Bavarian football league system - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Bavarian football league system
Nation

State
Kingdom of Bavaria
Federation
Bavarian Football Association 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...
Map

Level on Pyramid
Level 5 to 13 German football league system The German football league system, or league pyramid, refers to a series of hierarchically interconnected leagues for association football clubs in Germany that consists of over 2,300 men's divisions, in which all leagues are bound together by the principle of promotion and relegation...

The Bavarian football league system of the Bavarian Football Association

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...

ranks within the German football league system

German football league system

The German football league system, or league pyramid, refers to a series of hierarchically interconnected leagues for association football clubs in Germany that consists of over 2,300 men's divisions, in which all leagues are bound together by the principle of promotion and relegation...

. Its highest division, the Fussball-Bayernliga, is currently the 5th tier of German football. Until the introduction of the 3rd Liga

3rd Liga

The 3rd Liga is the third division of football in Germany. The league started with the beginning of the 2008–09 season, when it replaced the Regionalliga as the third tier football league in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2...

in 2008 it was the 4th tier of the league system. The lowest league in Bavaria is currently the C-Klasse, which is the 13th tier of German football.

In 2012, the league system will experience a major overhail, when the Regionalliga Bayern

Regionalliga Bayern

The Regionalliga Bayern, , will be the highest football league in the state of Bavaria and the Bavarian Football League System. It will be one of five Regionalligas in German football, the 4th tier of the German football league system, below the 3rd Liga....

will be established, the Bayernliga split into two regional divisions and the Landesliga expanded from three to five divisions.

Men

The men's league system is undergoing drastic changes after the end of the 2011-12 season, here are the league systems before and after:

The league system in 2011-12

The league system as it operates in the 2011-12 season:

