Serie A is the top division of the Italian Football League, the highest football league in Italy. Italian mobile phone company TIM is the main sponsor, so the official name is Serie A TIM.
The division consists of twenty clubs since the 2004-05 season, with each team competing against each other team twice, round-robin style, for a total of 38 matches per season. The bottom three clubs in the league table are relegated to Serie B.
Serie A, as it is structured today, began in 1929. From 1898 to 1929 the competition was organised into regional groups. No title was awarded in 1927 after Torino were stripped of the championship by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). Torino were declared champions in the 1948-49 season following a plane crash near the end of the season in which the entire team was killed.
The Serie A Championship title is often referred to as the Scudetto (small shield) because the winning team will bear a small coat of arms with the Italian tricolour on their strip in the following season. The most successful league club is Juventus F.C. with 27 championships, followed by A.C. Milan (17), Internazionale Milano (14) and Genoa C&FC (9). For every ten titles won, clubs are allowed to wear a golden star above their club badge; so Juventus has two stars, while Milan and Internazionale have one star each.
In 2006 the Serie A league was shaken by a match-fixing scandal. Juventus F.C., A.C. Milan, S.S. Lazio and ACF Fiorentina were put under trial, along with the referee designators and league managers. A first grade trial took away the last two titles from Juventus (The 2005-2006 title was awarded to Inter Milan), put Milan out of European cups, and sent Juventus, Lazio and Fiorentina to Serie B.[1] On appeal the relegation of Juventus was confirmed, however Lazio and Fiorentina were reinstated into Serie A. [2]
{|valign="top"| * 1898 - Genoa Cricket & Athletic Club * 1899 - Genoa Cricket & Athletic Club * 1900 - Genoa Cricket & Football Club * 1901 - Milan Cricket & FC * 1902 - Genoa C&FC * 1903 - Genoa C&FC * 1904 - Genoa C&FC * 1905 - Juventus FC * 1906 - Milan FC * 1907 - Milan FC * 1908 - Pro Vercelli * 1909 - Pro Vercelli * 1910 - Internazionale * 1911 - Pro Vercelli * 1912 - Pro Vercelli * 1913 - Pro Vercelli * 1914 - Casale * 1915 - Genoa C&FC (title awarded by the FIGC) * 1916-19 - league suspended due to World War I * 1920 - Internazionale * 1921 - Pro Vercelli * 1922 - CCI: Pro Vercelli; FIGC:US Novese * 1923 - Genoa C&FC * 1924 - Genoa C&FC * 1925 - Bologna FC * 1926 - Juventus FC * 1927 - no winner * 1928 - FC Torino * 1929 - Bologna * 1929-30 - Ambrosiana SS * 1930-31 - Juventus FC * 1931-32 - Juventus FC * 1932-33 - Juventus FC * 1933-34 - Juventus FC * 1934-35 - Juventus FC * 1935-36 - Bologna * 1936-37 - Bologna * 1937-38 - Ambrosiana-Internazionale * 1938-39 - Bologna * 1939-40 - Ambrosiana-Internazionale * 1940-41 - Bologna * 1941-42 - AS Roma * 1942-43 - Torino * 1944-45 - league suspended due to World War II * 1945-46 - Torino * 1946-47 - Torino * 1947-48 - Torino * 1948-49 - Torino (title awarded by the FIGC) * 1949-50 - Juventus FC * 1950-51 - AC Milan * 1951-52 - Juventus FC * 1952-53 - Internazionale * 1953-54 - Internazionale
* 1954-55 - AC Milan * 1955-56 - Fiorentina * 1956-57 - AC Milan * 1957-58 - Juventus FC * 1958-59 - AC Milan * 1959-60 - Juventus FC * 1960-61 - Juventus FC * 1961-62 - AC Milan * 1962-63 - Internazionale * 1963-64 - Bologna * 1964-65 - Internazionale * 1965-66 - Internazionale * 1966-67 - Juventus FC * 1967-68 - AC Milan * 1968-69 - Fiorentina * 1969-70 - Cagliari * 1970-71 - Internazionale * 1971-72 - Juventus FC * 1972-73 - Juventus FC * 1973-74 - SS Lazio * 1974-75 - Juventus FC * 1975-76 - Torino * 1976-77 - Juventus FC * 1977-78 - Juventus FC * 1978-79 - AC Milan * 1979-80 - Internazionale * 1980-81 - Juventus FC * 1981-82 - Juventus FC * 1982-83 - AS Roma * 1983-84 - Juventus FC * 1984-85 - Hellas Verona * 1985-86 - Juventus FC * 1986-87 - SSC Napoli * 1987-88 - AC Milan * 1988-89 - Internazionale * 1989-90 - SSC Napoli * 1990-91 - UC Sampdoria * 1991-92 - AC Milan * 1992-93 - AC Milan * 1993-94 - AC Milan * 1994-95 - Juventus FC * 1995-96 - AC Milan * 1996-97 - Juventus FC * 1997-98 - Juventus FC * 1998-99 – AC Milan * 1999-00 – SS Lazio * 2000-01 – AS Roma * 2001-02 – Juventus FC * 2002-03 – Juventus FC * 2003-04 – AC Milan * 2004-05 – vacated * 2005-06 – Internazionale (title awarded by the FIGC)|width="50"|
Image:Totti-a.s.Roma-celebration.jpg|2000-01. Transfer on a Roman house to celebrate Totti and A.S. Roma's third scudetto.Image:Milano Scudetto Milan 1.jpg|2003-04. Celebrations in Milan for the 17thscudetto of A.C. Milan.
In 1929FIGC changed the mechanism of the championship, and created the Serie A as we know it today (1 league only with 16, 18 or 20 teams).These are the 61 teams which took part to the championships played from 1929-30 to 2005-06: Inter are the only team which played all the seasons following Juventus' relegation to Serie B after the 2005/2006 season.
