The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga.
The modern 3. Liga was formed for the 2008–09 season, replacing the Regionalliga, which had previously served as the third-tier in the country. In Germany, the 3. Liga is also the highest division that a club's reserve team can play in.
History
In January 2006, the discussion was made about a reorganization of the amateur leagues and the establishment of a single-track "3. Bundesliga". The aim of the reform was to create a great performance density for the substructure of the 2. Bundesliga with better support and development opportunities for talented players. In addition, better marketing of the third division should be achieved. A violent dispute broke out in the run-up to the decision scheduled for September 2006 at the DFB-Bundestag about the participation of second teams in the first and second division. After the U23 teams of the professional clubs were initially not supposed to take part in the newly created league for reasons of distortion of competition and low attendance, several Bundesliga clubs demanded, an unrestricted right to participate. Ultimately, a compromise was worked out that initially only allowed four-second substitutes to play in the inaugural season of the third division.
On 8 September 2006, the introduction of the single-track 3. Liga was finally decided at an extraordinary DFB Bundestag. Half of the clubs from the existing Regionalliga North and South were able to qualify for the premiere season, plus four relegated teams from the 2. Bundesliga. 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, as 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. On 10 April 2008, the DFB presented the logo for the new division to the public.
In contrast to the introduction of the 2. Liga in 1974 or the merging of the north and south seasons to form the single-track 2. Bundesliga for the 1981–82 season, there was no multi-year rating when determining the participants for the first season of the new 3. Liga. It was only the performance of the teams in the qualifying period of the Regionalliga relays were athletically qualified for the 3. Liga. In addition, there were four 2. Liga relegated teams in the 2007–08 season. The Regionalliga players who were not qualified for the new division after completing the admission process competed in the new three-pronged fourth division Regionalliga, provided they were granted a license for this.
The first match of the 3. Liga was played on 25 July 2008 between 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. The first goal scorer in the 3. Liga was Halil Savran and the first table leader was SC Paderborn 07. The first champions of the 3. Liga were 1. FC Union Berlin on 9 May 2009, who received the eight-and-a-half-kilogram silver championship trophy.
In the 2018–19 season, four relegated teams were determined for the first time in the history of the 3. Liga, and for the first-time regular Monday games took place. Furthermore, for the first time no U23 team from a higher-class club was able to qualify for the league. With the relegation of the last founding member of the 3. Liga, FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt, in the preseason, for the first time, no team that been part of the league without interruption took part in the game. In addition, at the beginning of the 2018–19 season, the DFB and Adidas signed a partner contract that would run until the end of the 2021–22 season, according to which the company provides a uniform match ball; in all previous seasons each club had its own ball sponsor. The first ball provided by Adidas for all the clubs was the Telstar 18, which was also used at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
For the 2019–20 season, as in the two national leagues, warnings for club officials were introduced in the form of cards. On the 13th match day, the DFB expanded the regulation by an addition – as with players, club officials are threatened with suspension of more than one game and yellow card suspensions after being sent off after being checked by the competent authority. In view of the global COVID-19 pandemic, game operations had to be temporarily suspended after 27 match days on 11 March 2020 and finally completely ceased on 16 March; the measure was initially valid until 30 April 2020. On 3 April, the DFB announced extensive changes to the game rules as a result. Among other things, it was possible to carry out seasonal operations beyond 30 June 2020, so the following season was opened later than the planned time. Ultimately, the final game day took place on 4 July 2020. In addition, a possible application to open insolvency proceedings within the 2019–20 season would no longer have resulted in a point deduction, in the following season only three points would be deducted instead of the usual nine; from the 2021–22 season onwards, the usual regulation should apply again. On 21 May, it was decided to resume game operations on 30 May, and the DFB and DFL had worked out a hygiene concept for all three leagues with the help of the "Task Force Sports Medicine/Special Game Operations". In parallel to the two national leagues, the DFB increased the substitutions quota per team from three to five player for the 3. Liga until the end of the season, and the third-highest German division was not allowed be played in front of spectators.
While small numbers of spectators were allowed from the start of the 2020–21 season under certain conditions, it was decided in an internal league survey to limit the substitution contingent to three players again.
Financial situation From its foundation in 2008 to 2013, the league operated at 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, of €4.9 million. The league earned €164.5 million, well behind the two Bundesligas above it, but also well ahead of other professional sports leagues in Germany. The Deutsche Eishockey Liga followed with €106.1 million and the Basketball Bundesliga and Handball-Bundesliga were each around the €90 million mark. This makes it the third-most economically successful professional league in all German sports.
Clubs Since the establishment of the 3. Liga in 2008, a total of 68 clubs have played in this division. In the 2023–24 season, SSV Ulm were represented in the league for the first time. The last club that had been in the 3. Liga without interruption since it was founded in 2008 is FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt, who were relegated in 2018. The club with the longest uninterrupted spell playing in 3. Liga in the league's history is Hallescher FC (12 seasons between 2012–13 and 2023–24), and the club with the longest ongoing run is TSV 1860 Munich (2018–19 to present). The club with the most seasons in the 3. Liga in total is SV Wehen Wiesbaden (15).
