3. Liga

Full Name: Dritte Liga
Country: Germany
Level: 3
Number of Teams: 20

Official Website: dfb.de

The 3. Liga (Dritte Liga in German) is the third-tier league in the German football system. It is newly created for the 2008-09 season and has been inserted in between the 2. Bundesliga and the Regionalliga level. It is fully professional although unlike the first and second Bundesliga it is organized directly by the DFB. It is also fully national unlike the Regionalliga which as their name suggests were regionalized. The regionalliga level is now the 4th tier and is also being split from two into three. The 3. Liga is made up of teams relegated from last season's Bundesliga as well as eight teams from each 2007-08 regionalliga. The 3. Liga can (and does) include B teams from clubs in the top two divisions. These teams cannot be promoted. If a club is relegated from the 2. Bundesliga to the 3. Liga their B team is automatically relegated even if they didn't finish in the relegation spots.

The 20 teams play each other twice (home and away) for a total of 38 games. The season runs from July to May with a six week winter break. The top two teams are automatically promoted while the 3rd team goes into a promotion/relegation playoff with the 16th team from the 2. Bundesliga. The bottom three teams are automatically relegated.

2008-09 Clubs
Eintracht Braunschweig
Fortuna Düsseldorf