60 Fun Facts About Serie a

In which season was Serie A established as a national round-robin league?

It restructured the Italian Football Championship, played since 1898, into a national format alongside Serie B.

Which club won the first Italian Football Championship, played in Turin in a single day in 1898?

They won five of the first six championships, interrupted only by Milan in 1901.

The inaugural Serie A of 1929-30 was won by Internazionale under what name?

The Fascist-era merger name lasted until after the war; fans went on calling the team Inter throughout.

Which is the only club to have played in every Serie A season?

They have been in the top flight without a break since their debut in 1909.

The 'scudetto' worn by champions the following season means what in Italian?

The poet Gabriele D'Annunzio is credited with inventing it, and Genoa were the first to wear it in 1924.

Which Italian poet is generally credited with inventing the scudetto?

He proposed a tricolour shield for the football team of Fiume after the city was annexed to Italy in 1920.

The FIGC awards a star to be worn on the shirt for every how many championships?

Juventus wear three stars for their 36 titles; Inter and Milan wear two each.

How many Italian championships have Juventus won, the most of any club?

Inter are second with 21 and Milan third with 19; both Milan clubs sit far behind.

The Coppa Campioni d'Italia trophy has been awarded to the Serie A champion since which season?

Sculptor Ettore Calvelli made it in 1960; it stands on a base of blue sodalite stone and Juventus were the first to receive it.

How many clubs have played in Serie A since the 2004-05 season?

In February 2024 sixteen clubs voted against cutting back to 18.

The 1947-48 season was played with an unusual 21 teams. Why?

Triestina were kept in the top flight for political reasons; Torino won that title with a record 125 goals.

The first half of a Serie A season is called the andata. What is the second half called?

The two halves used exactly the same fixture order until an asymmetrical calendar arrived in 2021-22.

The only play-off ever needed to decide the Serie A champion, in 1963-64, was won by which club?

Level on 54 points with Inter, they won 2-0 at Rome's Stadio Olimpico.

Since which season have Serie A wins been worth three points instead of two?

England had made the switch in 1981.

Which oil company became Serie A's title sponsor in 2024, giving the league its 'Enilive' name?

The previous long-time sponsor was Telecom Italia Mobile, TIM.

Which UK broadcaster showed Serie A as 'Football Italia' from 1992 to 2002, making it a British cult?

The league has since bounced around more UK channels than any other, rarely staying anywhere long.

The 2004-05 title was revoked from Juventus after which scandal?

Wiretaps revealed a scheme to influence referee appointments; no champion is recorded for that season.

Which Juventus general manager's wiretapped calls were at the centre of the 2006 refereeing scandal?

The 2005-06 title was handed to Inter, hardening the Derby d'Italia; Juventus later sued the federation for €443 million.

Which goalkeeper stayed with Juventus for their 2006-07 Serie B season, making 37 appearances?

He had joined from Parma in 2001 for a world-record goalkeeper fee of €52.9 million.

How many consecutive Serie A titles did Juventus win between 2012 and 2020, a record?

Giorgio Chiellini played in all nine, the most consecutive titles by any player.

Juventus's 102 points in 2013-14 set a 20-team-season record. How many of 38 games did they win?

They won all 19 home matches that season, another record.

Which club holds the Serie A record of 12 consecutive away wins, set across 2016-17 and 2017-18?

The overall record is Inter's 17 straight wins in 2006-07.

AC Milan's 58-match unbeaten run from 1991 to 1993 earned the team what nickname?

Fabio Capello's side won three straight titles; both ends of the streak were matches against Parma.

Which entrepreneur bought AC Milan in 1986, saved it from bankruptcy and hired Arrigo Sacchi?

He also signed the Dutch trio Gullit, Van Basten and Rijkaard; Sacchi's first scudetto came in 1987-88.

AC Milan was founded in 1899 by an expatriate from which country?

Herbert Kilpin chose red for the players' fiery ardour and black for the fear they would strike into opponents.

Football Club Internazionale was formed in 1908 by a group who left Milan over what issue?

The name Internazionale advertised the point; the club won its first championship in 1910.

The Milan derby is named after which landmark?

Inter were traditionally the club of the bourgeoisie, Milan of the working class, though that divide has largely faded.

The Derby d'Italia between Inter and Juventus was named in 1967 by which journalist?

The clubs come from the two biggest cities in northern Italy but have fan clubs across the country.

In the Rome derby, which end of the Stadio Olimpico do Lazio's ultras traditionally occupy?

Roma's ultras take the Curva Sud; teasing about each other's origins, the sfottò, is part of the ritual.

Who is Serie A's all-time top scorer with 274 goals?

He is also the only player to be the record scorer for three different clubs: Pro Vercelli, Lazio and Novara.

