The 2020–21 3. Liga was the 13th season of the 3. Liga. It began on 18 September 2020 and concluded on 22 May 2021. The season was originally scheduled to begin on 24 July 2020 and conclude on 15 May 2021, though this was delayed due to postponement of the previous season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fixtures were announced on 20 August 2020.
Dynamo Dresden and Hansa Rostock got promoted directly, while FC Ingolstadt won the promotion play-offs. Originally, SV Meppen, Bayern Munich II, VfB Lübeck and SpVgg Unterhaching were relegated; however, KFC Uerdingen was unable to obtain a 3. Liga license for the 2021–22 season and was therefore relegated, sparing SV Meppen from relegation.
Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic Unlike other competitions organised by the DFB and DFL, the clubs of the 3. Liga initially voted to allow for only three substitutes during the 2020–21 season. Five substitutions were permitted in the 3. Liga at the end of the previous season to lessen the impact of fixture congestion caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and competition organisers had the option to use the rule until 2021. On 11 January 2021, the DFB Executive Committee approved the use of five substitutions for the second half of the season from 22 January (matchday 20 onward), following a secondary vote by the 20 clubs. However, the number of players permitted on the bench remained at seven. Rescheduled matches from the first half of the season (matchday 19 and earlier) remained limited to three substitutions.
Teams
Team changes Promoted from 2019–20 Regionalliga Relegated from 2019–20 2. Bundesliga Promoted to 2020–21 2. Bundesliga Relegated from 2019–20 3. Liga VfB LübeckTürkgücü München1. FC SaarbrückenSC Verl Wehen WiesbadenDynamo Dresden Würzburger KickersEintracht Braunschweig Chemnitzer FCPreußen MünsterSonnenhof GroßaspachCarl Zeiss Jena
Stadiums and locations Team Location Stadium Capacity Dynamo Dresden Dresden Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion 32,066 MSV Duisburg Duisburg Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena 31,500 Hallescher FC Halle Erdgas Sportpark 15,057 FC Ingolstadt Ingolstadt Audi Sportpark 15,000 1. FC Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern Fritz-Walter-Stadion 49,780 Viktoria Köln Cologne Sportpark Höhenberg 10,001 VfB Lübeck Lübeck Stadion Lohmühle 17,849 1. FC Magdeburg Magdeburg MDCC-Arena 27,500 Waldhof Mannheim Mannheim Carl-Benz-Stadion 25,667 SV Meppen Meppen Hänsch-Arena 16,500 1860 Munich Munich Grünwalder Stadion 15,000 Bayern Munich II Munich Grünwalder StadionFC Bayern Campus1 15,0002,500 Türkgücü München Munich Olympiastadion2Grünwalder Stadion 69,25015,000 Hansa Rostock Rostock Ostseestadion 29,000 1. FC Saarbrücken SaarbrückenFrankfurtVölklingen LudwigsparkstadionPSD Bank ArenaHermann-Neuberger-Stadion3 16,00312,5426,800 KFC Uerdingen DüsseldorfLotte Merkur Spiel-ArenaStadion am Lotter Kreuz4 54,60010,059 SpVgg Unterhaching Unterhaching Sportpark Unterhaching 15,053 SC Verl VerlPaderborn Sportclub ArenaBenteler-Arena5 5,15315,000 Wehen Wiesbaden Wiesbaden BRITA-Arena 12,250 FSV Zwickau Zwickau GGZ-Arena Zwickau 10,049
1 Bayern Munich II will play their home match against 1. FC Magdeburg at FC Bayern Campus to take strain off the Grünwalder Stadion, since it is being used by three teams and would have to host four matches in one week otherwise. 2 Türkgücü München will play up to eight of their home matches at the Olympiastadion and the remainder at the Grünwalder Stadion. 3 1. FC Saarbrücken played their home match against VfB Lübeck at the PSD Bank Arena in Frankfurt and their home match against 1860 Munich at the Hermann-Neuberger-Stadion in Völklingen because their regular home stadium was rendered unusable due to snowfall. 4 KFC Uerdingen played their first ten home matches at the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Düsseldorf while their home stadium, the Grotenburg-Stadion in Krefeld, is being renovated. The club moved to the Stadion am Lotter Kreuz in Lotte for the rest of the season since they could no longer afford to pay the rent for the Merkur Spiel-Arena. 5 SC Verl will play their home matches at the Benteler-Arena since their home stadium, the Sportclub Arena in Verl, did not meet 3. Liga standards. As only a limited number of spectators was permitted, the DFB allowed Verl to play three matches in their home stadium.
