Promotion To The 2nd Bundesliga (Football)

The Promotion to the 2. Bundesliga (German: ''Aufstiegsrunde zur 2. Bundesliga'') was an end-of-season competition, held annually to determine the clubs that were promoted from the ''Amateurligas'', later the ''Amateur Oberligas'' to the '' 2. Bundesligas''. It was necessary because there were more third division champions then promotion spots available.

Originally there were fifteen ''Amateurligas'' which were reduced to eight ''Amateur Oberligas'' in 1978. From 1981 the ''2. Bundesliga'' was reduced to one single league.

After the introduction of the Regionalliga in 1994, the promotion round was greatly reduced in length, generally only involving two teams. Eventually, after 2000, all promotion spots to the 2. Bundesliga were direct with no deciders necessary. Since the 2008–09 season, after the introduction of the 3. Liga, a promotion round was reintroduced.

Leagues

Tier two

Originally, these being:
* '' 2. Bundesliga Süd''
* '' 2. Bundesliga Nord''

In 1981, these were reduced to just one league, the '' 2. Bundesliga''.

Tier three

In 1975, there were 15 ''Amateurligas'', the third level of German football, these being:

Southern Germany

* ''Amateurliga Bayern''
* ''Amateurliga Hessen''
* ''Amateurliga Nordbaden''
* ''Amateurliga Südbaden''
* ''Amateurliga Schwarzwald-Bodensee''
* ''Amateurliga Württemberg''
* ''Amateurliga Saarland''
* ''Amateurliga Südwest''
* '' Amateurliga Rheinland''

In 1978, these were reduced to four ''Amateur Oberligas'', these being:
* '' Amateur Oberliga Bayern''
* ''Amateur Oberliga Hessen''
* ''Amateur Oberliga Baden-Württemberg''
* '' Amateur Oberliga Südwest''

Northern Germany

* '' Oberliga Berlin''
* ''Oberliga Nord''
* ''Amateurliga Niederrhein''
* '' Amateurliga Mittelrhein''
* '' Amateurliga Westfalen 1''
* '' Amateurliga Westfalen 2''

In 1978, these were reduced to four ''Amateur Oberligas'', these being:
* ''Amateur-Oberliga Berlin'' (disbanded in 1991)
* ''Amateur Oberliga Nord''
* ''Amateur Oberliga Nordrhein''
* ''Amateur Oberliga Westfalen''

North-Eastern Germany

The following three ''Oberligas'' were formed in 1991, after the German reunion.
* ''NOFV-Oberliga Nord''
* ''NOFV-Oberliga Mitte''
* ''NOFV-Oberliga Süd''

System and modus

2. Bundesliga South promotion modus

From 1975 until 1978 the champions of the ''Amateurligas Bayern'' and ''Hessen'' were directly promoted to the ''2. Bundesliga''. The winners of the ''Amateurligas Nordbaden'', ''Südbaden'', ''Schwarzwald-Bodensee'' and ''Württemberg'' played out a third promotion spot. The winners of the ''Amateurligas Saarland'', ''Südwest'' and ''Rheinland'' played out a fourth spot. Both these rounds were played in a home-and-away round robin.

In 1979 and 1980 there was no play-offs as the nine southern Amateurligas had merged to four Oberligas and therefore each champion was promoted directly. This fact was actually the main reason for the merger.

2. Bundesliga North promotion modus

In 1975 and 1976 the champions of the ''Amateurligas Niederrhein'', ''Mittelrhein'' and the second placed team in the ''Oberliga Nord'' played out two promotion spots. The champion of the ''Amateurliga Berlin'', the champion of the ''Oberliga Nord'' and the winner of the decider of the two ''Westfalen'' champions played out another two spots.

In 1977 and 1978 the top four teams of the ''Oberliga Nord'', the champions of the ''Amateurligas Niederrhein'', ''Mittelrhein'', ''Westfalen 1'', ''Westfalen 2'' and ''Berlin'' played out the four promotion spots in two groups of four. Beforehand, a decider between the 4th placed team from the ''North'' and the runners-up of ''Westfalen'' reduced the number to eight out of those nine.

In 1979 and 1980 there was no play-offs as the six northern leagues merged to form four ''Oberligas'' like in the south. The champions of the ''Oberligas Nord'', ''Nordrhein'' and ''Westfalen'' were promoted directly, the winner of ''Oberliga Berlin'' had to play the runners-up of the ''Oberliga Nord'' for the last spot.

2. Bundesliga promotion modus

From 1982 until 1991 the play-offs were split into a north and a south group.

In the southern group the four ''Oberliga'' champions of ''Bayern'', ''Baden-Württemberg'', ''Hessen'' and ''Südwest'' played out two promotion spots. In 1982 this was done in a single round system, afterwards in a home-and-away round robin.