Members of and stadia in the 2025-26 3. Liga:
Team Location Stadium Capacity Alemannia Aachen Aachen Tivoli 32,960 Erzgebirge Aue Aue-Bad Schlema Erzgebirgsstadion 16,485 Energie Cottbus Cottbus Stadion der Freundschaft 22,528 MSV Duisburg Duisburg MSV-Arena 31,514 Rot-Weiss Essen Essen Stadion an der Hafenstraße 19,962 TSV Havelse Garbsen Eilenriedestadion 5,001 TSG Hoffenheim II Hoffenheim Dietmar-Hopp-Stadion 6,350 FC Ingolstadt Ingolstadt Audi Sportpark 15,200 Viktoria Köln Cologne Sportpark Höhenberg 8,343 Waldhof Mannheim Mannheim Carl-Benz-Stadion 24,302 1860 Munich Munich Grünwalder Stadion 15,000 VfL Osnabrück Osnabrück Stadion an der Bremer Brücke 15,741 Jahn Regensburg Regensburg Jahnstadion Regensburg 15,210 Hansa Rostock Rostock Ostseestadion 29,000 1. FC Saarbrücken Saarbrücken Ludwigsparkstadion 16,003 Schweinfurt 05 Schweinfurt Sachs-Stadion 12,000 VfB Stuttgart II Aspach WIRmachenDRUCK Arena 10,001 SSV Ulm Ulm Donaustadion 19,500 SC Verl Verl Sportclub Arena 5,207 Wehen Wiesbaden Wiesbaden BRITA-Arena 15,295
Seasons in 3. Liga There are 70 teams that have taken part in 19 3. Liga seasons from the 2008–09 season until the 2026–27 season. The teams in bold compete in the 3. Liga currently. The year in brackets represents the most recent year of participation at this level.
16 seasons: Wehen Wiesbaden (2027) 13 seasons: SpVgg Unterhaching (2025), VfL Osnabrück (2026), Hansa Rostock (2027) 12 seasons: Hallescher FC (2024) 11 seasons: Preußen Münster (2027), 1. FC Saarbrücken (2027), VfB Stuttgart II (2027) 10 seasons: Rot-Weiß Erfurt (2018), MSV Duisburg (2027), Jahn Regensburg (2027) 9 seasons: Dynamo Dresden (2025) 8 seasons: Chemnitzer FC (2020), Borussia Dortmund II (2025), 1860 Munich (2026), FC Ingolstadt (2027), Viktoria Köln (2027), Waldhof Mannheim (2027) 7 seasons: Werder Bremen II (2018), VfR Aalen (2019), Carl Zeiss Jena (2020), FSV Zwickau (2023), Erzgebirge Aue (2026), Sonnenhof Großaspach (2027), SV Meppen (2027), SC Verl (2027) 6 seasons: Wacker Burghausen (2014), Eintracht Braunschweig (2022), 1. FC Magdeburg (2022), SV Sandhausen (2025), Fortuna Köln (2027), Würzburger Kickers (2027) 5 seasons: Kickers Offenbach (2013), 1. FC Heidenheim (2014), Stuttgarter Kickers (2016), Holstein Kiel (2017), Bayern Munich II (2021), Arminia Bielefeld (2025), Energie Cottbus (2026), Rot-Weiss Essen (2027) 4 seasons: 1. FC Kaiserslautern (2022), Alemannia Aachen (2027) 3 seasons: SV Babelsberg (2013), Darmstadt 98 (2014), Mainz 05 II (2017), SC Paderborn (2018), Karlsruher SC (2019), Sportfreunde Lotte (2019), KFC Uerdingen (2021), SC Freiburg II (2024), TSV Havelse (2027) 2 seasons: Wuppertaler SV (2010), Türkgücü München (2022), SV Elversberg (2023), VfB Lübeck (2024), SSV Ulm (2026), Fortuna Düsseldorf (2027), TSG Hoffenheim II (2027) 1 season: Union Berlin (2009), Kickers Emden (2009), Rot Weiss Ahlen (2011), TuS Koblenz (2011), Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (2012), RB Leipzig (2014), FSV Frankfurt (2017), Viktoria Berlin (2022), SpVgg Bayreuth (2023), VfB Oldenburg (2023), Hannover 96 II (2025), 1. FC Schweinfurt (2026)
Structure Season 3. Liga Champion 2008–09 1. FC Union Berlin 2009–10 VfL Osnabrück 2010–11 Eintracht Braunschweig 2011–12 SV Sandhausen 2012–13 Karlsruher SC 2013–14 1. FC Heidenheim 2014–15 Arminia Bielefeld 2015–16 Dynamo Dresden 2016–17 MSV Duisburg 2017–18 1. FC Magdeburg 2018–19 VfL Osnabrück 2019–20 FC Bayern München II 2020–21 Dynamo Dresden 2021–22 1. FC Magdeburg 2022–23 SV Elversberg 2023–24 SSV Ulm 2024–25 Arminia Bielefeld 2025–26 VfL Osnabrück
Since the first season in 2008–09, 20 teams have been playing in the 2. Bundesliga. The top two teams are promoted directly, the third-placed team has to play for promotion in a two-leg play-off against the team third from the bottom of the 2. Bundesliga. The three (from the 2018–19 season four) last-placed teams will be relegated to the fourth-tier Regionalliga and will be replaced by four (until 2018–19 three) promoted teams from the Regionalligas. The four best teams in the league qualify for the DFB-Pokal.