The 2006–07 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 105th season of top-tier Italian football, the 75th in a round-robin tournament. It was scheduled to begin on 26 and 27 August but was postponed to 2 September 2006 due to the Calciopoli scandal, which led to the absence of Juventus. On 22 April 2007, Internazionale became Serie A champions after defeating Siena, as Roma's loss to Atalanta left Inter with a 16-point advantage with five matches to play.
Events
2006 Italian football scandal
Following the Serie A scandal of 2006, Juventus was relegated to Serie B and deducted 9 points. Fiorentina, Milan and Lazio, were deducted 15, 8 and 3 points respectively but were not relegated. Consequently, Lecce, Messina and Treviso, originally slated for relegation to Serie B, were to remain in Serie A. However, Fiorentina and Lazio successfully appealed and escaped relegation, thus relegating Lecce and Treviso and keeping 20 teams in Serie A.
As part of another inquiry, Reggina were handed a 15-point penalty but were allowed to remain in Serie A."Reggina to stay in Serie A" , The World Game, 18 August 2006. This penalty was reduced to 11 points on appeal.
League halting of February 2007
On 2 February 2007, police officer Filippo Raciti was killed outside the Stadio Angelo Massimino, Catania, in football-related violence during the Sicilian derby between rivals Catania and Palermo."Italian league halted by violence". The match, originally scheduled for 4 February at 15:00, was exceptionally advanced on Friday at 18:00 under request of Catania because of the simultaneity with the St. Agatha local celebrations.
The dramatic Sicilian derby events, which followed the murder of Ermanno Licursi, an amateur club manager, beaten to death during a riot in a Terza Categoria league match, led Commissioner Luca Pancalli to call a stop to all football matches in Italy, including Serie A fixtures. Pancalli noted how the league fixtures would not start again until a solution to the violence issue in Italian football is found. The week after, a special law by the government enforced the measures to be taken against violence in football stadia and forbade the presence of supporters inside stadia which didn't agree with mandatory security dispositions, thus enabling Italian football to go on with half of the matches played without audience.
Following the events, Catania was prohibited to play its home matches at Stadio Angelo Massimino for the remaining part of the season, and the club was also forced to play its home matches in neutral grounds without spectators (a porte chiuse, behind closed doors). Several other Italian stadia were closed too because of security reasons, and reopened only once they would have passed several safety requirements. All stadiums were successfully reopened for April, with Stadio Massimino's exception. Catania's home matches were successively allowed to be attended by spectators, yet on neutral ground, as from 13 May.
Dominant Inter With their victory over Siena on 22 April 2007, Internazionale captured the 2006–07 Serie A title (the 15th Scudetto in their club history) by moving 16 points clear of second-place Roma with five matches to play. Inter's dominant effort marked the defence of the title they were awarded in the wake of the Calciopoli scandal, and their first Scudetto claimed on the field since 28 May 1989."Inter-Roma match recap", Channel 4, 18 April 2007. Clinching with five matches remaining, Inter tied the Serie A record for earliest title claim (along with Torino in the 1947–48 Serie A). The team also broke the record for most consecutive wins with a 17 match winning streak.
Relegation battle With Messina and Ascoli already relegated, there was only one relegation slot left to be decided in the last matchday, with Parma (39 points), Chievo Verona (39), Catania (38), Siena (37) and Reggina (37) involved in the battle. The key match in the relegation battle was widely expected to be Catania–Chievo, to be played in Bologna because of the forced closure of Stadio Angelo Massimino by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) following the February 2007 infamous riots in the Sicilian derby. The match ended in a 2–0 win for Catania; due to the contemporary wins of Parma, Siena and Reggina, Chievo were therefore relegated to Serie B.
Team details
Team City Stadium Capacity Previous Season Current Atalanta Bergamo Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia 25,640 Serie B Champions Season Cagliari Cagliari Stadio Sant'Elia23,386 14th in Serie A Season Catania Catania Stadio Angelo Massimino29,148 Serie B Runners-up Season Chievo Verona Verona Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi39,211 4th in Serie A Season Empoli Empoli Stadio Carlo Castellani17,000 7th in Serie A Season Fiorentina Florence Stadio Artemio Franchi47,246 9th in Serie A Season Internazionale Milan San Siro82,955 Serie A Champions Season Lazio Rome Stadio Olimpico80,500 16th in Serie A Season Livorno Livorno Stadio Armando Picchi19,238 6th in Serie A Season Messina Messina Stadio San Filippo40,200 17th in Serie A SeasonMilan Milan San Siro82,955 3rd in Serie A Season Palermo Palermo Stadio Renzo Barbera37,342 5th in Serie A Season Parma Parma Stadio Ennio Tardini27,906 8th in Serie A Season Reggina Reggio Calabria Stadio Oreste Granillo27,454 13th in Serie A Season Roma Rome Stadio Olimpico 80,500 2nd in Serie A Season Sampdoria Genoa Stadio Luigi Ferraris37,091 12th in Serie A Season Siena Siena Stadio Artemio Franchi15,373 15th in Serie A Season Torino Turin Stadio Olimpico di Torino25,378 Serie B Playoff Winners Season Udinese Udine Stadio Friuli41,315 11th in Serie A Season
