Saarlandliga

Saarlandliga

Country	Germany
State	Saarland
Founded	2009
Number of teams	18
Level on pyramid	Level 6
Promotion to	Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar
Relegation to	Verbandsliga Saarland
Domestic cup(s)	Saarland Cup
Current champions	FV Diefflen (2015–16)

The Saarlandliga (English: Saarland league) is currently the sixth tier of the German football league system in the German federal state of Saarland. It is a new league, introduced at the end of the 2008-09 season.

In the past, the term Saarlandliga has unofficially been used for what was at times the Ehrenliga Saarland, the Amateurliga Saarland and, from 1978, the Verbandsliga Saarland. The new league however carries the name officially and is not known by any other name.

Overview

The league was introduced after a decision made by the Saarland Football Association on 31 May 2008. It was decided, that the new league will be operating from the 2009-10 season onwards and slot in between the tier-five Oberliga Südwest and the, from then on, tier-seven Verbandsliga Saarland.^[1] The Verbandsliga will remain as a single-division competition, which is unusual for the German football pyramid, where most leagues have two to three feeder leagues below itself.

To qualify for the new league, a club had to finish within the following specifications at the end of the 2008-09 season:

• All Saarland clubs relegated from the Oberliga Südwest (V) qualify.
• The clubs placed second to seventeenth in the Verbandsliga Saarland (VI) qualify. The Verbandsliga winner earns promotion to the Oberliga.
• The two Landesliga (VII) champions qualify.

As the number of clubs relegated from the Oberliga from Saarland was not known at the time this system was decided on, it was determined that for every team relegated, one less from the Verbandsliga would qualify. In this case, the SV Mettlach having been relegated, the seventeenth club from the Verbandsliga would not gain entry to the new Saarlandliga. The clubs from the Verbandsliga not qualified for the new league are to remain in the Verbandsliga and will not suffer relegation to the Landesligas.

Modus

Eighteen teams are scheduled to compete in the league since 2009-10, with a home-and-away season format. The league winner will be promoted to the Oberliga, while the two last placed teams will be relegated to the Verbandsliga. In turn, the best two teams out of that league will earn direct promotion to the Saarlandliga.

League champions

The league champions:^[2]

• In 2013–14 runners-up FV Diefflen was also promoted.

Founding members

The following clubs are qualified for the new league, according to the above system:

References

Sources

• Deutschlands Fußball in Zahlen, (German) An annual publication with tables and results from the Bundesliga to Verbandsliga/Landesliga, publisher: DSFS
• Kicker Almanach, (German) The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937, published by the Kicker Sports Magazine
• Süddeutschlands Fussballgeschichte in Tabellenform 1897-1988 (German) History of Southern German football in tables, publisher & author: Ludolf Hyll
• Die Deutsche Liga-Chronik 1945-2005 (German) History of German football from 1945 to 2005 in tables, publisher: DSFS, published: 2006

External links

• Das deutsche Fussball Archiv (German) Historic German league tables
• Saarland Football Association website (German)

Football in Saarland
Regional Football Association South West Saarland Football Association
National teams	Saarland national football team List of Saarland international footballers
League system	Tier VI Saarlandliga Tier VII Verbandsliga Saarland Tier VIII–XI Landesliga Bezirksliga Kreisliga A Kreisliga B
Cup competitions	Saarland Cup
Defunct competitions	Tier III Ehrenliga Saarland (1947–51) Amateurliga Saarland (1951–78) Regionalliga West/Südwest (1994–2000) Regionalliga Süd (2000–08)
Lists	Clubs Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar
Categories: Clubs Competitions Managers Players