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 teams22
Level on pyramidLevel 4
Promotion to3. Liga
Relegation to
Current champions1. FC Saarbrücken
(2019–20)
WebsiteOfficial website
Current: 2020–21 Regionalliga

The league was formed at the end of the 2011–12 season, 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]

Teams

The following teams played in the 2019/20 season of the Regionalliga Südwest:

Owners and shareholders

The Regionalliga Südwest is owned by the Regionalliga Südwest GbR. The shareholders are a total of nine Football association. These are the seven DFB-German Football Association involved

as well as two DFB-Regionalverbände

History
The five regional leagues since 2012/13 (Regionalliga Südwest in purple)

The German league system had been reformed in 2008, when the 3rd Liga was established and the number of regional leagues increased from two to three. A further alteration was made in 2011.[2] This was prompted by the large number of insolvencies in the fourth tier, caused by high costs and infrastructure requirements while, at the same time, the clubs at this level complained about low incomes and lack of interest from TV broadcasters. Regionalliga stadiums had 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 even declining their right to promotion to avoid the financial risks of the Regionalliga, thus breaking a basic principle of German football, that league champions would almost always be promoted.[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 the Bavarian 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 what was called the Wendelsteiner Anstoß, which demanded a clear demarcation between professional football on the first three tiers of German football and amateur football below that. For this purpose, the paper also demanded a re-establishment of the German amateur football championship as an incentive and goal for top amateur clubs who did not want to turn professional.[4][5]

With the Regionaliga reform in 2012, the Regionaliga was increased from three to five leagues. Since then, these have been the North, Northeast, West, Southwest and Bavaria leagues. The league 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.

From the 2012/13 to 2017/18 seasons, the champion and the runner-up took part in the Promotion to the 3. Liga. The runner-up was taken into account because six teams were required for the promotion round and because the region of the Regionalliga Südwest, then and now, had the most teams and members of all five regional leagues.[6] For the 2018/19 to 2020/21 seasons, there was a rule that only the champion will be promoted directly to the 3. Liga; there will be no promotion for the runners-up. The relay strength in the 2019/20 season was 18 teams. From the leagues below the Regionalliga Südwest, there are a total of four promoted teams: from the upper leagues of Rhineland-Palatinate/Saar, Hessen and Baden-Württemberg, one team each, usually the champions, is promoted; the three runners-up play to be the fourth promotion.

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.[7] 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.[8] During the team's match against TSV Schott Mainz, the display of a Tibetan flag led to the team walking off in protest.[9] Consequently, the Chinese players were recalled[10] and the agreement was abrogated.[11]

Founding Members 2012/13

SG Sonnenhof Großaspach, Eintracht Frankfurt II, Eintracht Trier, Wormatia Worms, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim II, 1. FC Kaiserslautern II, SC Freiburg II, 1. FSV Mainz 05 II, KSV Hessen Kassel, SV Elversberg, SV Waldhof Mannheim, SC 07 Idar-Oberstein, SC Pfullendorf, TuS Koblenz, FSV Frankfurt II, FC Bayern Alzenau, SSV Ulm 1846, 1. FC Eschborn, FC 08 Homburg

Rules & regulations

Promotion to the 3rd Liga

The league champions of the five new regional leagues no longer have the right to direct promotion to the 3rd Liga. Instead, the five league winners and the runners-up of the Süd/Südwest would play-off for three promotion spots.[1] The play-offs are played in home-and-away format, and the two clubs from the Süd/Südwest region can not be paired against each other.[12]

As four teams were relegated from the 3rd 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 to the league.[13] In 2020, the three direct promotion spots will go 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.[14] On that date, the Bundestag delegates voted to grant the Südwest and West champions two direct promotions indefinitely starting in 2021. A third direct promotion place will be assigned according to a rotation principle among the Regionalliga Nord, Nordost and Bayern champions. The representatives from the remaining two Regionalligen will determine the fourth promoted club in two-legged playoffs.[15]

Qualifying

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. No more than seven reserve teams were permitted per Regionalliga; should there be more in a league the additional ones would have to be moved to a different 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][16]

One exception to the rule was the Bavarian club FC Bayern Alzenau, who had traditionally played in Hesse's league system. This club would participate in the new Regionalliga Südwest, at their own request, rather than in the Regionalliga Bayern.[17]

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

Champions & runners-up

The league champions and 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 07 Elversberg Waldhof Mannheim
2017–18 1. FC Saarbrücken Waldhof Mannheim
2018–19 Waldhof Mannheim 1. FC Saarbrücken
2019–20 1. FC Saarbrücken 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.