Level	League(s)/Division(s)
I	Bundesliga Fußball-Bundesliga The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga... 18 clubs
II	2nd Bundesliga 2. Fußball-Bundesliga - Changes in division set-up :* Number of clubs: currently 18. From 1974 to 1981 there were two conferences, each of 20 teams. In 1981–91 it had 20... 18 clubs
III	3rd Liga 3rd Liga The 3rd Liga is the third division of football in Germany. The league started with the beginning of the 2008–09 season, when it replaced the Regionalliga as the third tier football league in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2... 20 clubs
IV	Regionalliga Süd Regionalliga Süd The Regionalliga Süd is currently the fourth tier of the German football league system. Until the introduction of the 3rd Liga in 2008, it was the third tier. It currently is the highest regional league for the southern part of Germany... 18 clubs
V	Bayernliga 18 clubs
VI	Landesliga Bayern-Nord Landesliga Bayern-Nord The Landesliga Bayern-Nord is currently the 6th tier of the German football league system. Until the introduction of the 3rd Liga it was the 5th tier of the league system.... 18 clubs		Landesliga Bayern-Mitte Landesliga Bayern-Mitte The Landesliga Bayern-Mitte is currently the 6th tier of the German football league system. Until the introduction of the 3rd Liga it was the 5th tier of the league system.... 19 clubs			Landesliga Bayern-Süd Landesliga Bayern-Süd The Landesliga Bayern-Süd is currently the 6th tier of the German football league system. Until the introduction of the 3rd Liga it was the 5th tier of the league system.... 18 clubs
VII	Bezirksoberliga Unterfranken Bezirksoberliga Unterfranken The Bezirksoberliga Unterfranken is currently the 7th tier of the German football league system in the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia... 16 clubs	Bezirksoberliga Oberfranken Bezirksoberliga Oberfranken The Bezirksoberliga Oberfranken is currently the 7th tier of the German football league system in the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Upper Franconia... 16 clubs	Bezirksoberliga Mittelfranken Bezirksoberliga Mittelfranken The Bezirksoberliga Mittelfranken is currently the 7th tier of the German football league system in the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Middle Franconia... 16 clubs	Bezirksoberliga Oberpfalz Bezirksoberliga Oberpfalz The Bezirksoberliga Oberpfalz is currently the 7th tier of the German football league system in the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Upper Palatinate... 19 clubs	Bezirksoberliga Niederbayern Bezirksoberliga Niederbayern The Bezirksoberliga Niederbayern is currently the 7th tier of the German football league system in the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Lower Bavaria... 16 clubs	Bezirksoberliga Oberbayern Bezirksoberliga Oberbayern The Bezirksoberliga Oberbayern is currently the 7th tier of the German football league system in the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Upper Bavaria... 16 clubs	Bezirksoberliga Schwaben Bezirksoberliga Schwaben The Bezirksoberliga Schwaben is currently the 7th tier of the German football league system in the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Swabia . Until the introduction of the 3rd Liga in 2008 it was the 6th tier of the league system.... 16 clubs (see also: Schwaben football league system Schwaben football league system The Schwaben football league system is a league system operating in the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Swabia .-Overview:... )
VIII	Bezirksligas Unterfranken	Bezirksligas Oberfranken	Bezirksligas Mittelfranken	Bezirksligas Oberpfalz	Bezirksligas Niederbayern	Bezirksligas Oberbayern	Bezirksligas Schwaben
	Gruppe 1 Gruppe 2	Ost West	Nord Süd	Nord Süd	Ost West	Nord Bezirksliga Oberbayern-Nord The Bezirksliga Oberbayern-Nord is currently the 8th tier of the German football league system in the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Upper Bavaria... Süd Bezirksliga Oberbayern-Süd The Bezirksliga Oberbayern-Süd is currently the 8th tier of the German football league system in the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Upper Bavaria... Ost Bezirksliga Oberbayern-Ost The Bezirksliga Oberbayern-Ost is currently the 8th tier of the German football league system in the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Upper Bavaria...	Nord Bezirksliga Schwaben-Nord The Bezirksliga Schwaben-Nord is currently the 8th tier of the German football league system in the northern half of the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Swabia... Süd Bezirksliga Schwaben-Süd The Bezirksliga Schwaben-Süd is currently the 8th tier of the German football league system in the southern half of the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Swabia...
IX	Kreisligas Unterfranken	Kreisligas Oberfranken	Kreisligas Mittelfranken	Kreisligas Oberpfalz	Kreisligas Niederbayern	Kreisligas Oberbayern	Kreisligas Schwaben
	Würzburg 1 Würzburg 2 Aschaffenburg Rhön Schweinfurt 1 Schweinfurt 2	Bamberg Bayreuth Coburg Kronach Hof Marktredwitz	Nürnberg Frankenhöhe Jura Neumarkt Erlangen/Pegnitz 1 Erlangen/Pegnitz 2	Regensburg 1 Regensburg 2 Nord Süd Ost West	Landshut Straubing Bayerwald Passau	Zugspitze 1 Zugspitze 2 Inn/Salzach 1 Inn/Salzach 2 Donau/Isar 1 Donau/Isar 2 München 1 München 2 München 3	Nord Kreisliga Schwaben-Nord The Kreisliga Schwaben-Nord is currently the 9th tier of the German football league system in the northern region of the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Swabia... Ost Kreisliga Schwaben-Ost The Kreisliga Schwaben-Ost is currently the 9th tier of the German football league system in the eastern region of the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Swabia... West Kreisliga Schwaben-West The Kreisliga Schwaben-West is currently the 9th tier of the German football league system in the western region of the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Swabia... Augsburg Kreisliga Schwaben-Augsburg The Kreisliga Schwaben-Augsburg is currently the 9th tier of the German football league system in the Augsburg region of the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Swabia... Mitte Kreisliga Schwaben-Mitte The Kreisliga Schwaben-Mitte is currently the 9th tier of the German football league system in the central region of the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Swabia... Süd Kreisliga Schwaben-Süd The Kreisliga Schwaben-Süd is currently the 9th tier of the German football league system in the southern region of the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Swabia...
X	Kreisklasses Unterfranken	Kreisklasses Oberfranken	Kreisklasses Mittelfranken	Kreisklasses Oberpfalz	Kreisklasses Niederbayern	Kreisklasses Oberbayern	Kreisklasses Schwaben
	14 Kreisklasses	13 Kreisklasses	15 Kreisklasses	8 Kreisklasses	12 Kreisklasses	18 Kreisklasses	13 Kreisklasses
XI	A-Klasses Unterfranken	A-Klasses Oberfranken	A-Klasses Mittelfranken	A-Klasses Oberpfalz	A-Klasses Niederbayern	A-Klasses Oberbayern	A-Klasses Schwaben
	20 A-Klasses	24 A-Klasses	19 A-Klasse	12 A-Klasses	23 A-Klasses	29 A-Klasses	13 A-Klasses
XII	B-Klasses Unterfranken	B-Klasses Oberfranken	B-Klasses Mittelfranken	B-Klasses Oberpfalz		B-Klasses Oberbayern	B-Klasses Schwaben
	25 B-Klasses	9 B-Klasses	27 B-Klasses	16 B-Klasses		26 B-Klasses	18 B-Klasses
XIII						C-Klasses Oberbayern
						28 C-Klasses

Source:

All leagues on same level run parallel.
League strenghtes are nominal and may vary from season to season.

