The 2015–16 3. Liga was the eighth 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 ...

Teams

A total of 20 teams contested the league, including 14 sides from the 2014–15 3. Liga.

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 is most well known as ...

and

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 jer ...

were directly promoted to the 2015–16 2. Bundesliga at the end of the 2014–15 season. Bielefeld made an immediate return to the 2. Bundesliga after being relegated in 2013–14. Duisburg returned to the 2. Bundesliga after two seasons in the third tier. The two promoted teams were replaced by

FC Erzgebirge Aue Fußball Club Erzgebirge Aue e.V., commonly known as simply FC Erzgebirge Aue or Erzgebirge Aue (), is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Aue-Bad Schlema, Saxony. The former East German side was a founding member of the 3. ...

and

VfR Aalen Verein für Rasenspiele 1921 Aalen e.V., known simply as VfR Aalen, is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Aalen, Baden-Württemberg. The football team is part of a larger sports club which also offers its members gymnastics, tab ...

, who finished in the bottom two places of the

2014–15 2. Bundesliga The 2014–15 2. Bundesliga was the 41st season of the 2. Bundesliga, Germany's second-level Association football, football competition. Teams A total of 18 teams contest the league, including 12 sides from the 2013–14 2. Bundesliga, 2013– ...

table. At the other end of the table,

Borussia Dortmund II Borussia Dortmund II are the reserve team of Borussia Dortmund, currently playing in the 3. Liga, at Stadion Rote Erde. Until 2005, the team played as Borussia Dortmund Amateure. The team won the Regionalliga West in 2009 and became the second ...

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 ...

and

SSV 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 plays their home games at Jahnstadion Regen ...

were relegated to the

2015–16 Regionalliga The 2015–16 Regionalliga was the eighth season of the Regionalliga, the fourth under the new format, as the fourth tier of the German football league system. The champions of Regionalliga Nord – SV Werder Bremen II, the champions of the Re ...

. The three relegated teams were replaced by the three winners of the

2014–15 Regionalliga The 2014–15 Regionalliga was the seventh season of the Regionalliga, the third under the new format, as the fourth tier of the German football league system. The champions of Regionalliga West – Fortuna Köln – and the winner – SG Sonnenh ...

promotion playoffs.

SV Werder Bremen II SV Werder Bremen II is the reserve team of SV Werder Bremen. It plays in the Bremenliga, the fifth level of the German football league system, and has qualified for the first round of the DFB-Pokal on nineteen occasions. It also has won the Germ ...

from the ''Regionalliga Nord'' returned to the national level after three seasons in the fourth tier, while

1. FC Magdeburg 1. FC Magdeburg is a German Association football Football club (association football), club based in Magdeburg. The club was founded in 1965 from the football department of the Sports club (East Germany), sports club ''SC Magdeburg'' and has bee ...

from the ''Regionalliga Nordost'' and

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, ...

from the ''Regionalliga Bayern'' are playing their debut seasons in the 3. Liga. A further place in the league was available via a two-legged play-off between third-placed 2014–15 3. Liga team

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 ...

and 16th-placed 2014–15 2. Bundesliga side

TSV 1860 München , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; ''sechzig'' locally ; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's association football, football team plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football league system ...

. The tie ended 2–1 on aggregate and saw Kiel remaining in the 3. Liga.

Stadiums and locations

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

League table

Results

Top goalscorers

Number of teams by state

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:3. Liga 2015-16 3 2015-16

Germ Germ or germs may refer to: Science * Germ (microorganism), an informal word for a pathogen * Germ cell, cell that gives rise to the gametes of an organism that reproduces sexually * Germ layer, a primary layer of cells that forms during embry ...