The 2013–14 3. Liga was the sixth season of the

3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...

, Germany's third-level

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

league. The league consisted of twenty teams: The teams placed fourth through seventeenth of the 2012–13 season, the worst two teams from the 2012–13 2nd Bundesliga, the three promoted teams the 2012–13 Fußball-Regionalliga and the losers of the

relegation play-off In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

between the 16th-placed 2nd Bundesliga team and the third-placed 3rd Liga team.

Teams

At the end of the 2012–13 season,

Karlsruher SC Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football. Domestically, the club was crowned German champion in 1909, and won the D ...

and

Arminia Bielefeld DSC Arminia Bielefeld (; full name: ; commonly known as Arminia Bielefeld (), also known as ''Die Arminen'' or ''Die Blauen'' ), or just Arminia (), is a German sports club from Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. Arminia offers the sports of ...

were directly promoted to the 2013–14 2nd Bundesliga. Karlsruhe made an immediate return to the 2nd Bundesliga after being relegated in 2011–12. Bielefeld returned to the 2nd Bundesliga after two seasons in the third tier. The two promoted teams were to be replaced by

Jahn Regensburg Sport- und Schwimmverein Jahn Regensburg e. V., commonly known as SSV Jahn Regensburg, Jahn Regensburg, SSV Jahn or simply Jahn is a German football club based in Regensburg, Bavaria. The club is based on a gymnastics club founded in 1886 a ...

and

SV Sandhausen Sportverein Sandhausen 1916 e.V., commonly known as simply SV Sandhausen or Sandhausen, is a German association football club that plays in Sandhausen, immediately to the south of Heidelberg in Baden-Württemberg. The club's greatest success ...

, who finished in the bottom two places of the 2012–13 2nd Bundesliga table and thus were to be directly relegated. Both Regensburg and Sandhausen were to be relegated after cameo appearances in the 2nd Bundesliga. However,

MSV Duisburg Meidericher Spielverein 02 e. V. Duisburg, commonly known as simply MSV Duisburg (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. Nicknamed ''Die Zebras'' for their traditional striped jers ...

were denied a licence for the 2nd Bundesliga (though not the licence for the 3rd Liga) and were relegated. Sandhausen were given the free place in the 2nd Bundesliga. At the other end of the table,

Alemannia Aachen Alemannia Aachen () or ATSV Alemannia 1900 is a football in Germany, German football club from the western city of Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia. A long term fixture of the country's 2. Bundesliga, second division, ''Alemannia'' enjoyed a three- ...

SV Babelsberg 03 SV Babelsberg 03 is a German association football club based in Potsdam-Babelsberg, on the outskirts of Berlin. The team was founded as ''Sport-Club Jugendkraft 1903'' and again as ''SG Karl-Marx Babelsberg'' in 1948 as successor to the pre-war ...

and

SV Darmstadt 98 Sportverein Darmstadt 1898 e.V., commonly known as Darmstadt 98 (), is a German football club based in Darmstadt, Hesse. The club was founded on 22 May 1898 as FC Olympia Darmstadt. Early in 1919, the association was briefly known as ''Rasen-Spo ...

were to be relegated to the

2013–14 Regionalliga The 2013–14 Regionalliga was the sixth season of the Regionalliga, the second under the new format, as the fourth tier of the German football league system. The champions of Regionalliga Nord – Holstein Kiel – and Regionalliga Nordost – RB ...

; Aachen entered the

Regionalliga West The Regionalliga West is a German semi-professional football division administered by the Western German Football Association based in Duisburg. It is one of the five German regional football associations. Being the single flight of the Western ...

. Babelsberg would be going to the Regionalliga North-East and Darmstadt were supposed to be relegated to the Regionalliga South-West. However,

Kickers Offenbach Offenbacher Kickers, also known as Kickers Offenbach, is a German association football club in Offenbach am Main, Hesse. The club was founded on 27 May 1901 in the Rheinischer Hof restaurant by footballers who had left established local clubs in ...

were denied the license for the 3rd League and Darmstadt were instead allowed to stay in the 3rd League. Offenbach relegated to the Regionalliga South-West. The three relegated teams were replaced by the three winners of the 2012–13 Regionalliga promotion playoffs.

RB Leipzig RasenBallsport Leipzig e.V. (), commonly known as RB Leipzig, and colloquially referred to as Red Bull Leipzig, is a German professional football club based in Leipzig, Saxony. The club was founded in 2009 by the initiative of the company Red Bu ...

from the North-Eastern division and

SV Elversberg SpVgg 07 Elversberg is a German association football club, located in Spiesen-Elversberg, Saarland. History The club was founded in 1907 as ''FC Germania Elversberg''. It was dissolved in 1914, but then re-constituted in 1918 as ''Sportverein ...

from the South-Western Division are playing their debut seasons in the 3rd Liga, while

Holstein Kiel Kieler Sportvereinigung Holstein von 1900 e.V., simply as KSV Holstein or Kieler SV Holstein, commonly known as Holstein Kiel (), is a German association football and sports club based in the city of Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein. From the 1900s thro ...

from the Northern division returned to the national level of football after three seasons in the fourth tier Regionalliga. A further place in the league was available via a two-legged play-off between third-placed 2012–13 3rd Liga team

VfL Osnabrück VfL Osnabrück is a German multi-sport club in Osnabrück, Lower Saxony. It currently fields teams in basketball, gymnastics, swimming, table tennis, and tennis but is by far best known for its football section. History Foundation to WW2 The cl ...

and 16th-placed 2012–13 2. Bundesliga sides

Dynamo Dresden Sportgemeinschaft Dynamo Dresden e.V., commonly known as SG Dynamo Dresden or Dynamo Dresden, are a German association football club based in Dresden, Saxony.Grüne, Hardy (2001). Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs 7. Vereinslexikon. Kasse ...

. The tie ended 2–1 on aggregate and saw Dresden remain in the 2nd Bundesliga.

Stadiums and locations

Personnel and sponsorships

Managerial changes

League table

Results

Top goalscorers

''As of 10 May 2014''

Player awards

The following players were named as player of the month throughout the season. *August:

Kingsley Onuegbu Kingsley Onuegbu (born 5 March 1986) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Qingdao Hainiu in China League One. Career Onuegbu played street football in Nigeria, before his football career began in Germany in the summ ...

(

) *September: Michael Ratajczak (

) *October: Odisseas Vlachodimos (

VfB Stuttgart II VfB Stuttgart II is a German Association football, football team located in Stuttgart, currently playing in the Regionalliga Südwest. From 2008 to 2016 the team played in the 3. Liga. They are the German reserve football teams, reserve team of V ...

) *November: Leonhard Haas (

Hansa Rostock FC Hansa Rostock () is a German association football club based in the city of Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The club is also called as "the cog" because of its club crest. They have emerged as one of the most successful clubs from the forme ...

) *December:

David Blacha David Blacha (born 22 October 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for SV Meppen. Born in Germany, he has represented Poland at youth level. Club career Born in Wickede, Blacha played for FC 09 Fröndenberg and Borussia ...

(

) *February: Francky Sembolo (

Hallescher FC Hallescher FC, sometimes still called by its former popular name Chemie Halle, is a German association football club based in Halle an der Saale, Saxony-Anhalt. The club currently plays in the 3. Liga, the third highest level in the German footb ...

) *March: Michael Gardawski (

)

References

External links

3rd Liga on DFB page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liga 3, 2013-14 2013-14 3 Ger