 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 37 | 31 | +6 | 54 | Promotion toSerie B |
| 5 | Reggiana | 34 | 14 | 12 | 8 | 34 | 33 | +1 | 54 | Qualification forPromotion play-off |
| 6 | SPAL | 34 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 38 | 30 | +8 | 53 | |
| 7 | Hellas Verona | 34 | 11 | 15 | 8 | 38 | 32 | +6 | 48 | |
| 8 | Novara | 34 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 36 | 36 | 0 | 46 | |
| 9 | Cremonese | 34 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 38 | 36 | +2 | 45 | |
| 10 | Lumezzane | 34 | 10 | 15 | 9 | 37 | 35 | +2 | 45 | |
| 11 | Pergocrema | 34 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 28 | 28 | 0 | 44 | |
| 12 | Portogruaro | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 33 | 39 | −6 | 43 | |
| 13 | Monza | 34 | 8 | 14 | 12 | 41 | 48 | −7 | 38 | |
| 14 | Pro Sesto(R) | 34 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 34 | 49 | −15 | 37 | Qualification forRelegation play-off |
| 15 | Lecco | 34 | 7 | 14 | 13 | 31 | 35 | −4 | 35 | |
| 16 | Sambenedettese(R) | 34 | 7 | 11 | 16 | 22 | 36 | −14 | 32 | Relegation toEccellenza |
| 17 | Venezia(R) | 34 | 8 | 11 | 15 | 35 | 42 | −7 | 31[a] | Relegation toSerie D |
| 18 | Legnano(R) | 34 | 7 | 9 | 18 | 31 | 54 | −23 | 30 | Relegation toLega Pro Seconda Divisione |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gallipoli(C, P) | 34 | 20 | 6 | 8 | 55 | 32 | +23 | 66 | Promotion toSerie B |
| 2 | Benevento | 34 | 18 | 10 | 6 | 49 | 31 | +18 | 64 | Qualification forPromotion play-off |
| 3 | Crotone(O, P) | 34 | 18 | 5 | 11 | 46 | 37 | +9 | 59 | Promotion toSerie B |
| 4 | Arezzo | 34 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 56 | 37 | +19 | 56 | Qualification forPromotion play-off |
| 5 | Foggia | 34 | 14 | 14 | 6 | 44 | 33 | +11 | 56 | |
| 6 | Cavese | 34 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 40 | 35 | +5 | 53 | |
| 7 | Real Marcianise | 34 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 32 | 33 | −1 | 43 | |
| 8 | Perugia | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 33 | 30 | +3 | 43 | |
| 9 | Taranto | 34 | 12 | 6 | 16 | 31 | 41 | −10 | 42 | |
| 10 | Ternana | 34 | 9 | 15 | 10 | 36 | 34 | +2 | 42 | |
| 11 | Sorrento | 34 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 37 | 39 | −2 | 42 | |
| 12 | Pescara | 34 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 36 | 45 | −9 | 42[a] | |
| 13 | Paganese | 34 | 9 | 14 | 11 | 21 | 29 | −8 | 41 | |
| 14 | Virtus Lanciano | 34 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 37 | 46 | −9 | 41 | Qualification forRelegation play-off |
| 15 | Foligno | 34 | 8 | 11 | 15 | 35 | 45 | −10 | 35 | |
| 16 | Pistoiese(R) | 34 | 7 | 12 | 15 | 27 | 42 | −15 | 33 | Relegation toEccellenza |
| 17 | Juve Stabia(R) | 34 | 8 | 10 | 16 | 29 | 40 | −11 | 32[b] | Relegation toRelegation play-off |
| 18 | Potenza | 34 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 24 | 39 | −15 | 28[c] | Relegation toLega Pro Seconda Divisione[d] |
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reggiana (5) | 6–8 | (2) Pro Patria | 4–5 | 2–3 |
| Padova (4) | 3–2 | (3) Ravenna | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Padova (4) | 2–1 | (2) Pro Patria | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venezia (17) | 4–2 | (14) Pro Sesto | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| Sambenedettese (16) | 0–1 | (15) Lecco | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foggia (5) | 2–2 | (2) Benevento | 0–0 | 2–2 |
| Arezzo (4) | 1–6 | (3) Crotone | 1–2 | 0–4 |
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crotone (3) | 2–1 | (2) Benevento | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Juve Stabia (17) | 2–2 | (14) Virtus Lanciano | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| Pistoiese (16) | 2–2 | (15) Foligno | 2–1 | 0–1 |