Francesco Totti's 250 Serie A goals put him second all-time. What other Serie A record does he hold?

He scored in 23 consecutive seasons for Roma, from 1994-95 to 2016-17.

The award for Serie A's top scorer, the capocannoniere, has since 2021 been named after which player?

It is given by the Italian Footballers' Association; the highest winning total is Luigi Cevenini's 37 for Inter.

Which Swedish striker won the capocannoniere five times with AC Milan in the 1950s, a record?

He also holds the record for Serie A hat-tricks with 17.

Which two players share the record of 36 goals in a single Serie A season?

Higuaín did it for Napoli in 2015-16 and Immobile for Lazio in 2019-20, when he also scored a record 14 penalties.

Who has won the most Serie A titles as a player, ten?

He was 42 when he won the last one in 2019-20, the oldest player to win a scudetto.

Who has kept the most clean sheets in Serie A history, 299?

He also had a run of ten consecutive clean sheets in early 2016.

Which two one-club men share the record of 25 seasons in Serie A?

Maldini's 647 appearances were the record until Buffon passed him in 2020.

Which goalkeeper made 332 consecutive Serie A appearances, a record, 330 of them for Juventus?

He played his last match for Juventus at 41 in 1983.

Who scored the fastest goal in Serie A history, 6.2 seconds into a match in December 2020?

It came for AC Milan away at Sassuolo.

Who is the oldest goalscorer in Serie A history, at 41 years and 166 days in 2023?

He scored for Milan against Udinese; the youngest scorer, Amedeo Amadei of Roma, was 15 in 1937.

Which coach has won the most Serie A titles, seven?

Six came with Juventus and one with Inter; he also holds the record for wins with 352.

Which coach won a record five consecutive Serie A titles, all with Juventus?

Antonio Conte, who began the nine-year run, is the only coach to win the title with three different clubs.

Who became the oldest coach to win Serie A at 64 with Napoli in 2022-23?

It was Napoli's first title since Maradona's era, 33 years earlier.

Napoli's first Serie A title, in 1986-87, was won under the leadership of which player?

The second came in 1989-90, sealed by a 1-0 win over Lazio on the final day.

Which 1984-85 champion is the only winner since 1929 from a city that is not a regional capital?

Danish striker Preben Elkjær scored against Juventus that season after losing a boot in a tackle.

Which club holds the record for most seasons in Serie B, 66?

Inter, at the other extreme, have spent 94 seasons in Serie A and none in Serie B.

Which club suffered a record 29 defeats in a 38-game Serie A season, in 2017-18?

Their goalkeeper Alberto Brignoli famously headed a stoppage-time equaliser against Milan that season for their first point.

Who made his Serie A debut at 15 years and 260 days for AC Milan in November 2023, the youngest ever?

Gianni Rivera, who debuted for Alessandria at 15 in 1959, is fifth on the list.

Which Croatian midfielder became the oldest player ever to debut in Serie A, at 39, in August 2025?

He scored his first Serie A goal for AC Milan five days after his 40th birthday.

Which goalkeeper holds the Serie A record for penalties saved, 26?

He also saved six in a row at one point.

Serie A was chosen in 2016 to trial which innovation, going live in 2017-18?

FIGC president Carlo Tavecchio said Italy had been 'among the first supporters of using technology on the pitch'.

Italian football's 'seven sisters' originally meant Juventus, the Milan clubs, Roma, Lazio and which two others?

Napoli and Atalanta have since taken the places of Parma and Fiorentina in the phrase.

Internazionale won their first championship in which year, two years after their foundation?

A century later, in 2010, they completed the first Italian treble of league, cup and Champions League.

Juventus have been owned by which family since 1923?

The club was founded in 1897 by students of the Massimo d'Azeglio school in Turin.

Which Serie A club won the 2023-24 Europa League, the season Serie A topped UEFA's coefficient ranking?

All seven Italian entrants reached the knockout rounds that season, earning Serie A a fifth Champions League place for 2024.

Which AC Milan striker was named FIFA World Player of the Year in 1995?

Weah remains the only African winner of the award and later became president of Liberia.

Juventus lost the 2004-05 title to a scandal. Which club had its 1926-27 championship revoked?

They are the only two seasons in Italian top-flight history for which no national title was awarded.

Which network and streaming service began showing Serie A in the US from 2021-22?

CBS Sports and Paramount+ took over from the 2021-22 season; before that the league had lived on the ESPN family of networks in the US.

When Serie A voted 19-1 to split from Serie B in 2009, which relegation-threatened club voted against?

The row was over television rights; Maurizio Beretta, ex-head of Italy's employers' association, became the new league's first president.

In 2002 the FIGC gave which club a special decoration for winning the 1944 wartime championship?

The federation was careful to clarify that the honour does not count as an official scudetto.