2025–26 Serie D

The season will provide a total of nine promotions to Serie C (those being the winners of all nine groups). Teams placed between second and fifth for each group will play a so-called "playoff tournament," starting with two one-legged games played at the best-placed team's home venue: • 2nd-placed team vs 5th-placed team; • 3rd-placed team vs 4th-placed team. In the event of a draw at the end of the game, two extra periods will be played. If no winner is determined after that, the team with the best placement will advance to the final. The two winning teams will then play a one-legged final, to be hosted at the best-placed team's home venue, with the same rules as in the first round. The playoff winners will be prioritized to fill a potential Serie C league vacancy. The two bottom-placed teams for each league group are automatically relegated to Eccellenza. Two two-legged relegation playoff games (known in Italian as "play-out") will therefore be played between: • 13th-placed team vs 16th-placed team (for 18-team groups), or 15th-placed team vs 18th-placed team (for 20-team groups); • 14th-placed team vs 15th-placed team (for 18-team groups), or 16th-placed team vs 17th-placed team (for 20-team groups). Two extra times will be played in case of an aggregate draw after the second leg. If a further aggregate draw occurs, the team with the worst record will be relegated. In case the two teams have a league gap of at least eight points, the relegation playoff will not take place and the worst-placed club will be automatically relegated instead. == Teams ==

The league's composition involves nine divisions, grouped geographically and named alphabetically. Teams relegated from Serie C The following teams were relegated from the 2024–25 Serie C: • From Group A: Union Clodiense Chioggia, Caldiero Terme • From Group B: Milan Futuro, Sestri Levante, Legnago Salus • From Group C: Messina Three clubs originally relegated from Serie C (Taranto, Turris, and Lucchese) went bankrupt and were subsequently disbanded. The number of clubs in Serie D decreased from 168 to 165 to achieve the objective of 160 teams in eight groups for the 2026–27 season. Article 52 of NOIF regulations was consequently amended to ban the recreation of bankrupted clubs in this league, moving them to the lower fully amateur divisions instead. In addition, SPAL submitted an incomplete and invalid application to the league, and was subsequently excluded, replaced by the playoff-winning team Ravenna. Consequently, the number of clubs in Serie D decreased from 165 to 164. Teams promoted from Eccellenza The following teams were promoted from Eccellenza: ; Abruzzo • Giulianova • Castelnuovo Vomano ; Apulia • Barletta ; Basilicata • Ferrandina ; Calabria • Vigor Lamezia ; Campania • Afragolese • Heraclea • Real Normanna ; Emilia Romagna • Correggese • Tropical Coriano ; Friuli-Venezia Giulia • San Luigi ; Lazio • Valmontone • UniPomezia • Montespaccato ; Liguria • Celle Varazze ; Lombardy • Pavia • Mapello • Rovato Vertovese • Leon • Scanzorosciate ; Marche • Maceratese ; Molise • Vastogirardi ; Piedmont & Aosta Valley • Biellese • Valenzana Mado ; Sardinia • Budoni • Monastir ; Sicily • Athletic Club Palermo • Milazzo • Città di Gela ; Trentino Alto Adige – Südtirol • Maia Alta Obermais ; Tuscany • Camaiore • Scandicci ; Umbria • Vivi Altotevere Sansepolcro • Cannara ; Veneto • Unione La Rocca Altavilla • Conegliano Originally promoted, successively excluded. Promoted as national playoff winners. Admitted as repechage to fill a vacancy. As usual, there was an interchange of 36 clubs between Serie D and Eccellenza. However, as both the winners, finalists, and semifinalists of the Coppa Italia Dilettanti had already won promotion to Serie D, they were not eligible for the additional spot commonly assigned to the tournament. The spot was consequently vacated, reducing the number of clubs from 164 to 163 teams. Moreover, the Eccellenza Molise winners, Vastogirardi, did not apply for a Serie D spot, thus reducing the number to 162, the standard membership for this season. Successively, due to financial issues, three more clubs were rejected, Matera, Avezzano, and Eccellenza's playoff winners Castelnuovo Vomano, and they were replaced by: • two Serie D's playouts losers (as expected Follonica Gavorrano and COS Orientale Sarda); • the best Eccellenza's playoff losers (as expected Montespaccato Rome). Relocations, mergers and renamings • Città di Varese was renamed to Varese; • Cynthialbalonga was renamed to Albalonga, renouncing the joint representation of Albano Laziale and Genzano di Roma in order to represent only the former city. • Nola replaced Puteolana, acquiring the sports rights of the latter. == Group A ==