The 2013–14 3. Liga was the sixth season of the 3. Liga, Germany's third-level football league.
The league consisted of twenty teams: The teams placed fourth through seventeenth of the 2012–13 season, the worst two teams from the 2012–13 2nd Bundesliga, the three promoted teams the 2012–13 Fußball-Regionalliga and the losers of the relegation play-off between the 16th-placed 2nd Bundesliga team and the third-placed 3rd Liga team.
Teams At the end of the 2012–13 season, Karlsruher SC and Arminia Bielefeld were directly promoted to the 2013–14 2nd Bundesliga. Karlsruhe made an immediate return to the 2nd Bundesliga after being relegated in 2011–12. Bielefeld returned to the 2nd Bundesliga after two seasons in the third tier. The two promoted teams were to be replaced by Jahn Regensburg and SV Sandhausen, who finished in the bottom two places of the 2012–13 2nd Bundesliga table and thus were to be directly relegated. Both Regensburg and Sandhausen were to be relegated after cameo appearances in the 2nd Bundesliga. However, MSV Duisburg were denied a licence for the 2nd Bundesliga (though not the licence for the 3rd Liga) and were relegated. Sandhausen were given the free place in the 2nd Bundesliga.
At the other end of the table, Alemannia Aachen, SV Babelsberg 03 and SV Darmstadt 98 were to be relegated to the 2013–14 Regionalliga; Aachen entered the Regionalliga West. Babelsberg would be going to the Regionalliga North-East and Darmstadt were supposed to be relegated to the Regionalliga South-West. However, Kickers Offenbach were denied the license for the 3rd League and Darmstadt were instead allowed to stay in the 3rd League. Offenbach relegated to the Regionalliga South-West.
The three relegated teams were replaced by the three winners of the 2012–13 Regionalliga promotion playoffs. RB Leipzig from the North-Eastern division and SV Elversberg from the South-Western Division are playing their debut seasons in the 3rd Liga, while Holstein Kiel from the Northern division returned to the national level of football after three seasons in the fourth tier Regionalliga.
A further place in the league was available via a two-legged play-off between third-placed 2012–13 3rd Liga team VfL Osnabrück and 16th-placed 2012–13 2. Bundesliga sides Dynamo Dresden. The tie ended 2–1 on aggregate and saw Dresden remain in the 2nd Bundesliga.
Stadiums and locations
Team Location Stadium Stadium capacity Chemnitzer FC Chemnitz Stadion an der Gellertstraße 18,712 Darmstadt Stadion am Böllenfalltor 19,000 Dortmund Stadion Rote Erde 10,000 Duisburg Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena 31,500 Spiesen-Elversberg Waldstadion 5,305 Hallescher FC Halle Erdgas Sportpark 15,057 Hansa Rostock Rostock DKB-Arena 29,000 Heidenheim Voith-Arena 13,000 Holstein Kiel Kiel Holstein-Stadion 11,386 Jahn Regensburg Regensburg Jahnstadion 12,500 Osnabrück Osnatel-Arena 16,667 Preußen Münster Münster Preußenstadion 15,050 RB Leipzig Leipzig Red Bull Arena 44,345 Rot-Weiß Erfurt Erfurt Steigerwaldstadion 17,500 Saarbrücken Ludwigspark 35,303 Stuttgart Gazi-Stadion auf der Waldau 10,100 Stuttgarter Kickers Stuttgart Gazi-Stadion auf der Waldau 10,100 Unterhaching Stadion am Sportpark 15,053 Burghausen Wacker-Arena 10,000 Wiesbaden BRITA-Arena 12,250
