The 2003–04 Serie B is the 72nd season since its establishment in 1929. It is the second highest football league in Italy.

Serie B TIM
Season2003–04
PromotedPalermo (3rd title)
Cagliari
Messina
Livorno
Atalanta
Fiorentina
RelegatedComo
Avellino
Napoli
Matches played552
Goals scored1,287 (2.33 per match)
Top goalscorerItaly Luca Toni (30 goals)

This 46 matchdays championship was the longest tournament in all the history of the Italian football.

Teams

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Treviso, Avellino, AlbinoLeffe and Pescara had been promoted from Serie C, while Atalanta, Piacenza, Como, and Torino had been relegated from Serie A. Following the Caso Catania, Fiorentina was added.

Personnel and sponsoring

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Team Manager Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor
AlbinoLeffe   Elio Gustinetti Legea SCAME
Ascoli   Aldo Ammazzalorso Uhlsport Carisap
Atalanta   Andrea Mandorlini Asics Promatech
Avellino   Zdeněk Zeman Devis NewNet Gruppo Tufano
Bari   Giuseppe Pillon Lotto Pasta Ambra
Cagliari   Edoardo Reja A-Line Terra Sarda
Catania   Nedo Sonetti Galex Toyota
Como   Roberto Galia Erreà Integratori Integra Sport
Fiorentina   Emiliano Mondonico Adidas Fondiaria-Sai
Genoa   Luigi De Canio Erreà Costa Cruises
Hellas Verona   Sergio Maddè Legea Clerman
Livorno   Walter Mazzarri Asics Gruppo Banca Carige
Messina   Bortolo Mutti Legea Confcommercio/Caffè Miscela d'Oro, Confcommercio
Napoli   Luigi Simoni Legea Russo di Cicciano
Palermo   Francesco Guidolin Lotto Provincia di Palermo, Regione Siciliana
Pescara   Cetteo Di Mascio Ennedue Saquella Caffè
Piacenza   Luigi Cagni Lotto UNICEF
Salernitana   Stefano Pioli Devis Centrale del Latte di Salerno
Ternana   Bruno Bolchi Erreà EnerTAD
Torino   Ezio Rossi Asics Bavaria
Treviso   Adriano Buffoni Lotto Segafredo, Provincia di Treviso
Triestina   Attilio Tesser Asics San Marco Imaging
Venezia   Angelo Gregucci Sportika Gioco Calcio
Vicenza   Giuseppe Iachini Biemme Caffè Vero

Events

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Following the Caso Catania, the league had been expanded to 24 clubs, and six special promotions were decided to descend to 22.

Relegation play-offs were also introduced.

Final classification

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Palermo (P, C) 46 22 17 7 75 39 +36 83 Promotion to Serie A
2 Cagliari (P) 46 23 14 9 80 51 +29 83
3 Livorno (P) 46 20 19 7 75 45 +30 79
4 Messina (P) 46 21 16 9 71 45 +26 79
5 Atalanta (P) 46 19 20 7 59 36 +23 77
6 Fiorentina (P) 46 19 16 11 53 48 +5 73 Promotion play-offs
7 Ternana 46 18 15 13 64 52 +12 69
8 Piacenza 46 17 17 12 50 47 +3 68
9 Catania 46 18 13 15 53 53 0 67
10 Triestina 46 15 19 12 50 50 0 64
11 Ascoli 46 14 18 14 54 54 0 60
12 Torino 46 14 17 15 57 54 +3 59
13 Vicenza 46 12 20 14 48 51 −3 56
14 Napoli[a] (D, R, E) 46 10 26 10 35 43 −8 56 Revival in Serie C1
15 Treviso 46 12 19 15 48 51 −3 55
16 Genoa 46 13 16 17 57 62 −5 55
17 Salernitana 46 14 13 19 36 53 −17 55
18 AlbinoLeffe 46 13 15 18 47 59 −12 54
19 Hellas Verona 46 13 14 19 54 65 −11 53
20 Venezia 46 12 15 19 40 57 −17 51 Relegation play-offs
21 Bari[b] (T) 46 13 11 22 50 63 −13 50 Spared from relegation
22 Pescara[c] (T) 46 11 13 22 46 69 −23 46
23 Avellino (R) 46 8 13 25 51 69 −18 37 Relegation to Serie C1
24 Como (R) 46 7 12 27 34 71 −37 33
Source: Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head goals scored; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (D) Disqualified; (E) Eliminated; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated; (T) Qualified, but not yet for the particular phase indicated
Notes:
  1. ^ Folded after bankruptcy, new entity re-admitted to Serie C1 by Lodo Petrucci.
  2. ^ Relegated after relegation play-off and later readmitted in place of Napoli.
  3. ^ Relegated and later readmitted after newly relegated Ancona's bankruptcy.

