# 2002–03 Serie B

The 2002–03 Serie B was the 71st season since its establishment in 1929. It is the second highest football league in Italy.

## Teams

Livorno, Ascoli, Triestina and Catania had been promoted from Serie C, while Hellas Verona, Lecce, and Venezia had been relegated from Serie A and Fiorentina had lost their national professional licence.

### Personnel and sponsoring

| Team | Manager | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| Ancona | Luigi Simoni | Devis | Banca Marche |
| Ascoli | Giuseppe Pillon | Uhlsport | Carisap |
| Bari | Marco Tardelli | Lotto | asbari.com |
| Cagliari | Gian Piero Ventura | A-Line | Terra Sarda |
| Catania | Vincenzo Guerini | Galex | SP Energia Siciliana |
| Cosenza | Antonio Sala | Sport Point | Provincia di Cosenza |
| Genoa | Rino Lavezzini and Vincenzo Torrente | Erreà | Costa Cruises |
| Hellas Verona | Alberto Malesani | Lotto | Clerman |
| Lecce | Delio Rossi | Asics | Salento d'amare |
| Livorno | Roberto Donadoni | Asics | CR Livorno |
| Messina | Bruno Bolchi | Asics | Jonax Group |
| Napoli | Franco Colomba | Diadora | Peroni |
| Palermo | Nedo Sonetti | Lotto | Provincia di Palermo |
| Salernitana | Franco Varrella | Garman | Zip Jeans & Casual |
| Sampdoria | Walter Novellino | Asics | Erg |
| Siena | Giuseppe Papadopulo | Lotto | Monte Paschi Vita |
| Ternana | Mario Beretta | Erreà | None |
| Triestina | Ezio Rossi | Asics | Acegas |
| Venezia | Gianfranco Bellotto | Sportika | Emmezeta |
| Vicenza | Andrea Mandorlini | Biemme | Caffè Vero |

## Final classification

In June 2003, Catania was at the centre of a controversy that led to the enlargement of Serie B from 20 to 24 teams, known as Caso Catania. The club claimed that Siena fielded an ineligible player in a 1–1 tie, a result which saw Catania relegated, whereas the two extra points from a victory would have kept them safe. They were awarded a 2–0 victory before the result was reverted because the guilty player was a substitute which did not play the match, then Catania appealed to the judges of the Autonomous Region of Sicily who re-awarded the victory again. In August, the FIGC decided to let Catania, along with Genoa and Salernitana, stay in Serie B; the newly reborn Fiorentina were also added for the 2003–04 season. The ruling led to protests and boycotts by the other Serie B clubs that delayed the start of the season, until the intervention of the Italian government.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Siena (P, C) | 38 | 17 | 16 | 5 | 46 | 26 | +20 | 67 | Promotion to Serie A |
| 2 | Sampdoria (P) | 38 | 17 | 16 | 5 | 53 | 31 | +22 | 67 | Promotion to Serie A |
| 3 | Lecce (P) | 38 | 15 | 18 | 5 | 46 | 33 | +13 | 63 | Promotion to Serie A |
| 4 | Ancona (P) | 38 | 16 | 13 | 9 | 53 | 40 | +13 | 61 | Promotion to Serie A |
| 5 | Triestina | 38 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 54 | 46 | +8 | 58 | |
| 6 | Palermo | 38 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 45 | 42 | +3 | 58 | |
| 7 | Ternana | 38 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 45 | 37 | +8 | 55 | |
| 8 | Cagliari | 38 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 47 | 46 | +1 | 54 | |
| 9 | Vicenza | 38 | 13 | 15 | 10 | 55 | 50 | +5 | 54 | |
| 10 | Livorno | 38 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 48 | 43 | +5 | 49 | |
| 11 | Bari | 38 | 10 | 19 | 9 | 38 | 37 | +1 | 49 | |
| 12 | Venezia | 38 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 41 | 47 | −6 | 48 | |
| 13 | Ascoli | 38 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 46 | 52 | −6 | 48 | |
| 14 | Hellas Verona | 38 | 10 | 16 | 12 | 42 | 42 | 0 | 46 | |
| 15 | Messina | 38 | 10 | 16 | 12 | 51 | 54 | −3 | 46 | |
| 16 | Napoli | 38 | 10 | 15 | 13 | 42 | 49 | −7 | 45 | |
| 17 | Catania (T) | 38 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 45 | 60 | −15 | 43 | Readmitted |
| 18 | Genoa (T) | 38 | 9 | 12 | 17 | 47 | 51 | −4 | 39 | Readmitted |
| 19 | Cosenza (D, E) | 38 | 10 | 6 | 22 | 29 | 52 | −23 | 36 | Revival in Serie D |
| 20 | Salernitana (T) | 38 | 4 | 11 | 23 | 28 | 63 | −35 | 23 | Readmitted |
* 1 2 Relegated and later readmitted to Serie B after Caso Catania.
* ↑ Lost professional licence for bankruptcy and joined 2003–04 Serie D with a new club.

## Results

| Home \ Away | ANC | ASC | BAR | CAG | CTN | COS | GEN | LCE | LIV | MES | NAP | PAL | SAL | SAM | SIE | TER | TRI | VEN | HEL | VIC |
| Ancona | — | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| Ascoli | 1–0 | — | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–4 |
| Bari | 0–0 | 2–0 | — | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Cagliari | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 |
| Catania | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | — | 0–2 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| Cosenza | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | — | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| Genoa | 4–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 3–0 | — | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–2 |
| Lecce | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | — | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| Livorno | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | — | 4–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 |
| Messina | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 |
| Napoli | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | — | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| Palermo | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | — | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Salernitana | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | — | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 |
| Sampdoria | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | — | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 |
| Siena | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 4–3 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | — | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Ternana | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | — | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Triestina | 3–2 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 4–3 | — | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| Venezia | 2–4 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Hellas Verona | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | — | 4–2 |
| Vicenza | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 4–1 | — |
vte2002–03 in Italian football :