The league was created in 1959 as
Lega Nazionale Semiprofessionisti by the
FIGC Commissioner
Bruno Zauli on the base of the old Lega IV Serie. The League managed three
Serie C and six
Serie D groups with 162 clubs. The league was intermediate between professionals and amateurs. Former C clubs protested for their lost
Lega Calcio membership, and they spent the following twenty years to regain a professional status. The league, led by
Artemio Franchi, was expanded in 1967 to 222 clubs. A new reform in 1978 abolished the Serie D and divided the C into two fully professional championships, the
Serie C1 and the
Serie C2, with 108 members in six groups. The new name was
Lega Nazionale Serie C, and its status became professional. After 2000 the Serie C2 was reduced and later abolished in 2014, to give way to a
Serie C in three groups. == References ==