November 2: The German Football Association (DFB) will vote on the proposal to renew the country’s fourth tier on December 18 at an Extraordinary Congress of the DFB in Frankfurt.
The ‘Compass Model’ proposal will mean the reduction of the Regionalliga (Regional League) from five to four divisions, with all champions directly promoted to the third category. The Regionalliga would then be reconstituted in 80 teams for its current 90.
Clubs will be relegated to the four divisions based on the shortest travel distances, severing the leagues’ previous ties to regional or state associations. The operation of the leagues would pass to the DFB in the new structure. “This would involve a unified organisation, centralized marketing and uniform licensing requirements for all leagues,” the DFB said.
He also said that separate regulations may be implemented if one of the divisions contains more than seven reserve teams from licensed clubs, and that he will try to preserve derbies when determining the divisions.
DFB President Bernd Neuendorf said: “The Compass model won the majority in a national club survey this summer. We want to reflect this with our proposal. Four champions, four direct promotions – this clear principle ultimately creates reliability. At the same time, we want to sustainably improve the framework of clubs and strengthen talent development through greater competition.”
The 2028/2029 season would be the first under the new structure. The 2027/2028 season would serve as the qualifying season. In addition to the four relegated teams from the 3. Liga, 14 teams from the current Bavarian and North-East divisions, 15 teams from the North, 16 from the West and 17 from the South-West division would qualify for the four-division Regionalliga. The four champions would all be automatically promoted, and there would be four relegated teams from each division.
There is also a proposed change to financial support. “In addition to the existing payments under the basic agreement, each regional association would receive additional funding of at least 500,000 euros per year. The DFB guarantees clubs whose first team plays in the Regionalliga (fourth division) at least 40,000 euros per year. Any additional income from the centralized marketing of the fourth division would be distributed to the clubs at a rate,” the DFB said.
Contact the writer of this story at (email protected)
