The 2008–09 3. Liga was the inaugural season for the newly formed tier III of the German football league system. The inaugural game was played on 25 July 2008 between FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt and Dynamo Dresden, ending with a 1–0 win for Dresden. The last games were played on 23 May 2009. 1. FC Union Berlin were the inaugural champions, securing first place on 10 May 2009. Runners-up Fortuna Düsseldorf were also promoted. Third-placed team SC Paderborn 07 played a relegation/promotion play-off against the 16th-placed team from 2. Bundesliga, VfL Osnabrück, winning both games and earning promotion. Kickers Emden, VfR Aalen, and Stuttgarter Kickers were relegated to the Regionalliga.
Qualified teams
The following teams were relegated to 3. Liga from 2007–08 2. Bundesliga: Kickers Offenbach FC Erzgebirge Aue SC Paderborn 07 FC Carl Zeiss Jena
The following teams qualified through Regionalliga North: Fortuna Düsseldorf 1. FC Union Berlin SV Werder Bremen II Wuppertaler SV Borussia FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt Dynamo Dresden Kickers Emden Eintracht Braunschweig
The following teams qualified through Regionalliga South: VfB Stuttgart II VfR Aalen SV Sandhausen SpVgg Unterhaching SV Wacker Burghausen FC Bayern Munich II SSV Jahn Regensburg Stuttgarter Kickers
Teams, Head Coach, Cities and Stadiums TeamHead CoachCityStadiumCapacityVfR Aalen Rainer ScharingerAalenStädtisches Waldstadion11,183FC Erzgebirge Aue Heiko WeberAueErzgebirgsstadion16,3501. FC Union Berlin Uwe NeuhausBerlinFriedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark119,708Eintracht Braunschweig Torsten LieberknechtBraunschweigEintracht-Stadion23,500SV Werder Bremen II Thomas WolterBremenWeserstadion Platz 115,500SV Wacker Burghausen Ralf Santelli (interim) BurghausenWacker Arena8,400Dynamo Dresden Ruud KaiserDresdenRudolf Harbig Stadion23,940Fortuna Düsseldorf Norbert MeierDüsseldorfLTU-Arena51,500Kickers Emden Stefan EmmerlingEmdenEmbdena-Stadion7,200FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt Henri Fuchs (interim)ErfurtSteigerwaldstadion20,000FC Carl Zeiss Jena Marc FascherJenaErnst-Abbe-Sportfeld15,610FC Bayern Munich II Mehmet Scholl (interim)MunichGrünwalder Stadion10,240Kickers Offenbach Hans-Jürgen BoysenOffenbach am MainBieberer Berg Stadion31,500SC Paderborn 07 André Schubert (interim)PaderbornParagon Arena15,300SSV Jahn Regensburg Markus WeinzierlRegensburgJahnstadion11,800SV Sandhausen Gerd DaisSandhausenHardtwaldstadion11,544Stuttgarter Kickers Rainer KraftStuttgartGAZi-Stadion auf der Waldau11,436VfB Stuttgart II Rainer AdrionStuttgartGAZi-Stadion auf der Waldau11,436SpVgg Unterhaching Ralph HasenhüttlUnterhachingGenerali Sportpark15,053Wuppertaler SV Borussia Uwe FuchsWuppertalZoo-Stadion28,000 Notes 1. FC Union Berlin played its 2008–09 home matches at Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark because their own ground Alte Försterei was undergoing renovation.
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Replaced by Date of appointmentVfR Aalen Edgar SchmittSacked27 August 2008 Jürgen Kohler28 August 2008FC Carl Zeiss Jena Henning BürgerSacked14 September 2008 René van Eck22 September 2008Stuttgarter Kickers Stefan MinkwitzSacked21 September 2008 Edgar Schmitt21 September 2008VfR Aalen Jürgen KohlerResigned15 November 2008 Petrik Sander21 November 2008SSV Jahn Regensburg Thomas KristlSacked24 November 2008 Markus Weinzierl24 November 2008Wuppertaler SV Borussia Christoph JohnSacked22 December 2008 Uwe Fuchs23 December 2008FC Carl Zeiss Jena René van EckSacked23 March 2009 Marc Fascher23 March 2009Stuttgarter Kickers Edgar SchmittResigned14 April 2009 Rainer Kraft14 April 2009SV Wacker Burghausen Günter GüttlerSacked15 April 2009 Ralf Santelli (interim)15 April 2009FC Bayern Munich II Hermann Gerland "Promoted" to interim assistant coach of first team27 April 2009 Mehmet Scholl (interim)27 April 2009FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt Karsten Baumann Sacked28 April 2009 Henri Fuchs (interim)28 April 2009VfR Aalen Petrik SanderResigned5 May 2009 Rainer Scharinger6 May 2009SC Paderborn 07 Pavel DotchevSacked13 May 2009 André Schubert13 May 2009
League table
Results
Top scorers Source: www.kicker.de 21 goals Anton Fink (SpVgg Unterhaching)
17 goals Sercan Güvenisik (SC Paderborn 07) Torsten Oehrl (SV Werder Bremen II)
16 goals Karim Benyamina (1. FC Union Berlin)
15 goals Thomas Müller (FC Bayern Munich II)
14 goals Frank Löning (SC Paderborn 07) Halil Savran (Dynamo Dresden)
12 goals Massimo Cannizzaro (FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt) Marco Sailer (VfR Aalen)
References
External links 3. Liga at the official German FA website