The Middle Rhine Cup (German: Mittelrheinpokal) is a German football club Cup competition open to teams from the Lower Rhine region of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The competition is one of the 21 regional cup competitions of German football and acts as a qualifier to the following seasons' German Cup.
The competition is sponsored by the Bitburger brewery and carries the official name Bitburger Mittelrheinpokal. It is operated by the Middle Rhine Football Association, the FVM.Bitburger-Pokal 2011/12: Wer ist dabei? FVM website. Retrieved 9 July 2012
Modus Clubs from fully professional leagues are not permitted to enter the competition, meaning, no teams from the Fußball-Bundesliga and the 2nd Bundesliga can compete.
All clubs from the Middle Rhine playing in the 3. Liga (III) and the Regionalliga West (IV) are directly qualified for the first round, the remaining places are filled with the teams who qualified from local cup competitions, the Kreispokale. All up, 32 clubs take part in the first round of the competition.
Since the establishment of the 3. Liga in 2008, reserve teams can not take part in the German Cup or the Middle Rhine Cup anymore.
Winners The winners of the competition since 1993:FVM-Pokalsieger Herren FVM website – Winners of the Middle Rhine Cup. Retrieved 9 July 2012
Club Wins Years FC Viktoria Köln 9 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025, 2026 Alemannia Aachen 6 1993, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2019, 2024 Bayer Leverkusen II 5 1996, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2007 TSV Germania Windeck 3 2009, 2010, 2011 1. FC Köln Amateure 3 1995, 2004, 2005 Alemannia Aachen II 2 2002, 2006 Bonner SC 1 2017 SC Fortuna Köln 1 2013 FC Hennef 05 1 2012 FC Wegberg-Beeck 1 2008 Blau-Weiß Brühl 1 2001 1. FC Düren 1 2020
References
Sources Deutschlands Fußball in Zahlen, An annual publication with tables and results from the Bundesliga to Verbandsliga/Landesliga, publisher: DSFS
External links Fussball.de: Middle Rhine Cup Bitburger-Pokal FVM website