American football Regionalliga

The American football Regionalliga is the third tier of American football in Germany, below the German Football League and the German Football League 2.[1]

American football Regionalliga
SportAmerican football
Founded1985
No. of teams32
Country Germany
Most recent
champion(s)		North: Ritterhude Badgers
East: Rostock Griffins
West: Assindia Cardinals
Central: Ravensburg Razorbacks
South: Straubing Spiders

The league is subdivided into five regional divisions, the Regionalligas (English: Regional league) Nord (North), Ost (East), West, Mitte (Central) and Süd (South).[2]

History

The league was formed in 1985 with two regional divisions, Central and West. The number of divisions changed frequently in the following years, as did the name of the league, changing to Verbandsliga for a time. From 1991 it operated under name of Regionalliga again with seven divisions, one in the North and two each in the West, Central and Bavaria. From 1995 the league was reduced to four divisions, South, West, Central and Northeast, a format that remained unchanged until 2004 when the Northeast division was split into North and East divisions. Since 2004 the Regionalliga operates in the current five division format.[3]

Organisation

The five Regionalligas are organised by the regional American football associations rather than the American Football Association of Germany, like the Regionalliga Süd which is organised by the Bavarian one.[4]

In the 2015 season 33 clubs compete in the league, nine in the central division and six each in the other four.[2]

The top teams of the Regionalliga divisions qualify for the play-offs to the German Football League . The division champions and runners-up of the Central and South division play each other home and away for two promotion spots to the southern division of the German Football League 2, whereby the division winner from one plays the runners-up from the other. In the north, the three division winners of the North, West and East division play each other in a single game round robin for two spots in the northern division of the GFL 2. Promotion is subject to licensing approval and can be enlarged if additional spots in the German Football League 2 become available. An overall Regionalliga championship is not played.[3]

The bottom teams from each division are relegated and replaced with the top teams from the tier below, the American football Oberliga.[3]

Division champions

The division champions since adaption of the current structure in 2004:[3]

Northern region
YearNorthEastWest
2004 Osnabrück TigersBerlin RebelsTroisdorf Jets
2005 Osnabrück TigersFrankfurt Red CocksAssindia Cardinals
2006 Weyhe VikingsFrankfurt Red CocksBonn Gamecocks
2007 Magdeburg Virgin Guards Leipzig Lions Assindia Cardinals
2008 Hildesheim Invaders Magdeburg Virgin Guards Paderborn Dolphins
2009 Hamburg Blue Devils Magdeburg Virgin Guards Mönchengladbach Mavericks
2010 Hamburg Blue Devils Potsdam Royals Troisdorf Jets
2011 Osnabrück Tigers Cottbus Crayfish Bonn Gamecocks
2012 Lübeck Seals Rostock Griffins Bielefeld Bulldogs
2013 Hildesheim Invaders Tollense Sharks Cologne Crocodiles
2014 Osnabrück TigersPotsdam RoyalsPaderborn Dolphins
2015 Ritterhude BadgersRostock GriffinsAssindia Cardinals
2016 Braunschweig FFC IIRostock GriffinsLangenfeld Longhorns
2017 Elmshorn Fighting PiratesBerlin BearsSolingen Paladins

Southern region

The division champions and runners-up since adaption of the current structure in 2004:[3]

Year CentralSouth
WinnersRunners-upWinnersRunners-up
2004 Weinheim LonghornsStuttgart Silver Arrows Königsbrunn AntsDeggendorf Black Hawks
2005 Jena Hanfrieds Obertshausen Blizzards Plattling Black Hawks Rosenheim Rebels
2006 Kaiserslautern Pikes Stuttgart Silver Arrows Aschaffenburg Stallions Franken Timberwolves
2007 Stuttgart Silver Arrows Montabaur Fighting Farmers Erding Bulls Franken Timberwolves
2008 Kaiserslautern Pikes Rhein Neckar Bandits Aschaffenburg Stallions Starnberg Argonauts
2009 Hanau Hornets Holzgerlingen Twister Kirchdorf Wildcats Allgäu Comets
2010 Badener Greifs Frankfurt Pirates Kirchdorf Wildcats Allgäu Comets
2011 Kaiserslautern Pikes Frankfurt Universe Allgäu Comets Nürnberg Rams
2012 Ravensburg Razorbacks Badener Greifs Fursty Razorbacks Starnberg Argonauts
2013 Darmstadt Diamonds Holzgerlingen Twister Straubing Spiders Ingolstadt Dukes
2014 Albertshausen Crusaders Langen Knights Ingolstadt Dukes München Rangers
2015 Ravensburg Razorbacks Gießen Golden Dragons Straubing Spiders Neu-Ulm Spartans
  • Bold denotes promoted teams.

Current clubs

The Regionalliga clubs for the 2016 season:[2]

References
  1. German Football League 2 Archived 2011-07-18 at the Wayback Machine (in German) AFVD website, accessed: 20 January 2011
  2. 3. Liga 2015 Football-aktuell.de, accessed: 28 April 2015
  3. Football History (in German) Historic American football tables from Germany, accessed: 28 April 2015
  4. Allgemeine Ligenstruktur AFVBy (in German) Bavarian American football association – league structure, accessed: 28 April 2015
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