Regionalliga Südwest

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.

For other uses, see Regionalliga Südwest (disambiguation).
Regionalliga Südwest
Founded2012
CountryGermany
States
  • Baden-Württemberg
  • Bavaria (1 club)
  • Hesse
  • Rhineland-Palatinate
  • Saarland
Number of teams18
Level on pyramidLevel 4
Promotion to3. Liga
Relegation to
Current championsSSV Ulm 1846
(2022–23)
WebsiteOfficial website
Current: 2023–24 Regionalliga Südwest

The league was formed in 2012, 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 five regional leagues since 2012/13 (Regionalliga Südwest in purple)

The German league system had been reformed in 2008, when the 3. Liga was established and the number of regional leagues increased from two to three. A further alteration was made ahead of the 2012−13 season.[2] This was prompted by the large number of insolvencies in the fourth tier, caused by high costs and infrastructure requirements, while the clubs at this level complained about low incomes and lack of interest from TV broadcasters. Regionalliga stadia were required 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-page long licence application, as they had to rely on volunteers rather than being able to draw on permanent staff.[3] This led to Oberliga champions sometimes declining their right to promotion to avoid the financial risks of the Regionalliga.[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 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 the Wendelsteiner Anstoß, which demanded a clear demarcation between professional football in the first three tiers of German football and amateur football below that. For this purpose, the paper demanded a re-establishment of the German amateur football championship as an incentive and goal for top amateur clubs that did not want to turn professional.[4][5]

With the reform in 2012, the Regionalliga was increased from three to five leagues. The Regionalliga Südwest is hosted by the Southwestern Regional Football Association and the Southern German Football Association (with the exception of the Bavarian Football Association). It extends over the federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland, Hesse and Baden-Württemberg.

Rules for promotion to the 3. Liga have changed over time (see Promotion to the 3. Liga). Typically, four teams each year are relegated to and promoted from the three Oberliga leagues below the Regionalliga Südwest: the Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar, Hessenliga and Oberliga Baden-Württemberg.

In 2017, the league signed an agreement to host the China national under-20 football team, allowing the team to compete in the league in friendly matches to fill in as the league's 20th club.[6] The arrangement was only approved by 16 of the 19 clubs in the league, with those in opposition criticising it as part of the increasing commercialisation of football.[7] During the team's match against TSV Schott Mainz, the display of a Tibetan flag led to the team walking off in protest.[8] Consequently, the Chinese players were recalled[9] and the agreement was abrogated.[10]

Rules & regulations

Owners and shareholders

The Regionalliga Südwest is owned by the Regionalliga Südwest GbR. The shareholders are nine football associations. The logo of the Regionalliga Südwest, which was introduced in 2012, shows a football player who is oriented towards the south-west. The seven blue stars symbolize the regional associations involved, the two white stars stand for the regional associations SFV and FRVS.[11]

The seven DFB-German football associations:

The two DFB-Regionalverbände associations:

Inaugural qualification

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, with no more than seven reserve teams were permitted per Regionalliga. Reserve teams of 3rd Liga clubs are 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.[12][13]

An exception was the Bavarian club FC Bayern Alzenau, who had traditionally played in Hesse's league system. This club participated in the new Regionalliga Südwest, at their own request, rather than in the Regionalliga Bayern.[14]

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

Promotion to the 3. Liga

Between 2012−13 and 2017−18, the Regionalliga Südwest winners and runners-up, and the champions of the four other Regionalligen played-off for three promotion spots.[1][12][15]

As four teams were relegated from the 3. Liga at the end of the 2018–19 season, the Regionalliga Südwest champions Waldhof Mannheim, along with their counterparts from the Nordost and West, were promoted directly.[16] In 2020, the three direct promotion spots went to the Südwest champions and the champions of the two leagues that participated in the promotion play-off in the previous season, while the champions of the Nordost and the West participate in the play-off. This format was initially installed as a temporary solution until the DFB-Bundestag in September 2019 decided on a format that could have enabled all Regionalliga champions to be promoted.[17] On that date, the Bundestag delegates voted to grant the Südwest and West champions two direct promotions indefinitely starting in 2021, with a third direct promotion place assigned by rotation between the Regionalliga Nord, Nordost and Bayern champions. The champions of the two Regionalligen with no direct promotion place participate in two-legged playoffs to determine the fourth promoted team.[18]