In the northern group the winners of the four ''Oberligas Berlin'', ''Westfalen'', ''Nordrhein'' and ''Nord'' played out two promotion spots. In 1982 this was done in a single round system, afterwards in a home-and-away round robin. From 1984 the runners-up of the ''Oberliga Nord'' was also included in this play-off, taking the number of teams to five.

After the reunification of Germany the number of teams was extended.

In 1991 there was an additional two groups of four teams from East Germany. The winner of each of those four groups were promoted.

In 1992 there was 13 teams in four groups with the group winner gaining promotion. Qualified to this play-off were the ten ''Oberliga'' champions, the runners-up from ''Oberliga Nord'' and two teams from ''2. Bundesliga''.

In 1993 and 1994 the ten ''Oberliga'' champions and the runners-up from ''Oberliga Nord'' played in three groups, two times four and one time three, for three promotion spots.

in 1994 the four ''Regionalliga'' were introduced as an intermediate between ''2. Bundesliga'' and the ''Oberligas''. ''Oberliga'' teams were now promoted to the ''Regionalligas'' instead.

Modus from 1994

With the introduction of the four ''Regionalligas'' in 1994, the system for promotion was somewhat simpler. The champions of the '' Regionalligas Süd'' and '' West/Südwest'' were always directly promoted. The '' Regionalligas Nord'' and '' Nordost'' were considered a single entity for the purpose of promotion, therefore only one of the two winners could get directly promoted. From 1996, the two winners of the league had to play a home-and-away decider. The reason for this was that each of the first two ''Regionalligas'' covered areas with a population and playing strength roughly equal to the combined second two. The fourth promotion spot was allocated the following way:

*1995: To the ''Nord/Nordost'' region, therefore both league winners promoted.
*1996: To the ''West/Südwest'' region, runners-up of that region promoted.
*1997: To the ''Süd'' region, runners-up of that region promoted.
*1998 to 2000: The runners-up of ''West/Südwest'' and ''Süd'' plus the losing team from the ''Nord/Nordost'' area play a group round-robin to determine the fourth promoted team.

With the reduction of the numbers of ''Regionalligas'' in 2000 to two, play-offs became unnecessary and two teams from each league were directly promoted.

Modus from 2000

After the changes in the league system in 2000, the reduction of the numbers of ''Regionalligas'' from four to two, direct promotion was available to the ''2. Bundesliga'' once more. The champions and runners-up of the two ''Regionalligas'' moved up without having to play a promotion round. In some instances, a promotion spot was held by a reserve team of a ''Bundesliga'' or ''2. Bundesliga'' side, in those cases, the next-best placed first team was promoted instead.

In 2008, the '' 3. Liga'' was established as the new third tier, between ''Regionalligas'' and ''2. Bundesliga''. The top-two teams out of the third division are directly promoted. The third placed club has to play the 16th placed team of the ''2. Bundesliga'' in a home and away round to determine who receives the last spot in the second division. Reserve sides, which also play in the ''3. Liga'', can not earn promotion.

Clubs taking part in the promotion round

Southern Germany (1975–1978)

* Directly promoted clubs from Hesse and Bavaria

* Promotion round: Southwestern group

* Promotion round: Baden-Württemberg group

Southern Germany (1982–1994)

Northern Germany (1975–1978)

* Promotion round: Group A

* Promotion round: Group B

Northern Germany (1982–1994)

North-Eastern Germany (1991–1994)

Promoted teams from the Regionalliga (1995–2008)

1995–2000

The Nord versus Nordost play-off games

These were staged in the five seasons from 1996 to 2000 to determine which team was directly promoted. From 1998, the loser of this games got a second chance for promotion by playing the runners-up of the other two ''Regionalligas''.

* Winner in bold.

2000–2008

All listed teams were promoted:

3. Liga

With the introduction of the ''3. Liga'' in 2008, the first two teams of this league earned promotion to the ''2. Bundesliga'' while the third placed team had to go through a promotion round.

* Bold denotes team earned promotion.

3. Liga promotion round

From the 2008–09 season onwards, the third placed team in the 3. Liga had to play the 16th placed team in the 2. Bundesliga for one more spot in the second division:
;2008–09

;2009–10

;2010–11

;2011–12

;2012–13

;2013–14

;2014–15

;2015–16

;2016–17

;2017–18

;2018–19

;2019–20

;2020–21

;2021–22

* Winner in bold.

See also

* Promotion to the Bundesliga
* Promotion to the 3. Liga

Notes

References

Sources

* ''Deutsche Liga Chronik seit 1945'' Historic tables of German football (First, Second and Third Division), publisher: DSFS, published: 2006

External links

Das deutsche Fussball Archiv
Historical German football tables

{{German Amateur Oberliga (football)

2. Bundesliga
German football promotion rounds