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Regionalliga Nord
	Founded
	1994
	Nation
	Germany
	States
	Niedersachsen
	Schleswig-Holstein
	Bremen
	Hamburg
	Berlin
	Brandenburg
	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
	Sachsen-Anhalt
	Sachsen
	Thüringen
	Promotion To
	3rd Liga
	Relegation To
	NOFV-Oberliga Nord
	NOFV-Oberliga Süd
	Oberliga Hamburg
	Bremen-Liga
	Schleswig-Holstein-Liga
	Oberliga Niedersachsen-West
	Oberliga Niedersachsen-Ost
	Number of clubs
	19
	Level on Pyramid
	Level 4
	Current Champions 2008-09
	Holstein Kiel

The Regionalliga Nord 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 northern and eastern part of Germany.

[edit] Overview

The Regionalliga Nord was introduced in 1994 along with three other Regionalligas, those being:

The reason for its introduction was to create a highest regional league for the north of Germany and to allow its champions, and some years the runners-up too, to be directly promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga. Previous to the introduction of the four Regionalligas, the leagues below the second division were the Oberligas, which there was ten of. Those ten Oberliga champions had to go through a promotion play-off rather than being directly promoted. The champions of the Regionalligas Nord and Nordost however had to play-off for a spot in the 2nd Bundesliga from 1996 to 2000. The winner of this contest was promoted, the loser faced the runners-ups of the Regionalligas Süd and West/Südwest for another spot in the second division.

The Regionalliga Nord was direct continuation of the Oberliga Nord, which was disbanded in 1994 in favour of the Regionalliga. Fourteen out of sixteen Oberliga Nord clubs qualified for the new league, only the bottom two teams were relegated to the two new Oberligas.

To replace the Oberliga Nord below the Regionalliga, two new leagues were formed, those being the Oberligas Niedersachsen/Bremen and Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein. This two leagues were in turn disbanded in 2004 when the Oberliga Nord was reformed.

In 2001, the 1. FC Union Berlin of this league became only the second Regionalliga side to reach a German Cup final, losing 2-0 to FC Schalke 04.

With the league changes in Germany in 2008, the Oberliga Nord will again be disbanded and the level below the Regionalliga Nord in this region will be the five Verbandligas. This will in the future require a promotion play-off for this league winners as there will not be five promotion spots available for their region. No changes will be made in the NOFV region were the two Oberligas Nord and Süd will remain.

The following four teams will be promoted to the Regionalliga from 2009:

NOFV-Oberliga Nord champions
NOFV-Oberliga Süd champions
Niedersachsen champions, being the winner of the home-and-away series of the champions of the Oberliga Niedersachsen-West and Oberliga Niedersachsen-Ost
Winner of the promotion play-off for the champions of the Oberliga Hamburg, Bremen and Schleswig-Holstein

[edit] Foundation of the Regionalliga Nord

Map of Germany:Position of the Regionalliga Nord (1994-2000) highlighted

The Regionalliga Nord was formed in 1994 with 18 clubs, fourteen from the Oberliga Nord and one each from the Verbandsligas of Niedersachsen, Bremen, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein.

The founding members were:

From the Oberliga Nord:

From the Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein:

Lüneburger SK

From the Verbandsliga Hamburg:

Concordia Hamburg

From the Verbandsliga Bremen:

FC Bremerhaven

From the Verbandsliga Niedersachsen:

SV Wilhelmshaven

The "new" Regionalliga Nord was actually a reformation of the "old" Regionalliga Nord which operated from 1963 to 1974 in the same region but then as the second tier of German football. Unlike the "old" Regionalliga, the new one allowed reserve teams to compete in it.

[edit] Expansion of the league in 2000

Map of Germany:Position of the Regionalliga Nord (2000-2008) highlighted

After six seasons, in 2000, the number of Regionalligas was reduced from four to two. Only the Regionalligas Süd and Nord survived. The clubs of the other two were spread according to their geographical location.

Only the teams placed two to six were permitted to remain in the league. The league champion, VfL Osnabrück, was promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga and all clubs from place seven to eigthteen were relegated to the Verbandsligas. The league was expanded to nineteen teams and fourteen clubs from the 2nd Bundesliga, Regionalliga West/Südwest and Regionalliga Nordost were admitted.

Clubs permitted to remain in the Regionalliga Nord:

Admitted (relegated) from the 2nd Bundesliga:

Admitted from the Regionalliga West/Südwest:

Admitted from the Regionalliga Nordost:

[edit] The league reform in 2008

Map of Germany:Position of the Regionalliga Nord (from 2008-09 season) highlighted (proposed)

With the introduction of the 3rd Liga in 2008 and of a third Regionalliga, the Regionalliga West, the league became the fourth tier of German football^[1]. The clubs from Nordrhein-Westfalen left the league again and joined the new Regionalliga West.

