Regionalliga Südwest

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Regionalliga Südwest

The Regionalliga Südwest ('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.

Quick Facts Founded, Country ...
Regionalliga Südwest
Thumb
Founded2012
CountryGermany
States
  • Baden-Württemberg
  • Bavaria (1 club)
  • Hesse
  • Rhineland-Palatinate
  • Saarland
Number of clubs18
Level on pyramidLevel 4
Promotion to3. Liga
Relegation to
Current championsVfB Stuttgart II
(2023–24)
WebsiteOfficial website
Current: 2024–25 Regionalliga Südwest
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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

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Perspective
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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

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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

More information Season, Champions ...
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
2023–24 VfB Stuttgart II Stuttgarter Kickers
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  • 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:

More information Season, Overall Spectators ...
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
2023–24 497,077[43] 1,624 Kickers Offenbach 6,128 Phil Harres (HOM)[44] 24
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League record

Placings in the Regionalliga Südwest

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

More information Club ...
Club 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
SV Elversberg 2 3L 3 2 1 5 4 3 2 1 3L 2B 2B
SSV Ulm 1846 2 10 15 9 9 6 7 4 2 1 3L 2B
Waldhof Mannheim 6 5 13 1 2 2 1 3L 3L 3L 3L 3L 3L
1. FC Saarbrücken 3L 3L 2 7 3 1 2 1 3L 3L 3L 3L 3L
VfB Stuttgart II 3L 3L 3L 3L 7 10 15 8 11 8 1 3L
SC Freiburg II 7 2 7 15 4 7 13 1 3L 3L 3L x
Stuttgarter Kickers 3L 3L 3L 3L 13 17 2 x
1899 Hoffenheim II 9 10 9 3 4 6 10 9 16 13 3 3 x
SGV Freiberg 14 4 x
FC 08 Homburg 14 11 6 6 15 3 4 7 6 4 5 x
Eintracht Frankfurt II 1 15 12 6 x
SG Barockstadt Fulda-Lehnerz 11 7 x
Mainz 05 II 11 3 3L 3L 3L 7 14 6 17 5 9 8 x
FSV Frankfurt 2B 2B 2B 2B 3L 14 12 12 6 15 5 9 x
KSV Hessen Kassel 1 13 10 8 10 16 12 7 13 10 x
Kickers Offenbach 3L 8 1 4 12 3 5 8 3 3 7 11 x
TSV Steinbach Haiger 12 5 8 8 2 5 4 2 12 x
Bahlinger SC 14 11 9 9 10 13 x
Astoria Walldorf 8 11 11 11 13 5 18 10 12 14 x
Eintracht Trier 5 6 11 5 18 18 x
FC Gießen 15 11 19 x
1. Göppinger SV x
FC 08 Villingen x
VfR Aalen 2B 2B 2B 3L 3L 3L 3L 14 13 12 15 15
Schott Mainz 18 20 17 16
TSG Balingen 11 17 15 8 6 17
TuS Koblenz 8 14 16 8 15 18
Wormatia Worms 12 16 5 9 6 13 16 16
Rot-Weiß Koblenz 18 10 14 17
Sonnenhof Großaspach 4 1 3L 3L 3L 3L 3L 3L 19 16
FK Pirmasens 14 13 14 9 16 14 18
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
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  • 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.[45] 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

More information Symbol, 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
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References

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