Champions & runners-up
Season Champions Runners-up
2012–13 Hessen Kassel SV Elversberg
2013–14 Sonnenhof Großaspach SC Freiburg II1
2014–15 Kickers Offenbach 1. FC Saarbrücken
2015–16 Waldhof Mannheim SV Elversberg
2016–17 SV Elversberg Waldhof Mannheim
2017–18 1. FC Saarbrücken Waldhof Mannheim
2018–19 Waldhof Mannheim 1. FC Saarbrücken
2019–20 1. FC Saarbrücken TSV Steinbach
2020–21 SC Freiburg II SV Elversberg
2021–22 SV Elversberg SSV Ulm 1846
2022–23 SSV Ulm 1846 TSV Steinbach
  • Promoted teams in bold.
  • 1 SC Freiburg II did not apply for a 3. Liga licence and was replaced by third placed 1. FSV Mainz 05 II in the promotion round, which Mainz completed successfully.

Records

Most points in a season

Most appearances

Most goals

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[21] 933 Hessen Kassel 3,489 Jérôme Assauer (TuS)[22] 20
2013–14 388,257[23] 1,269 Kickers Offenbach 6,147 Petar Slišković (FSV)[24] 23
2014–15 476,243[25] 1,556 Kickers Offenbach 6,364 Daniele Gabriele (SCF)[26] 21
2015–16 521,523[27] 1,704 Waldhof Mannheim 6,539 Mijo Tunjić (ELV)[28] 21
2016–17 599,772[29] 1,754 Kickers Offenbach 5,229 Muhamed Alawie (TRI)
Patrick Schmidt (SAA)[30]		 22
2017–18 584,788[31] 1,710 Kickers Offenbach 6,199 Karl-Heinz Lappe (MA2)[32] 22
2018–19 500,972[33] 1,637 Waldhof Mannheim 6,509 Jean Koffi (ELV)[34] 19
2019–20 293,978[35] 1,448 Kickers Offenbach 5,622 André Becker (WAL)[36] 20
2020–21 62,089[37] 234 Hessen Kassel 399 Sascha Marquet (STE)[38] 26
2021–22 354,102[39] 1,035 Kickers Offenbach 5,317 Nick Proschwitz (HO2)[40] 20
2022–23 442,103[41] 1,445 Kickers Offenbach 5,922 Cas Peters (FRA)[42] 20
League record