The make up of the leagues was:

Winner and runners-up of the Regionalliga Nord qualify for the 2nd Bundesliga (unless they are reserve teams)
Clubs placed third to tenth went to the new 3rd Liga (only the two best placed reserve teams were admitted)
Clubs placed eleventh to eighteen remained in the Regionalligas (clubs from Nordrhein-Westfalen left for the Regionalliga West)
The five best teams from the Oberliga Nord joined the Regionalliga. The sixth placed team played-off with the five Verbandsliga winners from this region for one more place in the Regionalliga.
The three best teams from the NOFV Oberliga Nord and Süd each and a play-off winner of the two fourth placed teams.

The following 18 teams have fulfilled the various qualification criteria and were granted a license for play in the new Regionalliga Nord for the 2008-09 season^[2].

Remaining in the Regionalliga Nord:

From the Oberliga Nord:

From the NOFV-Oberliga Nord:

From the NOFV-Oberliga Süd:

[edit] Winners and runners-up of the Regionalliga Nord

Season	Winner	Runner-Up
1994-95	VfB Lübeck	VfL Osnabrück
1995-96	VfB Oldenburg	Eintracht Braunschweig
1996-97	Hannover 96	Eintracht Braunschweig
1997-98	Hannover 96	Eintracht Braunschweig
1998-99	VfL Osnabrück	VfB Lübeck
1999-2000	VfL Osnabrück	VfB Lübeck
2000-01	1. FC Union Berlin	SV Babelsberg 03
2001-02	VfB Lübeck	Eintracht Braunschweig
2002-03	Erzgebirge Aue	VfL Osnabrück
2003-04	Rot-Weiß Essen	Dynamo Dresden
2004-05	Eintracht Braunschweig	SC Paderborn 07
2005-06	Rot-Weiß Essen	FC Carl Zeiss Jena
2006-07	FC St Pauli	VfL Osnabrück
2007-08	Rot-Weiß Ahlen	Rot-Weiß Oberhausen
2008-09	Holstein Kiel	Hallescher FC
2009-10

Source:"Regionalliga Nord". Das deutsche Fussball-Archiv. http://www.f-archiv.de/. Retrieved 2008-03-19.

In 1995, VfB Lübeck was promoted.
In 1996, VfB Oldenburg was promoted.
In 1998, Hannover 96 was promoted.
In 2000, VfL Osnabrück was promoted.
In 1997 and 1999, the Regionalliga champion failed promotion in the play-offs.
From 2001, the winners and runners-up of the Regionalliga were always promoted.
Since 2009, only the winner of the Regionalliga is promoted.