Results

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Home \ Away ALB ASC ATA AVE BAR CAG CTN COM FIO GEN LIV MES NAP PAL PES PIA SAL TER TOR TRV TRI VEN HEL VIC
AlbinoLeffe 3–3 0–4 1–0 3–1 0–0 1–1 2–1 1–0 0–0 1–1 0–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 0–0 0–1 1–2 2–2 1–0 0–0 0–0 2–0 2–1
Ascoli 2–1 1–1 0–1 1–1 3–1 1–0 4–0 0–1 0–1 2–1 1–1 1–2 2–1 0–0 0–0 3–2 0–0 2–2 1–3 2–1 1–0 3–0 3–1
Atalanta 2–1 2–0 2–0 2–0 2–1 3–0 2–1 1–1 1–0 0–0 2–2 0–0 0–0 1–0 0–1 0–0 1–1 1–1 2–2 4–1 0–0 0–2 3–2
Avellino 0–3 2–2 1–1 1–2 2–3 0–0 0–0 0–1 2–1 1–1 0–1 3–0 0–0 3–2 1–3 2–1 0–2 1–3 2–3 1–0 1–0 6–0 0–1
Bari 0–1 1–2 2–1 2–1 0–0 1–2 1–0 0–0 1–0 3–2 1–3 0–0 2–1 2–2 2–1 3–0 1–2 2–1 0–0 4–1 1–2 1–2 2–1
Cagliari 1–0 3–0 5–1 3–1 2–1 2–1 3–2 3–1 2–0 4–1 1–1 1–1 3–2 3–0 0–2 3–1 3–0 0–0 1–1 3–1 2–2 1–1 0–0
Catania 2–1 1–1 1–1 2–0 1–0 0–3 0–0 1–1 1–0 0–3 1–0 1–0 0–2 2–0 3–0 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–0 0–1 3–0 1–1 1–1
Como 1–1 2–1 0–3 0–3 1–3 1–3 1–4 0–2 1–3 3–5 1–1 2–0 0–1 1–1 2–2 1–0 0–2 0–2 2–1 0–0 1–1 0–2 0–1
Fiorentina 2–1 0–0 1–1 3–1 3–1 2–1 3–2 1–0 2–2 1–1 2–0 2–1 2–1 1–1 2–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–1
Genoa 4–2 1–1 0–3 1–1 2–0 4–2 1–3 0–1 2–1 0–1 2–2 2–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–2 4–1 2–1 0–0 2–2 1–0 4–1 2–0
Livorno 3–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 1–1 2–2 2–1 2–0 1–1 3–0 3–0 1–1 5–1 2–0 2–0 1–0 3–1 2–0 1–1 0–0 3–0 1–2
Messina 4–1 2–1 3–0 3–2 1–0 2–2 3–0 3–0 3–0 4–0 2–1 1–1 1–1 2–2 2–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 3–1 1–1 2–1 1–0 1–1
Napoli 0–0 1–1 0–0 1–0 0–0 1–0 2–3 0–1 2–2 0–0 0–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 0–0 2–1 2–2 1–0 0–0 1–1 2–2 1–1
Palermo 2–1 1–0 0–0 1–1 3–0 1–0 5–0 2–1 2–0 3–1 4–1 0–0 4–0 2–1 1–1 0–2 2–1 2–1 2–3 3–1 4–0 3–1 3–0
Pescara 4–3 2–1 0–0 1–0 2–0 0–1 1–0 1–1 0–0 1–2 0–0 1–2 1–2 0–2 1–0 2–2 2–2 2–1 1–2 1–0 1–0 2–1 0–0
Piacenza 0–0 1–1 0–0 2–0 1–0 1–2 0–0 1–1 2–0 4–4 1–3 1–0 2–3 2–2 2–1 1–0 2–1 2–0 2–0 1–0 1–0 3–1 1–0
Salernitana 0–3 0–0 1–3 1–0 2–0 3–2 1–2 1–0 1–0 0–1 0–2 0–3 0–0 1–1 1–2 0–0 2–1 2–0 0–0 2–2 2–0 1–1 0–0
Ternana 0–0 1–1 2–1 2–2 0–0 1–1 3–1 0–0 3–2 1–0 1–2 3–0 0–0 1–1 3–0 2–0 1–2 0–0 3–2 1–0 5–2 2–0 1–0
Torino 4–0 3–1 0–1 2–2 3–2 4–2 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 1–3 1–2 2–1 2–0 4–2 0–1 2–1 2–1 1–1 0–0 1–1 1–1
Treviso 2–1 3–1 0–3 2–1 1–1 0–0 2–1 2–0 0–0 1–0 1–1 1–2 0–1 1–1 3–0 1–1 4–0 1–1 0–0 2–1 1–1 0–2 1–1
Triestina 3–0 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–0 1–2 0–0 2–2 2–1 2–1 4–3 1–1 0–0 1–0 2–1 0–0 2–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–2 0–1
Venezia 2–1 1–0 1–0 2–1 3–2 1–2 0–3 3–1 0–2 2–2 3–2 2–0 0–0 1–1 2–0 0–0 0–1 0–1 2–1 0–0 1–0 0–2 1–1
Hellas Verona 2–3 0–1 1–2 2–2 4–3 1–2 0–0 1–0 0–1 3–0 1–1 0–0 1–1 1–2 4–3 3–0 0–0 3–2 0–0 0–0 0–1 1–0 2–3
Vicenza 1–0 2–3 0–1 2–2 1–1 2–0 2–0 0–1 1–1 0–0 2–2 2–1 1–0 0–0 1–1 0–1 3–1 1–2 2–2 1–1 1–1 3–1 1–2
Source: Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio - La Storia 1898-2004, Panini Edizioni, Modena, September 2005
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Promotion play-offs

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Fiorentina had to play a qualification match with 15th-placed team of Serie A, Perugia.

Perugia0–1Fiorentina
Fantini   10'
Attendance: 23,500

Fiorentina1–1Perugia
Fantini   47' do Prado   82'

A.C. Perugia relegated to Serie B, while ACF Fiorentina was promoted to Serie A.

Relegation play-off*

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Bari1–0Venezia
Bruno   57'
Attendance: 22,583

Venezia2–0Bari
Brellier   50'
Biancolino   90+4'

A.S. Bari was relegated but was later readmitted in place of S.S.C. Napoli.

Top scorers

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  1. Luca Toni, Palermo: 30