Look, everywhere has its negatives/positives as we all know.
I luv alot about here but I'm sick of alot as well.
I/we luv our roots even though I'm born here wife not (you know from where) but we luv the euro outlook lifestyle + passions.
Yep its crowded in summers no diff to here but like here you can find your spots/hideaways away from it all.
Yep I'm in EU every year at varied times incl ME/Asia and USA.
I'm sick of the whinging here, they don't know how good they have it and the OTT red tape/amongst the other BS this country is going.
I'm looking forward in the near future to stay over there for 3mths at time if things fall into place.

Understand what you are saying, I've done a lot of travelling around Australia since Covid, lots of great places & lots of culture & history, just not taught at school.

have done heaps of Oz touring and will always - many people prefer going OS due to cost comparisons.
Lifestyle catergry has increased huge post covid, been great business for many I know in the game.
School has more interest teaching left wing issues, nonbinary terms and other red tape BS that is more important :)

The national phase of the Serie C playoffs have begun (Final 13 teams - with byes for the 3x second placed teams to the second round which will mark the quarter finals).
These matches all now held over two legs with no away goals, with the home team for the second leg in the first two rounds the winner in the event of an aggregate draw, but extra time and penalties if necessary for the Final Four and Playoff Final.

First Round

Second Round

Assuming the seeded teams win the first round, Carrarese will be the "Best First Round Winners" (as it is based off ladder position + better record over the year, etc), meaning Catania would play against either Padova, Torres, Avellino or Carrarese - and I'm afraid that's where their season would probably end.

FORZA CATANIA my friend... keep us posted :) 

Total random fact for the day, Avellino was the fist ever Italian club to sign a Greek player in the mid 80s. Nickos Anastopoulos... I remember them flying Green and White Greek flags during their games...  which would have pissed off Anasta as he was an Olympiacos player and would have seen these same flags against him in Athens. lol

My poppa is from Fiume, Triestina region, now Rieka Croatia, hence that Dukes interview link posted elsewhere always has my interest.
https://www.britannica.com/event/Fiume-question
Therefore I see Triestina in there NCB, forza !
That club was established in 1918 !
Therefore I re checked Mum's ol town, Recco, down the road from Genoa obviously in SerieA.
I see Sporting Recco but not much on them or history but results.
Can't see which league they play in.

Great info NCB I'll keep looking with interest.

I found the water polo team if that helps.....

cheers mate, yer I know of the water polo, infact they are beasts at it known winning Club.
and this bloke owns it
The club is owned by Genovese businessman Gabriele Volpi, who also owns football club Spezia, competing in Serie A

When we were in Recco last trip we ate this cool taverna and saw heaps of water polo memoribilia around the place, a ex local known player owns it.
Got to say great mangiare and vino !

Yep looks like they've been very successful in the pool.

As for the football, last record I found of them was the 16/17 Serie D. Very possible they've gone bust and languishing in the lower leagues as a phoenix club (which happens quite a lot).

Catania is weird, I guess it's the full provincial team, since both my parents villages fall under that - but they do have little village teams. Dad's side is a youth side only that acts as an academy branch for Catania FC now, and on my mother's side, they were supposed to be in Serie D last season (22-23) alongside Catania, but went bust, and the phoenix club just won the 7th division league.

UPDATE: Second round, first legs have been completed. Should note that Catania did lose their second leg at home 1-0, however as the seeded team (being the Coppa winner), they progressed to the next stage.

SECOND ROUND first leg results (home team listed first, in brackets is their league position) - of note is Catania's season record against Avellino; a 2-0 loss at home, then 5-2 loss away

Vicenza (3rd League A) v Padova (2nd League A) : 2-0
Benevento (3rd League C) v Torres (2nd League B) : 1-0
Catania (13th League C) v Avellino (2nd League C) : 1-0
Juventus (7th League B) v Carrarese (3rd League B) : 1-1

Second legs are held Saturday night (Sunday 4am AEST), on FIFA+. The regulations on draws still stand for this stage, so a single goal loss of any scoreline for Catania means they are knocked out of the playoff. A win or a draw means they progress to the semi-finals

nice part of the world your parents NCB, having been born here I have no care of the north south and other rivalries as it is almost everywhere in the world.
To me its Italy and all regions have their own quirks good and bad.
Mentioning of village teams etc, I'm spending sometime back there (Italia) in Feb, I'll have to look out for a grass roots local game as a matter of interest hopefully I can make the time.

So Triestina is out from the 1-1 draw ? to 2nd round ?

Yes, unfortunately out with a loss in the second leg. Full results of that round below.

The only Italian rivalry I care about at the moment is to keep Messina and Palermo at bay ;)

Village football I think would be fun!

cool bud, fascinating to see more about these levels.
I agree would be so interesting to see and what level of play it is.

Sorry for Triest but thats football.
Well Vincenza got through so close my fam origins so my next to back :).
JuveNextGen - surprised they down there, looking it up quotes Juve's as a Reserve Team for the top flight.
Founded in only in 2018 its their U23's - I expect they are working on them to get into SerieB sooner or later, U23's would be a awesum effort.

Yep, looks like Italy has introduced a reserve grade set up similar to Spain's (and I suspect a few other countries in Europe), but only 2 clubs (Atalanta is the other) seem to be in the first-grade pyramid - both in Serie C

Forgot to update after last weekend - Heartbreak after hope for Catania, knocked out in an aggregate draw in a successful choke artist display

After winning the home leg 1-0, was actually up 1-0 away, before conceding two in the second half to lose the second leg 2-1. With the aggregate score ending 2-2, Avellino advanced at this stage being the 'seeded' team. Full results from the quarter finals , and first leg of the next stage below:

all the loser gets is a spoon

Do they get draft pics like the AFL? Thats something to aim for :P

J2 2023 Champions


J1 2024. 10 games to go

They get absolutely cazzi

On a side note - could also put in the NPL thread... looking forward to this weekends final round in ACT NPL - (Former) Powerhouse Canberra Olympic faces off away against last years Premiers O'Connor Knights, in a MUST WIN match for them. Anything less will see them RELEGATED to Canberra's second division (unless of course Capital Football do a CBF in Brazil and alter the competition so they stay in the top flight).

If they do manage to win, then Griffith's Yoogali SC will also need to defeat a travelling Tuggeranong United to not face the immediate drop back to the Capital Premier League. A draw (in the event Olympic win) would see Yoogali and Olympic tied on points at the bottom of the table, but interestingly when it comes to relegation/promotion, it is not the goal difference that is the first tiebreaker, it's the position on the ladder for the U23's (which Olympic is currently 4 points clear of Yoogali, so they have that covered)

Queanbeyan City have already guaranteed promotion to the NPL next year.

Wild stuff! And pretty sure Duke is still smashing it with them!

No drafts in RL. It was ruled a restraint of trade in the courts in about 1990.

Remember reading that their manager was basically a high school gym coach before this gig

Interesting... So how do players get picked up by clubs? Are they signed from lower tiers and overseas like football or from club academies?

Genuine question btw.

Most players are scouted from country RL & Junior leagues. Every Sydney club has a geographical area that the junior clubs play in.Not many academies if any.
Overseas is only NZ or England, sometimes PNG.

So "junior clubs" is like the American baseball feeder system model or can players from Sutherland Shark's junior clubs be signed up by the Roosters for example?

Anyone can be signed by anyone.
In bygone days, you could only play for clubs that your registered address was in. That changed to a 13 import rule, meaning if you never played in the South Sydney junior league, you would be classed as an import if you played for South Sydney.
It is predominantly a 5 state sport. ( NSW,QLD,NZ, Yorkshire & Lancashire )