2009–10 Serie B
The 2009–10 Serie B season is the seventy-eighth edition since its establishment in 1929. Serie B is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Calcio. A total of 22 teams contest the league, 15 of which returned from the 2008–09 season, four of which have been promoted from Lega Pro Prima Divisione, and three relegated from Serie A. Managerial changes. During the season. The list does not include Giuseppe Giannini's resignation from Gallipoli, who were announced on  February 8, 2010 and withdrawn two days later following a meeting with club chairman Daniele D'Odorico. Events. The 2009–10 Serie B season will feature the return of seven-times Italian champions Torino, who were relegated from Serie A. Other teams relegated from the top flight include Reggina (after seven consecutive seasons in the Serie A) and Lecce (after only one season in the highest tier). Four teams were promoted from Lega Pro Prima Divisione: Cesena, Crotone, Padova and newcomers Gallipoli. As of 10 August, Gallipoli did not manage to organize a squad for the league and were even without a  head coach due to club issues (the club chairman being in talks with several third parties regarding a possible takeover); this also forced the club to play the Under-19 team for the second round of the Coppa Italia tournament, lost 6–1 to lower league outfit Lumezzane. The following day, Giuseppe Giannini returned to coach Gallipoli after a company from Udine took over the club. On 23 September 2009, the Football League committee point deductions of respectively two and one points for clubs Crotone and Gallipoli due to administrative and financial breaches. The one point deduction for Gallipoli was later canceled  by the Federal Court of Justice on October 22, with the two-point penalty regarding Crotone being instead confirmed. An analogous one-point penalty involving Ancona was ratified by the National Disciplinary Committee on 18 February 2010 due to not having paid a number of salaries in June and July 2009; such deduction was extended to two points by the Federal Court of Justice later on 12 March. The season also experienced a suspension for the 3 March match between Cesena and Sassuolo, which was not completed due to heavy snow at the 73rd minute, with the result being 0–0 . As per Italian league rules, only the remaining 17 minutes were played, and an unusual mini-game was therefore rescheduled on 16 March during which Sassuolo managed to score a goal (at the second minute of the match replay) to record a 1–0 win. Later, on 19 March, Salernitana were docked six points due to matchfixing regarding a Serie C1 league game held in April 2008 against Potenza. Salernitana were also the first team to get mathematically relegated, after a 5–2 loss to Empoli left the Campanian club with a 23-point gap between them and 19th-placed Padova with  seven games to the end of the season. League table. <onlyinclude></onlyinclude> Play-off. Promotion. Brescia promoted to Serie A. Top goalscorers. "Updated as of May 23, 2010"