The 2014–15 Verbandspokal, (''English: 2014–15 Association Cup'') consisting of twenty one regional cup competitions, the

Verbandspokal A Verbandspokal (English: "association cup") is a regional men's association football competition in Germany. There are 21 Verbandspokal competitions which function as qualifying tournaments for the following season's DFB-Pokal, the premier Germ ...

e, is the qualifying competition for the 2015–16 DFB-Pokal, the

German Cup The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English, 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 Bundes ...

.Modus
''DFB'' website – Mode, accessed: 9 April 2015 All clubs from 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 ...

and below could enter the regional Verbandspokale, subject to the rules and regulations of each region. Clubs from the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

and 2. Bundesliga could not enter but were instead directly qualified for the first round of the DFB-Pokal. Reserve teams are not permitted to take part in the DFB-Pokal or the Verbandspokale. The precise rules of each regional Verbandspokal are laid down by the regional football association organising it. All twenty one winners were qualified for the first round of the German Cup in the following season. Three additional clubs were also qualified for the first round of the German Cup, these being from the three largest state associations, Bavaria, Westphalia and Lower Saxony. The qualified team was the runners-up of the

Lower Saxony Cup The Lower Saxony Cup () is an annual football cup competition, held by the () since 1956. For sponsorship reasons, the official name of the competition is Krombacher-Pokal.Regionalliga Bayern The Regionalliga Bayern () is the highest association football league in the state of Bavaria () and the Bavarian football league system. It is one of five Regionalligas in German football, the fourth tier of the German football league system, b ...

and

Oberliga Westfalen The Oberliga Westfalen is the highest level football league in the region of Westphalia, which is part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The league existed from 1978 to 2008, but was then replaced by the NRW-Liga, a new statewide league. W ...

non-reserve team qualified for DFB-Pokal. Of the twenty two teams qualified for the DFB-Pokal through the Verbandspokale, eighteen were knocked out in the first round. Three clubs,

SSV Reutlingen SSV Reutlingen 05 is a Football in Germany, German association football club from Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg. History The club was founded as FC Arminia Reutlingen and was renamed SV Reutlingen 1905 in 1910. The club merged with 1. Schwimmv ...

FC Carl Zeiss Jena FC Carl Zeiss Jena () is a German football club based in Jena, Thuringia. Founded in 1903, it was initially associated with the optics manufacturer Carl Zeiss. From the 1960s to the 1980s it was one of the top-ranked clubs in East Germany, won ...

and

FC Viktoria Köln FC Viktoria Köln 1904 e. V., commonly known as Viktoria Köln () or Viktoria Cologne in English language, English, is a German professional association football, football club based on the right bank of the river Rhine in the Kalk, Cologne# ...

, were knocked out in the second round while

SpVgg Unterhaching Spielvereinigung Unterhaching () is a German sports club in Unterhaching, a semi-rural municipality on the southern outskirts of the Bavarian capital Munich. The club is widely known for playing in the first-division association football league ...

was the only one of the twenty two to advance to the third, where it lost to

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

. Jena and Unterhaching eliminated one Bundesliga club each in the first round,

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

and

FC Ingolstadt 04 Fußballclub Ingolstadt 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Ingolstadt 04 or FC Ingolstadt, is a German football club based in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. The club was founded in 2004 out of the merger of the football sides of two other clubs: ESV Ingolsta ...

while the others advanced though defeating 2. Bundesliga clubs.

Finals

The 2014–15 Verbandspokal finals with the winners qualified for the 2015–16 DFB-Pokal: * Winners in bold. * ^¶The three largest regional associations were allowed to send an additional team. In Lower Saxony this was the losing finalist of the cup. In Bavaria and Westphalia this place went to the best non-reserve team of the

Regionalliga Bayern The Regionalliga Bayern () is the highest association football league in the state of Bavaria () and the Bavarian football league system. It is one of five Regionalligas in German football, the fourth tier of the German football league system, b ...

Würzburger Kickers Bukettraube (''/bu-ket-trau-be/''), also called Bouquet Blanc, Bouquettraube, Sylvaner Musqué or Bukettrebe, is a variety of white grape of German origin. Sebastian Englerth is supposed to have created it in Randersacker in the 19th century, ...

, and the

, TuS Erndtebrück. * ^‡ As

Holstein Kiel Kieler Sportvereinigung Holstein von 1900 e.V., commonly known as Holstein Kiel () or KSV Holstein, is a German association football and sports club based in the city of Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein. From the 1900s through the 1960s, the club was o ...

was already qualified for the DFB-Pokal through its 3. Liga place VfB Lübeck was qualified regardless of the outcome of the final.

Clubs by league

The clubs qualified for the 2015–16 DFB-Pokal by league: Diese Teams spielen 2015/16 im DFB-Pokal
''

kicker.de ''Kicker'' (stylized in all lowercase) is Germany's leading sports magazine, focused primarily on football. The magazine was founded in 1920 by German football pioneer Walther Bensemann and is published twice weekly, usually Monday and Thursday ...

'', accessed: 14 May 2015 * Clubs who qualified as runners-up in ''italics''

References

External links

Official DFB website
The

German Football Association The German Football Association ( ; DFB ) is the governing body of Association football, football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and ...

Fussball.de
Official results website of the DFB {{DEFAULTSORT:Verbandspokal, 2014-15 2014–15 in German football cups Verbandspokal seasons