Serie A: Spezia promoted to Italy's top division despite defeat in second leg of playoff final

Spezia were promoted to Italy’s Serie A for the first time on Thursday.

Spezia lost 1-0 to Frosinone in the second leg of the Serie B playoff final, which finished 1-1 on aggregate. However, Spezia was promoted on the tiebreaker rule of having finished higher in the table in the regular season. Spezia finished third and Frosinone eighth.

68 - Spezia will be the 68th different team to play in a Serie A campaign. Rookie. pic.twitter.com/jFeEztrUfC

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) August 20, 2020

The other promoted teams are Benevento, which won Serie B by 18 points, and Crotone.

Spezia were founded in 1906 and last played in Italy’s first division in the 1920s, before the Serie A was formed. The team is based in La Spezia, a city along Italy’s northwestern coast with a population of less than 100,000.