Coppa Italia Serie C

About Coppa Italia Serie C

History, Format, Organization, Media Coverage

The Coppa Italia Serie C, previously known as the Coppa Italia Lega Pro, is an Italian knockout football cup competition founded in 1972. It is run by Lega Pro (Lega Italiano Calcio Professionistico), the governing body for third-tier professional football in Italy.

The tournament includes 60 teams from Serie C, Italy’s third-tier league, competing for the title each season. It follows an autumn-spring schedule, typically kicking off in October and concluding in April.

The competition consists of six rounds, with 56 of the 60 teams participating in the first round. Four Serie C clubs compete in Coppa Italia, Italy’s premier knockout football cup competition, each season and they are given a bye to the second round of the Coppa Italia Serie C.

After the initial two rounds, the tournament progresses to the round of 16, quarterfinals, semifinals, and final. All matches are played as single-leg encounters, except for the semifinals and final, which are contested in a two-leg format. The winner qualifies for the Serie C promotion play-offs and the following season's Coppa Italia.

Exceptions apply if the Coppa Italia Serie C champion has already secured promotion to Serie B, qualified for the Serie C promotion play-offs, has been relegated to Serie D, or qualified for the Serie D relegation play-offs. In such cases, the spot goes to the runner-up, and if they also meet these criteria, to the 11th-placed team in the same Serie C group as the champion.

Alessandria won the inaugural Coppa Italia Serie C title in 1972-1973 while Monza made history as the first team to secure back-to-back titles in 1973-1974 and 1974-1975, following Alessandria's victory. They nearly achieved a third consecutive title but lost to Lecce in the 1975-1976 final. On the other hand, Palermo became the first team in this competition’s history to finish as runner-up in consecutive seasons (1989-90 and 1990-91).