By Ben McFadyean.
As much of Europe waits for football to return following the World Cup, Germany’s fourth-tier Regionalliga has already started.
On Thursday, the former 2. Bundesliga side Schweinfurt 05 were unexpectedly thrashed by TSV Aubstadt 5-1 in front of a 3,000-capacity crowd at NGN Arena in the Bavarian division of the five-league fourth tier.
Newly relegated from the 3. Liga, Schweinfurt 05 had won promotion in 2025 after narrowly missing out to the representative of the Nord region, TSV Havelse in 2024, but their long-awaited stay was limited to one season.
Schweinfurt, who play their football at the 15,000-capacity Sachs Stadion, are widely expected to be among the favourites for automatic promotion despite a major talent sell-off which has reduced the squad value from €5m to just under €1.5m,
However, with regional giants and former Deutsche Meister 1860 Munich wanting to bounce back after forced relegation, the competition in the Bayern division will be fiercer than ever.
Regionalliga Nordost is the second league to kick off
The other of the 5 regions to kick off this weekend, the Nord-Ost (North-East), 4-time East German Pokal winners 1. FC Lok Leipzig inflicted a heavy defeat on hosts FSV Luckenwalde in front of 1.854 at the Werner Seelbender Stadion.
The 25/26 Nordost champions from across the other side of town from RB Leipzig will be hoping this will finally be the season they return to the third tier and professional football after two seasons of missing out in the play-offs.
The remaining divisions, the West, South-West and North all kick-off this coming weekend.
Only 4 win promotion in a system in need of reform
Initially, the third tier, the Regionalliga, was demoted, becoming the fourth tier. With the introduction of a third tier, the 3 Liga, it has been divided into five regions since its introduction in 2010.
The 90 member clubs of the five divisions of 18 clubs are organised into five regions: West, South, North-East, Bavaria and South-West. Whilst this guarantees regular local derbies which are popular, due to a historical anomaly, to match the relegated teams from the third tier, there are only four promoted teams per season.
In a system which remains controversial, one champion of one of the divisions has to miss out. That, in the last two seasons, has been Lok Leipzig, and the fans are not happy. Their case, and that of other clubs who have missed out in recent seasons, including Energie Cottbus, Wurzburger Kickers and BFC Dynamo, has won widespread support.
Despite months of deliberations and attempts to reform the system, talks remain at a standstill.
In negotiations between the DFB and the representatives of all the regional federations and clubs, the aim is for all champions to get promoted. For the moment, the most workable model, one that is supported by the representatives of the West, North, and North-East, appears to be a fourth tier divided into just four regions with 80 clubs, which would mean ten clubs missing out, and one of the five regions being disbanded altogether with the most likely option being to merge the North and the North-East under the so-called Kompassmodell.
To protest the lack of progress and perceived stalling by the national federation, of the 90 clubs, many plan to take part in a protest, which is being organised by a representative organisation called the Auftiegsreform-Initiative, currently led by Tommy Haeder, the managing director of Chemnitzer FC, on Matchday 1 with the first minute of each game coming to a standstill.
Asked about the progress in the negotiations, Haeder said:
“The old Regionalliga system has been resoundingly rejected and no longer has any justification for continuing to exist.
“Only 4.4 percent of all clubs in Germany want to stick with the current promotion rule. That is a joke. At the same time, with 50.9 percent nationwide support for the ‘Compass Model,’ we now have an absolute majority behind us.
“Armed with this result, we will now advocate for its concrete implementation.”
In contrast, speaking on behalf of the DFB, Vice-president Hermann Winkler argued, “We can only reach an agreement once there is unanimity across the leagues; only once that is the case can we pursue an option.”
As no agreements have been reached in the current season, it will be West, South-West and North-East gaining automatic promotion, which at least means Leipzig have a chance to make it third time lucky.
However, the protests are unlikely to die down until a long-term solution is found.
