The Robins Nest Forum

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47286779" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's always been a mystery to me how England manages to sustain FOUR wholly-professional divisions plus the Conference,

Because there is too much money in it.

Because we pay £20 a ticket in the 4th tier. Then people moan that it costs too much. And then people moan when we don't do well. Etc.

Italy has just two national division, Serie A and B - with only 39 teams (should be 40 and I cannot be bothered to look up who is missing in Serie B).

Serie C (59 teams, already one short prior to the Pro Piacenza problem) is a mixture of professional and semi-professional teams. It is divided into three, poorly regionalised divisions.

I have visited Piacenza once, seening a Serie A game at the city's other club (Piacenza Calcio). Both were in the same division this season and shared the same stadium

The average crowd this season in Serie C is 1717, with Pro Piacenza being the least supported (159), while the other club in town averaged 2,333

By comparison, the averages in Serie A and B are 25,327 and 7,016

In England, the crowd averages for the top five levels are 37,967; 19,832; 8,275; 4,257 and 1,941

While more TV money does feed down to us in the fourth level than in any other European League, it is the crowd figures (and cost to get in) that allow us to have the number of professional clubs we have. It should also be pointed out that the majority of clubs in the Football and National Leagues run at a loss and require input from benefactors to pay the wages. This does not mean we should be semi-professional. If this competitve benefactor finance was removed, then at least at our level it would mean a reduction in wages, but being a professional footballer would still be a desirable job.

I have long argued that the perception with the fans that the professional leagues are superior has helped to maintain the high crowd levels our division enjoys.

leohoenig wrote:Italy has just two national division, Serie A and B - with only 39 teams (should be 40 and I cannot be bothered to look up who is missing in Serie B).

Serie C (59 teams, already one short prior to the Pro Piacenza problem) is a mixture of professional and semi-professional teams. It is divided into three, poorly regionalised divisions.

I have visited Piacenza once, seening a Serie A game at the city's other club (Piacenza Calcio). Both were in the same division this season and shared the same stadium

The average crowd this season in Serie C is 1717, with Pro Piacenza being the least supported (159), while the other club in town averaged 2,333

By comparison, the averages in Serie A and B are 25,327 and 7,016

In England, the crowd averages for the top five levels are 37,967; 19,832; 8,275; 4,257 and 1,941

While more TV money does feed down to us in the fourth level than in any other European League, it is the crowd figures (and cost to get in) that allow us to have the number of professional clubs we have. It should also be pointed out that the majority of clubs in the Football and National Leagues run at a loss and require input from benefactors to pay the wages. This does not mean we should be semi-professional. If this competitve benefactor finance was removed, then at least at our level it would mean a reduction in wages, but being a professional footballer would still be a desirable job.

I have long argued that the perception with the fans that the professional leagues are superior has helped to maintain the high crowd levels our division enjoys.

In your experience Leo how does the quality of Serie B and C compare to L2? Instinctively I would guess that Cheltenham would be a top Serie C side but would not be good enough for Serie B but that is not based on anything so would welcome your more informed opinion.

I have not seen much in Italy recently. I would expect us to make the play-offs in Serie C (which is ten out of 20!). I would not expect us to get direct promotion.