The Verbandsliga (English: Football Association League) is the tier-six football league in the German football league system, covering the area of a Bundesland or a regional part of such Bundesland.[1][2][3]

Verbandsliga
Map of state football associations in Germany
Organising bodiesState associations of the DFB
CountryGermany
State11 states
Leagues21
Level on pyramidLevel 6 & 7
Promotion toOberliga
Relegation toVarious (see text)

As the German football league system below the tier-four Regionalliga is organised individually by the 21 state member associations of the nationwide governing body German Football Association (Deutscher Fußball-Bund), the league structure varies somewhat from state to state. Therefore the Verbandsliga does not exist in every Bundesland. In North Rhine-Westphalia (Middle Rhine and Lower Rhine), Saxony, Thuringia, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Bremen, and Bavaria, the corresponding sixth tier is called the Landesliga, whereas the Landesliga is only a tier-seven league in most of the other German states. North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Baden-Württemberg are divided into two or three state member associations, each running their own league system. Additionally, in some regions or states, as there are Hesse, Westphalia, and Schleswig-Holstein the Verbandsliga is operated in two or more groups running in parallel.

In recent years, a number of leagues have dropped the Verband out of their league name, preferring to call themselves just by the region or Bundesland they are from. The Verbandsliga Berlin became the Berlin-Liga, the Verbandsliga Brandenburg became the Brandenburg-Liga, the Verbandsliga Westfalen became the Westfalenliga and the Verbandsliga Rheinland became the Rheinlandliga. The Verbandsliga Mittelrhein became the Mittelrheinliga and the Verbandsliga Niederrhein became the Niederrheinliga, with both leagues elevated to Oberliga status in 2012.[2]

Verbandsligas

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The Verbandsligas:

League Tier Promotion to Relegation to Formed
Verbandsliga Hessen-Nord VI Hessenliga Gruppenliga Fulda
Gruppenliga Kassel 1
Gruppenliga Kassel 2
1964
Verbandsliga Hessen-Mitte Gruppenliga Wiesbaden
Gruppenliga Gießen/Marburg
Verbandsliga Hessen-Süd Gruppenliga Darmstadt
Gruppenliga Frankfurt-West
Gruppenliga Frankfurt-Ost
Verbandsliga Saarland Nordost
Verbandsliga Saarland Südwest 1
VII Saarlandliga Landesliga Saarland-Nord/Ost
Landesliga Saarland-Süd/West
1978
Rheinlandliga VI Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar Bezirksliga Rheinland-Ost
Bezirksliga Rheinland-Mitte
Bezirksliga Rheinland-West
Verbandsliga Südwest Landesliga Südwest-Ost
Landesliga Südwest-West
Verbandsliga Nordbaden Oberliga Baden-Württemberg Landesliga Mittelbaden
Landesliga Odenwald
Landesliga Rhein/Neckar
Verbandsliga Südbaden Landesliga Südbaden 1
Landesliga Südbaden 2
Landesliga Südbaden 3
Verbandsliga Württemberg Landesliga Württemberg 1
Landesliga Württemberg 2
Landesliga Württemberg 3
Landesliga Württemberg 4
Westfalenliga 1 Nordost
Westfalenliga 2 Südwest2
Oberliga Westfalen Landesliga Westfalen 1 Ost
Landesliga Westfalen 2 Süd
Landesliga Westfalen 3 West
Landesliga Westfalen 4 Nord
1956
Berlin-Liga NOFV-Oberliga Nord Landesliga Berlin 1
Landesliga Berlin 2
1992
Brandenburg-Liga Landesliga Brandenburg-Nord
Landesliga Brandenburg-Süd
1990
Verbandsliga Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Landesliga Mecklenburg-Vorpommern-Nord
Landesliga Mecklenburg-Vorpommern-Ost
Landesliga Mecklenburg-Vorpommern-West
1991
Verbandsliga Sachsen-Anhalt NOFV-Oberliga Süd Landesliga Sachsen-Anhalt-Nord
Landesliga Sachsen-Anhalt-Süd
1990
Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein-Nord 3 VII Landesliga Schleswig-Holstein Kreisliga Flensburg
Kreisliga Nordfriesland
Kreisliga Rendsburg-Eckernförde
Kreisliga Schleswig
2017
Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein-Ost Kreisliga Kiel
Kreisliga Plön
2017
Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein-Süd-West Kreisliga Lauenburg
Kreisliga Segeberg
Kreisliga Stormarn
2008
Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein-Süd-Ost Kreisliga Lübeck
Kreisliga Ostholstein
Kreisliga Segeberg
Kreisliga Stormarn
2008
Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein-West Kreisliga Plön
Kreisliga Rendsburg-Eckernförde
Kreisliga West (Steinburg)
2017
  • Some of the Verbandsligen have existed prior to their mentioned formation date under a different name. Dates given are when the leagues changed to the name Verbandsliga.
  • 1 The Verbandsliga Saarland is only a tier-seven league from 2009 onwards, after the Saarlandliga was introduced as the new tier-six league.
  • 2 The Westfalenliga is operated in two parallel groups with teams probably re-allocated according to geographical needs every new season. The four groups of Landesliga below the can feed either Westfalenliga group according to geographical needs.
  • 3 The Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein is a tier-seven league from 2017 onwards with the introduction of the Landesliga Schleswig-Holstein as the new tier-six league.[4]

Clubs in the Verbandsligen

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References

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  1. ^ Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv (in German) Historical German domestic league tables
  2. ^ a b Fussball.de – Ergebnisse (in German) Tables and results of all German football leagues Archived 7 December 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Amateurligen (in German) The German amateur leagues at kicker.de
  4. ^ "Neue Ligenstruktur und Verjüngung" [New league structure and rejuvenation]. fupa.net (in German). 31 May 2016.
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