3. Liga

3. Liga
Country	Germany
Confederation	UEFA
Founded	25 July 2008
Number of teams	20
Promotion to	2. Bundesliga
Relegation to	Regionalliga Nord Regionalliga Nordost Regionalliga West Regionalliga Südwest Regionalliga Bayern
Levels on pyramid	3
Domestic cup(s)	DFB-Pokal
UEFA cup(s)	UEFA Europa League (via winning DFB-Pokal)
Current champions	1. FC Magdeburg (2021–22)
Most successful club	Dynamo Dresden 1. FC Magdeburg VfL Osnabrück (2 titles)
Website	Official website
2023–24

The 3. Liga (3. Fußball-Liga), is the third division of football in Germany. The league started with the beginning of the 2008–09 season, when it replaced the Regionalliga as the third tier football league in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the semi-professional Regionalliga, which became the fourth division and initially consisted of three groups of 18 clubs playing separately. In Germany, the 3. Liga is the highest division that a football club's reserve team can play in.

History

On 8 September 2006, the German Football Association, the DFB, announced the formation of the 3. Liga. It was originally anticipated that the league's name would be 3. Bundesliga, but the DFB chose 3. Liga instead, reflecting the fact that the league will be directly administered by the DFB, not by the German Football League DFL (Deutsche Fußball Liga) who runs both Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga.

The first match of the 3. Liga was played on 25 July 2008 between FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt and Dynamo Dresden at the Steigerwaldstadion in Erfurt. Dynamo Dresden won the match 1–0, with Halil Savran scoring the only goal in the closing stages of the first half.

Financial situation

From its foundation in 2008 to 2013 the league had been operating on a financial loss, with a record deficit of €20.9 million in 2012–13. The 2013–14 season saw the league make a profit for the first time, being €4.9 million in the plus. The league earned €164.5 million, well behind the two Bundesligas above it but also well ahead of other professional sports leagues in Germany with the Deutsche Eishockey Liga following with €106.1 million and the Basketball Bundesliga and Handball-Bundesliga sitting around the €90 million mark. This makes it the third-most economically successful professional league in all German sports.

2016–17 teams

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
VfR Aalen	Aalen	Scholz-Arena	14,500
Chemnitzer FC	Chemnitz	Stadion an der Gellertstraße	18,712
MSV Duisburg	Duisburg	MSV-Arena	31,500
Rot-Weiß Erfurt	Erfurt	Steigerwaldstadion	18,611
FSV Frankfurt	Frankfurt	Frankfurter Volksbank Stadion	12,542
Hallescher FC	Halle	Erdgas Sportpark	15,057
Holstein Kiel	Kiel	Holstein-Stadion	11,386
Fortuna Köln	Cologne	Südstadion	14,800
Sportfreunde Lotte	Lotte	Sportpark am Lotter Kreuz	7,414
1. FC Magdeburg	Magdeburg	MDCC-Arena	27,500
Mainz 05 II	Mainz	Stadion am Bruchweg	20,300
Preußen Münster	Münster	Preußenstadion	15,050
VfL Osnabrück	Osnabrück	Osnatel-Arena	16,667
SC Paderborn	Paderborn	Benteler Arena	15,000
Jahn Regensburg	Regensburg	Continental Arena	15,224
Hansa Rostock	Rostock	DKB-Arena	29,000
SG Sonnenhof Großaspach	Aspach	Mechatronik Arena	10,000
SV Wehen Wiesbaden	Wiesbaden	BRITA-Arena	12,250
Werder Bremen II	Bremen	Weserstadion Platz 11	5,500
FSV Zwickau	Zwickau	Stadion Zwickau	10,049

External links

• Deutscher Fußball-Bund (DFB) (German)
• kicker.de (German)
• 3. Liga at Weltfussball.de (German)
• German 3.Liga (www.3-liga.com) (German)
• 3. Liga at Soccerway.com
• League321.com – German football league tables, records & statistics database