2018–19 Serie C


The 2018–19 Serie C was the fifth season of the unified Serie C division, the third tier of the Italian football league system.

Teams

The league originally featured 60 teams. However, it saw the bankruptcy and subsequent withdrawal of Andria, Mestre, Reggiana and Vicenza.
To fill the vacancies in Serie B, Novara, Catania and Siena became the repechage candidates from Serie C, to the objection of Pro Vercelli and Ternana. However, on 10 August Lega B announced that a 19-team calendar would be commissioned for the 2018–19 and no repechage would take place.
The first team of Bassano Virtus was relocated to Vicenza as L.R. Vicenza Virtus. While its owner, had also acquired some assets from the liquidators of Vicenza.
On 3 August 2018, it was officially announced by the Italian Football Federation that Juventus Under 23 would take part in Serie C, making it the first "B Team" in Italy to do so since 1934. Also, Cavese and Imolese were admitted from Serie D to fill the vacancies created.
Due to several issues regarding vacancies and trials at both Serie B and Serie C level, the Serie C league committee delayed the season kickoff day to September, also hinting at the possibility of an indefinite delay because of the unclear situation. The season eventually kicked off on Saturday 15 September, but saw all games of Novara, Pro Vercelli, Ternana, Siena and Catania delayed indefinitely due to their judicial requests to be admitted to Serie B, as well as Viterbese, after the club threatened not to participate in Serie C due to their opposition to being admitted to the Southern group. Virtus Entella's second game was also delayed after the club was accepted on appeal for being readmitted to Serie B by the Regional Administrative Court of Lazio.
On 14 February 2019, Matera were excluded from Serie C for missing four consecutive matches which was followed by the exclusion of Pro Piacenza on 18 February 2019 after missing several games and presenting a makeshift team composed of teenagers and a physiotherapist in their final game, where they were beaten 20-0 by Cuneo.

Promotion and relegation rule changes

On 30 January 2019, it was announced that five teams rather than the usual four would be promoted to Serie B for the 2019-20 season, after FIGC decided to incorporate an extra club in Serie B to bring the league up to 20 teams. The decision also meant that only seven clubs would be relegated to Serie D rather than the original eight.
Due to the exclusions of Pro Piacenza and Matera from the league, the football league committee, in accordance with the Italian Football Federation, agreed on 2 April 2019 to a change in the relegation rules, by decreasing the number of relegations to five as follows:

Group A (North & Central West)

7 teams from Tuscany, 6 teams from Piedmont, 2 teams from Emilia-Romagna, 2 teams from Sardinia, 2 teams from Liguria and 1 team from Lombardy.
ClubCityStadiumCapacity
AlbissolaAlbissola Marina
Albisola Superiore
Comunale 5,535
AlessandriaAlessandriaGiuseppe Moccagatta5,827
ArezzoArezzoCittà di Arezzo13,128
ArzachenaArzachenaBiagio Pirina3,100
CarrareseCarraraDei Marmi9,500
CuneoCuneoFratelli Paschiero4,000
GozzanoGozzanoAlfredo d'Albertas / Silvio Piola 400 / 5,500
Juventus U23TorinoGiuseppe Moccagatta 5,827
LuccheseLuccaPorta Elisa7,386
NovaraNovaraSilvio Piola 17,875
OlbiaOlbiaBruno Nespoli3,200
PiacenzaPiacenzaLeonardo Garilli21,668
PisaPisaArena Garibaldi – Romeo Anconetani25,000
PistoiesePistoiaMarcello Melani13,195
PontederaPontederaEttore Mannucci5,000
Pro PatriaBusto ArsizioCarlo Speroni4,627
Pro PiacenzaPiacenzaLeonardo Garilli21,668
Pro VercelliVercelliSilvio Piola 5,500
SienaSienaMontepaschi Arena15,373
Virtus EntellaChiavariComunale5,535

Group B (North & Central East)

5 teams from Lombardy, 4 teams from Marche, 3 teams from Emilia-Romagna, 2 teams from Friuli-Venezia Giulia, 2 teams from Umbria, 2 teams from Veneto, 1 team from Abruzzo and 1 team from Trentino-Alto Adige.
ClubCityStadiumCapacity
AlbinoLeffeAlbino and LeffeAtleti Azzurri d'Italia 21,300
FanoFanoRaffaele Mancini8,800
FeralpiSalòSalòLino Turina2,500
FermanaFermoBruno Recchioni9,500
Giana ErminioGorgonzolaCittà di Gorgonzola3,766
GubbioGubbioPietro Barbetti5,300
ImoleseImolaRomeo Galli4,000
L.R. VicenzaVicenzaRomeo Menti12,000
MonzaMonzaBrianteo18,568
PordenonePordenoneOttavio Bottecchia3,000
RavennaRavennaBruno Benelli12,020
RenateRenateCittà di Meda 3,000
RiminiRiminiRomeo Neri7,442
SambenedetteseSan Benedetto del TrontoRiviera delle Palme14,995
SüdtirolBolzano/BozenDruso3,500
TeramoTeramoGaetano Bonolis7,498
TernanaTerniLibero Liberati17,460
TriestinaTriesteNereo Rocco32,454
Virtus VeronaVeronaGavagnin Nocini1,200
Vis PesaroPesaroTonino Benelli4,898

Group C (South)

4 teams from Calabria, 4 teams from Campania, 4 teams from Sicily, 3 teams from Apulia, 2 teams from Basilicata, 2 teams from Lazio.
ClubCityStadiumCapacity
BisceglieBisceglieGustavo Ventura5,000
CasertanaCasertaAlberto Pinto12,000
CataniaCataniaAngelo Massimino20,266
CatanzaroCatanzaroNicola Ceravolo14,650
CaveseCava de' TirreniSimonetta Lamberti5,200
Juve StabiaCastellammare di StabiaRomeo Menti7,642
MateraMateraStadio XXI Settembre-Franco Salerno8,500
MonopoliMonopoliVito Simone Veneziani6,880
PaganesePaganiMarcello Torre5,900
PotenzaPotenzaAlfredo Viviani6,000
RegginaReggio CalabriaOreste Granillo27,454
RendeRendeMarco Lorenzon5,000
RietiRietiManlio Scopigno10,163
Sicula LeonzioLentiniAngelino Nobile2,500
SiracusaSiracusaNicola De Simone6,870
TrapaniTrapaniPolisportivo Provinciale 7,000
ViboneseVibo ValentiaLuigi Razza6,500
Virtus FrancavillaFrancavilla FontanaGiovanni Paolo II5,000
Viterbese CastrenseViterboEnrico Rocchi5,460

League tables

Group A (North & Central West)

Group B (North & Central East)

Group C (South)

Promotion play-offs

First Round

If tied, higher-placed team advances.

Second Round

If tied, higher-placed team advances.

Quarter-finals

If tied on aggregate, higher-placed team advances.

Semi-finals

If tied on aggregate, higher-placed team advances.

Finals

If tied on aggregate, the winner is decided by extra-time and penalty shootout.

Relegation play-outs

First Round

Higher-placed team plays at home for second leg. If tied on aggregate, lower-placed team is relegated.

Final

If tied on aggregate, extra time and eventually penalty shoot-out are played. Losers are relegated.

Top goalscorers

;Note
1Player scored 1 goal in the play-offs.
3Player scored 3 goals in the play-offs.
4Player scored 4 goals in the play-offs.