2020–21 Regionalliga


The 2020–21 Regionalliga will be the 13th season of the Regionalliga, the ninth under the new format, as the fourth tier of the German football league system.

Format

A new promotion format was decided on in 2019. From this season onward, the Regionalliga Südwest and West receive a fixed promotion spot. A third promotion spot rotates between the other three divisions, with the remaining two champions participating in play-offs for a fourth spot. A draw has determined that the Regionalliga Nordost receives the third direct promotion spot this season.
Due to the expansion of all leagues during the COVID-19 pandemic, the relegation rules have yet to be announced.

Regionalliga Nord

22 teams from the states of Bremen, Hamburg, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein will compete in the ninth season of the reformed Regionalliga Nord. VfV Hildesheim and Atlas Delmenhorst were promoted from the 2019–20 Oberliga Niedersachsen, Teutonia Ottensen was promoted from the 2019–20 Oberliga Hamburg, FC Oberneuland was promoted from the 2019–20 Bremen-Liga and Phönix Lübeck was promoted from the 2019–20 Schleswig-Holstein-Liga.
As the league expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic, the league was split into two regional groups, with the ten best teams qualifying for a championship round and the other twelve teams qualifying for a relegation round.
North
South

Championship round

Relegation round

Regionalliga Nordost

20 teams from the states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia will compete in the eighth season of the reformed Regionalliga Nordost. Chemnitzer FC and Carl Zeiss Jena were relegated from the 2019–20 3. Liga. Tennis Borussia Berlin was promoted from the 2019–20 NOFV-Oberliga Nord and FSV Luckenwalde was promoted from the 2019–20 NOFV-Oberliga Süd.

Regionalliga West

21 teams from North Rhine-Westphalia will compete in the Regionalliga West. Preußen Münster was relegated from the 2019–20 3. Liga. FC Wegberg-Beeck was promoted from the 2019–20 Mittelrheinliga, SV Straelen was promoted from the 2019–20 Oberliga Niederrhein and SC Wiedenbrück and Rot Weiss Ahlen were promoted from the 2019–20 Oberliga Westfalen.

Westphalia DFB-Pokal play-off

As the Westphalian Football and Athletics Association is one of three regional associations with the most participating teams in their league competitions, they are allowed to enter a second team for the 2021–22 DFB-Pokal. A play-off is to take place between the best-placed eligible Westphalian team of the Regionalliga West and the best-placed eligible team of the Oberliga Westfalen, with the winners qualifying for the DFB-Pokal.

Regionalliga Südwest

22 teams from Baden-Württemberg, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland will compete in the eighth season of the Regionalliga Südwest. Sonnenhof Großaspach was relegated from the 2019–20 3. Liga. Schott Mainz was promoted from the 2019–20 Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar, VfB Stuttgart II was promoted from the 2019–20 Oberliga Baden-Württemberg and Eintracht Stadtallendorf and Hessen Kassel were promoted from the 2019–20 Hessenliga.

Regionalliga Bayern

The Bavarian Football Association cancelled the 2020–21 season, which would have been the ninth for the Regionalliga Bayern, and enrolled Türkgücü München in the 2020–21 3. Liga. The ongoing 2019–20 season had to resume without Türkgücü in September 2020 and conclude in mid-2021.

Promotion play-offs