Seconda Categoria

Seconda Categoria
Organising body	Lega Nazionale Dilettanti
Founded	1959
Country	Italy
Confederation	UEFA
Divisions	182
Number of teams	2,912
Level on pyramid	8
Promotion to	Prima Categoria
Relegation to	Terza Categoria
Website	www.lnd.it

The Seconda Categoria is the 8th level (since 2014–15) in the Italian football league system. Each individual league winner within the Seconda Categoria level progresses to their closest regional league in the Prima Categoria level. Depending on each league's local rules, a number of teams each year are relegated from each league, to the 9th level of Italian football, the Terza Categoria.

This level of Italian football is completely amateur and is run on a regional level by a Regional Committee (Comitato Regionale).

History

In the past, from 1904 since 1912, had been the 2nd level of Italian local regional tournaments in which main teams used to field apprentices and reserves. New teams entering F.I.F. (Italian Football Federation, was the old name of Italian Football Federation (F.I.G.C.) until 1909) were added to this championships.

In February 1912 in Turin some F.I.G.C. Federal counsellors started elaborating a new rule introducing promotions and relegations from Seconda Categoria to Prima Categoria. This new rule was set during the July 1912 federal annual meeting so that this category changed name into Promozione because winning teams were awarded "promotion" to upper level.

This category name too was given to the second level of youth tournaments in 1919 when created by a new local and independent federation called U.L.I.C. (Unione Libera Italiana del Calcio) which was set in Milan in 1917. Later entered the main Italian federation system F.I.G.C. in 1927 and had been in use up to 1947 at local committees. Despite Regional F.I.G.C. championships and tournaments U.L.I.C. was birth date limited (not yet 21 years' old).

Unused for a long time by the F.I.G.C. just because most of lower federal categories got another name (Division), got back in 1959 because of birth of the "Amateur League" (Italian: Lega Nazionale Dilettanti) and all "Divisions" (Divisioni in Italian) were converted into "Categories" (Categorie in Italian) and First Division (Prima Divisione) become Seconda Categoria.

With the reform of the Lega Pro before the 2014–2015 season in which the Lega Pro Prima Divisione and Lega Pro Seconda Divisione were unified restoring Serie C as the new third national level, the championship became the eighth national level, but remained the fourth highest regional competition.