[edit] Placings in the Regionalliga Nord 1994 to 2008

Club	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09
Hannover 96	BL	BL	1	1	BL	BL	BL	BL	BL	BL	BL	BL	BL	BL	BL
Erzgebirge Aue	RL	RL	RL	RL	RL	RL	7	9	1	BL	BL	BL	BL	BL	BL
SC Paderborn 07 *	RL	RL	RL	RL	RL	RL		14	8	3	2	BL	BL	BL	BL
FC Carl Zeiss Jena	RL	BL	BL	BL	RL	RL	RL					2	BL	BL	BL
FC St. Pauli	BL	BL	BL	BL	BL	BL	BL	BL	BL	8	7	6	1	BL	BL
VfL Osnabrück	2	5	4	3	1	1	BL	7	2	BL	4	10	2	BL	BL
Eintracht Braunschweig	6	2	2	2	3	3	8	2	BL	6	1	BL	BL	10	BL
Dynamo Dresden	BL	RL	RL	RL	RL	RL			7	2	BL	BL	7	8	BL
Rot-Weiß Ahlen *			RL	RL	RL	RL	BL	BL	BL	BL	BL	BL	13	1	BL
Rot-Weiß Oberhausen *		RL	RL	RL	BL	BL	BL	BL	BL	BL	BL	17		2	BL
Rot-Weiß Erfurt	RL	RL	RL	RL	RL	RL	RL	RL	RL	RL	BL	14	11	7	BL
1. FC Union Berlin	RL	RL	RL	RL	RL	RL	1	BL	BL	BL	19		12	4	BL
Fortuna Düsseldorf *	BL	BL	BL	BL	BL	RL	16	17			8	5	10	3	BL
SV Werder Bremen II	7	15	3	4	4	5	15	10	6	5	14	12	8	5	BL
Wuppertaler SV *	RL	RL	RL	RL	RL					4	5	8	5	6	BL
Kickers Emden	4	4	9	8	16							9	4	9	BL
Holstein Kiel	11	18			14	8		13	13	12	9	4	15		1
Hallescher FC															2
SV Babelsberg 03				RL	RL	RL	2	BL	16					15	3
1. FC Magdeburg				RL	RL	RL		12⁴					3	11	4
VfL Wolfsburg II											17			19	5
Hannover 96 II															6
Chemnitzer FC	BL	BL	RL	RL	RL	BL	BL	6	11	11	15	19			7
VfB Lübeck	1	BL	BL	7	2	2	3	1	BL	BL	3	3	9	16	8
FC Oberneuland															9
Hansa Rostock II															10
SV Wilhelmshaven	9	10	13	9	7	4	10³						19		11
Hertha BSC Berlin II	RL	RL				RL					13	7	18	13	12
Hamburger SV II	14	6	5	14	15	16			14	9	6	13	6	17	13
VFC Plauen															14
Türkiyemspor Berlin															15¹
FC Altona 93			15												16
FC Sachsen Leipzig	RL	RL	RL	RL	RL	RL	14³			17					17
Energie Cottbus II														14	18
Rot-Weiß Essen *	RL	RL	BL	RL		RL	13	3	3	1	BL	1	BL	12	RL
Borussia Dortmund II *					RL	RL	18		5	10	16		14	13	RL
SC Verl *	RL	RL	RL	RL	RL	RL	6	11	15					18	RL
Borussia Mönchengladbach II *													16		RL
Bayer Leverkusen II *					RL	RL		8	17			11	17		RL
Preußen Münster *	RL	RL	RL	RL	RL	RL	5	15	12	13	11	15			RL
1. FC Köln II *									9	14	12	18			RL
FC Schalke 04 II *										16					RL
SG Wattenscheid 09 *	BL	BL	RL	BL	BL	RL	11	4	4	15		16
KFC Uerdingen *	BL	BL	BL	BL	BL	RL	12	5	10	7	10⁵
Arminia Bielefeld II *											18
VfR Neumünster										18
Dresdner SC					RL	RL	9	16	18
Fortuna Köln *	BL	BL	BL	BL	BL	BL	4	18
Lüneburger SK	8	8	17		6	6	17
Tennis Borussia Berlin	RL	RL	RL	RL	BL	BL	19
BV Cloppenburg		17		10	7
SC Göttingen 05	16		10	18		9
Arminia Hannover				6	13	10
SV Meppen	BL	BL	BL	BL	11	11
1. SC Norderstedt		13	7	16	12	12
Eintracht Nordhorn				10	5	13
TuS Celle	13	3	6	12	6	14
FC St. Pauli II		7	16			15
FC Bremerhaven	17					17
VfB Oldenburg	5	1	BL	5	9	18
VfL Herzlake	3	9	8	15	17
Spfreunde Ricklingen			11	13	18
VfL Hamburg 93	12	16		11²
Atlas Delmenhorst		14	12	17
Concordia Hamburg	15	12	14
SV Lurup	10	11	18
TuS Hoisdorf	18

Source:"Regionalliga Nord". Das deutsche Fussball-Archiv. http://www.f-archiv.de/. Retrieved 2007-12-11.

BL denotes club played in one of the Bundesligas in that season, either 1st, 2nd or 3rd Bundesliga (from 2008).
RL denotes club played in a different Regionalliga that season.
Clubs from Nordrhein-Westfalen, which will not be part of the Regionalliga Nord after 2008, are marked with an *.

In 2009, Türkiyemspor Berlin avoided relegation after Kickers Emden withrew from the 3. Liga.
In 1998, VfL Hamburg 93 withdrew their team from the league.
In 2001, FC Sachsen Leipzig and SV Wilhelmshaven were refused a licence for the Regionalliga.
In 2002, 1. FC Magdeburg were refused a licence for the Regionalliga.
In 2005, KFC Uerdingen were refused a licence for the Regionalliga.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

^ "Official DFB article on the 3rd Liga and Regionalliga". DFB. http://www.dfb.de/index.php?id=3092. Retrieved 2008-03-05.
^ Regionalliga Nord 2008/2009 > 1. Spieltag

[edit] Sources

"Kicker Almanach" The Football Yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937, published by the Kicker Sports Magazine

[edit] External links

[0] "Official DFB article on the 3rd Liga and Regionalliga". DFB. http://www.dfb.de/index.php?id=3092. Retrieved 2008-03-05.

[1] Regionalliga Nord 2008/2009 > 1. Spieltag

[1]

[2]

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