The Lower Rhine Cup (German: ''Niederrheinpokal'') is a German football club Cup competition open to teams from the

Lower Rhine The Lower Rhine (german: Niederrhein; kilometres 660 to 1,033 of the river Rhine) flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea at Hook of Holland, Netherlands (including the Nederrijn or "Nether Rhine" within the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta); al ...

region of the state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

. The competition is one of the 21 regional cup competitions of

German football Association football, Football (or "soccer") is the most popular sport in Germany. The German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund, link=no or ) is the sport's national governing body, with 6.6 million members (roughly eight ...

and acts as a qualifier for the following seasons'

German Cup The DFB-Pokal ( is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga. It is considered ...

. The competition is sponsored by the

Diebels Brauerei Diebels is a firm based in Issum on the Lower Rhine that manufactures various beer products. The company was a prominent shirt sponsor of Borussia Mönchengladbach during the 1990s. In 2005 the company produced 1,006,000 hectoliters of ...

brewery and carries the official name ''Diebels Niederrheinpokal''. It is operated by the ''Lower Rhine Football Association'', the ''FVN''.Diebels Niederrheinpokal
''FVN'' website. Retrieved 9 July 2012

Modus

Clubs from fully professional leagues are not permitted to enter the competition, meaning, no teams from the ''

Fußball-Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footbal ...

'' and the '' 2nd Bundesliga'' can compete. All clubs from the Lower Rhine playing in the '' 3. Liga'' (III), ''

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 ...

'' (IV) and ''

Oberliga Niederrhein The Oberliga Niederrhein ( en, Premier League of the Lower Rhine) is a German amateur football division administered by the Football Association of the Lower Rhine, one of the 21 German state football associations. Being the top flight of the Lowe ...

'' (V) are directly qualified for the first round, the remaining places in the first round are filled with the teams who qualified from local cup competitions, the ''Kreispokale''. Since the establishment of the 3. Liga in 2008, reserve teams can not take part in the German Cup or the Lower Rhine Cup anymore.

Winners

The past winners of the competition:Endspiele und Titelgewinner im Niederrheinpokal
''FVN'' website – Finals and winners of the Lower Rhine Cup. Retrieved 9 July 2012 *No cup held or winner known for 1984, 1988, 1992 and 1993. In 1992 Wuppertaler SV und Fortuna Düsseldorf Amateure both qualified for the first round of the German Cup through the Lower Rhine Cup.

References

*''Deutschlands Fußball in Zahlen'', An annual publication with tables and results from the Bundesliga to Verbandsliga/Landesliga, publisher: DSFS

External links

Fussball.de: Lower Rhine Cup

''FVN'' website {{Football in North Rhine-Westphalia Football cup competitions in Germany Football competitions in North Rhine-Westphalia 1980 establishments in West Germany Recurring sporting events established in 1980