This has to be one of the toughest leagues in Europe to get promoted from – Padova took 86 points from 38 games and still only just got there in the final match. Vicenza have 83 points and now have to do playoffs. This was a blessed relief for the entire club because after so many agonising failures over the past few seasons... they’re back in the second division for the first time in six years. As for Kirwan personally, he once got promoted with Reggiana via the playoffs but this is the first time he’s done the automatic route. Magnifico. As long as they keep him around – and he’s the club captain so you’d assume they will – then next season will be Kirwan’s second in Serie B following the 2020-21 campaign with Reggiana where he made 27 appearances as they were promptly relegated back down to the third tier.
However, the season is not over yet. There are three conferences in Serie C and the champs of those (Padova, Avellino, and Virtus Entella) now playoff against each other to see who lifts the divisional trophy. The main prize of promotion is already sorted but a bit of extra silverware never goes astray.
Outside the top few clubs in Serie B, what is the standard of the other teams in comparison to the A League for example, or the Danish Superliga where Wiklins is?
Outside the top few clubs in Serie B, what is the standard of the other teams in comparison to the A League for example, or the Danish Superliga where Wiklins is?
From Chat GBT haha - Danish Superliga > Serie B > A-League
Kirwan only started 20 of Padova's 38 Serie C games. And none of the last 3. He may not even yet be retained by Padova, though yes he's their club captain, an international, and his ACL recovery story probably brings some good vibes to the whole club.
But him being in Serie B won't change much re the AW RB rankings. That's unless he's a regular starter and Padova perform well, when in reality they will likely struggle to avoid relegation. Isn't he also better as a RWB in a back 3/5 - which the AWs are no longer playing?
Payne is a lockon for the World Cup. Roux has had a bumpy season at the Mariners. Came on as a sub against the Jets when CCM were flogged 6-0 and ingloriously sent off 8 mins later. Yes he is in danger of being surpassed by either Wilkins, Kirwan or Elliot. A fit Wilkins maybe the one to backup Payne.
Oh and the chance that Libby and Niko could both be playing in Serie B next season (lets hope not), remains alive.
Wilkins is a left back if he’s fit (god I hope so) and starting for sonders then he will be back up for Libby at the cost of De’vries. I personally feel that if Kirwan gets re-signed and even if it’s only 20 mins a game it’s still enough to push him in front of Roux unless Roux is a locked in starter for mariners next season rather then coming off the bench, Elliot looks good when on for AFC but the odd game time he gets unless there’s lots of injuries he ain’t in the squad. Still a wee bit of time though before WC could be bolters or players coming out of the wood work that could shake things up
Is a little strange that as club captain, he only plays about every 2nd game. Has he done enough to get a return to the AWs at the expense of Roux? Or maybe it's Callan Elliot who gets a callup??
Niche Cache
Il Calcio Padova premiato per la vittoria del campionato di Serie C 2024/2025 pic.twitter.com/6fqeRDX34W
Niko Kirwan with a trophy in his hands, that’s vision to be appreciated. This actually came after a loss to close their 2024-25 season. Kirwan played ninety minutes as captain against Virtus Entella but an 85th minute Andrea Franzoni goal condemned them to a 1-0 defeat where if they’d only held on for a draw then they would have won the overall Serie C championship. There are three conferences in the division and Calcio Padova won theirs – that’s what the trophy presentation was for.
But the three conference winners also had a mini-playoff to find the Supercoppa C champs. Padova won 1-0 against Avellino two weeks ago, with Avellino and Virtus Entella drawing last week. That meant that Padova were five minutes away from glory when they conceded for Virtus Entella to take the trophy instead. Nevertheless, everyone went home a winner because, as you can see, Padovia still got given their conference trophy. More importantly, all three of those teams have been promoted to Serie B (along with whoever wins the promotion playoffs).
Up Next: Serie B awaits, Niko Kirwan returning to the second tier after previously playing there in 2020-21 with Reggiana
I guess this is why Baze overlooked him for the AWs. If Padova don't consider him good enough for Serie B, well he's likely not good enough for the national team.
