Five Serie B Fallen Giants Aiming For a Return to Glory

Two former Scudetto winners, clubs from Italy’s fifth and sixth-biggest cities and a staple of Serie A during its 1980s heyday – the upcoming Serie B season features quite the cast.

The Italian second tier is an easy division to fall into, but a mightily difficult league to escape – as some of the fallen giants among the 20 clubs can testify.

Those clubs will be looking to revival, and the opportunity to replace folklore with tales of modern heroes. Destination Calcio has a guide to the biggest sides in the division and the status they are looking to restore.

Palermo

Fallen giants don’t come any bigger than Palermo. Italy’s fifth-biggest city is also the only one of the country’s eight most densely-populated areas without a top-flight team, albeit not for the want of trying.

The Rosanero have spent the last decade outside of Serie A, dropping all the way down to Serie D in 2019 due to financial irregularities before swiftly returning to the second tier two years later after being taken over by City Football Group.

Serie A seemed the logical next step, but ambitious as the ownership has been, their investment is yet to deliver a return to the top flight. Filippo Inzaghi’s appointment last summer was supposed to finally get Palermo over the line, but the Rosanero finished fourth and lost the play-off semi-final to Catanzaro, coming unstuck in the post-season for the second consecutive year.

The Sicilians will have another tilt at promotion this term, backed once again by a raucous crowd at the Renzo Barbera, which averaged just under 28,000 fans per game last season, the highest figure in Serie B.

One of the three Italia 90 host venues still in use in the division, plans to redevelop the stadium were suddenly halted earlier this month when the club withdrew from the project.

Even without a facelift, the Barbera remains one of the best and most atmospheric grounds to visit in Serie B and tickets are straightforward to get.

Sampdoria

Even in a football-mad country such as Italy, few cities live and breathe the beautiful game like Genoa, which is home to one of the most spectacular derbies in world football in the Derby della Lanterna.

Just don’t expect the fixture to return to Serie A anytime soon, as Sampdoria continue to tread water after being relegated to Serie B in 2023. The Blucerchiati reached the play-offs in their first term in the second tier but were relegated to Serie C for the first time in their history the following season – only for Brescia’s financial irregularities to hand them an unexpected lifeline.

Having survived at the second time of asking by beating Salernitana in a relegation play-out, Samp flirted with disaster again last term, eventually doing just enough to drag themselves clear of the drop.

The Blucerchiati have churned through five permanent managers in the last two seasons alone and twice had to turn to club legends Alberico Evani and Attilio Lombardo to pull off a miraculous rescue act. It is unbecoming of a club that won the Scudetto in 1991, the high watermark of a run of seven major trophies between 1985 and 1994.

If the success has dried out, the passion still burns as brightly as ever. Sampdoria had Serie B’s second-highest average crowd last season with just over 24,000 through the turnstiles at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris. A matchday at Marassi remains hard to beat and with the Blucerchiati celebrating their 80th anniversary, this is the perfect time to book a trip.

Hellas Verona

Sampdoria aren’t the only former Serie A champions plying their trade in the second tier this season, with 1985 Scudetto winners Verona joining the party after falling through the trapdoor last term for the first time in seven years.

If there is one silver lining for the Gialloblu it can be found in their Serie B record over the last decade. Relegated in 2016 and 2018, Verona returned to the top division at the first time of asking on both occasions and will again start among the favourites for promotion.

Conversely, the Scaligeri have long been making up the numbers in Serie A, finishing in the top half just four times in the past quarter of a century, yet they remain Veneto’s only Scudetto winners and the only team not from a regional capital to claim the title.

Like the Barbera and Marassi, the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi was a host venue for Italia 90 and is Italy’s eighth-biggest stadium, with a capacity of just over 39,000. Built in 1963 and last renovated ahead of the World Cup 36 years ago, the Bentegodi looks dated but retains its unique charm.

Verona averaged just over 22,000 fans in Serie A last season but expect a much bigger crowd when Vicenza are in town on the fifth week of the season, as the Derby del Veneto makes its return after a decade-long absence.

Tickets to watch the Gialloblu at home are easy enough to come by, making Verona an ideal stop for a calcio weekender combining football, history and drama. This, after all, is the city that played stage to two of William Shakespeare’s works.

Modena

The name Modena immediately conjures thoughts of balsamic vinegar, Luciano Pavarotti and Ferrari. And while the Emilia-Romagna city does indeed owe its worldwide fame to the trio, it is also home to one of Serie B’s most ambitious clubs.

The Canaries may have spent only 28 seasons in Serie A in their 114-year history and last tasted top-flight football in 2004, but they have been on a steady upward curve since returning to Serie B three years ago.

Under Andrea Sottil, Modena finished sixth last term and reached the play-offs only to be upset at home by Juve Stabia in the first round, and another promotion push should be on the cards this term.

The home of Panini stickers, Modena’s football connection may be overshadowed by its motorsport heritage, but it runs deep nevertheless. Located right in the middle of town, the Stadio Alberto Braglia is the sixth-biggest in Serie B with a capacity just north of 21,000 and the walk to the stadium is one of the most aesthetically pleasing strolls in Italy.

With Bologna, Parma and Sassuolo all in Serie A, can Modena turn the Emilia-Romagna trio into a quartet this season?

Ascoli

How can Ascoli be a sleeping giant when they have only just returned to Serie B, we hear you ask? Consider this: Il Picchio are Marche’s sole representative in calcio’s top two tiers and have long made a habit of punching above their weight.

Euro 1996 winner Oliver Bierhoff and former Brazil international Walter Casagrande both wore the famous black-and-white shirt, as did Fabio Quagliarella and Gianluca Scamacca. The legendary Carlo Mazzone, meanwhile, made 219 appearances for the club he later managed for seven seasons.

Ascoli have had no shortage of calcio royalty over the years and following their maiden promotion to Serie A in 1974 they spent all but three seasons in the top-flight over the next 18 years, finishing as high as fourth and sixth in the process and winning the Mitropa Cup in 1987.

But since Italia 90, Ascoli have spent just three seasons in Serie A, bouncing around the second and third tier and going bust in 2014. A slow rebuild has followed, with Il Picchio back in Serie B for the first time in two years and on more solid footing.

And while the Stadio Cino e Lillo Del Duca shows each of its 62 years, the club have not stood still off the pitch, renovating and expanding the Curva Sud in time for the upcoming season.

Ascoli had an average of almost 10,000 last season, the fourth-highest of all 60 Serie C clubs behind Catania, Vicenza and Salernitana. The redevelopment will expand the capacity to just under 14,000, over a quarter of the city’s population.