Placings in the Regionalliga Südwest

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

Club 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
SV Elversberg 2 3L 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1 3L 2B
Waldhof Mannheim 6 5 13 1 2 2 1 3L 3L 3L 3L 3L
1. FC Saarbrücken 3L 3L 2 7 3 1 2 1 3L 3L 3L 3L
SC Freiburg II 7 2 7 15 4 7 13 1 3L 3L 3L
SSV Ulm 1846 2 10 15 9 9 6 7 4 2 1 3L
TSV Steinbach Haiger 12 5 8 8 2 5 4 2 x
1899 Hoffenheim II 9 10 9 3 4 6 10 9 16 13 3 x
FC 08 Homburg 14 11 6 6 15 3 4 7 6 4 x
FSV Frankfurt 2B 2B 2B 2B 3L 14 12 12 6 15 5 x
TSG Balingen 11 17 15 8 6 x
Kickers Offenbach 3L 8 1 4 12 3 5 8 3 3 7 x
VfB Stuttgart II 3L 3L 3L 3L 7 10 15 8 11 8 x
Mainz 05 II 11 3 3L 3L 3L 7 14 6 17 5 9 x
Bahlinger SC 14 11 9 9 10 x
SG Barockstadt Fulda-Lehnerz 11 x
Astoria Walldorf 8 11 11 11 13 5 18 10 12 x
KSV Hessen Kassel 1 13 10 8 10 16 12 7 13 x
SGV Freiberg 14 x
VfR Aalen 2B 2B 2B 3L 3L 3L 3L 14 13 12 15 x
Schott Mainz 18 20 17 x
TuS Koblenz 8 14 16 8 15 x
Stuttgarter Kickers 3L 3L 3L 3L 13 17 x
Eintracht Frankfurt II 1 15 12 x
Wormatia Worms 12 16 5 9 6 13 16 16
Rot-Weiß Koblenz 18 10 14 17
Eintracht Trier 5 6 11 5 18 18
Sonnenhof Großaspach 4 1 3L 3L 3L 3L 3L 3L 19 16
FK Pirmasens 14 13 14 9 16 14 18
FC Gießen 15 11 19
FC Bayern Alzenau 19 10 21
TSV Eintracht Stadtallendorf 12 17 22
SC Hessen Dreieich 18
SV Röchling Völklingen 19
1. FC Kaiserslautern II 3 4 4 10 16
Teutonia Watzenborn 17
FC Nöttingen 15 19
SV Spielberg 16
SpVgg Neckarelz 9 12 17
Saar 05 Saarbrücken 18
KSV Baunatal 17 17
SVN Zweibrücken 7 18
SC Pfullendorf 13 18
1. FC Eschborn 16
FSV Frankfurt II 17
SC Idar-Oberstein 18
  • 1 At the end of the 2013–14 season Eintracht Frankfurt decided to withdraw its reserve side from all competitions after a ruling by the DFL allowed all Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga clubs to freely choose whether or not to operate an under-23 reserve team. Previous to that such teams had been compulsory.[43] The team was re-established in 2022.
  • 2 SSV Ulm 1846 declared insolvent at the end of the 2013–14 season and was relegated.

