Football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 is a popular sport in Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

, second only to alpine skiing

Alpine skiing

Alpine skiing is the sport of sliding down snow-covered hills on skis with fixed-heel bindings. Alpine skiing can be contrasted with skiing using free-heel bindings: Ski mountaineering and nordic skiing – such as cross-country; ski jumping; and Telemark. In competitive alpine skiing races four...

. The Austrian Football Association

Austrian Football Association

The Austrian Football Association is the governing body of football in Austria. It organizes the football league, Austrian Bundesliga, the Austrian Cup and the Austrian national team, as well as its female equivalent. It is based in Vienna....

, the ÖFB (Österreichischer Fußball-Bund), was founded in 1904 and has been a member of FIFA

FIFA

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

 since then.

League system

The Bundesliga

Austrian Bundesliga

The Austrian Football Bundesliga is the highest-ranking national league club competition in Austrian football. It is the competition which decides the Austrian national football champions, as well the country's entrants for the various European cups run by UEFA.The Austrian Bundesliga, which began...

 is the highest national league-club competition in Austria. It has ten teams. The second tier is the First Division (Erste Liga), which as of the 2006/7 season has twelve teams (up from ten the previous season). The third tiers are the regional leagues (Regionalliga), which are split into three geographical divisions: the East

Austrian Regional League East

The Austrian Regional League East is a third-tier division of Austrian football re-introduced in the 1984-85 season. It covers the Austrian states of Burgenland, Lower Austria and Vienna.The teams competing in the 2008-09 season are:*FAC Team für Wien...

 (Regionalliga Ost), which comprises teams from Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

, Lower Austria

Lower Austria

Lower Austria is the northeasternmost state of the nine states in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten, the most recently designated capital town in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria had formerly been Vienna, even though Vienna is not officially part of Lower Austria...

, and Burgenland

Burgenland

Burgenland is the easternmost and least populous state or Land of Austria. It consists of two Statutarstädte and seven districts with in total 171 municipalities. It is 166 km long from north to south but much narrower from west to east...

; the Central

Austrian Regional League Central

The Austrian Regional League Central is a third-tier division of Austrian football re-introduced in the 1994–95 season. It covers the Austrian states of Carinthia , Styria and Upper Austria.The teams competing in the 2009–10 season are:...

 (Regionalliga Mitte), featuring teams from Styria, Carinthia

Carinthia (state)

Carinthia is the southernmost Austrian state or Land. Situated within the Eastern Alps it is chiefly noted for its mountains and lakes.The main language is German. Its regional dialects belong to the Southern Austro-Bavarian group...

, Upper Austria

Upper Austria

Upper Austria is one of the nine states or Bundesländer of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders on Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as on the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg...

, and East Tyrol

East Tyrol

East Tyrol, or East Tirol , is an exclave of the Austrian state of Tyrol, sharing no border with the main North Tyrol part of the state. It corresponds with the administrative district of Lienz....

; and the West

Austrian Regional League West

The Austrian Regional League West is a third-tier division of Austrian football introduced in the 1980-81 season as successor of the Alpenliga. It covers the Austrian states of Salzburg, Tyrol and Vorarlberg....

 (Regionalliga West), competed for by teams from Salzburg

Salzburg

-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...

, Tyrol

Tyrol (state)

Tyrol is a state or Bundesland, located in the west of Austria. It comprises the Austrian part of the historical region of Tyrol.The state is split into two parts–called North Tyrol and East Tyrol–by a -wide strip of land where the state of Salzburg borders directly on the Italian province of...

, and Vorarlberg

Vorarlberg

Vorarlberg is the westernmost federal-state of Austria. Although it is the second smallest in terms of area and population , it borders three countries: Germany , Switzerland and Liechtenstein...

. The fourth tier is the state league

Austrian Landesliga

The Austrian Landesliga is the fourth tier of football in Austria. It is divided into nine conferences - one for each Austrian state:*Burgenland: Landesliga Burgenland*Lower Austria: 1...

 (Landesliga), with the 2. Landesliga

Austrian 2. Landesliga

The Austrian 2. Landesliga is the fifth tier of football in Austria. It is divided among the Austrian states by one or more conferences. The champions of each conference are promoted to the Landesliga....

 as the fifth tier in some states. Most states have 7 or 8 official tiers, but in some states (i.E. Vienna) unofficial tiers exist under the normal tiers. They are not organized by the ÖFB

OFB

OFB may refer to:* Austrian Football Association * Output feedback, a mode of operation for block ciphers in cryptography* Oklahoma Farm Bureau* Open for Business...

, but theoretically the champions of these tiers can promote to the official ÖFB-tiers.

Below shows how the current system works.

Level	Division
I	Bundesliga Austrian Bundesliga The Austrian Football Bundesliga is the highest-ranking national league club competition in Austrian football. It is the competition which decides the Austrian national football champions, as well the country's entrants for the various European cups run by UEFA.The Austrian Bundesliga, which began... 10 clubs
	↓↑ 1 club
II	Erste Liga Austrian Football First League The Austrian Football First League is the second highest professional division in Austrian football. It contains 10 teams and is run in the same fashion as the Austrian Bundesliga... (First League) 10 clubs
	↓↑ 1-2 clubs
	↑ 0-1 club			↑ 0-1 club			↑ 0-1 club
III	Regionalliga Ost Austrian Regional League East The Austrian Regional League East is a third-tier division of Austrian football re-introduced in the 1984-85 season. It covers the Austrian states of Burgenland, Lower Austria and Vienna.The teams competing in the 2008-09 season are:*FAC Team für Wien... (Regional League East) 16 clubs			Regionalliga Mitte Austrian Regional League Central The Austrian Regional League Central is a third-tier division of Austrian football re-introduced in the 1994–95 season. It covers the Austrian states of Carinthia , Styria and Upper Austria.The teams competing in the 2009–10 season are:... (Regional League Central) 16 clubs			Regionalliga West Austrian Regional League West The Austrian Regional League West is a third-tier division of Austrian football introduced in the 1980-81 season as successor of the Alpenliga. It covers the Austrian states of Salzburg, Tyrol and Vorarlberg.... (Regional League West) 16 clubs
	↓ 2-5 clubs			↓ 2-5 clubs			↓ 2-5 clubs
	↑ 1 club	↑ 1 club	↑ 1 club	↑ 1 club	↑ 1 club	↑ 1 club	↑ 1 club	↑ 1 club	↑ 1 club
IV	Landesliga Burgenland 16 clubs	Landesliga Niederösterreich 16 clubs	Wiener Stadtliga 16 clubs	Landesliga Steiermark 16 clubs	Landesliga Oberösterreich 14 clubs	Landesliga Kärnten 16 clubs	Landesliga Salzburg 16 clubs	Tiroler Liga 16 clubs	Landesliga Vorarlberg 14 clubs

See also

• Austria national football team
  Austria national football team
  The Austria national football team is the association football team that represents the country of Austria in international competition and is controlled by the Austrian Football Association ....
  
  
• Austrian Bundesliga
  Austrian Bundesliga
  The Austrian Football Bundesliga is the highest-ranking national league club competition in Austrian football. It is the competition which decides the Austrian national football champions, as well the country's entrants for the various European cups run by UEFA.The Austrian Bundesliga, which began...