Introduction to Serie A:
Established in the 1929–30 season, it restructured the existing Italian Football Championship, which had been played since 1898,
into a national round-robin format alongside Serie B. It functions under a promotion and relegation system with Serie B.
The league was organized by the “Direttorio Divisioni Superiori” until 1943, the Lega Calcio from 1946 to 2010, and the Lega Serie A ever since.
The 29 championships played from 1898 to the formation of the Serie A in 1929 are officially recognized by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) as equal to later Serie A titles.
Similarly the 1945–46 season, played under a temporary format due to World War II, is also recognized as an official championship.
Since 1924, the winner of Italy's top division has worn the scudetto emblem on its kit in the following season, and since 1961,
the Coppa Campioni d'Italia trophy has been awarded to the Serie A champion.
As of 2024–25, Serie A ranks second in the UEFA coefficient rankings based on performances in European competitions over the past five seasons,
behind England's Premier League and ahead of Spain's La Liga. For most of Serie A's history,
there were sometimes 16 or sometimes 18 clubs competing at the top level. Since 2004–05, however, there have been 20 clubs in total.
Historical developments:
In the Italian football league system, the Federazione Italiana del Football (FIF),
began organizing football in Italy in 1898. Its first competition, the 1898 Italian Football Championship,
was held at the Velodrome Humbert I in Turin on 8 May 1898.
First in the List of Italian football champions is thus Genoa CFC, who won against three Turin based teams.
Genoa won the Italian Football Championship on five out of six occasions, interrupted by AC Milan in 1901.
From 1904, the tournament was named Prima Categoria, structured into regional groups.
Argument in 1921 on the number of teams to be allowed in the setup, led to a split forming the Confederazione Calcistica Italiana (CCI).
In 1921–22 the CCI conducted a rival tournament named Prima Divisione with Northern Italy's wealthiest clubs,
in opposition to the competition organized separately by the FIGC.
Prima Divisione played from 1921 to 1926. Prima Divisione was divided into Lega Nord (Northern League) and Lega Sud (Southern League).
Lega Sud was sub-divided regionally with winners playing off in a finals series.
The winners of the Northern and Southern Leagues then played off in the Finalissima (literally The Biggest Final), to be national champions.
Since 1994–95, teams are awarded three points for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a loss.
