The Regionalliga Südwest ('Regional League Southwest') is the fourth tier of the

German football league system The German football league system, or league pyramid, refers to the hierarchically interconnected league system for Football in Germany, association football in Germany that in the 2016–17 Season (sports), season consisted of 2,235 Sports_leagu ...

in the states of

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

and

Saarland Saarland (, ; ) is a state of Germany in the southwest of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and the smallest in ...

. It is one of five leagues at this level, together with 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 ...

Regionalliga Nordost The Regionalliga Nordost is the fourth tier of German football league system, German football in the states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Thuringia. These comprise the states of former East Germany ...

Regionalliga Nord The Regionalliga Nord () is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen and Hamburg. It is one of five leagues at this level, together with the Regionalliga Bayern, Regionalliga N ...

and the

Regionalliga West The Regionalliga West is a German professional football division administered by the German Football Association#Western Germany, Western German Football Association based in Duisburg. It is one of the five German regional football associations. ...

. The league was formed in 2012, when the clubs from the Regionalliga Süd, except those from

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, were joined by the clubs of the Regionalliga West from Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate.DFB-Bundestag beschließt Reform der Spielklassen
DFB website. 22 October 2010. Retrieved 28 October 2010

History

The German league system had been reformed in 2008, when 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 ...

was established and the number of regional leagues increased from two to three. A further alteration was made ahead of the 2012−13 season. This was prompted by the large number of insolvencies in the fourth tier, caused by high costs and infrastructure requirements, while the clubs at this level complained about low incomes and lack of interest from TV broadcasters. Regionalliga stadia were required to have at least 1,000 seats and a separate stand with separate entrance for away spectators, and such requirements were seen as causing excessive financial strain on amateur clubs. Many clubs also struggled to cope with the 400-page long licence application, as they had to rely on volunteers rather than being able to draw on permanent staff. This led to Oberliga champions sometimes declining their right to promotion to avoid the financial risks of the Regionalliga.''Wendelsteiner Anstoß''
Bavarian FA website - The ''Wendelstein'' paper. Retrieved 6 July 2011 In October 2010, at a special conference of 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 ...

, the DFB, 223 of the 253 delegates voted for a reform of the league system at the fourth level. The number of Regionalligas was to be expanded to five, with the re-establishment of the

, the formation of the

and a shift of the Regionalliga Süd to the new Regionalliga Süd/Südwest, later renamed Regionalliga Südwest. The suggestion for the league reform had come from Bavaria, where, in a meeting of top-level amateur clubs at Wendelstein, the financial survival of the leagues and clubs in the current system had been questioned. This meeting resulted in the publication of the ''Wendelsteiner Anstoß'', which demanded a clear demarcation between professional football in the first three tiers of German football and amateur football below that. For this purpose, the paper demanded a re-establishment of the

German amateur football championship The German amateur football championship was a national football competition in Germany organized by the German Football Association (German: Deutscher Fußball-Bund; DFB) and in existence from 1950 to 1998. History Overview The championship was ...

as an incentive and goal for top amateur clubs that did not want to turn professional.Untere Ligen erfahren eine Aufwertung
'' Augsburger Allgemeine''. 11 April 2011. Retrieved 2 May 2011 With the reform in 2012, the Regionalliga was increased from three to five leagues. The Regionalliga Südwest is hosted by the Southwestern Regional Football Association and the

Southern German Football Association The Southern German Football Association (), the ''SFV'', is one of five regional organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers the states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Hesse.Bavarian Football Association The Bavarian Football Association (), the ''BFV'', is one of 21 regional organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers the state of Bavaria.Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

and

. Rules for promotion to the 3. Liga have changed over time (see Promotion to the 3. Liga). Typically, four teams each year are relegated to and promoted from the three Oberliga leagues below the Regionalliga Südwest: the Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar,

Hessenliga The Hessenliga (until 2008 ''Oberliga Hessen'') is the highest football league in the States of Germany, state of Hesse and the Hessian football league system. It is one of fourteen Oberliga (football), Oberligas in German football, the fifth tier ...

and

Oberliga Baden-Württemberg The Oberliga Baden-Württemberg is the highest association football league in the States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg and the Baden-Württemberg football league system. It is one of fourteen Oberliga (football), Oberligas in German footb ...

. In 2017, the league signed an agreement to host the China national under-20 football team, allowing the team to compete in the league in friendly matches to fill in as the league's 20th club. The arrangement was only approved by 16 of the 19 clubs in the league, with those in opposition criticising it as part of the increasing commercialisation of football. During the team's match against TSV Schott Mainz, the display of a Tibetan flag led to the team walking off in protest. Consequently, the Chinese players were recalled and the agreement was abrogated.

Rules & regulations

Owners and shareholders

The Regionalliga Südwest is owned by the Regionalliga Südwest GbR. The shareholders are nine football associations. The logo of the Regionalliga Südwest, which was introduced in 2012, shows a football player who is oriented towards the south-west. The seven blue stars symbolize the regional associations involved, the two white stars stand for the regional associations SFV and FRVS. The seven DFB-German football associations: * Baden Football Association * Hessian Football Association * Rhineland Football Association * Saarland Football Association * South Baden Football Association * Southwest German Football Association *

Württemberg Football Association The Württemberg Football Association (), the ''WFV'', is one of 21 state organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers the north-eastern part of the state of Baden-Württemberg.