A league of cult clubs and local derbies
With over 2.5 million fans attending in 25/26, the Regionalliga is second only to England’s League Two (3.05m) in terms of attendances.
It is also, in spite of the split, one of the most competitive leagues and also a league full of historic clubs,
Across Regionalliga divisions, there are 3.1 goals per game on average as opposed to League Two with 2.5. The average ticket price across Regionalliga is €8-15 as opposed to €20 in League Two, while the average season ticket is €150 as opposed to League Two’s €360.
Reform, reform
The issue of reform of the regional divisions is set to rumble on. Whichever decision is arrived at, it will result in either a division being amalgamated, or clubs being eliminated from the fourth tier.
In a country which was only divided into federal states in the wake of the Second World War, and one which was only unified as a nation in 1871, and in the case of East Germany was a separate state between 1949 and 1990, local regions will always joust for representation, which makes coming to a consensus challenging.
However, you only need to look at the media deal achieved by League Two in England, which is currently worth £935m over four years, and contrast that with the €90,000 per season achieved per club in the Regionalliga to see that a long-term agreement is in the interest of all participating clubs.
The negotiations, and fan protests, are set to rumble on until well into the new year, while the remaining 3 divisions, Bavaria, West and North, kick off this coming weekend.
The newly-promoted sides
Former Bundesliga sides shown in bold.
West: SG Wattenscheid 09, Westfalia Rhynern, Bergisch Gladbach, VfB Hilden
Nord: SV Todesfelde, Eimsbütteler TV
Nordost: Tasmania Berlin, Erzgebirge Aue.
Bayern: SC Eltersdorf, TSV Landsberg, Schweinfurt 05, 1860 München.
Südwest: SSV Ulm 1846, VfR Aalen, VfR Mannheim, Eintracht Frankfurt II, 1. FC Kaiserslautern II.
The favourites
Former Bundesliga sides shown in bold.
Nord: VfB Oldenburg, SV Drochtersen/Assel.
West: Rot-Weiss Oberhausen, Sportfreunde Siegen, Borussia Dortmund II, Wattenscheid 09.
Nordost: Erzgebirge Aue. Hallescher FC, Lok Leipzig*, FC Carl Zeiss Jena, Rot-Weiß Erfurt.
Bayern: SpVgg Unterhaching, Bayern München II.
Südwest: Kickers Offenbach, SSV Ulm 1846, TSV Steinbach-Haiger, FC Homburg.
*As VfB Leipzig
How long is the winter break?
The winter break is scheduled to begin after the 18th match day, which is set for the weekend of December 11-14, 2026.
On the weekend of February 12- 15, 2026, play will resume in Regionalliga West with the 19th match day.
How does promotion work?
In the 2026/27 season, the champions of the North-East, Southwest, and West Regional League will be promoted directly to the 3. Liga. The champions of the North and Bavarian Regional League will determine the fourth promoted team in a two-legged play-off.
When does the league end?
The 34th and final matchday of the season is scheduled for the weekend of May 22/23, 2027.
Some recommended grounds to visit:
Among the historic grounds across the divisions of the fourth tier that should be on every fan’s bucket list, these include:
West: Lohrheidestadion of former Bundesliga side Wattenscheid 09, a 16,387-capacity ground on the outskirts of Bochum.
Nord: Stadion an der Lohmühle, the 17,849-capacity home of VfB Lübeck, who were founded in 1919.
Nordost: Stadion an der Gellertstraße, the 16,000-seat home of Chemnitzer FC, and Erzgebirgsstadion, a 15,500-seat home set in the midst of the densely forested area of the Auer Stadtwald of Erzgebirge Aue.
Bayern: Hans-Walter Wild Stadion, the historic 21,500-capacity home of SpVgg Bayreuth.
Südwest: Stadion am Biebererberg, the 10,300-capacity home of two-time German Vice-champions Kickers Offenbach.
Fixtures across the Regionalliga can be found here.