German football league system
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- For the league system of former East Germany, see East German football league system.
| German football league system |
|---|
| Nation |
 Germany |
 |
| States |
 Baden-Württemberg |
.svg/20px-Flag_of_Bavaria_(lozengy).svg.png){kind=small} Bavaria |
 Berlin |
 Brandenburg |
 Bremen |
 Hamburg |
 Hessen |
.svg/20px-Flag_of_Mecklenburg-Western_Pomerania_(state).svg.png){kind=small} Mecklenburg-Vorpommern |
 Niedersachsen |
 Nordrhein-Westfalen |
 Rheinland-Pfalz |
 Saarland |
 Sachsen |
 Sachsen-Anhalt |
 Schleswig-Holstein |
 Thüringen |
| Current Champions 2006-07 |
| VfB Stuttgart |
German football league system refers to the system in German club football that consists of several football leagues bound together hierarchicly by promotion and relegation.
Contents |
[edit] Structure
The two top levels contain one division each and are referred to as 1. Bundesliga (often only Bundesliga) and 2. Bundesliga with 18 members each. The two or three teams at the bottom of the 1. Bundesliga are relegated to the second level as the best two or three teams from the second level are promoted. The two or three worst teams of the 2. Bundesliga are relegated to the 3rd Liga. The 3rd Liga is the highest level where reserve teams of Bundesliga clubs are allowed to play (often called 'amateur teams' though they are no amateurs but parts of fully professional clubs). This is criticised by many football fans as the reserve teams have almost no supporters and often actual Bundesliga players in their line-ups (e.g. to avoid relegation) which is seen as distortion of competition.
Below the 3rd. Liga are the three Regionalliga that are divided into northern, southern and western divisions. The Regionalliga contain both independent and reserve teams, like the 3rd Liga. The fifth level of the German football league system is called Oberliga. There are seven Oberliga Divisions (as of 2008-09), covering most of the fifth level nationwide (the exception being north-central Germany). The league system below the Oberliga reflects the federalistic structure of the German football association and its division into 21 regional Football Associations with their respective Verbandsliga as the highest level under their own jurisdiction. Their area corresponds mostly with the territorial structure of postwar Germany in the mid-forties when they were founded. Because of the autonomy of the regional associations, the levels of the system below the Verbandsliga differ by name, size and covered area. At the lowest level there is the so-called Kreisklasse at the district level with one up to five hierarchic divisions of which the lowest is at the eleventh to fourteenth level of the German league system.
[edit] The league system for the 2007-08 season
|
Level |
League(s)/Division(s) |
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I |
Bundesliga |
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II |
2nd Bundesliga |
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III |
Regionalliga Nord |
Regionalliga Süd |
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IV |
Oberliga Nord |
Oberliga Nordrhein |
Oberliga Westfalen |
NOFV-Oberliga Nord |
NOFV-Oberliga Süd |
Oberliga Südwest |
Oberliga Hessen |
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg |
Oberliga Bayern |
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V |
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Source:German football leagues. Fussball.de. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
- All leagues on same level run parallel.
- League levels below tier five not shown. For an example of the lower league structure, see here.
[edit] Development of the German football league system
[edit] 1903 - 1933
Until the foundation of the German Football Association there had already been lots of different regional and district championships resp. leagues and it was not until 1906 that there was a consistent mode to determine the participants of the German championship that was played as a final tournament until the foundation of the Bundesliga. For that reason football in Germany was divided into seven regions which had their own regional championships (that were mostly played as a cup tournament, too). Only the regional champions and the defending German champion were qualified to play in the championship until 1924, when the number of final tournament participants was increased to 16.
As there were no regional top-level league established the system of many parallel leagues and divisions continued up to the 1933/34 season.
From the late 1920s on there were efforts to istall a nationwide professional league, but these efforts were never powerful enough to outreach the strong anti-professionalism from conservative and nationalist officials.
