| German: Regionalliga | |
| Pixels: | 175 |
| Country: | Germany |
| Confed: | UEFA (Europe) |
| Divisions: | German: [[Regionalliga Nord]]|italic=unset German: [[Regionalliga Nordost]]|italic=unset German: [[Regionalliga West]]|italic=unset German: [[Regionalliga Südwest]]|italic=unset German: [[Regionalliga Bayern]]|italic=unset |
| Teams: | 90 |
| Organiser: | DFB |
| Promotion: | German: [[3. Liga]]|italic=unset |
| Relegation: | German: [[Oberliga (football)|Oberliga]] |
| Level: | 2 (1963–1974) 3 (1994–2008) 4 (2008–present) |
| Champions: | Hannover 96 II (Nord) FC Energie Cottbus (Nordost) Alemannia Aachen (West) VfB Stuttgart II (Südwest) Würzburger Kickers (Bayern) |
| Season: | 2023–24 |
| Current: | 2024–25 German: Regionalliga|nocat=y |
A German: Regionalliga (pronounced as /de/, plural German: Regionalligen) is a regional league in numerous sports governing bodies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, usually located in the upper or middle tiers of the sports leagues.
The term is often associated with the German football league system where it is the fourth tier or one of the three divisions of Regionalliga in Austria, which represent the third tier in that country.[1] Until 1974, Regionalliga was the second tier in Germany. In 1994, it was reintroduced as the third tier. Upon the creation of the new Germany-wide German: [[3. Liga]]|italic=unset in 2008, it became the fourth tier. While all of the clubs in the top three divisions of German football are professional, the German: Regionalliga has a mixture of professional and semi-professional clubs.
From the introduction of the German: [[Bundesliga]] in 1963 until the formation of the German: [[2. Bundesliga]]|italic=unset in 1974, there were five German: Regionalligen, forming the second tier of German Football:
The champions and runners-up of the respective divisions played out two promotion spots to the German: [[Bundesliga]] in two groups after the end of the season.
In 1974, the two German: 2. Bundesligen|italic=unset, German: [[2. Bundesliga South (1974–81)|Süd]]|italic=unset and German: [[2. Bundesliga North (1974–81)|Nord]]|italic=unset became the second tier of German Football and the German: Regionalligen ceased existing for the next 20 years.
In 1994, the German: Regionalligen were re-introduced, this time as the third tier of German Football. There were initially four German: Regionalligen:
Between 1994 and 2000, promotion to the German: 2. Bundesliga|italic=unset was regulated without much continuity. It was a problematic rule, as becoming champion of a division did not automatically mean promotion for that team. The champions of the South and West/Southwest divisions were automatically promoted, however, along with one of the two runners-up. The champions of the North and Northeast divisions had a play-off to decide who would get the fourth promotion spot. This rule was justified because there are more clubs in the southern part of Germany than the north.
In 1998, the promotion rule was changed again: the winner of the play-off between the North and Northeast division champions was promoted, while the loser faced the runners-up from the West/Southwest and South divisions in another play-off for the remaining promotion spot.
In 2000 the number of German: Regionalligen was reduced to two:
The new divisional alignment was not bound to certain states any more so teams were moved between the divisions in order to balance club numbers. This led to some clubs in the Southern division being geographically further north than some northern clubs, and vice versa.
The champions and the runners-up of both divisions were promoted to the German: [[2. Bundesliga]]|italic=unset.
In 2008, the German: Regionalligen were demoted to become the fourth tier of football in Germany after the introduction of a new nationwide German: [[3. Liga]]|italic=unset. However, there was an expansion to three divisions:[2]
"Covering" meant that the single divisions were annually re-aligned to geographic location by a DFB committee in order to have 18 teams assigned to each division every year. This led to teams assigned to a division other than their geographical one. An example for this is BV Cloppenburg, who was assigned to the Western division for the 2008–09 season despite being located in Lower Saxony.
In October 2010, yet another reform of the German: Regionalligen was decided upon, with the number of leagues expanding to five and beginning play in the 2012–13 season. Under this new format, the old German: Regionalliga Nordost|italic=unset would be re-established and the new German: Regionalliga Südwest|italic=unset and German: Regionalliga Bayern|italic=unset would be created. The German: Südwest|italic=unset would take clubs from the southern portion of the German: Regionalliga West|italic=unset and also everything from the German: Regionallia Süd|italic=unset outside of Bavaria. It was also decided to limit the number of reserve teams per German: Regionalliga to seven.[3]
The five league champions and the runners-up of the German: Regionalliga Südwest|italic=unset play-off for the three promotion spots in a home-and-away series. The new leagues consist of up to 22 clubs in their inaugural seasons but were reduced to between 16 and 18 clubs. The German: Regionalligen are not administered by the DFB but rather by the regional football associations. In regards to reserve teams, initially only seven were permitted per league, however, this rule may be subject to change under certain circumstances. Reserve sides of German: 3. Liga|italic=unset teams are not permitted in the German: Regionalliga.[4]
The reorganisation of the German: Regionalligen so soon after the last changes in 2008 became necessary because of a large number of insolvencies. These were caused by a lack of media interest in the leagues combined with large expenses and infrastructure demands. The five German: Regionalligen from 2012 are:
Some regional football associations also made changes to the league system below the German: Regionalliga in their area. From the 2012–13 season, the Bavarian Football Association split the German: [[Bayernliga]]|italic=unset into a northern and a southern division, and increased the number of German: [[Landesliga Bayern|Landesligen]] from three to five.[5]
