Regionalliga Süd (1994–2012)


The Regionalliga Süd was the fourth tier of the German football league system from 2008 to 2012. Until the introduction of the 3. Liga in 2008, it was the third tier. It was the highest regional league for the southern part of Germany. It covered the states of Bavaria, Hesse and Baden-Württemberg and was one of three leagues at this level, together with the Regionalliga Nord and the Regionalliga West.
The league was disbanded at the end of the 2011–12 season, with the Bavarian clubs joining the new Regionalliga Bayern while the others joined the clubs from the southwest of Germany to form the new Regionalliga Südwest.
From 1963 to 1974, a Regionalliga Süd existed as the second tier of the German football league system, but this league is not directly related to the current one.

Overview

The Regionalliga Süd 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 south of Germany and to allow its champions, and some years the runners-up too, to be directly promoted to the 2. Bundesliga. Previous to the introduction of the four Regionalligas, below the second division were ten Oberligas. Those ten Oberliga champions had to go through a promotion play-off rather than being directly promoted.
The Regionalliga Süd originally was made up from clubs from the three southern states of Bavaria, Hesse and Baden-Württemberg. In 2000, with the reduction of the number of Regionalligas to two, the league also covered the states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Thuringia. It also incorporated one club from Northrhine-Westphalia, the Sportfreunde Siegen.
From 2008, with re-expansion to three Regionalligas, the league again only contained clubs from the three original states. However, in 2010–11, the Wormatia Worms, a club from Rhineland-Palatinate, competed in the league.

League history

Foundation of the Regionalliga Süd

The Regionalliga Süd was formed in 1994 with 18 clubs, originally with six from each of the three Oberligas. However, Baden-Württemberg lost one spot due to the Stuttgarter Kickers being relegated from the 2. Bundesliga.
The founding members were:
From 2. Bundesliga:
From the Oberliga Bayern:
From the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg:
From the Oberliga Hessen:
The "new" Regionalliga Süd was actually a reformation of the "old" Regionalliga Süd 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.
Its first season saw the SpVgg Unterhaching winning the league and being promoted to the 2. Bundesliga while three out of the four teams relegated came from Hessen.

Expansion of the league in 2000

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.
To make room for these extra clubs without expanding past the 18 team number, the seven bottom placed teams were supposed to be relegated. However, FC Augsburg did not receive a license for the next season and Karlsruher SC II had to drop down because the first team was relegated to the Regionalliga and regulations forbid two teams from the same club to compete in the same league at this level.
The relegated clubs were:
In their stead, the following seven teams were admitted:
From the 2. Bundesliga:
From the Regionalliga West/Südwest:
From the Regionalliga Nordost:
With the introduction of the 3. Liga in 2008 and of a third Regionalliga, the Regionalliga West, the league became the fourth tier of German football. The clubs from the regions which joined in 2000 left again and the Regionalliga Süd was once more only made up from clubs from Bavaria, Hesse and Baden-Württemberg.
The make up of the leagues was:
When the 2007–08 season finished on 31 May 2008, the following teams had fulfilled the on-the-field qualification for the Regionalliga. However, financial qualification was also necessary.
Remaining in the Regionalliga Süd:
From the Oberliga Bayern:
From the Oberliga Hessen:
From the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg:
Sportfreunde Siegen were intended to be the 18th club in the Regionalliga Süd, but due to its insolvency, the club was demoted to the Oberliga Nordrhein-Westfalen or below for the 2008–09 season. 1. FC Eintracht Bamberg was admitted to the Regionalliga in their stead, as the fifth-placed team in the largest of the southern football associations. Due to the refusal of a licence to Bayernliga champion SpVgg Bayreuth, Bamberg was awarded a place in the Regionalliga. The available last place then went to the SpVgg Unterhaching II.

