# 1919–20 Prima Categoria

The 1919–20 Prima Categoria season was won by Internazionale.
It was the first championship after World War One.

## Regulation

Struggles between minor and major clubs continued after four years of wartime break. The planned split between two national leagues had been forgotten, and the regional FAs became the lords of the tournament, which was expanded to 48 clubs. The championship was divided in a preliminary regional phase of ten matchdays, while the following national phase was split into a semifinal round of ten matchdays and a final round between three clubs.
The main tournament was split in eight groups of six clubs. First and second clubs, together with the third teams of Piedmont, advanced to the national championship. Worst clubs had to ask for re-election.
National championship was split in three groups of six clubs. Group winners advanced to the final group of three clubs. The whole tournament consequently had twenty-two matchdays.
The experimental Southern groups had their own special regulations.

## Teams

Six clubs had collapsed during the war. However, Regional FAs agreed to expand the league to 48 clubs. They variously chose to promote, re-elect, or invite clubs to fill the spots they had been granted to.

## Pre-league qualifications
### Piedmont

    Played on October 5, 1919, in Alessandria.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Alessandrina | 1-0 | US Novarese |

### Lombardy

    Played on October 5, 1919.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Enotria Goliardo | 2-0 | Pro Patria et Libertate |
| Trevigliese | 3-2 | Monza |
| Atalanta | 2-0 | Soc. Bergamasca Ginnastica & Scherma |

### Liguria

    All matches played on November 5, 1919, in Genoa. Three available spots.

#### Round 1

| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Sampierdarenese | 1-0 | SPES Genova |
| GC Grifone | 5-1 | Sestrese |

#### Round 2

| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| SPES Genova | 3-0 | Sestrese |

### Emilia

    Matches played on September 29 and October 5, 1919, in Bologna.

#### Round 1

| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| GS Bolognese | 1-0 | Audace |

#### Round 2

| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| GS Bolognese | 1-0 | SPAL |

### Campania
#### Round 1

| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Pro Caserta | 6-0 | Brasiliano |
| Savoia | 3-2 | Stabia |

#### Round 2

| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Pro Caserta | 4-0 | Savoia |

### Verdicts

Atalanta, Enotria Goliardo, Grifone GC, Sampierdarenese, GS Bolognese, Pro Caserta, SPES Genova, Trevigliese and Alessandrina were admitted to the 1a Categoria.
Amatori Giuoco Calcio Torino, Pastore, Ausonia Pro Gorla, Legnano, Saronno, Varese, Pavia, Carpi, Mantova, and Nazionale Emilia had been previously added to the championship by the Regional FAs.

## Northern Italy
### Qualifications
#### Piedmont - Group A
##### Classification

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Pro Vercelli | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 29 | 7 | +22 | 16 | Qualified |
| 2 | Juventus | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 25 | 5 | +20 | 16 | Qualified |
| 3 | Torino | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 27 | 10 | +17 | 15 | Qualified |
| 4 | Biellese | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 12 | 34 | −22 | 5 | |
| 5 | Amatori Torino | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 24 | −17 | 4 | Relegation play-off |
| 6 | Alessandrina (E) | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 12 | 32 | −20 | 4 | Merged with Alessandria |

##### Results table

| Home \ Away | AMT | BIE | JUV | PVE | TOR | ALE |
| Amatori Torino | | 4–2 | 1–5 | 0–4 | 2–2 | 2–3 |
| Biellese | 1–0 | | 0–3 | 1–6 | 2–9 | 4–2 |
| Juventus | 3–1 | 4–0 | | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 |
| Pro Vercelli | 8–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Torino | 3–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 4–0 | | 3–1 |
| Alessandrina | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 0–1 | |

##### Relegation play-off

    Played on February 2, 1920, in Novara.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Amatori Torino | 2-1 | Alessandrina |