Record

Most Points in a Season

Players with the Most Playing Time

Stand: end of the 2019/20 season[18]

Rank Player Games Club Timeframe
1. Johannes Reichert 225 SSV Ulm 1846 (175)
1. FC Kaiserslautern II (50)		 since 2012
2. Kevin Lahn 220 TSV Steinbach Haiger (10)
SV Elversberg (24)
TuS Koblenz (131)
Wormatia Worms (30)
1. FC Kaiserslautern II (25)		 since 2012
3. Ricky Pinheiro 200 FK Pirmasens (31)
Wormatia Worms (94)
SV Elversberg (23)
1. FC Kaiserslautern II (17)
KSV Hessen Kassel (35)		 2012–2019
4. Daniel Endres 199 FC Bayern Alzenau (20)
Kickers Offenbach (179)		 since 2013
5. Jannik Sommer 197 FC 08 Homburg (22)
SV Waldhof Mannheim (114)
FK Pirmasens (14)
SVN Zweibrücken (19)
Eintracht Frankfurt II (28)		 since 2013

Player with the Most Goals

Stand: End of the 2019/20 season[19]

Rank Player Goals Games Goal/Game Club Timeframe
1. Florian Treske 80 184 0,43 Kickers Offenbach (14)
Wormatia Worms (49)
SSV Ulm 1846 (17)		 2012–2019
2. Patrick Schmidt 64 104 0,62 1. FC Saarbrücken (41)
FC 08 Homburg (23)		 2014–2018
3. Jannik Sommer 59 197 0,30 FC 08 Homburg (5)
SV Waldhof Mannheim (35)
FK Pirmasens (8)
SVN Zweibrücken (7)
Eintracht Frankfurt II (4)		 since 2013
4. Sebastian Jacob 56 123 0,46 1. FC Saarbrücken (34)
1. FC Kaiserslautern II (22)		 since 2012
5. Jan-Lucas Dorow 50 169 0,30 Wormatia Worms (20)
1. FC Kaiserslautern II (30)		 2012–2019
Mijo Tunjić 112 0,45 Stuttgarter Kickers (12)
SV Elversberg (38)		 2014–2018

Championship Titles
Rank Club Championships
1 1. FC Saarbrücken 2
SV Waldhof Mannheim 2
2 SG Sonnenhof Großaspach 1
Kickers Offenbach 1
KSV Hessen Kassel 1
SV Elversberg 1

The logo of the Regionalliga Südwest, which was introduced in 2012, shows a football player wo is oriented towards the southwest. The seven blue stars symbolize the regional associations involved, the two white stars stand for the regional associations SFV and FRVS.[20]

