Average attendance 19,720 Matches played 380 | Dates 9 Sep 2006 – 27 May 2007 Goals scored 969 | |
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Champions Internazionale15th title Champions League InternazionaleRomaLazioMilan UEFA Cup PalermoFiorentinaEmpoli Similar | ||
The 2006–07 Serie A season (officially "Serie A TIM 2006–2007") began September 10, 2006. It was scheduled to begin on August 26 and 27, but was then postponed due to the 2006 Italian football scandal. It is the 104th Italian championship ever held, the first without the presence of Juventus, and the 75th Serie A league, the first being held in 1929. On April 22, 2007 Internazionale became the Serie A champions after beating Siena, as Roma's loss to Atalanta left Inter with a 16-point advantage with five games to play.
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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, and consequently Lecce, Messina and Treviso, originally slated for relegation to Serie B, were to have been retained in Serie A, thereby keeping the top table at 20 teams.
As part of another inquiry, Reggina was handed a 15-point penalty, but was allowed to remain in Serie A. This penalty was reduced to 11 points on appeal.
League halting of February 2007
On February 2, 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 [1]. The match, originally scheduled for February 4 at 3pm, was exceptionally advanced on Friday at 6pm under request of Catania Calcio 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 May 13.
Dominant Inter
With their victory over Siena on April 22, 2007, Internazionale captured the 2006-07 Serie A title (the 15th Scudetto in the team's history) by moving 16 points clear of second-place Roma with 5 matches to play. Internazionale's dominant effort marked the defense of the title they were awarded in the wake of the Calciopoli scandal, and their first Scudetto claimed on the field since May 28, 1989. Clinching with five matches remaining, Internazionale tied the Serie A record for earliest title claim (along with Torino in the 1948). 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 (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 vs Chievo, to be played in Bologna because of the forced closure of Stadio Angelo Massimino by the Italian Football Federation following the February 2007 infamous riots in the Sicilian derby. The match ended in a 2-0 win for the Sicilian side; due to the contemporary wins of Parma, Siena and Reggina, Chievo relegated to Serie B.
Top goalscorers
Results
Source: lega-calcio.it (Italian)
1 ^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
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:
Catania hosted Ascoli, Fiorentina, Inter, Lazio, Reggina, Roma, Siena and Torino at neutral venues without fans, and Milan and Chievo 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.