#### Piedmont - Group B
##### Classification

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Alessandria | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 7 | +22 | 19 | Qualified |
| 2 | Casale | 10 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 13 | +7 | 12 | Qualified |
| 3 | Novara | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 25 | 14 | +11 | 11 | Qualified |
| 4 | US Torinese | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 14 | 26 | −12 | 8 | |
| 5 | Pastore Torino | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 21 | 28 | −7 | 7 | |
| 6 | Valenzana (T) | 10 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 26 | −21 | 3 | Re-elected |

##### Results table

| Home \ Away | ALE | CSL | NOV | PAS | UST | VAL |
| Alessandria | | 4–2 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 6–0 |
| Casale | 1–1 | | 3–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| Novara | 0–1 | 1–0 | | 8–1 | 6–1 | 5–1 |
| Pastore Torino | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–4 | | 3–1 | 2–0 |
| US Torinese | 2–5 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–8 | | 2–1 |
| Valenzana | 0–2 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | |

#### Liguria
##### Classification

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Genoa | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 49 | 3 | +46 | 19 | Qualified |
| 2 | Andrea Doria | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 29 | 9 | +20 | 15 | Qualified |
| 3 | GC Grifone (E) | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 35 | −24 | 8 | Disbanded |
| 4 | Sampierdarenese | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 28 | −16 | 7 | |
| 5 | Savona | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 21 | −13 | 6 | |
| 6 | SPES Genova (T) | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 18 | −13 | 5 | Re-elected |

##### Results table

| Home \ Away | ADO | GEN | GRI | SAM | SVN | SGE |
| Andrea Doria | | 1–1 | 6–0 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 4–0 |
| Genoa | 5–1 | | 6–0 | 8–0 | 5–0 | 3–0 |
| GC Grifone | 0–7 | 0–8 | | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Sampierdarenese | 1–1 | 0–4 | 4–4 | | 1–2 | 1–0 |
| Savona | 0–0 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 2–3 | | 0–1 |
| SPES Genova | 0–2 | 1–5 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | |

#### Lombardy - Group A
##### Classification

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Internazionale | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 42 | 12 | +30 | 18 | Qualified |
| 2 | Brescia | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 21 | 16 | +5 | 14 | Qualified |
| 3 | Juventus Italia | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 16 | 15 | +1 | 9 | Qualification play-off |
| 4 | Trevigliese | 10 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 21 | 25 | −4 | 9 | Qualification play-off |
| 5 | A.C. Libertas | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 31 | −20 | 5 | Relegation play-off |
| 6 | Cremonese (T) | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 14 | 26 | −12 | 5 | Re-elected |

##### Results table

| Home \ Away | BRE | CRE | INT | JIT | LMI | TVG |
| Brescia | | 1–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 3–3 |
| Cremonese | 2–4 | | 0–2 | 0–3 | 5–3 | 3–1 |
| Internazionale | 6–0 | 5–2 | | 4–2 | 6–0 | 8–2 |
| Juventus Italia | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–4 | | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| Libertas Milano | 0–1 | 4–1 | 0–3 | 0–4 | | 3–3 |
| Trevigliese | 2–3 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 4–0 | |

##### Qualification playoff

    Played on January 4, 1920, in Brescia.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Juventus Italia | 2-0 | Trevigliese |
According to season 1919-20's FIGC rules in case of two teams sharing same position a playoff should have been played. When FIGC managers were noticed of too many matches programmed not for promotion or relegation sudden decided to change rules, just because of the few referees available for those matches, and upcoming matches (lower divisions) urged to get started. Later this playoff wasn't considered for the final table.

##### Relegation playoff

    Played on February 15, 1920, in Brescia.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Libertas Milano | 2-0 | Cremonese |

#### Lombardy - Group B
##### Classification

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Milan | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 8 | +35 | 20 | Qualified |
| 2 | Enotria Goliardo | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 24 | 15 | +9 | 14 | Qualified |
| 3 | Atalanta | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 16 | −5 | 11 | |
| 4 | Chiasso | 10 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 15 | 18 | −3 | 8 | |
| 5 | Pavia | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 11 | 19 | −8 | 5 | |
| 6 | Ausonia Pro Gorla (T) | 10 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 8 | 36 | −28 | 2 | Re-elected |
* ↑ 2 bonus points?

