Under 19 Bundesliga

The Under 19 Bundesliga (German: ''A-Junioren Bundesliga'') is the highest level in German Under 19 football. It was created in 2003 and is divided in three divisions (Nord/Nordost, West und Süd/Südwest) with 14 teams each. The winner of each divisions and the second-placed team from the Süd/Südwest division join the play-offs for the German U19 champions.

The forerunner of the Under 19 Bundesliga was the ''A-Jugend-Regionalliga''. In the summer of 2003 the divisions North and Northeast as well as South and Southwest were merged, the division West was simply renamed. The intent was to make youth football more competitive.

History

The league was formed in 2003, when the five ''U 19 Regionalligas'' merged to form the three ''Bundesligas'' as follows:
* ''Under 19 Bundesliga North/Northeast'' formed from:
** ''Under 19 Regionalliga North''
** ''Under 19 Regionalliga Northeast''
* ''Under 19 Bundesliga South/Southwest'' formed from:
** ''Under 19 Regionalliga South''
** ''Under 19 Regionalliga Southwest''
* ''Under 19 Bundesliga West'' formed from:
** ''Under 19 Regionalliga West''

The ''Regionalligas'' itself had only been formed in 1996, to replace an even more regionalised system with separate leagues for every regional football association.Rund um die A-Junioren-Meisterschaft
DFB website: Explanations to the league system, accessed: 27 November 2008 Originally, the DFB planned to organise the league in two regional divisions but was eventually forced to operate with three.

In 2007, the German Football Association followed this example reorganised the under 17 ''Regionalligas'' in the same fashion, forming the ''Under 17 Bundesliga''.

Mode

The clubs in each of the three divisions play a home-and-away round whereby there is no inter-league play. Every club plays therefore 26 regular season games. The bottom three teams in each division are relegated to the next level below, in turn, the best three teams from the region are promoted.

The winner of each league plus the runners-up of the ''South/Southwest'' region play in the finals round for the German Under 19 championship. The semi-finals are played in a home-and-away format. If the two semi-final teams playing each other are level on points and goals after the second game, there will be a penalty shoot-out. No extra time will be played.

The two semi-final winners reach the final, which is held at the location of the winner of the predetermined semi-final ''A'', unless the team's stadium does not comply with DFB requirement, in which case an alternative venue will be determined. In the final, which is one game only, in case of a draw after normal time, a 20-minute extra time will be played. If the game is still a draw, a penalty shoot-out will determine the winner.

Geography

The three ''Bundesligas'' are not geographically balanced, ''North/Northeast'' covers a large area while ''West'' a rather small one, but in population termes, the arrangement is much more level. The three leagues cover the following states:

* ''Under 19 Bundesliga North/Northeast''
** Berlin
** Brandenburg
** Bremen
** Hamburg
** Lower Saxony
** Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
** Saxony
** Saxony-Anhalt
** Schleswig-Holstein
** Thuringia
* ''Under 19 Bundesliga South/Southwest''
** Baden-Württemberg
** Bavaria
** Hesse
** Rhineland-Palatinate
** Saarland
* ''Under 19 Bundesliga West''
** North Rhine-Westphalia

League pyramid

Below the three ''Bundesligas'', a number of second-tier leagues exist which teams are promoted from and relegated to. The league system operates as follows for the 2008–09 season.

Under 19 Bundesliga North/Northeast

The league has two second divisions as the tier below, these being:
* ''Regionalliga North''
* ''Regionalliga Northeast''

The league champions are directly promoted while the two runners-ups play each other for a third promotion spot

Under 19 Bundesliga South/Southwest

The league has four second divisions as the tier below, these being:
* ''Regionalliga Southwest''
* ''Hessenliga''
* ''Oberliga Baden-Württemberg''
* ''Bayernliga''

The winners of the ''Oberliga Baden-Württemberg'' and ''Bayernliga'' are directly promoted. A third promoted team is determined between the winners of the ''Hessenliga'' and the ''Regionalliga Southwest''.

Under 19 Bundesliga West

The league has three second divisions as the tier below, these being:
* ''Verbandsliga Mittelrhein''
* ''Verbandsliga Niederrhein''
* ''Westfalenliga''

The three league champions are directly promoted.

Current participants (2022/23)

Levels of youth football

German football recognises seven levels of junior football, determined by age and labeled with letters, whereby ''A'' is the oldest. In the ''A'' level, mixed teams of male and females are not permitted while in ''B'' and ''C'' mixed teams are allowed if the parents or guardians of the children permit it. Below the ''C'' level, mixed teams are generally permitted without restrictions.

¹ (commonly known as ''Bambini'')

Division champions

The champions of the three regional divisions:

Championship winners

The German under 19 football championship begun in 1969.

Pre-Bundesliga era

Bundesliga era

* Winner in bold.
* (2) denotes the number of titles the club had won at the time, when more than one won.
*Source
Alle A-Junioren-Meister
official DFB website: List of all champions, accessed: 27 November 2008

Winners & Finalists

As of 2019, this is the standing in the all-time winners list:

* On three occasions, the ''Bundesliga'' champions also won the German under 19 title:
** 1995: Borussia Dortmund
** 1996: Borussia Dortmund
** 2001: FC Bayern Munich
* On two occasions, the ''Bundesliga'' champions also won the German under 17 and under 19 title:
** 1996: Borussia Dortmund
** 2001: FC Bayern Munich
* On four occasions, the under 19 champions also won the under 17 title:
** 1987: Bayer Uerdingen
** 1996: Borussia Dortmund
** 1998: Borussia Dortmund
** 2001: FC Bayern Munich

Clubs & league finishes

The clubs and their league finishes in the Under 19 Bundesliga since 2003–04. Also shown are the final placing of the qualifying season 2002–03 and the Regionalliga or region, in color, the clubs qualified from:

North/Northeast

South/Southwest

West

Key

Top scorers

The league's top scorers since the 2007–08 season:

North/Northeast

The top scorers of the North/Northeast division:

South/Southwest

The top scorers of the South/Southwest division:

West

The top scorers of the West division:A-Junioren Bundesliga West 2018/2019 » Torschützenliste
weltfussball.de, accessed: 4 July 2019

References

Sources

* ''Deutschlands Fußball in Zahlen'', An annual publication with tables and results from the Bundesliga to Verbandsliga/Landesliga, publisher: DSFS
* ''Kicker Almanach'', The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937, published by the Kicker Sports Magazine
* ''Die Deutsche Liga-Chronik 1945–2005'' History of German football from 1945 to 2005 in tables, publisher: DSFS, published: 2006

External links

*
Weltfussball.de
Round-by-round results and tables of the Under 19 Bundesliga

{{DEFAULTSORT:Under 19 Bundesliga
Youth football in Germany
2003 establishments in Germany
Bundesliga
Germany