Verbandspokal

Verbandspokal
Region  Germany
Current champions 21 regional winners
Most successful team(s) SV Werder Bremen II (20 titles)
2014–15 Verbandspokal

The Verbandspokal (English: Association Cup) is a regional football competition in Germany. There are 21 Verbandspokal competitions which function as qualifying tournaments for the following seasons DFB-Pokal, the premier German Cup competition.[1] While no Verbandspokal winner has ever gone on to win the German Cup two have reached the final. Hertha BSC Amateure won the Berlin Cup in 1992 and went on to lose the 1992–93 DFB-Pokal final against Bayer 04 Leverkusen and FC Energie Cottbus won the 1996 Brandenburg Cup and went on to lose the 1996–97 DFB-Pokal final against VfB Stuttgart.[2]

Apart from the 21 Verbandspokal champions three more teams are qualified from the regional football association to bring the number of clubs in the first round of the DFB-Pokal to 64. These three teams come from the three regional associations with the most amount of members, these currently being Bavaria, Lower Saxony and Westphalia.[1]

The regional competitions, (plural:Verbandspokale) are generally open to all clubs in the 3. Liga and below, however regional rules vary between associations. 3. Liga clubs have a double chance to qualify for the first round of the DFB-Pokal, through the Verbandspokale and through finishing in the top four in their league. Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga clubs are not permitted to enter as they are already directly qualified for the first round of the DFB-Pokal.

The finals of the competitions can attract large numbers of spectators, like the 2014 Lower Rhine Cup between MSV Duisburg and TV Jahn Hiesfeld did, which was watched by 24,000 in Duisburg.[3]

As of 2013–14 the SV Werder Bremen II, reserve team of SV Werder Bremen, is the most successful team in any Verbandspokal competition, having won the Bremen Cup twenty times, followed by Tennis Borussia Berlin with sixteen Berlin Cup wins and Holstein Kiel with 15 Schleswig-Holstein Cup wins.

Rules and reegulations

Rules and regulations for the Verbandspokale are set by the regional football associations and vary. Bavaria, the largest one, stipulates that reserve teams are not permitted to participate in the Bavarian Cup. Teams from lower divisions always have home advantage, if two teams of the same division are drawn against each other the team drawn first receives home advantage.

Bavarian clubs from the 3. Liga and Regionalliga Bayern, except reserve teams, are obliged to participate in the cup. Clubs from the two Bayernliga divisions and the five Landesliga Bayern divisions play a qualifying round. Additionally, the 24 regional cup winners in Bavaria, the Kreispokale, are also qualified for the first round of the Bavarian Cup. If a game is undecided after regular time a penalty shoot out follows, no extra time is played.[4]

In Lower Saxony, the third-largest association, clubs from the state playing in the 3. Liga, Regionalliga Nord and Oberliga Niedersachsen as well as the four Bezirkspokal winners are qualified for the first round of the Lower Saxony Cup.[5]

History

The areas of the regional football associations and their Verbandspokale.

The longest-running competition of the Verbandspokale is the Berlin Cup, first held in 1907.[6] All other cup competitions originated after the Second World War.

In Southern Germany the South Baden Cup was established in 1945,[7] the Hesse Cup in 1946,[8] the Bavarian Cup in 1947, with a long interruption from 1954 to 1998,[9][10] the North Baden Cup in 1949[11] and the Württemberg Cup in 1950.[12][13]

In Northern Germany the Bremen Cup was established in 1950,[14] the Schleswig-Holstein Cup from 1953,[15] the Hamburg Cup was sporadically played from 1954 and permanently from 1981[16] and the Lower Saxony Cup from 1955.[17]

In the former East Germany the Verbandspokale, in the form of the , Brandenburg Cup,[18] Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Cup, Saxony Cup, Saxony-Anhalt Cup[19] and Thuringia Cup,[20] were established in 1990.

In Western Germany the Lower Rhine Cup was established in 1980,[21] the Westphalia Cup in 1981[22] and the Middle Rhine Cup in 1994.[23]

In South Western Germany the Rhineland Cup was established in 1953, the South West Cup in 1973[24] and the Saarland Cup in 1974.[25]

Current holders

The 2013–14 Verbandspokal finals with the winners qualified for the 2014–15 DFB-Pokal:.[26]