Be interesting to see where Kirwan goes next. Neither Auckland or the Nix really need an extra RB. That's unless some of Smith, Hall or Pijanker are leaving AFC, and Sakai is going to slip into a CB role.
Watch this space
Also, Kirwan won’t be there either way because it’s been reported that Padova have opted not to re-sign their club captain after four seasons of service. Sounds like he was keen to stay but there is a limit on the squad sizes in Serie B with only 18 registered senior players allowed (with the rest being U21s), not to mention financial constraints, thus decisions had to be made. Kirwan alternated at right wing-back with Alessandro Capelli last season and it seems they’ve decided to move forward with Capelli instead, who has been offered a new contract.
Kirwan will leave Padova having played 120 games with eight goals and three assists to his name – and by the sounds of it he could be leaving Italy altogether with the aim of putting himself in the window for World Cup selection with the national team.
Very interesting move. I read his comments om the club's website after getting signed. Pretty standard stuff, he did say he was convinced by the club's desire to be competitive in the upcoming season. Had a look at the squad, no one really popped out to me, apart from Oliver Kragl who I think played in Serie A.
Hopefully the club has a great season and he can challenge for promotion two years in a row... Serie C is very hard to get out of, with only 3 teams out of like 56 getting automatic promotion
Not a lot of news coming out of Sicily at the moment. It does increasingly look like Trapani will start the season with -8 points due to "administrative issues" from last season. I think they have the right to one more appeal (one was already declined), but if that court confirms it, that'll be it. The team seems to be shaping up nicely, they just signed a striker with 100+ goals in the division...and they've been very active on the transfer market...apparently they'll be playing 3-5-2 which would suit Niko quite a lot.
It was the Round 1 of the Serie C Cup (the prize of which is a spot in the playoffs). Trapani's season proper starts next Monday at 7am NZT as they travel to the mainland to play Casarano. Hoping FIFA+ are showing the Serie C again this year
Highlights here. Casarano with about 37 great chances to score but failing to do so. Niko played as RWB...a couple of good defensive plays in there. Casarano back in the pros after 26 years!
Highlights here. Niko with a nice assist for the 4th goal.
Niko seems to have moved to a RB/RWB position over the last couple of seasons. Given the AWs depleted stocks in that position, I'd actually quite like to see him being given another shot before the WC.
Yeah but not a great sign Padova didn't want to keep him on, when they got promoted to Serie B.
Did he even try and find a club at a higher level than middling Serie C, either in or outside Italy? Was talk when Padova first released him, that he wanted to move somewhere that would further his AWs prospects. Doubt going to Trapani has achieved that.
Going to be very interesting to see how Callan Elliott goes in these 2 Socceroos games. You would expect Payne will be max 60-70 mins in each game before being absolutely spent.
Right now, I would say Tuiloma is the best backup to Tim P. Playing at the highest level of any of the RB contenders, and going okay now (when fit).
My understanding of the move away from Padova was that some new rules around the age of the squad (or at least a number of players in the squad), played a big part. Agree that Trapani isn't the most glamorous of destinations (they also started the league with a -8 deductions which means they see very unlikely to get promoted). Still, between he and Elliot, I'd probably take Niko
I’m missing watching a bit of Serie A with Empoli. Too much UK football so far this season! Need my UK football with an icing of something different. Just the rhythms of the game and everything were so different. And I couldn’t understand if they were swearing at each other!
Hope we see Niko in contention for the WC. Has to keep his form up to get there. And if Bazeley is considering Smith from where he’s at, better leave the door open for Niko too! Or at least not shut it just yet…
Comes on after 27 min (0-0) in a 2-0 home win. Trapani back in the black and sitting at 2 points. A real shame they started the league with -8 points, with 1 draw and 3 wins they'd now be top of the table! Still, they seem a good team and if they keep it up, they could definitely be in the play off mix
Eventful game for VAR by the looks of it. One goal apiece awarded by review (in the first 5 min!), as well as negative red card check, and a VAR penalty awarded to Trapani well into added time which was unfortunately missed by the home side.