Personnel and sponsoring Team Head coachCaptain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor Ascoli Nedo Sonetti Michele Fini Legea Pompea Atalanta Stefano Colantuono Antonino Bernardini Asics Sit in Sport, Daihatsu Cagliari Marco Giampaolo David Suazo Asics Tiscali, Sky Catania Pasquale Marino Armando Pantanelli Legea SP Energia Siciliana Chievo Verona Luigi Delneri Lorenzo D'Anna Lotto Paluani/Banca Popolare di Verona/Ferroli/Cattolica Assicurazioni, Soglia Travel/Buon Viaggio Network Empoli Luigi Cagni Ighli Vannucchi Asics Frutta, Computer Gross Fiorentina Cesare Prandelli Dario Dainelli Lotto Toyota Internazionale Roberto Mancini Javier Zanetti Nike Pirelli Lazio Delio Rossi Luciano Zauri Puma INA Assitalia, Festa del Cinema di Roma Livorno Fernando Orsi Cristiano Lucarelli Legea Banca Carige, Mediaset PremiumMilan Carlo Ancelotti Paolo Maldini Adidas BwinMessina Bruno Bolchi Christian RiganòLegeaCastello Sicily Abbigliamento/Legea/Framon Hotel Group/Hermes Media/Sporteconomy.it/Chevrolet Roberto Capitelli/Radio Margherita/Mazda Napoli/Sponsoring Group, Air Malta Palermo Francesco Guidolin Eugenio Corini Lotto Mandi Parma Claudio Ranieri Giuseppe Cardone Erreà Gimoka/Play Radio (in UEFA matches), Play Radio Reggina Walter Mazzarri Alessandro Lucarelli Onze Gicos, Regione Calabria Roma Luciano Spalletti Francesco Totti Diadora Festa del Cinema di Roma/Pepsi Collection Sampdoria Walter Novellino Sergio Volpi Kappa Erg Diesel One Siena Mario Beretta Enrico Chiesa Mass Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena Torino Gianni De Biasi Diego De Ascentis Asics Reale Mutua, Fratelli Beretta Udinese Alberto Malesani Giampiero Pinzi Lotto Gaudì Jeans
League table
Top goalscorers RankPlayerClubGoals1 Francesco Totti Roma262 Cristiano Lucarelli Livorno203 Christian Riganò Messina194 Rolando BianchiReggina185 Nicola AmorusoReggina17 Gionatha Spinesi Catania7 Adrian MutuFiorentina16 Tommaso RocchiLazio Luca Toni Fiorentina10 Zlatan IbrahimovićInternazionale15
Results
Awards
Individual The official Serie A individual awards for the 2006–07 season were presented by the Italian Footballers' Association (AIC) at the annual Oscar del Calcio ceremony:
+ 2007 AIC Oscar del Calcio Winners Category Winner Club / Association Footballer of the Year Kaká (Milan) Italian Footballer Francesco Totti (Roma) Tactical Positions Marco Materazzi(Defender of the Year / Inter Milan) Angelo Peruzzi(Goalkeeper of the Year / Lazio) Foreign & Youth Kaká(Foreign Footballer / Milan) Riccardo Montolivo(Young Footballer / Fiorentina) Staff & Officials Cesare Prandelli(Coach of the Year / Fiorentina) Roberto Rosetti(Referee of the Year)
Team of the Year Goalkeeper Sébastien Frey(Fiorentina) Defenders Maicon(Inter Milan) Marco Materazzi(Inter Milan) Cristian Chivu(Roma) Midfielders Daniele De Rossi(Roma) Andrea Pirlo(Milan) Gennaro Gattuso(Milan) Forwards Kaká(Milan) Francesco Totti(Roma) Zlatan Ibrahimović(Inter Milan)
Attendances Serie A attendances have dropped marginally. Higher attendances in the last couple of weeks increased the final season average for Serie A to 19,720. These are the average Serie A team attendances for the 2006–07 season:
Club Average Attendance Highest Attendance Game Ascoli 7,209 15,000 vs Milan Atalanta 12,246 24,000 vs Milan Cagliari 11,47920.200vs Milan Catania 16,185 20,000 vs Palermo Chievo Verona 6,719 13,000 vs Ascoli Empoli 5,351 12,000 vs. Fiorentina Fiorentina 30,000 41,000 vs. Milan Internazionale 48,000 64,000 vs. Torino Lazio 25,000 61,000 vs. Roma Livorno 8,500 13,000 vs Sampdoria Messina 11,500 17,500 vs. Milan Milan 47,000 79,000 vs Internazionale Palermo 24,000 35,000 vs Catania Parma 15,000 20,000 vs Internazionale Reggina 12,500 21,000 vs Milan Roma 38,689 61,292 vs Lazio Sampdoria 19,000 27,000 vs Internazionale Siena 8,000 14,000 vs Internazionale Torino 20,500 24,000 vs Internazionale Udinese 14,500 20,000 vs Internazionale
Catania hosted Ascoli, Fiorentina, Inter, Lazio, Reggina, Roma, Siena and Torino at neutral venues without fans, and Milan and Chievo Verona in Bologna, but with fans welcome.
Milan outnumbered every other team for the highest number of season ticket holders with 37,000, with Inter not far behind with 35,000 season ticket holders.
The lowest attendance for the season was recorded in the Ascoli vs Cagliari match, in the final day of the league, that attracted a mere 2,800 people.
See also 2006–07 Serie B 2006–07 Coppa Italia List of Italian football transfers 2006-07
Footnotes
External links
- All results on RSSSF Website. 2006/2007 Serie A Squads - (www.footballsquads.com)