2008–2012

After a 2008–09 season with a large number of new clubs, the league returned to a normal promotion/relegation system, with the winner moving up to the 3. Liga and the three last-placed teams being relegated to the Oberliga, while the three southern Oberliga champions were promoted in turn. In 2008–09, two clubs from the 3. Liga were relegated to the league. This would have increased the number of teams to 19. However, Waldhof Mannheim was transferred to the Regionalliga West for the next season. Hessen Kassel, who had hoped to join the Regionalliga Nord for 2009–10 had to remain in the south. Viktoria Aschaffenburg, which finished on a non-relegation rank, withdrew from the league, allowing Karlsruher SC II to remain in it.
In the 2009–10 season, 1. FC Eintracht Bamberg and SSV Reutlingen both declared insolvency, forcing them to be automatically relegated.
In October 2010, another reform of the Regionalligas was decided upon. The number of leagues were now to be expanded to five, with the Bavarian clubs to leave the Regionalliga Süd and form their own Regionalliga Bayern. In their stead, the south western clubs from Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland would re-join the league. The new system is due to come into operation in the 2012–13 season. It was also decided to limit the number of reserve teams per Regionalliga to seven.
In the 2010–11 season, SpVgg Weiden declared insolvency due to more than Euro 1 million in debts. Unable to raise enough funds to continue competing in the league, Weiden declared on 30 November 2010 that it would withdraw its Regionalliga team and thereby automatically be relegated. All games for the club in the 2010–11 season were declared void. The SSV Ulm 1846 suffered a similar fate, but was able to complete its fixtures as friendlies. Nevertheless, the club was relegated and its record expunged.
At the end of the season, the league became defunct with the Bavarian clubs joining the new Regionalliga Bayern while the remainder of the league members joined the new Regionalliga Südwest. The exceptions were the Stuttgarter Kickers, which were promoted to the 3. Liga, the FC Bayern Alzenau which, despite being from Bavaria, opted to play in the Regionalliga Süd/Südwest and Karlsruher SC II which was ineligible for the Regionalliga after the first team of the club was relegated to the 3. Liga. No other team was relegated.

Winners and runners-up of the Regionalliga Süd

The winners and runners-up of the league are:
SeasonWinnerRunner-Up
1994–95SpVgg UnterhachingStuttgarter Kickers
1995–96Stuttgarter KickersVfR Mannheim
1996–971. FC NürnbergSpVgg Greuther Fürth
1997–98SSV Ulm 1846Kickers Offenbach
1998–99SV Waldhof MannheimKickers Offenbach
1999–2000SSV ReutlingenSC Pfullendorf
2000–01Karlsruher SCVfB Stuttgart II
2001–02Wacker BurghausenEintracht Trier
2002–03SpVgg UnterhachingSSV Jahn Regensburg
2003–04FC Bayern Munich IIRot-Weiß Erfurt
2004–05Kickers OffenbachSportfreunde Siegen
2005–06FC AugsburgTuS Koblenz
2006–07SV WehenTSG 1899 Hoffenheim
2007–08FSV FrankfurtFC Ingolstadt 04
2008–091. FC HeidenheimKSV Hessen Kassel
2009–10VfR Aalen1. FC Nürnberg II
2010–11SV Darmstadt 98Stuttgarter Kickers
2011–12Stuttgarter KickersSG Sonnenhof Großaspach

Source:
The top goal scorers and spectator statistics for the league are:
SeasonOverall
Spectators		Per gameBest supported ClubSpectators
/game		Top goal scorerGoals
1994–95427,5761,397Stuttgarter Kickers2,759Jonathan Akpoborie 37
1995–96353,6171,156Stuttgarter Kickers3,181Dragan Trkulja 25
1996–97779,6122,5481. FC Nürnberg15,328Frank Türr 25
1997–98693,5002,375Kickers Offenbach12,906Dieter Eckstein 21
1998–99568,4941,858Kickers Offenbach11,500Marijo Maric 23
1999–2000365,2811,194SV Darmstadt 983,667Oliver Djappa 36
2000–01932,2493,047Karlsruher SC10,050Marko Barlecaj 18
2001–02717,1932,344Kickers Offenbach6,911Saber Ben Neticha 18
2002–03803,8562,350Jahn Regensburg5,105Francisco Copado 24
2003–04670,3712,1911. FC Saarbrücken6,141Zvjezdan Misimovic
José Guerrero 		21
2004–05711,9042,326Kickers Offenbach6,669Patrick Helmes 21
2005–06561,0581,834TuS Koblenz4,657Maximilian Nicu
Christian Okpala 		16
2006–07685,1822,239Hessen Kassel4,383Mirnes Mesic
Jonathan Jäger 		17
2007–08775,6512,535Sportfreunde Siegen6,095Thorsten Bauer 20
2008–09424,6191,388Hessen Kassel4,282Thorsten Bauer 32
2009–10367,8341,202VfR Aalen3,258Mijo Tunjic
Abedin Krasniqi 		19
2010–11304,6471,269Hessen Kassel5,520Kai Herdling 19
2011–12308,0621,007Stuttgarter Kickers3,561Karl Lappe 18

