Regionalliga Nordost - Reestablishing The Regionalliga Nordost

Reestablishing The Regionalliga Nordost

In October 2010, another reform of the Regionalligas was agreed. The number of leagues was again expanded to five. The defunct Regionalliga Nordost was reestablished and a Regionalliga Bayern was established. Also, the Regionalliga West lost the clubs from the south west to a new league, formed out of those clubs and clubs from Regionalliga Süd outside Bavaria. The new system came into operation at the beginning of the 2012–13 season. The number of reserve teams per Regionalliga was limited to seven.

The five league champions, plus the runner-up of the Regionalliga Süd/Südwest, will then play-off for the three promotion spots, in a home-and-away series. The new leagues will consist of up to 22 clubs in their inaugural season, but will then have to be reduced to between 16 and 18 clubs. The Regionalligas will not be administrated by the DFB, but rather by the regional football associations. With regard to reserve teams, initially only seven are permitted per league, however, this rule may be subject to change under certain circumstances. Reserve sides of 3rd Liga teams are not permitted in the Regionalliga.

The reorganisation of the Regionalligas, so soon after the last changes in 2008, became necessary because of a large number of insolvencies. These were caused by a lack of media interest in the leagues combined with large expenses and infrastructure demands.