 | |
| Organising bodies | State associations of the DFB |
|---|---|
| Country | Germany |
| State | 15 states |
| Leagues | 67 |
| Level on pyramid | Level 6, 7 and 8 |
| Promotion to | Oberliga |
| Relegation to | Various |
The Landesliga (English: Football State League) is a tier of football in some states of the German football league system.
In Bavaria, Saxony, Thuringia, Bremen, Lower Saxony and Hamburg, the Landesligas are set right below the Oberliga and therefore are the sixth tier. The reason for this is that Bavaria, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, and Bremen are the only places in Germany where the Oberliga, the State, and the Verband are geographically the same, while the other two states simply chose to call their leagues Landesligas when establishing them in 1990. In the Middle Rhine and Lower Rhine regions of North Rhine-Westphalia it is also, since 2012, the sixth tier.
In Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate (southwestern part only), North Rhine-Westphalia (Westphalia), Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, and Berlin, the Landesliga is the seventh tier, below the Verbandsliga. In the Saarland, the Landesligas are set as the eighth tier.[1][2][3]
Typically, in each Bundesland, the Landesligas are divided into different Staffeln or "divisions". In Bavaria, the Landesliga is divided into five divisions, South-West, South-East, Central, North-West, and North-East. In Saxony, Bremen, and Thuringia, the Landesliga is in a single division format. In Hamburg, it consists of two divisions.[2]
In 2017, Schleswig-Holstein introduced Landesligas at the sixth tier,[4] leaving Hesse as the only German state not to have Landesligas. The Rheinland region of Rhineland-Palatinate also operates without such a league.[2]
In Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia the league below the Landesligas is the Landesklasse (English: State Class).[2] Also in 2017, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania reduced the number of Landesligas and Landesklasses to 2 and 4 divisions respectively,[5] but temporarily reverted them to 3 and 5 divisions for two seasons in 2020.[6]
- ^ Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv (in German) Historical German domestic league tables
- ^ a b c d Fussball.de - Ergebnisse(in German) Tables and results of all German football leagues Archived 7 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Amateurligen (in German) The German amateur leagues at kicker.de
- ^ "Neue Ligenstruktur und Verjüngung" [New league structure and rejuvenation]. fupa.net (in German). 31 May 2016.
- ^ "Reform für neue Struktur steht" [Reform for new structure goes on]. fupa.net (in German). 7 March 2016.
- ^ "Flexible Lösung: Staffeln für den Herren-Spielbetrieb 2020/2021 stehen fest". Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania State FA. 1 July 2020.