[edit] 1933 - 1944
National Socialism took power in Germany in January 1933. This also meant the end of attempts to invent professional football in Germany. But the football authorities did restructure and slightly centralise the football competition system. So in 1933 the Gauliga (county league) system was initiated as a system of 16 top-level divisions similar in strength that replaced the more than thirty previous top-level divisions. The champion of each Gauliga was qualified to play in the German championship tournament. The number of Gau leagues increased to 31 in 1944, because of league division for economic reasons (transport costs) and territory annexion during World War II.
[edit] 1947 - 1963
After World War Two the Oberliga system developed out of the occupation zone championships. The first teams of the five West German top-level divisions (Nord, West, Südwest, Süd, Westberlin) qualified for the German championship tournament. From 1949 until 1991 the German Democratic Republic had its own football league system.
[edit] 1963 - 1973
Since the late 1920s there had been plans to establish a nationwide professional top-level league, but they all failed because of the opposition by anti-professionalists and the relatively strong regional football associations. In summer 1962, under the influence of the Fifa World Cup quarter finals defeat by Yugoslavia, the German Football Association decided to establish the Bundesliga as a nationwide professional football league. The previous Oberliga became the second level of the German league system, now named Regionalliga. Its five parallel divisions (Nord, West, Südwest, Süd, Stadtliga Berlin) corresponded with the previous Oberliga divisions.
In the first two years the Bundesliga had 16 members but their number was increased to 18 in 1965. Two teams were relegated to the Regionalliga. The first two teams from each Regionalliga division and the champion of West Berlin competited in a promotion tournament in two groups, whose winners were promoted into the Bundesliga.
[edit] 1974 - 1981
Soon it was obvious that the gap between the fully professionalised Bundesliga and the five Regionalliga divisions, where also semi-professional and amateur clubs competed, was too large. Teams relegated from the Bundesliga were in serious danger of bankruptcy. Some clubs tried to avoid this fate by fraudulent behaviour which led to the Bundesliga scandal in 1971.
To close the gap between first and second level the 2. Bundesliga was introduced. It was divided into a North and a South Division with 20 teams each. The champion of each division and the winner of a play-off between the two runners-up were promoted to the 1. Bundesliga. Three teams were relegated from the Bundesliga. Because of relegation the number of teams in each division differed between 20 and 22.
[edit] 1981 - 1994
In 1981 the two divisions of the 2. Bundesliga were merged into one nationwide division with 20 teams.
As the league systems of the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic were unified in 1991 the number of teams competing in the Bundesliga was increased to twenty (2 East German teams, Hansa Rostock and Dynamo Dresden joining) in the first and 24 (6 teams, VfB Leipzig, Chemnitzer FC, FC Carl-Zeiss Jena, Rot-Weiß Erfurt, Hallescher FC, Stahl Brandenburg joining) in the second, that's why the 2. Bundesliga was divided into two parallel divisions for one season. In 1992 the number of competing teams in the 1. Bundesliga was re-decreased to 18 with four teams relegated and only two promoted from the second level. The 2. Bundesliga played one more season with 24 teams in one division, before its size was decreased to 20 members in 1993 and 18 in 1994.
[edit] 1994 - 2000
In 1994 the Regionalliga was reestablished at the third level of the German football league system. It was divided into four divisions (Nord, Nordost, West/Südwest, Süd). Four teams were promoted to the 2. Bundesliga, which was reduced to 18 teams. At the beginning these were the four division champions, but later the champions of the Nord and Nordost division had to compete in a promotion play-off while one runner-up from the South or West division was promoted additionally.
[edit] 2000 - 2007/08
Since 2000 there are only two Regionalliga divisions left (North and South), the champions and runners-up are promoted to the 2. Bundesliga.
[edit] 2008/09 league pyramid reform
In 2006 the German Football Association decided to establish a further nationwide league at the third level of the German football league system starting with the 2008/09 season. This 3rd Liga will consist of 20 teams[1]. In the starting season these are the 4 lowest-ranked teams of the 2. Bundesliga and 8 teams each placed 3rd to 10th of in both the Regionalliga Nord and the Regionalliga Süd after 2007/08 season. At the most four reserve teams of professional clubs playing in 1. Bundesliga or 2. Bundesliga will be allowed to compete in this league.
