Landesliga Bayern-Mitte
 |
|
| Country |
 Germany
|
|---|---|
| State |
 Bavaria
|
| Founded | 1963 |
| Folded | 2012 |
| Level on pyramid | Level 6 |
| Promotion to | Bayernliga |
| Relegation to | |
| Last champions |
SpVgg Landshut (2011–12) |
The Landesliga Bayern-Mitte (English: State league Bavaria-Central) was the sixth tier of the German football league system in southern Bavaria. Until the introduction of the 3. Liga in 2008, it was the fifth tier of the league system, until the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 the fourth tier.
The winner of the Landesliga-Mitte automatically qualified for the Bayernliga, the runners-up needed to compete with the runners-up of the other four Landesligas and the 15th placed teams of the Bayernligas for another promotion spot.
The league was disbanded in 2012, when the Regionalliga Bayern was introduced as the new fourth tier of the German league system in Bavaria. Below this league, the Bayernliga was expanded to two divisions while the number of state leagues grew from three to five divisions. A new Landesliga Bayern-Mitte was formed but the territory it now covers varies from the old league, with the clubs from northern Middle Franconia and Upper Palatinate as well as the clubs from southern Lower Bavaria now playing in other leagues.
The Landesligen in Bayern were formed in 1963, in place of the 2nd Amateurligas, which operated below the Bayernliga until then. In the region of the Landesliga Mitte, the 2nd Amateurligen were split into three groups, Niederbayern, Oberpfalz and Mittelfranken. The league was formed from eighteen clubs, six of them from the Amateurligas (III) and twelve from the 2nd Amateurligas (IV).
In the first eighteen seasons, up until 1980, only the league champions were promoted to the Bayernliga. This was altered in 1981, when the three Landesliga runners-up were given the opportunity to earn promotion, too, via a promotion round. The Bavarian football association actually stipulates in its rules and regulations that every league champion has to be promoted, unless it declines to do so, and every runners-up has to have the opportunity to earn promotion, too.
Below the league, the Bezirksligas were set as the fifth tier of league football, until 1988, when the Bezirksoberligas were formed. In the first year, three teams were promoted from the Bezirksligas, one from each region; from 1966, it was four clubs. The Landesliga Mitte was fed by the three Bezirksoberligen of Mittelfranken, Oberpfalz and Niederbayern from 1988 onwards. The winner of those were automatically promoted, the runners-up played-off for another promotion spot with the 15th placed team of Landesliga to determine the winner of the last available spot in the Landesliga. The Landesliga Mitte is the only one of the three Bavarian Landesligas to have had three Bezirksoberligas as feeder leagues, the other two only have two each.
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