The two DFB-Regionalverbände associations: *

Inaugural qualification

The new league was nominally going to have 18 clubs; however, in its first, transitional season the DFB permitted up to 22 clubs in the league. Restrictions existed on reserve sides, with no more than seven reserve teams were permitted per Regionalliga. Reserve teams of 3rd Liga clubs are not permitted to play in the Regionalliga. The make-up of the clubs entering the new Regionalligas from the leagues below was left to the regional football association and not regulated by the DFB.Spielklassenreform offiziell beschlossen
Bavarian FA website. 7 June 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011 An exception was the Bavarian club FC Bayern Alzenau, who had traditionally played in

's league system. This club participated in the new Regionalliga Südwest, at their own request, rather than in the Regionalliga Bayern. 19 clubs qualified to play in the league's first season ( 2012–13): * From the Regionalliga Süd: FC Bayern Alzenau, SC Freiburg II, Eintracht Frankfurt II, FSV Frankfurt II, Sonnenhof Großaspach, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim II, KSV Hessen Kassel, Waldhof Mannheim, SC Pfullendorf,

Wormatia Worms VfR Wormatia 08 Worms is a German association football club that plays in Worms, Rhineland-Palatinate. The club and its historical predecessors were regular participants in regional first-division football competition until the formation of the ...

* From the Regionalliga West:

Eintracht Trier SV Eintracht-Trier 05 e. V., commonly known as Eintracht Trier (), is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate. The club was established on 11 March 1948 through the merger of Westmark 05 Trier ...

, SV Elversberg, SC Idar-Oberstein, 1. FC Kaiserslautern II,

TuS Koblenz TuS Koblenz is a Football in Germany, German association football club, located in Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Fussball Club Deutschland Neuendorf, which was formed in 1911, is viewed as the foundation of the modern club. History Nazi era ( ...

, 1. FSV Mainz 05 II * Promoted from the Oberligas: 1. FC Eschborn,

FC 08 Homburg Fußball-Club 08 Homburg or simply FC Homburg is a German association football club based in Homburg, Saarland, that competes in the Regionalliga Südwest. History The club was founded on 15 June 1908 as ''Fussball Club Homburg'' by a group ...

SSV Ulm 1846 SSV Ulm 1846 FUSSBALL e.V., commonly known as SSV Ulm 1846 or SSV Ulm, is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Ulm, Baden-Württemberg. SSV Ulm 1846 FUSSBALL was formed on 7 March 2009 as new independent club through the separat ...

Promotion to the 3. Liga

Between 2012−13 and 2017−18, the Regionalliga Südwest winners and runners-up, and the champions of the four other Regionalligen played-off for three promotion spots.Grundzüge der Spielklassenreform
DFB website - Basics of the Regionalliga reform. Retrieved 6 July 2011 As four teams were relegated from the 3. Liga at the end of the 2018–19 season, the Regionalliga Südwest champions Waldhof Mannheim, along with their counterparts from the Nordost and West, were promoted directly. In 2020, the three direct promotion spots went to the Südwest champions and the champions of the two leagues that participated in the promotion play-off in the previous season, while the champions of the Nordost and the West participate in the play-off. This format was initially installed as a temporary solution until the DFB-Bundestag in September 2019 decided on a format that could have enabled all Regionalliga champions to be promoted. On that date, the Bundestag delegates voted to grant the Südwest and West champions two direct promotions indefinitely starting in 2021, with a third direct promotion place assigned by rotation between the Regionalliga Nord, Nordost and Bayern champions. The champions of the two Regionalligen with no direct promotion place participate in two-legged playoffs to determine the fourth promoted team.

Champions & runners-up

* Promoted teams in bold. *¹ SC Freiburg II did not apply for a 3. Liga licence and was replaced by third placed 1. FSV Mainz 05 II in the promotion round, which Mainz completed successfully.

Records

Most points in a season

SV Waldhof Mannheim SV Waldhof Mannheim is a multi-sports club, located in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg. It is most known for its association football team; however, there are also professional handball and table-tennis sides. The club today has a membership of ov ...

– 88 (2018−19)

Most appearances

* Johannes Reichert – 333 ( 1. FC Kaiserslautern II,

)

Most goals

* Florian Treske – 80 (

Kickers Offenbach Offenbacher Fussball-Club Kickers, commonly known as Kickers Offenbach, is a German association football club in Offenbach am Main, Hesse. The club was founded on 27 May 1901 in the Rheinischer Hof restaurant by footballers who had left establis ...

)

League statistics

The top goal scorers and spectator statistics for the league are:

Placings in the Regionalliga Südwest

Final league positions of all clubs who have played in the league: * ¹ At the end of the 2013–14 season Eintracht Frankfurt decided to withdraw its reserve side from all competitions after a ruling by the ''DFL'' allowed all Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga clubs to freely choose whether or not to operate an under-23 reserve team. Previous to that such teams had been compulsory.Eintracht Frankfurt meldet U23-Team ab
weltfussball.de. 6 April 2014. Retrieved 22 May 2014 The team was re-established in 2022. * ² SSV Ulm 1846 declared insolvent at the end of the 2013–14 season and was relegated.

Key

References

Sources

* ''Deutschlands Fußball in Zahlen'', An annual publication with tables and results from the Bundesliga to Verbandsliga/Landesliga. DSFS. * ''Kicker Almanach'', The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937. ''Kicker'' Sports Magazine.

External links

Official DFB web site on Regionalliga football

Football results and tables from Germany

Das deutsche Fussball Archiv
Historic German league tables {{DEFAULTSORT:Regionalliga Sudwest Sud Sudwest Football competitions in Saarland Football competitions in Rhineland-Palatinate Football competitions in Baden-Württemberg Football competitions in Hesse 2012 establishments in Germany Sports leagues established in 2012