Coming Soon: Third Bundesliga and Relegation Play-Offs

By: Jan | October 27th, 2007

The members of the German FA have now voted for the introduction of a unified third Bundesliga with 20 teams, to replace the current third division system with a northern and southern conference with 18 teams each. Relegation play-offs will also be re-introduced - the last play-offs were played in 1991. Both changes will make professional football a slightly safer and better place. At least that’s the thinking behind it.

A unified third Bundesliga will offer better depth and quality than the current system, and as such might offer a better economic perspective. This isn’t just important news for the clubs currently playing in the third division, but also for mid- and lower end of the table teams in the second Bundesliga. The drop from the second Bundesliga to the third division is regarded as more severe than the drop from the first to the second Bundesliga. The new third Bundesliga could help soften the economic impact of relegation. Apart from that, the second Bundesliga will also become a safer place. At the moment, the four worst placed teams go down and the two best teams of the northern and southern conference go up. In the new system only the three worst/best placed teams go down/up. And that’s without relegation play-offs.

The re-introduced relegation play-offs will hand the clubs another lifeline. The third worst team of the Bundesliga will face the third best team of the second Bundesliga in a two-legged play-off match. And it’s the same for the third worst and third best teams of the second and third Bundesliga. You can obviously question, whether it makes sense, to have a whole season decided by two matches and potentially badly timed injuries and a bad call by a ref.

Anyway, both changes should give the whole professional football system in Germany a more solid economic foundation.