Verbandsliga

Verbandsliga

Organising bodies	State associations of the DFB
Country	Germany
State	11 states
Leagues	21
Level on pyramid	Level 6 & 7
Promotion to	Oberliga
Relegation to	Various (see text)

The Verbandsliga (English: Football Association League) is usually a 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]

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

• 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

References