in the following years, the tournament (called prima categoria) was structured into regional groups, with the winners of each group participating in a playoff with the eventual winners being declared champions. from 1921 to 1926, prima divisione was founded as the first level of the italian football championship. regarding to the dispute between major clubs and figc, divisione nazionale was created in the following three years as the new national top league where northern and southern teams played in the same championship from 1926 to 1929. in 1929, divisione nazionale (two groups of 16 teams each) split into two championships: divisione nazionale serie a (the new top division) and divisione nazionale serie b (the new second level of italian football).