This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on 3rd Liga is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
- For The Croatian Third League (3. Hrvatska Nogometna Liga), see Treća HNL.
| 3rd Liga |
|---|
 3rd Liga 2008–09 |
| Founded |
| 2008 |
| Nation |
 Germany |
 |
| Promotion To |
| 2. Bundesliga |
| Relegation To |
| Regionalliga |
| Number of Teams |
| 20 |
| Level on Pyramid |
| Level 3 |
| Domestic Cups |
| DFB-Pokal |
| Website |
| Official Bundesliga website |
The 3rd Liga is the third division of football in Germany. The league started with the beginning of the 2008-09 season, when it replaced the Regionalliga as the third-highest football league in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the semi-professional Regionalliga, which is now the fourth division and consists of three groups of 18 clubs playing separately.
Contents |
History
On 8 September 2006, the German Football Association, the DFB, announced the formation of the 3rd Liga. It was originally anticipated that the league's name would be 3rd Bundesliga, but the DFB chose 3rd Liga instead, reflecting the fact that the league will be directly administered by the DFB, not by the DFL (Deutsche Fußball Liga, English:German Football League) who runs the two Bundesligen1. This system is similar to France's Championnat National or Japan's Japan Football League, where the third tier is a unified semi-professional league directly run by the national governing body.
At the end of the 2007-08 season, the two best teams which are not reserve teams from each of the two divisions of the Regionalliga were promoted to the 2. Bundesliga. The teams ranked 3rd to 10th in both Regionalliga divisions were promoted to the new 3rd Liga, joining the four teams relegated from the 2007-08 2. Bundesliga to form the 20-team division. The teams finishing 11th or lower in their division, remained in the Regionalliga, that starting 2008-09 is now the fourth level.
Division set-up
The teams which are not reserve teams among the 20 teams in the league will compete for promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga, while the 3 bottom teams will be relegated to one of the new three divisions of the Regionalliga. If, however, a reserve team is playing in the 3rd Liga and the respective first team is relegated to the 3rd Liga, the reserve team will be relegated regardless of its league position.
The first match of the 3rd Liga was played on 25 July 2008 between FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt and Dynamo Dresden at the Steigerwaldstadion in Erfurt. Dynamo Dresden won the match 1-0, with Halil Savran scoring the only goal in the closing stages of the first half.
Qualifying for the 3rd Liga
At the end of the 2007-08 2. Bundesliga season on 18 May 2008, four clubs were relegated from the 2. Bundesliga. Pending DFB approval, they will become charter members of the 3. Liga.
Additionally, at the end of the 2007-08 Regionalliga seasons on 31 May 2008, eight clubs from the Regionalliga Nord and eight clubs from the Regionalliga Süd have also qualified.
From the Regionalliga Nord:
- Fortuna Düsseldorf
- 1. FC Union Berlin
- SV Werder Bremen II
- Wuppertaler SV Borussia
- Rot-Weiß Erfurt
- Dynamo Dresden
- Kickers Emden
- Eintracht Braunschweig
From the Regionalliga Süd:
- VfB Stuttgart II
- VfR Aalen
- SV Sandhausen
- SpVgg Unterhaching
- Wacker Burghausen
- FC Bayern Munich II
- Jahn Regensburg
- Stuttgarter Kickers
As there are currently only three reserve teams on qualification spots for the league, the rule that only two second teams from each group can be admitted to the new 3rd Liga does not have any direct effects.
Source:"Tables of the 2nd Bundesliga and Regionalligas". kicker.de. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
References
- ^ Deutscher Fußball Bund - 3rd Liga Qualifikation Modus (in German) accessed 4 March 2008
External links (sites in German)
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 8 January 2009, at 01:38.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "3rd Liga".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.