From 2012

The top-tiers of the league system as it will operate from 2012 onwards:

Level	League(s)/Division(s)
I	Bundesliga Fußball-Bundesliga The Fußball-Bundesliga is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of Germany's football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is contested by 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga... 18 clubs
II	2nd Bundesliga 2. Fußball-Bundesliga - Changes in division set-up :* Number of clubs: currently 18. From 1974 to 1981 there were two conferences, each of 20 teams. In 1981–91 it had 20... 18 clubs
III	3rd Liga 3rd Liga The 3rd Liga is the third division of football in Germany. The league started with the beginning of the 2008–09 season, when it replaced the Regionalliga as the third tier football league in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2... 20 clubs
IV	Regionalliga Bayern Regionalliga Bayern The Regionalliga Bayern, , will be the highest football league in the state of Bavaria and the Bavarian Football League System. It will be one of five Regionalligas in German football, the 4th tier of the German football league system, below the 3rd Liga....
V	Bayernliga Nord						Bayernliga Süd
VI	Landesliga Nordost		Landesliga Nordwest		Landesliga Mitte Landesliga Bayern-Mitte The Landesliga Bayern-Mitte is currently the 6th tier of the German football league system. Until the introduction of the 3rd Liga it was the 5th tier of the league system....				Landesliga Südost		Landesliga Südwest
VII	Bezirksligas Unterfranken	Bezirksligas Oberfranken		Bezirksligas Mittelfranken		Bezirksligas Oberpfalz		Bezirksligas Niederbayern		Bezirksligas Oberbayern		Bezirksligas Schwaben (see also: Schwaben football league system Schwaben football league system The Schwaben football league system is a league system operating in the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Swabia .-Overview:... )
	Gruppe 1 Gruppe 2	Ost West		Nord Süd		Nord Süd		Ost West		Nord Bezirksliga Oberbayern-Nord The Bezirksliga Oberbayern-Nord is currently the 8th tier of the German football league system in the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Upper Bavaria... Süd Bezirksliga Oberbayern-Süd The Bezirksliga Oberbayern-Süd is currently the 8th tier of the German football league system in the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Upper Bavaria... Ost Bezirksliga Oberbayern-Ost The Bezirksliga Oberbayern-Ost is currently the 8th tier of the German football league system in the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Upper Bavaria...		Nord Bezirksliga Schwaben-Nord The Bezirksliga Schwaben-Nord is currently the 8th tier of the German football league system in the northern half of the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Swabia... Süd Bezirksliga Schwaben-Süd The Bezirksliga Schwaben-Süd is currently the 8th tier of the German football league system in the southern half of the Bavarian Regierungsbezirk of Swabia...

Recent changes

In 1988, upon the suggestion of the 1. FC Sonthofen in 1986, the Bezirksoberligas were introduced in Bavaria, set between the already existing Landesligas and Bezirksligas.

In 1998, the Bavarian FA renamed the three lowest football leagues:

A-Klasse became Kreisliga
B-Klasse became Kreisklasse
C-Klasse became A-Klasse

On top of this, in some of the seven Bezirke, two new lowest levels were introduced and named B and C-Klasse. The reason for this was the integration of all reserve teams into the normal competition. In the Bezirke who did not follow suit, like Schwaben, the reserve teams of clubs in the Kreisliga and below still compete in separate, parallel leagues.

Future developments

The Bavarian football federation has decided on drastic changes to the league system from 2012 onwards. With the introduction of the Regionalliga Bayern

Regionalliga Bayern

from 2012–13, it will place two Bayernligas below the Regionalliga. Below those, five Landesligas instead of the existing three will be set, which would be geographically divided to limit travel and increase the number of local derbies.

Matrix

This is a table of the progression of the Bavarian league system by tier since 1963:

Tier	1963–74	1974–81	1981–88	1988–94	1994–98	1998–2008	2008–12	2012–
I	Bundesliga
II	Regionalliga Süd	2nd Bundesliga Süd	2nd Bundesliga
III	Bayernliga				Regionalliga Süd		3rd Liga
IV	Landesliga				Bayernliga		Regionalliga Süd	Regionalliga Bayern
V	Bezirksliga			Bezirksoberliga	Landesliga		Bayernliga
VI	A-Klasse			Bezirksliga	Bezirksoberliga		Landesliga
VII	B-Klasse			A-Klasse	Bezirksliga		Bezirksoberliga	Bezirksliga
VIII	C-Klasse			B-Klasse	A-Klasse	Kreisliga	Bezirksliga	Kreisliga
IX	—			C-Klasse	B-Klasse	Kreisklasse	Kreisliga	Kresiklasse
X	—				C-Klasse	A-Klasse	Kreisklasse	A-Klasse
XI	—					B-Klasse ^‡	A-Klasse	B-Klasse ^‡
XII	—					C-Klasse ^‡	B-Klasse ^‡	C-Klasse ^‡
XIII	—						C-Klasse ^‡	—

^‡ After 1998, the B- and C- Klasse was not present in every part of Bavaria and still is not.