Placings in the Regionalliga Süd

The following clubs have played in the league and achieved the following final positions:
Club959697989900010203040506070809101112
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim13557422BBBBB
1. FC Nürnberg2B2B12BB2B2BBB2BBBBB2BBBB
FC Augsburg 1911111014834412B2B2B2B2BB
SpVgg Greuther Fürth 53822B2B2B2B2B2B2B2B2B2B2B2B2B2B2B
Karlsruher SCBBBB2B2B12B2B2B2B2B2BBB2B2B2B
FSV Frankfurt2B18151412B2B2B2B
FC Ingolstadt 04522B3L2B2B
SV Wehen1713613116773312B2B2B3L3L
Kickers Offenbach15222B10881312B2B2B3L3L3L3L
FC Carl Zeiss Jena *RL2B2B2BRLRL18RL2B2B3L3L3L3L
SpVgg Unterhaching12B2B2B2BBB2B12B2B2B2B63L3L3L3L
Wacker Burghausen955741312B2B2B2B2B73L3L3L3L
Rot-Weiß Erfurt *RLRLRLRLRLRL155922B2BRLRL3L3L3L3L
VfB Stuttgart II4621611137333L3L3L3L
SV Sandhausen1653L3L3L3L
SSV Jahn Regensburg12322B81793L3L3L3L
1. FC Heidenheim13L3L3L
VfR Aalen1074106126643L13L3L
1. FC Saarbrücken *2BRLRLRLRLRL2B2B632B2B15RL3L3L
SV Darmstadt 98111513169514175516151513L
TuS Koblenz *1122B2B2B2B3LRL
Eintracht Trier *RLRLRLRLRLRL422B2B2B16RLRLRLRL
SV Elversberg *RLRLRL14111412109915RLRLRLRL
1. FC Kaiserslautern II *RLRLRLRL1513181318RLRLRLRL
FSV Mainz II *1417RLRLRLRL
Stuttgarter Kickers212B2B2B2B2B12159984103L921
SG Sonnenhof Großaspach12142
Eintracht Frankfurt II17183863
Wormatia Worms *RLRL124
Karlsruher SC II 21481112111416165105
SpVgg Greuther Fürth II111146
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim II57
SC Freiburg II14378
FC Ingolstadt 04 II9
1. FC Nürnberg II521110
KSV Hessen Kassel13101218101424311
SV Waldhof Mannheim2B2B2B712B2B2B2B4RL12
TSV 1860 Munich II997161515131367813
FC Bayern Munich II713868591041612883L3L3L14
FC Memmingen1315
SC Pfullendorf1621711101614717813916
FSV Frankfurt II1517
FC Bayern Alzenau1818
SV Wehen Wiesbaden II91616
SSV Ulm 184643612BB2B7617
SpVgg Weiden1018
SSV Reutlingen 714434312B2B2B11121214
1. FC Eintracht Bamberg1017
Viktoria Aschaffenburg 613
TSV Großbardorf17
SpVgg Unterhaching II18
FSV Oggersheim *18RL
Sportfreunde Siegen *RLRLRL67161622B1211
FK Pirmasens *RL17
SpVgg Bayreuth 310
1. FC Eschborn1718
1. SC Feucht814
FC Nöttingen18
FC Schweinfurt 0551132B1215
Borussia Neunkirchen *RLRL19
VfR Mannheim 48271410389
SpVgg Ansbach17
Borussia Fulda43131718
TSF Ditzingen6515121215
SG Quelle Fürth1716
SV Lohhof1618
SC Weismain101117
SC Neukirchen1291518
VfL Kirchheim/Teck17
SpVgg Ludwigsburg10716
SG Egelsbach121418
TSV Vestenbergsgreuth 556
Rot-Weiß Frankfurt18

Source:

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