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

References
  1. DFB-Bundestag beschließt Reform der Spielklassen (in German) DFB website. 22 October 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2010
  2. Geschichte (in German) DFB website - Regionalliga History. Retrieved 6 July 2011
  3. Regionalliga-Reform: Top-Amateure - Top-Talente in einer Liga! Archived 29 July 2012 at archive.today (in German) Bavarian FA website. 4 October 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2011
  4. Wendelsteiner Anstoß (in German) Bavarian FA website - The Wendelstein paper. Retrieved 6 July 2011
  5. Untere Ligen erfahren eine Aufwertung (in German) Augsburger Allgemeine. 11 April 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2011
  6. Bartlett, Evan (22 June 2017). "Chinese U20 team set to become newest member of German fourth division". The Independent. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  7. "China under-20 team face triple German league snub over 'commercial gesture'". South China Morning Post. Agence France-Presse. 16 August 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  8. "China under-20s protest Tibetan flags at friendly in Germany". The Washington Post. Associated Press. 18 November 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  9. "China holt seine U20 nach Hause" [China brings its U20 back home]. SWR.de (in German). Südwestrundfunk. 18 November 2017.
  10. "Freundschaftsspiele mit chinesischer U 20 werden nicht fortgesetzt" [Friendlies with Chinese U 20 will not continue]. DFB.de (in German). German Football Association. 22 December 2017.
  11. "Full Service mit Herzblut" (in German). Jill Wentz. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
  12. Grundzüge der Spielklassenreform (in German) DFB website - Basics of the Regionalliga reform. Retrieved 6 July 2011
  13. Spielklassenreform offiziell beschlossen Archived 5 January 2013 at archive.today (in German) Bavarian FA website. 7 June 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011
  14. Lizenz da: Der FC Bayern Alzenau kann für die Regionalliga planen (in German) Main Echo. 3 May 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011
  15. "Modus: So läuft der Aufstieg" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
  16. "Lauth lost Aufstiegsspiele zur 3. Liga aus" [Lauth draws promotion matches to the 3. Liga]. DFB.de (in German). German Football Association. 27 April 2018. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  17. "Änderung der Aufstiegsregelung in der Regionalliga beschlossen" [Change of promotion format in the Regionalliga decided upon]. dfb.de. Deutscher Fußball-Bund. 8 December 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  18. "Eigener Ausschuss und neue Aufstiegsregelung zur 3. Liga" [Own committee and new promotion scheme to the 3. Liga]. DFB.de. DFB. 27 September 2019.
  19. "Regionalliga Südwest » Rekordspieler » Platz 1 - 50" (in German). weltfussball.de. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  20. "Regionalliga Südwest » Rekordtorjäger » Platz 1 - 50" (in German). weltfussball.de. Retrieved 2023-08-17.
  21. Regionalliga Südwest 2012/2013 .:. Zuschauer .:. Heimspiele (in German) Weltfussball.de. Retrieved 28 May 2013
  22. Regionalliga Südwest 2012/2013 .:. Torschützenliste (in German) Weltfussball.de. Retrieved 28 May 2013
  23. Regionalliga Südwest 2013/2014 .:. Zuschauer .:. Heimspiele (in German) Weltfussball.de. Retrieved 22 May 2014
  24. Regionalliga Südwest 2013/2014 » Torschützenliste (in German) Weltfussball.de. Retrieved 22 May 2014
  25. Regionalliga Südwest 2014/2015 .:. Zuschauer .:. Heimspiele (in German) Weltfussball.de. Retrieved 20 May 2015
  26. Regionalliga Südwest 2014/2015 .:. Torschützenliste (in German) Weltfussball.de. Retrieved 20 May 2015
  27. "Regionalliga Südwest 2015/2016 » Zuschauer » Heimspiele" [Regionalliga Südwest 2015–16 spectators home games]. weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  28. "Regionalliga Südwest 2015/2016 » Torschützenliste" [Regionalliga Südwest 2015–16 goal scorers]. weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  29. "Regionalliga Südwest 2016/2017 » Zuschauer » Heimspiele" [Regionalliga Südwest 2016–17 spectators home games]. weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  30. "Regionalliga Südwest 2016/2017 » Torschützenliste" [Regionalliga Südwest 2016–17 goal scorers]. weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  31. "Regionalliga Südwest 2017/2018 Zuschauer Heimspiele" [Regionalliga Südwest 2017–18 spectators home games]. weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  32. "Regionalliga Südwest 2017/2018 Torschützenliste" [Regionalliga Südwest 2017–18 goal scorers]. weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 12 June 2018.
  33. "Regionalliga Südwest 2018/2019 Zuschauer Heimspiele" [Regionalliga Südwest 2018–19 spectators home games]. weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  34. "Regionalliga Südwest 2018/2019 Torschützenliste" [Regionalliga Südwest 2018–19 goal scorers]. weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  35. "Regionalliga Südwest 2019/2020 Zuschauer Heimspiele" [Regionalliga Südwest 2019–20 spectators home games]. weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  36. "Regionalliga Südwest 2019/2020 Torschützenliste" [Regionalliga Südwest 2019–20 goal scorers]. weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  37. "Regionalliga Südwest 2020/2021 Zuschauer Heimspiele" [Regionalliga Südwest 2020–21 spectators home games]. weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  38. "Regionalliga Südwest 2020/2021 Torschützenliste" [Regionalliga Südwest 2020–21 goal scorers]. weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  39. "Regionalliga Südwest 2021/2022 Zuschauer Heimspiele" [Regionalliga Südwest 2021–22 spectators home games]. weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  40. "Regionalliga Südwest 2021/2022 Torschützenliste" [Regionalliga Südwest 2021–22 goal scorers]. weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  41. "Regionalliga Südwest 2022/2023 Zuschauer Heimspiele" [Regionalliga Südwest 2022–23 spectators home games]. weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  42. "Regionalliga Südwest 2022/2023 Torschützenliste" [Regionalliga Südwest 20212–23 goal scorers]. weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  43. Eintracht Frankfurt meldet U23-Team ab (in German) weltfussball.de. 6 April 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2014

Sources
  • Deutschlands Fußball in Zahlen, (in German) An annual publication with tables and results from the Bundesliga to Verbandsliga/Landesliga. DSFS.
  • Kicker Almanach, (in German) The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937. Kicker Sports Magazine.
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