League system above the Bavarian level. Bavarian football league system. Tiers without league during the designated time period.

League system above the Bavarian level.	Bavarian football league system.	Tiers without league during the designated time period.

Bavarian Cup

Until 2009, the seven Bezirke in Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

each played their own cup competition which in turn functioned as qualifier to the German Cup (DFB-Pokal). Starting in 1998 these seven cup-winners advanced to the Bavarian Cup. The two finalists of this competition then advanced to the German Cup.

Since 2009, the regional cup competitions were dissolved and qualifying competitions established instead for the lower amateur leagues. The teams in the higher divisions of Bavarian football entered the enlarged Bavarian Cup directly.

Reserve teams

In 1955, 1. FC Nuremberg Amateure became the first reserve team to enter the Bayernliga, followed by FC Bayern Munich Amateure. Despite this, reserve teams from non-professional clubs were not permitted to enter the league system for many years after that, having to play in parallel reserve leagues with promotion and relegation determined by the performance of the senior team rather than the reserve side.

Regulation were slowly lowerd and, in 1980, reserve teams of Landesliga clubs were permitted to enter the league piramide, too. However, should a club drop out of the Landesliga, its reserve side would have to return to reserve football.

With the introduction of the Bezirksoberliga in 1988, reserve teams from this league were permitted to enter regular league football, too. Some years later, this right was also awarded to Bezirksliga clubs. Bavaria was however slow to allow all reserve sides to enter the league system, differing in this from most other German associations. Eventually, this hurdle was dropped, too but the final decision was awarded to the individual Bezirke. Up to the fourth-lowest level, senior and reserve team can play at the same level, but not in the same league, higher than that reserve teams have to play one level below the senior side.

In between, in 2008, reserve sides lost their right to compete in the cup competitions. In the 2011-12 season, Schwaben, Niederbayern, Unterfranken and Oberfranken still have not integrated the reserve teams fully into the league system while the other three Bezirke have.

Professional clubs often designate their reserve sides to be under-23 teams as the rules of utelising players in both the first and second them for under-23 players are less srtict, with players above 23 having to have a mandatory 10 day break when being exchanged between teams.

Women's and youth leagues

Apart from the men's leagues, the Bavarian FA also operates league systems of women's and male and female youth leagues.

In the women's league system, the Bayernliga, the fourth tier of the German league system, is set as the highest state league, with two regional Landesligas below, north and south. Below those, the Bezirksoberligas are set, followed by Bezirksligas, Kreisligas and Kreisklasses, just like the men's. No league exists below the Kreisklasse. Additionally, a women's youth league system also exists with the Under 17 Bayernliga as its highest tier.

In the men's youth league system, both in the Under 19's and Under 17's, the Bayernliga forms the top-tier which is the second division of German youth football. Below the Bayernliga, two Landesligas and seven Bezirksoberligas are set followed by the standard league system. The Under 15's differ in as much as the Bayernliga is split into two regional divisions and set underneath the Southern German Regionalliga. Below the two Bayernligas, Bezirksoberligas are set, followed by the standard league system.

In the Under 13's and below, not state wide league exists, with competitions being very regional.

The top-level leagues in Bavaria in 2011-12 are:

Group	League	Tier
Men	Fussball-Bayernliga	V
Women	Women's Fussball-Bayernliga	IV
Under 19 boys	Under 19 Bayernliga Under 19 Bayernliga The Under 19 Fußball-Bayernliga is the second tier of under 19 youth football in Bavaria, set below the Under 19 Bundesliga South/Southwest....	II
Under 17 boys	Under 17 Bayernliga Under 17 Bayernliga The Under 17 Fußball-Bayernliga is the second tier of under 17 youth football in Bavaria, set below the Under 17 Bundesliga South/Southwest....	II
Under 17 girls	Girls Under 17 Bayernliga	I
Under 15 boys	Under 15 Bayernliga ¹	II
Under 15 girls	Girls Under 17 Bezirksoberliga ²	I
Under 13 boys	Under 13 Bezirksoberliga	I

¹ In two regional divisions.
² Only exists in some regions.

External links

Bayrischer Fussball Verband (Bavarian FA) Das deutsche Fussball Archiv Historic German league tables Bavarian League tables and results Website with tables and results from the Bavarian Oberliga to Bezirksliga

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Men