Verbandspokal Date Location Winner Finalist Result Attendance Report
Bavarian Cup 14 May 2014 Passau Würzburger Kickers SV Schalding-Heining 2-2 (4-2 pen) 2,070 Report
Berlin Cup 4 June 2014 Berlin BFC Viktoria 1889 SV Tasmania Berlin 2-1 3,468 Report
Brandenburg Cup 28 May 2014 Rathenow FSV Optik Rathenow SV Babelsberg 03 3-1 1,695 Report
Bremen Cup 25 May 2014 Bremen Bremer SV Blumenthaler SV 1-0 Report
Hamburg Cup 29 May 2014 Hamburg USC Paloma Condor Hamburg 0–0 aet (3-2 pen) 4,317 Report
Hesse Cup 19 June 2014 Offenbach Kickers Offenbach SV Darmstadt 98 1–1 (3-1 pen) 4,590 Report
Lower Rhine Cup 15 May 2014 Duisburg MSV Duisburg TV Jahn Hiesfeld 5-2 24,002 Report
Lower Saxony Cup 23 July 2014 Braunschweig BSV Schwarz-Weiß Rehden FT Braunschweig 2-1 Report
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Cup 30 April 2014 Malchow 1. FC Neubrandenburg Sievershäger SV 4-0 1,500 Report
Middle Rhine Cup 28 May 2014 Bonn FC Viktoria Köln FC Wegberg-Beeck 2-1 1,100 Report
North Baden Cup 20 May 2014 Waghäusel FC Astoria Walldorf FC Nöttingen 1–0 Report
Rhineland Cup 28 May 2014 Trier Eintracht Trier SG Altenkirchen 3-0 1,490 Report
Saarland Cup 7 May 2014 Völklingen FC 08 Homburg SV Elversberg 2-0 Report
Saxony Cup 7 May 2014 Neugersdorf Chemnitzer FC FC Oberlausitz Neugersdorf 3-2 aet 3,219 Report
Saxony-Anhalt Cup 14 May 2014 Halle 1. FC Magdeburg Hallescher FC 3-0 aet 11,987 Report
Schleswig-Holstein Cup 16 May 2014 Kiel Holstein Kiel ETSV Weiche Flensburg 1–1 aet (12-11 pen) 5,790 Report
South Baden Cup 14 May 2014 Freiburg SV Waldkirch FC Bötzingen 4–0 3,050 Report
South West Cup 14 May 2014 Mehlingen Alemannia Waldalgesheim SVN Zweibrücken 1-0 1,005 Report
Thuringia Cup 14 May 2014 Jena FC Carl Zeiss Jena Rot-Weiß Erfurt 5-0 10,000 Report
Westphalia Cup 15 July 2014 Siegen Preußen Münster Sportfreunde Siegen 3-1 Report
Württemberg Cup 7 May 2014 Aspach 1. FC Heidenheim Stuttgarter Kickers 4–2 2,500 Report

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Modus (German) DFB website: Modus, accessed: 17 January 2015
  2. ↑ Historie (German) DFB website: History, accessed: 17 January 2015
  3. ↑ Hiesfeld schnuppert am Pokal-Coup (German) Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, published: 16 May 2014, accessed: 18 January 2015
  4. ↑ Spielordnung (German) BFV website: Rules & Regulations, accessed: 18 January 2015
  5. ↑ Spielordnung (German) NFV website: Rules & Regulations, accessed: 18 January 2015
  6. ↑ Berliner Pokalendspiele 1907–2006 (German) www.die-fans.de: Berlin Cup finals since 1907, accessed: 17 January 2015
  7. ↑ Ehrentafel Südbadische Pokalsieger (German) DSFS, accessed: 17 January 2015
  8. ↑ Hessenpokal (German) DSFS, accessed: 17 January 2015
  9. ↑ Endspiele um den Bayerischen Pokal (German) DSFS, accessed: 17 January 2015
  10. ↑ Die Endspiele (German) BFV website: Cup finals since 1998, accessed: 18 January 2015
  11. ↑ Ehrentafel Nordbadische Pokalsieger (German) DSFS, accessed: 17 January 2015
  12. ↑ wfv-Pokal-Ergebnisse der Herren seit 1951 (German) Württemberg Football Association website, accessed: 17 January 2015
  13. ↑ Some sources state 1945 but the WFV website lists cup finals from 1950–51 onwards.
  14. ↑ Bremen: Meister und Pokalsieger (German) DSFS, accessed: 17 January 2015
  15. ↑ Schleswig-Holstein: Meister und Pokalsieger (German) DSFS, accessed: 17 January 2015
  16. ↑ Hamburg: Meister und Pokalsieger (German) DSFS, accessed: 17 January 2015
  17. ↑ Niedersachsen: Meister und Pokalsieger (German) DSFS, accessed: 17 January 2015
  18. ↑ Geschichte: 1991 (German) Brandenburg Football Associarion website: History 1991, accessed: 17 January 2015
  19. ↑ Saxony-Anhalt Cup statistics (German) Saxony-Anhalt Football Association, accessed: 17 January 2015
  20. ↑ Ehrentafel der Verbandspokalsieger Thüringens (German) DSFS, accessed: 17 January 2015
  21. ↑ Endspiele und Titelgewinner im Niederrheinpokal (German) Lower Rhine Football Association website, accessed: 17 January 2015
  22. ↑ Pokalsieger auf Verbandsebene seit 1982 (German) Football and Athletics Association of Westphalia website, accessed: 17 January 2015
  23. ↑ FVM-Pokalsieger Herren (German) Middle Rhine Football Association website, accessed: 17 January 2015
  24. ↑ Sieger des Verbandspokals seit 1973 (German) South West Football Association website, accessed: 17 January 2015
  25. ↑ Geschichte des Pokals (German) www.saarlandpokal.de, accessed: 17 January 2015
  26. ↑ Landespokal (German) kicker.de, accessed: 17 January 2015

External links