Regionalliga Südwest

Regionalliga Südwest
Country  Germany
State
Founded 2012
Number of teams 18
Level on pyramid Level 4
Promotion to 3. Liga
Relegation to
Current champions Kickers Offenbach
(2014–15)
2014–15 Regionalliga

The Regionalliga Südwest (English: Regional League Southwest) is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. It is one of five leagues at this level, together with the Regionalliga Bayern, Regionalliga Nordost, Regionalliga Nord and the Regionalliga West.

The league was formed at the end of the 2011-12 season, when the clubs from the Regionalliga Süd, except those from Bavaria, were joined by the clubs of the Regionalliga West from Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate.[1]

History

The Fußball-Regionalliga's from 2012 onwards.

The German league system had been reformed in 2008, when the 3rd Liga was established and the number of regional leagues increased from two to three. A further alteration was made in 2011.[2] This was prompted by the large number of insolvencies in the fourth tier, caused by high costs and infrastructure requirements while, at the same time, the clubs at this level complained about low incomes and lack of interest from TV broadcasters. Regionalliga stadiums had to have at least 1,000 seats and a separate stand with separate entrance for away spectators; and such requirements were seen as causing excessive financial strain on amateur clubs. Many clubs also struggled to cope with the 400-pages long license application, as they had to rely on volunteers rather than being able to draw on permanent staff.[3]

This led to Oberliga champions sometimes even declining their right to promotion to avoid the financial risks of the Regionalliga, thus breaking a basic principle of German football, that league champions would almost always be promoted.[4]

In October 2010, at a special conference of the German Football Association, the DFB, 223 of the 253 delegates voted for a reform of the league system at the fourth level. The number of Regionalligas was to be expanded to five, with the re-establishment of the Regionalliga Nordost, the formation of the Regionalliga Bayern and a shift of the Regionalliga Süd to the new Regionalliga Süd/Südwest, later renamed Regionalliga Südwest.[1]

The suggestion for the league reform had come from Bavaria, where, in a meeting of the Bavarian top-level amateur clubs at Wendelstein, the financial survival of the leagues and clubs in the current system had been questioned. This meeting resulted in the publication of what was called the Wendelsteiner Anstoß, which demanded a clear demarcation between professional football on the first three tiers of German football and amateur football below that. For this purpose, the paper also demanded a reestablishment of the German amateur football championship as an incentive and goal for top amateur clubs who did not want to turn professional.[4][5]

Rules & regulations

Promotion to the 3rd Liga

The league champions of the five new regional leagues no longer have the right to direct promotion to the 3rd Liga. Instead, the five league winners and the runners-up of the Süd/Südwest would play-off for three promotion spots.[1] The play-offs are played in home-and-away format, and the two clubs from the Süd/Südwest region can not be paired against each other.[6]

Qualifying

The new league was nominally going to have 18 clubs; however, in its first, transitional season the DFB permitted up to 22 clubs in the league. Restrictions existed on reserve sides. No more than seven reserve teams were permitted per Regionalliga; should there be more in a league the additional ones would have to be moved to a different Regionalliga. Reserve teams of 3rd Liga clubs were not permitted to play in the Regionalliga. The make up of the clubs entering the new Regionalligas from the leagues below was left to the regional football association and not regulated by the DFB.[6][7]

One exception to the rule was the Bavarian club FC Bayern Alzenau, who had traditionally played in Hesse's league system. This club would participate in the new Regionalliga Südwest, at their own request, rather than in the Regionalliga Bayern.[8]

19 clubs qualified to play in the league's first season (2012–13):

Champions & runners-up

The league champions and runners-up:

Season Champions Runners-up
2012–13 Hessen Kassel SV 07 Elversberg
2013–14 SG Sonnenhof Großaspach SC Freiburg II1
2014–15 Kickers Offenbach

League statistics

The top goal scorers and spectator statistics for the league are:

Season Overall
Spectators		 Per game Best supported Club Spectators
/game		 Top goal scorer Goals
2012–13 319,159[9] 933 Hessen Kassel 3,489 Jérôme Assauer (TuS)[10] 20
2013–14 388,257[11] 1,269 Kickers Offenbach 6,147 Petar Slišković (FSV)[12] 23
League record

Placings in the Regionalliga Südwest

Final league positions of all clubs who have played in the league:

Club 13 14 15
SG Sonnenhof Großaspach 4 1 3L
1. FSV Mainz 05 II 11 3 3L
Kickers Offenbach 3L 8 1
1. FC Saarbrücken 3L 3L x
SV Elversberg 2 3L x
SC Freiburg II 7 2 x
1. FC Kaiserslautern II 3 4 x
SV Waldhof Mannheim 6 5 x
Eintracht Trier 5 6 x
SVN Zweibrücken 7 x
SpVgg Neckarelz 9 x
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim II 9 10 x
FC 08 Homburg 14 11 x
KSV Hessen Kassel 1 13 x
TuS Koblenz 8 14 x
Wormatia Worms 12 16 x
KSV Baunatal 17 x
FC Astoria Walldorf x
FK Pirmasens x
FC Nöttingen x
Eintracht Frankfurt II 1 15 12
SSV Ulm 1846 2 10 15
SC Pfullendorf 13 18
1. FC Eschborn 16
FSV Frankfurt II 17
SC Idar-Oberstein 18
FC Bayern Alzenau 19

Key

Symbol Key
B Bundesliga
2B 2nd Bundesliga
3L 3rd Liga
1 League champions
Place League
Blank Played at a league level below this league

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 [http://www.dfb.de/index.php?id=500014&tx_dfbnews_pi1[showUid]=25239&tx_dfbnews_pi1[sword]=Regionalligareform&tx_dfbnews_pi4[cat]=212 DFB-Bundestag beschließt Reform der Spielklassen] (German) DFB website, published: 22 October 2010, accessed: 28 October 2010
  2. ↑ Geschichte (German) DFB website - Regionalliga History, accessed: 6 July 2011
  3. ↑ Regionalliga-Reform: Top-Amateure - Top-Talente in einer Liga! (German) Bavarian FA website, published: 4 October 2010, accessed: 6 July 2011
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Wendelsteiner Anstoß (German) Bavarian FA website - The Wendelstein paper, accessed: 6 July 2011
  5. ↑ Untere Ligen erfahren eine Aufwertung (German) Augsburger Allgemeine, published: 11 April 2011, accessed: 2 May 2011
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Grundzüge der Spielklassenreform (German) DFB website - Basics of the Regionalliga reform, accessed: 6 July 2011
  7. ↑ Spielklassenreform offiziell beschlossen (German) Bavarian FA website, published: 7 June 2011, accessed: 6 July 2011
  8. ↑ Lizenz da: Der FC Bayern Alzenau kann für die Regionalliga planen (German) Main Echo, published: 3 May 2011, accessed: 6 July 2011
  9. ↑ Regionalliga Südwest 2012/2013 .:. Zuschauer .:. Heimspiele (German) Weltfussball.de, accessed: 28 May 2013
  10. ↑ Regionalliga Südwest 2012/2013 .:. Torschützenliste (German) Weltfussball.de, accessed: 28 May 2013
  11. ↑ Regionalliga Südwest 2013/2014 .:. Zuschauer .:. Heimspiele (German) Weltfussball.de, accessed: 22 May 2014
  12. ↑ Regionalliga Südwest 2013/2014 » Torschützenliste (German) Weltfussball.de, accessed: 22 May 2014
  13. ↑ Eintracht Frankfurt meldet U23-Team ab (German) weltfussball.de, published: 6 April 2014, accessed: 22 May 2014

Sources

External links