New model from 2027/28?
© Niklas Heiden
The presidents from all national associations agreed on a working group with a view to the problematic promotion regulation from the regional leagues to the 3rd division. “I am pleased that we have agreed with all regional association presidents to form a working group on the subject of promotion reform,” said Hermann Winkler, President of the Saxon (SFV) and Northeast German Football Association (NOFV).
Above all, according to Winkler, it was important that this committee will start his work before the Bundestag on November 6th. So you would have the first results in November. The reform was last discussed at all regional league relay conferences. The NOFV recently demanded a working group of all clubs plus DFB and DFL anyway. Now the presidents of the regional and state associations agreed.
Regional leagues: five leagues, but only four promoters
At the moment, only the masters of the regional west and southwest are increasing directly. The title bearers of the seasons north, Bavaria and northeast alternate in the rotation principle with a direct promoted. The other two masters determine the fourth promoted in the 3rd league in the first and second leg. A master goes away empty -handed.
More than 40 clubs have now supported the “Advice Reform 2025” initiative. And they no longer just get out of the east, which has really got the whole thing rolling with its numerous traditional clubs in the regional league. With the 1. FC Union Berlin there is even a Bundesliga club: “The current structure disadvantaged masters whose sporting performance is not automatically rewarded with the rise. This contradicts our understanding of sporty competition,” said President Dirk Zingler. The unanimous opinion of the initiative is: Whoever becomes a master should rise directly. A reform model is to be developed by next year. If this were decided in 2026, the regional league could be played in a new structure from the 2027/28 season.