##### Results table

| Home \ Away | ATA | AUS | CHI | ENO | MIL | PAV |
| Atalanta | | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–4 | 1–0 |
| Ausonia Pro Gorla | 1–2 | | 0–4 | 4–7 | 0–10 | 0–2 |
| Chiasso | 3–3 | 1–1 | | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–3 |
| Enotria Goliardo | 1–0 | 4–0 | 4–0 | | 1–4 | 3–2 |
| Milan | 5–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | | 3–1 |
| Pavia | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–6 | |

#### Lombardy - Group C
##### Classification

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | US Milanese | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 8 | +27 | 18 | Qualified |
| 2 | Legnano | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 26 | 7 | +19 | 15 | Qualified |
| 3 | Saronno | 10 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 25 | 18 | +7 | 12 | |
| 4 | Nazionale Lombardia | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 19 | 33 | −14 | 7 | |
| 5 | Varese | 10 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 15 | 30 | −15 | 4 | Relegation play-off |
| 6 | Como (T) | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 13 | 37 | −24 | 4 | Re-elected |

##### Results table

| Home \ Away | COM | LEG | NLO | SAR | USM | VAR |
| Como | | 0–4 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 1–8 | 5–3 |
| Legnano | 4–0 | | 4–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 |
| Nazionale Lombardia | 4–2 | 1–4 | | 4–2 | 2–6 | 5–4 |
| Saronno | 4–2 | 3–1 | 4–0 | | 0–3 | 5–1 |
| US Milanese | 3–0 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 3–1 | | 2–2 |
| Varese | 2–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–4 | |

##### Relegation play-off

    Played on February 8, 1920, in Saronno.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Varese | 2-1 | Como |

#### Veneto
##### Classification

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Padova | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 25 | 6 | +19 | 17 | Qualified |
| 2 | Venezia | 10 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 9 | +4 | 13 | Qualified |
| 3 | Petrarca Padova | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 24 | 20 | +4 | 11 | |
| 4 | Vicenza | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 14 | 19 | −5 | 7 | |
| 5 | Hellas Verona | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 15 | 26 | −11 | 6 | Relegation play-off |
| 6 | Udinese (T) | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 18 | −11 | 6 | Re-elected |

##### Results table

| Home \ Away | HEL | PAD | PET | UDI | VEN | VIC |
| Hellas Verona | | 1–2 | 3–3 | 5–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| Padova | 7–0 | | 2–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 4–0 |
| Petrarca Padova | 4–3 | 1–2 | | 2–0 | 4–2 | 3–5 |
| Udinese | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | | 0–0 | 0–2 |
| Venezia | 3–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–0 | | 1–1 |
| Vicenza | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–5 | 0–1 | 1–2 | |
* ↑ Forfeit

##### Relegation play-off

    Played on March 14, 1920, in Venice.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Hellas Verona | 1-0 | Udinese |

#### Emilia
##### Classification

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Bologna | 10 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 39 | 5 | +34 | 18 | Qualified |
| 2 | Modena | 10 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 30 | 6 | +24 | 15 | Qualified |
| 3 | Mantova | 10 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 10 | |
| 4 | Carpi | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 22 | −13 | 7 | |
| 5 | Nazionale Emilia | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 7 | 28 | −21 | 6 | |
| 6 | GS Bolognese (T) | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 9 | 33 | −24 | 4 | Re-elected |

##### Results table

| Home \ Away | BOL | CRP | GSB | MAN | MOD | NEM |
| Bologna | | 2–0 | 8–0 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 9–0 |
| Carpi | 2–6 | | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 |
| GS Bolognese | 2–4 | 0–2 | | 3–0 | 1–9 | 2–0 |
| Mantova | 1–3 | 2–1 | 2–0 | | 0–0 | 5–1 |
| Modena | 0–0 | 6–0 | 4–0 | 2–0 | | 5–0 |
| Nazionale Emilia | 0–3 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | |

### Semifinals

The National semifinals had 18 clubs: six from Piedmont and Lombardy FAs, two from the other three Regional FAs.

