Prima Divisione

Prima Divisione (First Division) was the name of the first level of the Italian Football Championship from 1921 to 1926. The competition was initially founded in opposition to the FIGC by the richest clubs of Northern Italy, which disagreed the old format of the championship, based on plethoric regional groups. In 1921/22, two concurrent championships took place, before FIGC accepted the new format for 1922/23.

The Prima Divisione was divided in two leagues: Lega Nord (Northern League) and Lega Sud (Southern League). The Lega Nord championship was the main competition, and it was divided in two groups of twelve teams each. The winners of the two groups qualified for the final (Northern League Final) while the last team was relegated in Seconda Divisione (Second Division). The Lega Sud championship was still divided in many regional groups; the best two teams of Campania, Lazio and Apulia and the winners of the Sicily and Marches groups qualified for the semifinals (Southern League Semifinals) of two groups. The winners of the semifinals qualified to the final. The winners of the two leagues qualified for the Finalissima (literally The Biggest Final). The team that won the national final won the scudetto, firstly introduced for the 1923-24 champions Genoa CFC.

Because of the fascist Carta di Viareggio, in 1926 the Prima Divisione championship was renamed as Divisione Nazionale (National Division), merging the best southern clubs into the Northern League. The second level of the Italian football consequently took the name of Prima Divisional, as it happened in England in 1992. In 1929 with the creation of the Serie A and Serie B championships the Prima Divisione became the third level of the Italian Football. In 1935 with the creation of the Serie C championship the Prima Divisione became the fourth level of the Italian football. In 1948 with the creation of the Promozione championship the first division became the fifth level of the Italian championship. In 1952 with the creation of the IV Serie championship the Prima Divisione became the sixth level. In 1959 the Prima Divisione championship was replaced by local Prima Categoria, Seconda Categoria and Terza Categoria championships.

Winners

Year Winner Runners-up Top scorer (club) (goals)
1921–22 Pro Vercelli Fortitudo Roma
1922–23 Genoa Cricket & Football Club SS Lazio
1923–24 Genoa Cricket & Football Club Savoia Hungary Heinrich Schoenfeld (Torino FC) (22)
1924–25 Bologna FC Alba Roma Italy Mario Magnozzi (AS Livorno) (19)
1925–26 Juventus FC Alba Roma Hungary Ferenc Hirzer (Juventus FC) (35)

Winners Lega Nord

Year Winner Runners-up Top scorer (club) (goals)
1921–22 Pro Vercelli Genoa
1922–23 Genoa Cricket & Football Club Pro Vercelli
1923–24 Genoa Cricket & Football Club Bologna F.C. 1909 Hungary Heinrich Schoenfeld (Torino FC) (22)
1924–25 Bologna FC Genoa Italy Mario Magnozzi (AS Livorno) (19)
1925–26 Juventus FC Bologna Hungary Ferenc Hirzer (Juventus FC) (31)

Winners Lega Sud

Year Winner Runners-up Top scorer (club) (goals)
1921–22 Fortitudo Roma Puteolana
1922–23 SS Lazio Savoia
1923–24 Savoia Alba Roma Fulvio Bernardini (SS Lazio) (19)
1924–25 Alba Roma Anconitana Fulvio Bernardini (SS Lazio) (16)
1925–26 Alba Roma Internaples Bukovich (Alba Roma) (25)

Northern League

Founding members

Club
 Appearances in
First Division		 Appearances in
Second Division		 League
left
Alessandria5--
Andrea Doria5--
Brescia5--
Bologna5--
Casale5--
Genoa5--
Internazionale5--
Juventus5--
Legnano5--
Livorno5--
Mantova41-
Milan5--
US Milanese23-
Modena5--
Novara5--
Padova5--
Pisa5--
Pro Vercelli5--
Savona23-
Spezia41-
Torino5--
Venezia14-
Verona5--
Vicenza13left in 1923–24

See also

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