At the end of March 2023, the Western German Football Association (WDFV) confirmed the German: Regionalliga West|italic=unset's status as a professional league for the first time with regard to the 2023–24 season's licensing procedure. North Rhine-Westphalia had already classified the league as such in the 2020–21 season to enable the "numerous professional footballers" to continue practicing their profession. At that time, for example, the game operations in the four remaining regional leagues had been stopped prematurely.[6]
At the 96th DFB-Bundestag in December 2017, delegates decided to change the promotion rules and, without success, reduce the number of leagues to four. To achieve this, a temporary solution was put into place for the 2018–19 and 2019–20 seasons. Four teams were promoted and there were three guaranteed promotion places from the champions of the five regional leagues. The champion of the southwest league, which gave up its second playoff place, were promoted automatically in the next two seasons. Additionally there were two teams promoted from the other four regional leagues. In the 2018–19 season, the champion of the northeast league was also promoted directly. The winner of the third guaranteed promotion place was decided by the drawing of lots. The remaining two regional league champions of the 2018–19 season faced off in a two-legged playoff determining the fourth promotion place. The two regional leagues whose teams took part in the playoff automatically had promotion places for the 2019–20 season. As a result, the third division has had four relegation places.[7]
At the 97th German: DFB-Bundestag|italic=unset in 2019, a working group under DFB vice-president Peter Frymuth unsuccessfully proposed a system involving four rather than five regional leagues. Instead, the delegates reformed the promotion scheme from the 2020–21 season, in which there continued to be four promotions to the German: 3. Liga|italic=unset. The German: Regionalliga West|italic=unset and German: Südwest|italic=unset each provide a fixed direct promotion. Another direct promotion place is assigned according to a rotation principle among the German: Regionalligen Nord|italic=unset, German: Nordost|italic=unset and German: Bayern|italic=unset champions. The representatives from the remaining two German: Regionalligen determine the fourth promoted club in two-legged playoffs.[8]
The history and development of the German: Regionalligen in maps:
In Austrian soccer, Regionalliga represents the third highest tier, after Austrian Bundesliga (top tier) and Erste Liga (second tier). Unlike the two top tiers, which are true national leagues, Regionalliga is organized in three regional divisions: Ost (East), Mitte ("Middle"), and West (West). A short playoff circle omg the three winners of each division at the end of the season (played as home and away games) determines the team to move up to the Erste Liga (second tier).[9]
A club that wants to play in the German: Regionalliga must meet two conditions. First, the team must qualify for the league. Second, the club must obtain a license from the DFB. This license is granted if the club can prove that they are financially sound, that their stadium conforms to the security regulations, and that they have a working youth section.
The champions of three divisions are automatically promoted; the remaining two take part in the promotion round to the German: 3. Liga|italic=unset at the end of the season for the fourth promotion. Reserve teams are also eligible for promotion unless the respective first team is playing in the German: 3. Liga|italic=unset.
At least the bottom two teams of each division are demoted to their respective German: [[Oberliga (football)|Oberliga]]. The actual number of teams relegated from every division depends on the number of relegations from the German: 3. Liga|italic=unset and promotions from the German: Oberliga.
As clubs in the German: Regionalliga must have their teams licensed by the DFB on a per-season basis, a team may also be relegated by having its license revoked or by going into administration. Reserve teams are also relegated when the respective first team is relegated to the German: 3. Liga|italic=unset.
Matchday squads in the German: Regionalliga must include at least six players of German nationality and under the age of 24, two under the age of 21, and a maximum of three non-EU players.
| Season | German: Regionalliga Nord|italic=unset | German: Regionalliga Nordost|italic=unset | German: Regionalliga West/Südwest|italic=unset | German: Regionalliga Süd|italic=unset | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994–95 | VfB Lübeck | Carl Zeiss Jena | Arminia Bielefeld | SpVgg Unterhaching | |
| 1995–96 | VfB Oldenburg | Tennis Borussia Berlin | FC Gütersloh | Stuttgarter Kickers | |
| 1996–97 | Hannover 96 | FC Energie Cottbus | SG Wattenscheid 09 | 1. FC Nürnberg | |
| 1997–98 | Hannover 96 | Tennis Borussia Berlin | Rot-Weiß Oberhausen | SSV Ulm 1846 | |
| 1998–99 | VfL Osnabrück | Chemnitzer FC | Alemannia Aachen | SV Waldhof Mannheim | |
| 1999–2000 | VfL Osnabrück | 1. FC Union Berlin | 1. FC Saarbrücken | SSV Reutlingen 05 |
| Season | German: Regionalliga Nord|italic=unset | German: Regionalliga Süd|italic=unset | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000–01 | 1. FC Union Berlin | Karlsruher SC | |
| 2001–02 | VfB Lübeck | Wacker Burghausen | |
| 2002–03 | Erzgebirge Aue | SpVgg Unterhaching | |
| 2003–04 | Rot-Weiss Essen | Bayern Munich II | |
| 2004–05 | Eintracht Braunschweig | Kickers Offenbach | |
| 2005–06 | Rot-Weiss Essen | FC Augsburg | |
| 2006–07 | FC St. Pauli | SV Wehen | |
| 2007–08 | Rot Weiss Ahlen | FSV Frankfurt |
| Season | German: Regionalliga Nord|italic=unset | German: Regionalliga West|italic=unset | German: Regionalliga Süd|italic=unset | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008–09 | Holstein Kiel | Borussia Dortmund II | 1. FC Heidenheim | |
| 2009–10 | SV Babelsberg 03 | 1. FC Saarbrücken | VfR Aalen | |
| 2010–11 | Chemnitzer FC | Preußen Münster | SV Darmstadt 98 | |
| 2011–12 | Hallescher FC | Borussia Dortmund II | Stuttgarter Kickers |
| Awarded on points-per-game basis after season was not completed | |
| Play-off winner |