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Promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga (Football)

Promotion to the 2. Bundesliga
Country Germany
Confederation UEFA
Founded 1974; 43 years ago (1974)
Number of teams 20
Level on pyramid 3
Promotion to 2. Bundesliga
Current champions Dynamo Dresden
Erzgebirge Aue
Würzburger Kickers
(2015–16)
2015–16 3. Liga

The Promotion to the 2. Bundesliga (German: Aufstiegsrunde zur 2. Bundesliga) was an end-of-season competition, held annually to determine the clubs that were promoted from the Amateurligas, later the Amateur Oberligas to the 2. Bundesligas. It was necessary because there were more third division champions then promotion spots available.

Originally there were fifteen Amateurligas which were reduced to eight Amateur Oberligas in 1978. From 1981 the 2. Bundesliga was reduced to one single league.

After the introduction of the Regionalliga in 1994, the promotion round was greatly reduced in length, generally only involving two teams. Eventually, after 2000, all promotion spots to the 2. Bundesliga were direct with no deciders necessary. Since the 2008-09 season, after the introduction of the 3. Liga, a promotion round was reintroduced.

Originally, there were two 2. Bundesligas, the second tier of the German football league system, these being:

In 1981, these were reduced to just one league, the 2. Bundesliga.

In 1975, there were 15 Amateurligas, the third level of German football, these being:

In 1978, these were reduced to four Amateur Oberligas, these being:

In 1978, these were reduced to four Amateur Oberligas, these being:

The following three Oberligas were formed in 1991, after the German reunion.

From 1975 until 1978 the champions of the Amateurligas Bayern and Hessen were directly promoted to the 2. Bundesliga. The winners of the Amateurligas Nordbaden, Südbaden, Schwarzwald-Bodensee and Württemberg played out a third promotion spot. The winners of the Amateurligas Saarland, Südwest and Rheinland played out a fourth spot. Both these rounds were played in a home-and-away round robin.

In 1979 and 1980 there was no play-offs as the nine southern Amateurligas had merged to four Oberligas and therefore each champion was promoted directly. This fact was actually the main reason for the merger.

In 1975 and 1976 the champions of the Amateurligas Niederrhein, Mittelrhein and the second placed team in the Oberliga Nord played out two promotion spots. The champion of the Amateurliga Berlin, the champion of the Oberliga Nord and the winner of the decider of the two Westfalen champions played out another two spots.


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Wikipedia

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