Of course, the Regionalliga Nordost is a gathering place for traditional clubs. This is not only due to promotion rules, but also to the numerous relegations in recent years. Ultimately only clubs can do something about this.
YES.
Of course ALL clubs need to manage their budget and ensure they are getting the most out of it.
BUT 1. the economic situation in the East is still bad even after 34 years, that is, there are no DAX companies here that can give millions of dollars in sponsorship and 2 .the 3rd league has been nothing but money since its creation. founded -Incinerator, with its demands and regulations, clubs systematically ruin themselves if they are not promoted.
This is of course not an excuse, but it is unlikely that a financially strong company from Munich, Hamburg, Cologne, etc. will do so. supports a club from Thuringia, Saxony or Brandenburg if it does not attract 15,000 people to each match and does not play at least in the 2nd league. There is therefore a difference depending on whether a club has to get by with €100,000 in sponsorship or with €750,000.
Rot-Weiß Erfurt and Chemnitz FC are the best examples, but also Emden, Stuttgarter Kickers, Ahlen, Koblenz, FSV Frankfurt, Aachen and Offenbach.
Just think about the fact that 3rd division teams must have a stadium that can accommodate 10,000 spectators. In Spain, TWO teams (Eibar and Huesca) played in the top league in the 2020/21 season, whose stadiums could not accommodate even 10,000 spectators.
Apart from that, most clubs’ expenses exceed their income because they want to stay competitive.
Let’s take the year 2015/16 as a reference: at that time, eight (!) teams from the East were playing in the 3rd league (Dresden, Aue, Magdeburg, Chemnitz, Erfurt, Rostock, Halle and Cottbus). With Dresden and Aue, two teams were promoted to the 3rd league, Magdeburg narrowly missed promotion. Cottbus must enter the regional league, but Zwickau showed up. In 2017, Jena was promoted again and no team was relegated to the regional league.
Since then, it has only taken one direction: downward:
2018: Erfurt and Chemnitz are relegated, Cottbus is promoted
2019: Cottbus is relegated, Chemnitz is promoted
2020: Chemnitz and Jena are relegated, Lok. Leipzig fails to advance
2021: Nobody is relegated, Viktoria Berlin is promoted
2022: Viktoria Berlin is relegated, Dynamo fails to achieve promotion
2023: Zwickau is relegated, Cottbus fails to achieve promotion
2024: Halle is relegated, Cottbus or Greifswald are promoted
In recent years, seven teams from the 3rd League have been relegated to the northern level: Erfurt, Chemnitz, Cottbus (again), Viktoria Berlin, Zwickau, Jena and Halle. In recent years, every promoted team from the East has had to be relegated to the regional league after just one season. As more and more clubs descend from the top, no club manages to establish itself at the top after promotion. It’s poison, of course, but it’s also due to the work of their own clubs, which has apparently been very bad in recent years. If Rostock is relegated, there will only be two former eastern clubs left in the top two leagues next year: Union Berlin and Magdeburg. Even in the 3rd league there are only four clubs from the East (Rostock, Aue, Dresden and the promoted team). Things were different a few years ago.
After the financial disadvantages, the next thing is that for every MAXIMUM one new East German arrival, there are always 3 West Germans.
And even if the 3rd league may be something « special » for some, it is not necessarily more attractive for spectators of a club from the East to attend a 3rd league match against Lübeck or Verl than ‘to a derby in a regional league (including more in the North-East Regional League and therefore more income).
And as someone else already mentioned: of course the current system is not optimal. But it’s the only one we could really agree on because neither side wants to deviate from its own positions. And that includes the East, which absolutely does not want the NOFV to be split into two parts, one half going north and the other half going south. Five relegated teams are excluded. But there are too many representatives from all sides who are satisfied with the current regulations because they do not want to break certain structures. And the East is simply one of them.
But we must also ask ourselves:
a.) Is it even possible to divide the Regionalliga Nordost wisely and if so, how should the Regionalliga Nordost be split wisely? (If a split occurs, clubs will lose revenue as derbies will not take place)
b.) Why the Regionalliga Northeast and not the RL Bayern/Südwest/West?
The Bavarian Regional League is also a thorn in my side. At least the newcomers manage to establish themselves regularly in the 3rd league, and some have even reached the 2nd Bundesliga (Würzburg, Regensburg, Bayern 2, at least on a sporting level). In the north and northeast, no team manages to hold on. At Aue, I also have a strong fear that in the medium term they will follow the same path as the clubs mentioned above. Let’s hope that Cottbus will at least manage to hold out for more than a year.
In Bavaria, money is freer. There are large companies that can easily invest 7-figure sums or millionaires/billionaires.
Flyeralarm has invested in the AG company from Würzburg.
The NETTO group invests in Regensburg.
Ingolstadt => Audi.
If Tesla/
I’m sorry for HFC, but in recent years it has unfortunately become clear that they will be relegated to the regional championship in the medium term. I am also sorry for Duisburg and Lübeck.
Unfortunately, she has to touch four clubs at the end of a season.
A few more clubs will collapse until the 3rd league is reformed.
And East German (Site notre bureau spécialisé) will see bloodshed until it is formed and the regional leagues are restructured.