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
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
Sonnenhof Großaspach 4 1 3L 3L 3L 3L 3L 3L x
Waldhof Mannheim 6 5 13 1 2 2 1 3L 3L
1. FC Saarbrücken 3L 3L 2 7 3 1 2 1 3L
TSV Steinbach 12 5 8 8 2 x
SV Elversberg 2 3L 3 2 1 5 4 3 x
FC 08 Homburg 14 11 6 6 15 3 4 x
Astoria Walldorf 8 11 11 11 13 5 x
Mainz 05 II 11 3 3L 3L 3L 7 14 6 x
SSV Ulm 1846 2 10 15 9 9 6 7 x
Kickers Offenbach 3L 8 1 4 12 3 5 8 x
1899 Hoffenheim II 9 10 9 3 4 6 10 9 x
FC Bayern Alzenau 19 10 x
Bahlinger SC 14 11 x
FSV Frankfurt 2B 2B 2B 2B 3L 14 12 12 x
SC Freiburg II 7 2 7 15 4 7 13 x
VfR Aalen 2B 2B 2B 3L 3L 3L 3L 14 x
FC Gießen 15 x
FK Pirmasens 14 13 14 9 16 x
TSG Balingen 11 17 x
Rot-Weiß Koblenz 18 x
VfB Stuttgart II 3L 3L 3L 3L 7 10 15 x
Wormatia Worms 12 16 5 9 6 13 16
TSV Eintracht Stadtallendorf 12 17 x
SC Hessen Dreieich 18
TuS Koblenz 8 14 16 8 15
KSV Hessen Kassel 1 13 10 8 10 16 x
Stuttgarter Kickers 3L 3L 3L 3L 13 17
Schott Mainz 18 x
SV Röchling Völklingen 19
1. FC Kaiserslautern II 3 4 4 10 16
Teutonia Watzenborn 17
Eintracht Trier 5 6 11 5 18
FC Nöttingen 15 19
SV Spielberg 16
SpVgg Neckarelz 9 12 17
Saar 05 Saarbrücken 18
KSV Baunatal 17 17
SVN Zweibrücken 7 18
Eintracht Frankfurt II 1 15 12
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.[37]
  • 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

Champions and Runners-up
Year Champion Runners-up Third Place
2013 KSV Hessen Kassel SV Elversberg 1. FC Kaiserslautern II
2014 SG Sonnenhof Großaspach SC Freiburg II 1. FSV Mainz 05 II
2015 Kickers Offenbach 1. FC Saarbrücken (P) SV Elversberg (P)
2016 SV Waldhof Mannheim SV Elversberg TSG 1899 Hoffenheim II
2017 SV Elversberg SV Waldhof Mannheim (C) 1. FC Saarbrücken
2018 1. FC Saarbrücken SV Waldhof Mannheim Kickers Offenbach
2019 SV Waldhof Mannheim 1. FC Saarbrücken (C) FC 08 Homburg
2020 1. FC Saarbrücken TSV Steinbach Haiger SV Elversberg

2020: Since the 2019/20 season did not end normally due to the COVID-19 pandemic, champions and runners-up were named after applying the quotient rule

Teams in bold = promoted team (see also teams that advanced to the 3. Liga)
(C) = Champion of the previous season
(P) = relegated team of the previous season

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. "Modus: So läuft der Aufstieg" (in German). kicker. Retrieved 2020-11-16.
  7. Bartlett, Evan (22 June 2017). "Chinese U20 team set to become newest member of German fourth division". The Independent. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  8. "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.
  9. "China under-20s protest Tibetan flags at friendly in Germany". The Washington Post. Associated Press. 18 November 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2017.
  10. "China holt seine U20 nach Hause" [China brings its U20 back home]. SWR.de (in German). Südwestrundfunk. 18 November 2017.
  11. "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.
  12. Grundzüge der Spielklassenreform (in German) DFB website - Basics of the Regionalliga reform. Retrieved 6 July 2011
  13. "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.
  14. "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.
  15. "Eigener Ausschuss und neue Aufstiegsregelung zur 3. Liga" [Own committee and new promotion scheme to the 3. Liga]. DFB.de. DFB. 27 September 2019.
  16. Spielklassenreform offiziell beschlossen Archived 5 January 2013 at Archive.today (in German) Bavarian FA website. 7 June 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011
  17. Lizenz da: Der FC Bayern Alzenau kann für die Regionalliga planen (in German) Main Echo. 3 May 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011
  18. "Regionalliga Südwest » Rekordspieler » Platz 1 - 50" (in German). weltfussball.de. Retrieved 2020-11-20.
  19. "Regionalliga Südwest » Rekordtorjäger » Platz 1 - 50" (in German). weltfussball.de. Retrieved 2020-11-24.
  20. "Full Service mit Herzblut" (in German). Jill Wentz. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
  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. 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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