Personnel and sponsorships TeamHead coachTeam captainKitmakerShirt sponsor Chemnitzer FC Karsten Heine Silvio Bankertadidasaetka Communication Center SV Darmstadt 98 Dirk Schuster Aytac SuluNikeSoftware AG Borussia Dortmund II David Wagner David SolgaPumaEvonik MSV Duisburg Karsten Baumann Branimir BajićNikeRhein-Power SV Elversberg Roland Seitz Timo WenzeladidasBromelain-POS Hallescher FC Sven Köhler Maik WagefeldReebokHalplus Hansa Rostock Dirk Lottner Sebastian PelzerNikeVeolia 1. FC Heidenheim Frank Schmidt Marc SchnattererNikeHartmann GruppeHolstein Kiel Karsten Neitzel Rafael KazioradidasFamila Jahn Regensburg Thomas Stratos Sebastian NachreinerSallerHändlmaier VfL Osnabrück Maik Walpurgis Paul ThomikadidasSparkasse Osnabrück Preußen Münster Ralf Loose Stefan KühneNikeTuja ZeitarbeitRB Leipzig Alexander Zorniger Daniel FrahnadidasRed Bull Rot-Weiß Erfurt Walter Kogler Nils Pfingsten-ReddigSallerThüringer Energie AG 1. FC Saarbrücken Fuat Kilic (Interim) Timo OchsNikeVictor's Residenz-Hotels VfB Stuttgart II Jürgen Kramny Tobias RathgebPumaGAZI Stuttgarter Kickers Horst Steffen Vincenzo MarcheseUmbroSubaru SpVgg Unterhaching Christian Ziege Maximilian WelzmülleradidasAlpenbauer Wacker Burghausen Uwe Wolf Marco HolzHummelOMV SV Wehen Wiesbaden Marc Kienle Nico HerzigNikeBrita
Managerial changes Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointmentRot-Weiß Erfurt Alois SchwartzResigned13 May 2013Pre-season Walter Kogler20 June 2013SSV Jahn Regensburg Franciszek SmudaResigned14 May 2013 Thomas Stratos11 June 2013Holstein Kiel Thorsten GutzeitResigned4 June 2013 Karsten Neitzel18 June 2013VfL Osnabrück Alexander UkrowEnd of tenure as caretaker22 June 2013 Maik Walpurgis23 June 2013Hansa Rostock Marc FascherEnd of contract30 June 2013 Andreas Bergmann1 July 2013MSV Duisburg Kosta RunjaićResigned1 July 2013 Karsten Baumann8 July 2013SV Elversberg Jens KieferResigned22 August 201319th Dietmar Hirsch2 September 2013Preußen Münster Pavel DochevSacked5 September 201316th Ralf Loose15 September 20131. FC Saarbrücken Jürgen LugingerSacked5 September 201318th Milan Šašić13 September 2013Wacker Burghausen Georgi DonkovSacked5 September 201320th Uwe Wolf13 September 2013Stuttgarter Kickers Massimo MoralesSacked9 September 201318th Horst Steffen30 September 2013Chemnitzer FC Gerd SchädlichResigned6 October 201315th Karsten Heine9 October 2013SV Wehen Wiesbaden Peter VollmannMutual consent21 October 20137th Marc Kienle28 October 2013SpVgg Unterhaching Claus SchrommPromoted to Director of Sport4 January 201410th Manuel Baum4 January 20141. FC Saarbrücken Milan ŠašićResigned10 February 201420th Fuat Kılıç12 February 2014SpVgg Unterhaching Manuel BaumSacked20 March 201418th Christian Ziege20 March 2014SV Elversberg Dietmar HirschSacked14 April 201418th Roland Seitz14 April 2014Hansa Rostock Andreas BergmannSacked16 April 201412th Dirk Lottner16 April 2014
League table
Results
Top goalscorers As of 10 May 2014
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Dominik Stroh-EngelSV Darmstadt 98272 Daniel FrahnRB Leipzig193 Kingsley OnuegbuMSV Duisburg144 Dominik KaiserRB Leipzig13 Marc Schnatterer1. FC Heidenheim6 Marvin DuckschBorussia Dortmund II12 Anton FinkChemnitzer FC Timo FuruholmHallescher FC Vincenzo MarcheseStuttgarter Kickers10 Abdenour AmachaibouJahn Regensburg11 Sören BertramHallescher FC Adriano GrimaldiVfL Osnabrück
Player awards The following players were named as player of the month throughout the season.
August: Kingsley Onuegbu (MSV Duisburg) September: Michael Ratajczak (MSV Duisburg) October: Odisseas Vlachodimos (VfB Stuttgart II) November: Leonhard Haas (Hansa Rostock) December: David Blacha (Hansa Rostock) February: Francky Sembolo (Hallescher FC) March: Michael Gardawski (MSV Duisburg)
References
External links 3rd Liga on DFB page