Personnel and kits Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt sponsor Sleeve sponsor Dynamo Dresden Alexander Schmidt Sebastian Mai Craft ALL-INKL.COM AOK Plus MSV Duisburg Pavel Dochev Moritz Stoppelkamp Capelli Iberostar Group Rheinpower Hallescher FC Florian Schnorrenberg Jonas Nietfeld Puma sunmaker Autohaus König FC Ingolstadt Tomas Oral Stefan Kutschke Puma PROSIS Audi Schanzer Fußballschule 1. FC Kaiserslautern Marco Antwerpen Carlo Sickinger Nike Allgäuer Latschenkiefer Viktoria Köln Olaf Janßen Mike Wunderlich Puma ETL Wintec Autoglas VfB Lübeck Rolf Landerl Tommy Grupe Hummel Hansebelt Mayo Feinkost 1. FC Magdeburg Christian Titz Tobias Müller Uhlsport sunmaker SWM Magdeburg Waldhof Mannheim Patrick Glöckner Kevin Conrad Capelli sunmaker SV Meppen Mario Neumann Thilo Leugers Nike KiK xxl Echt Emsland 1860 Munich Michael Köllner Sascha Mölders Nike Die Bayerische Bet3000 Bayern Munich II Holger Seitz Nicolas Feldhahn Adidas Magenta Sport Tipico Türkgücü München Andreas Pummer Sercan Sararer Capelli Yayla Hansa Rostock Jens Härtel Markus Kolke Nike sunmaker SoftClean 1. FC Saarbrücken Lukas Kwasniok Manuel Zeitz Adidas Victor's Lotto Saartoto KFC Uerdingen Jürgen Press / Stefan Reisinger Assani Lukimya Capelli SWK SpVgg Unterhaching Arie van Lent Josef Welzmüller Adidas frostkrone Süd-Hansa SC Verl Guerino Capretti Julian Stöckner Joma Beckhoff Frankenfeld Wehen Wiesbaden Rüdiger Rehm Sebastian Mrowca Capelli Brita FSV Zwickau Joe Enochs Johannes Brinkies Puma sunmaker ATUS
Managerial changes Team Outgoing Exit date Position in table Incoming Incoming date Announced on Departed on Announced on Arrived on Türkgücü München Reiner Maurer End of contract 1 June 2020 31 May 2020Pre-season Alexander Schmidt 26 June 2020 SV Meppen Christian Neidhart Mutual consent 19 June 2020 4 July 2020 Torsten Frings 14 July 2020 Waldhof Mannheim Bernhard Trares End of contract 1 July 2020 Patrick Glöckner20 July 2020 Bayern Munich II Sebastian Hoeneß Signed for 1899 Hoffenheim27 July 2020 Holger Seitz25 August 2020 SpVgg Unterhaching Claus Schromm Moved to sporting director29 July 2020 Arie van Lent18 August 2020 1. FC Kaiserslautern Boris SchommersSacked29 September 2020 20th Jeff Saibene2 October 2020 MSV Duisburg Torsten Lieberknecht10 November 2020 17th Gino Lettieri 11 November 2020 15 November 2020 Viktoria Köln Pavel Dochev24 January 2021 13th Daniel Zillken / Markus Brzenska (interim)24 January 2021 MSV Duisburg Gino Lettieri27 January 2021 19th Uwe Schubert (interim)27 January 2021 1. FC Kaiserslautern Jeff Saibene30 January 2021 16th Marco Antwerpen1 February 2021 MSV Duisburg Uwe Schubert (interim) End of caretaker spell2 February 202119th Pavel Dochev2 February 2021 1. FC Magdeburg Thomas HoßmangSacked9 February 2021 Christian Titz12 February 2021 Türkgücü München Alexander Schmidt 7th Andreas Pummer (interim)9 February 2021 Türkgücü München Andreas Pummer (interim)End of caretaker23 February 2021 5th Serdar Dayat23 February 2021 Viktoria Köln Daniel Zillken / Markus Brzenska (interim)1 February 2021 14th Olaf Janßen1 February 2021 Bayern Munich II Holger Seitz Moving to campus sporting director 2 April 2021 4 April 2021 15th Martín Demichelis / Danny Schwarz 2 April 2021 4 April 2021 KFC Uerdingen Stefan KrämerSacked13 April 2021 17h Jürgen Press / Stefan Reisinger (interim)13 April 2021 SV Meppen Torsten Frings14 April 202115th Mario Neumann (interim)14 April 2021 Mario Neumann (interim) End of caretaker spell20 April 2021 Rico Schmitt20 April 2021 Dynamo Dresden Markus Kauczinski Sacked25 April 2021 4th Alexander Schmidt26 April 2021 Türkgücü München Serdar Dayat Mutual consent6 May 2021 10th Andreas Pummer (interim)6 May 2021
League table
Results
Top scorers Rank Player Club Goals 1 Sascha Mölders1860 Munich 22 2 Terrence BoydHallescher FC 183 Zlatko JanjićSC Verl14 Nicklas Shipnoski1. FC Saarbrücken Aygün YıldırımSC Verl6 Stefan KutschkeFC Ingolstadt13 Dominik MartinovićWaldhof Mannheim Petar SliškovićTürkgücü München9 Christoph DafernerDynamo Dresden12 Maurice MaloneWehen Wiesbaden John VerhoekHansa Rostock
Number of teams by state PositionStateNumber of teamsTeams15FC Ingolstadt, Bayern Munich II, 1860 Munich, Türkgücü München and SpVgg Unterhaching24MSV Duisburg, Viktoria Köln, KFC Uerdingen and SC Verl32Dynamo Dresden and FSV Zwickau2Hallescher FC and 1. FC Magdeburg51Waldhof Mannheim1Wehen Wiesbaden1SV Meppen 1Hansa Rostock11. FC Kaiserslautern11. FC Saarbrücken1VfB Lübeck
Notes
References