The 2016–17 3. Liga was the ninth 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 ...

. Fixtures for the 2016–17 season were announced on 6 July 2016.

Teams

A total of 20 teams contested the league, including 14 sides from the 2015–16 3. Liga.

Dynamo Dresden Sportgemeinschaft Dynamo Dresden e.V., commonly known as SG Dynamo Dresden or Dynamo Dresden, is a German association football club based in Dresden, Saxony.Grüne, Hardy (2001). Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs 7. Vereinslexikon. Kasse ...

and Erzgebirge Aue were directly promoted to the 2016–17 2. Bundesliga at the end of the 2015–16 season. Erzgebirge made an immediate return to the 2. Bundesliga after being relegated in 2014–15. Dynamo returned to the second level after two seasons in the third tier. The two promoted teams were replaced by

FSV Frankfurt Fußballsportverein Frankfurt 1899 e.V., commonly known as simply FSV Frankfurt and known as simply Frankfurt, is a German association football club based in the Bornheim district of Frankfurt am Main, Hessen and founded in 1899. FSV Frankfurt ...

and

Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian language, Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn (district), Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pade ...

, who finished in the bottom two places of the 2015–16 2. Bundesliga table. At the other end of the table, Stuttgart Kickers,

Energie Cottbus FC Energie Cottbus (Lower Sorbian: ''Energija Chóśebuz'') is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Cottbus, Brandenburg. It was founded in 1963 as SC Cottbus in what was East Germany. After the German reunification, reunificatio ...

and Stuttgart II were relegated to the

2016–17 Regionalliga The 2016–17 Regionalliga was the ninth season of the Regionalliga, the fifth under the new format, as the fourth tier of the German football league system. Regionalliga Nord 18 teams from the states of Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony and Schles ...

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

promotion playoffs. Jahn Regensburg from the Regionalliga Bayern, immediately returned to national level.

Zwickau Zwickau (; ) is the fourth-largest city of Saxony, Germany, after Leipzig, Dresden and Chemnitz, with around 88,000 inhabitants,. The West Saxon city is situated in the valley of the Zwickau Mulde (German: ''Zwickauer Mulde''; progression: ), ...

from the Regionalliga Nordost returned to third level after 16 years and will make their debut in 3. Liga.

Sportfreunde Lotte VfL Sportfreunde Lotte is a German association football club from Lotte, North Rhine-Westphalia. The football team is part of a sports club with approximately 1400 members and departments for handball, walking, gymnastics, and swimming, as well ...

from the Regionalliga West is playing its debut season in the 3. Liga. A further place in the league was available via a two-legged play-off between

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, ...

, third of the 3. Liga 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 ...

, 16th of 2. Bundesliga. The tie ended 4–1 on aggregate for Bavarian side and Würzburger Kickers were promoted to the second level after making successively promotions and 38 years in lower leagues. Thus, Duisburg immediately returned to third level.

Stadiums and locations

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

League table

Results

Top goalscorers

Number of teams by state

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:3. Liga 2016-17 2016–17 in German football leagues 2016-17

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 ...