#### Group A
##### Classification

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Genoa | 10 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 6 | +18 | 19 | Qualified |
| 2 | Pro Vercelli | 10 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 20 | 11 | +9 | 14 | |
| 3 | Alessandria | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 13 | 11 | +2 | 11 | |
| 4 | Milan | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 16 | −3 | 9 | |
| 5 | Legnano | 10 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 8 | 18 | −10 | 5 | |
| 6 | Venezia | 10 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 21 | −16 | 2 | |

##### Results table

| Home \ Away | ALE | GEN | LEG | MIL | PVE | VEN |
| Alessandria | | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| Genoa | 2–1 | | 5–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 5–0 |
| Legnano | 1–2 | 0–1 | | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Milan | 3–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | | 1–2 | 2–1 |
| Pro Vercelli | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 5–1 | | 4–1 |
| Venezia | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | |

#### Group B
##### Classification

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Juventus | 10 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 4 | +17 | 17 | Qualified |
| 2 | US Milanese | 10 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 10 | +4 | 15 | |
| 3 | Modena | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 17 | 13 | +4 | 9 | |
| 4 | Casale | 10 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 8 | −1 | 8 | |
| 5 | Brescia | 10 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 14 | −10 | 6 | |
| 6 | Padova | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 24 | −14 | 5 | |

##### Results table

| Home \ Away | BRE | CSL | JUV | MOD | PAD | USM |
| Brescia | | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 |
| Casale | 3–0 | | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Juventus | 2–0 | 1–0 | | 3–0 | 6–1 | 3–0 |
| Modena | 4–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | | 4–1 | 0–1 |
| Padova | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 2–4 | | 1–3 |
| US Milanese | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | |
* 1 2 Forfeit

#### Group C
##### Classification

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Internazionale | 10 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 37 | 13 | +24 | 16 | Qualified |
| 2 | Novara | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 22 | 15 | +7 | 13 | |
| 3 | Bologna | 10 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 20 | 14 | +6 | 13 | |
| 4 | Torino | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 17 | 21 | −4 | 9 | |
| 5 | Andrea Doria | 10 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 14 | 21 | −7 | 5 | |
| 6 | Enotria Goliardo | 10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 11 | 37 | −26 | 4 | |

##### Results table

| Home \ Away | ADO | BOL | ENO | INT | NOV | TOR |
| Andrea Doria | | 1–4 | 3–1 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 0–1 |
| Bologna | 2–0 | | 7–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 |
| Enotria Goliardo | 3–1 | 1–2 | | 1–5 | 0–5 | 2–0 |
| Internazionale | 1–0 | 5–0 | 7–0 | | 5–2 | 4–0 |
| Novara | 3–2 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 1–0 | | 2–0 |
| Torino | 1–3 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 6–6 | 3–1 | |
* 1 2 Forfeit

### Final round
#### Classification

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Internazionale | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 3 | Champions and qualified |
| 2 | Juventus | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | |
| 3 | Genoa | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −1 | 1 | |

#### Results

| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Juventus | 3–2 | Genoa |
| Internazionale | 1–0 | Juventus |
| Internazionale | 1–1 | Genoa |

## Southern Italy tournament

An experimental amatorial tournament was played in Southern Italy.

### Final round

    Played on 13 June 1920, in Bologna.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Livorno | 3–2 | Fortitudo Roma |
Livorno qualified to the National Final.

## National final

    Played on 20 June 1920, in Bologna.
| Team 1 | Score | Team 2 |
| Internazionale | 3–2 | Livorno |

## Footnotes

* ↑ After the first half. Second half not played for tiredness.
* ↑ After extra time.
* ↑ Later acquired by Virtus Bologna

## References and sources

* Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005