The champion and the runner-up of 3rd Liga will be promoted to the 2. Bundesliga. The third placed team will start in a play-off match against the third-last team of the 2. Bundesliga. The 3 last teams of 3. Liga will relegate to Regionalliga.
The currently third level Regionalliga with two regional divisions (Nord, Süd) is planned to continue as fourth level of the league system with 54 teams divided into three regional divisions (Nord/Nordost, West/Südwest, Süd) of 18 teams each. These 54 teams will consist of those 17 Regionalliga teams that did not qualify for 3. Bundesliga after 2007/08 and additionally 37 teams from the currently 9 fourth level Oberliga division. The winner of each Regionalliga division will promote to 3. Liga.
[edit] Scheme
| Germany | West Germany | West Germany | West Germany | Germany | Germany | East Germany | |
| Class | 1994 - present | 1974-1994 | 1963-1974 | 1946-1963 | 1933-1945 | 1903-1932 | DDR 1949-1991 |
| I | Bundesliga | Bundesliga | Bundesliga | Oberliga | Gauliga | Verbandsliga | DDR Oberliga |
| II | 2.Bundesliga | 2.Bundesliga | Regionalliga | 2.Oberliga | Bezirksliga | Bezirksliga | DDR Liga |
| III | Regionalliga | Am. Oberliga | 1.Amateurliga | ▼ ??? | ▼ ??? | ▼ ??? | DDR 2.Liga |
| IV | Oberliga | Verbandsliga | 2.Amateurliga | Bezirksliga | |||
| V | Landesliga/Verbandsligaˡ | Landesliga | ▼ ??? | ▼ ??? | |||
| VI | Bezirksoberliga/Landesliga | ▼ ??? | |||||
| VII | Bezirksliga | ||||||
| VIII | Kreisliga ˡˡ | ||||||
| IX | Kreisklasse A ˡˡ | ||||||
| X | Kreisklasse B ˡˡ | ||||||
| XI | Kreisklasse C ˡˡ |
ˡ in some areas called Landesliga, in others Verbandsliga. |- ˡˡ in some areas called Kreisliga A, Kreisliga B, Kreisliga C and Kreisliga D.
League structure has shifted frequently and typically reflects the degree of participation in the sport in various parts of the country. In the early 90's, changes were driven by the reunification of Germany and the subsequent intregration of the national leagues of East and West Germany. All these levels are interconnected by way of promotion and relegation. The next diagram shows how this works for the first five levels. Note that the actual number of clubs being promoted and relegated below the Regionalliga level is frequently subject to change by the German Football Association.
[edit] The league system from the 2008-09 season
|
Level |
League(s)/Division(s) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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I |
Bundesliga |
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II |
2nd Bundesliga |
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III |
3rd Liga |
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IV |
Regionalliga Nord |
Regionalliga West |
Regionalliga Süd |
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V |
No Oberliga1 |
NOFV-Oberliga Nord |
NOFV-Oberliga Süd |
Oberliga Nordrhein-Westfalen |
Oberliga Südwest |
Oberliga Hessen |
Oberliga Baden-Württemberg |
Oberliga Bayern |
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VI |
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Source:German football leagues. Fussball.de. Retrieved on 2008-02-07.
- All leagues on same level run parallel.
- The number of clubs per league in the Regionalligas and Oberligas are not yet finallised, figures may still change.
- 1 In the region formerly covered by the Oberliga Nord, the five Verbandsligas actually function as the tier five of the league system. At this stage, the re-establishment of one or more Oberligas in this region is not planned.
[edit] League Timeline 1945 to 2009
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Deutscher Fußball Bund - 3rd Liga Qualifikation Modus (in German) accessed 4 March 2008
[edit] Sources
- The offical DFB website with tables and results from all German leagues
- "Kicker Almanach" The Football Yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937, published by the Kicker Sports Magazine
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