The summer break is over, at least on the lowest level of professional football in Germany. 3rd division teams played the first round of this season today. This contest will be a very special one since after this season there will be only one 3rd division ("3. Bundesliga") instead of two which we have now. Because of that almost half of the teams will be relegated into the new "Regionalliga" which will have three conferences. Saying this it is obvious that there will be a lot of competition for the first 10 places in each 3rd divison this year.
Here's how they played today:
Regionalliga Northern Division
RW Erfurt - RW Ahlen 6:3
RW Essen - RW Oberhausen 1:4
Wuppertaler SV Borussia - VfB Lübeck 2:1
SV Babelsberg - Borussia Dortmund II 0:0
Eintracht Braunschweig - Kickers Emden 0:1
Union Berlin - Fortuna Düsseldorf 0:1
Hamburger SV II - Dynamo Dresden 2:0
Energie Cottbus II - SC Verl (Sunday) -:-
Werder Bremen II - 1. FC Magdeburg (22.8.) -:-
Regionalliga Southern Division
Sandhausen - Ludwigshafen-Oggersheim 3:0
Pfullendorf - FSV Frankfurt 2:0
VfB Stuttgart II - SV Elversberg 2:0
SSV Jahn Regensburg - Spvgg Unterhaching 2:1
Bayern Munich II - SSV Reutlingen 0:0
KSV Hessen Kassel - VfR Aalen 1:3
Karlsruher SC II - Wacker Burghausen 0:1
FC Ingolstadt - Stuttgarter Kickers 2:3
Sportfreunde Siegen - 1860 Munich II 1:0
Especially the teams who played first division football back in the days like Düsseldorf, Stuttgarter Kickers, Dynamo Dresden, 1.FC Magdeburg, Spvgg Unterhaching, RW Essen or RW Oberhausen are longing to play in the 2nd division again and just can't afford to go down to the new 4th division. That's why they spent a lot of money on new players and hope that their efforts will pay off by the end of the season. It has to be expected that there might be clubs who will go bust if they don't make it to the new 3rd division.
Another thing why most clubs are wishing for a single 3rd division is the number of reserve teams. As you can see there are 8 reserve teams playing now, four in each conference. Reserve team numbers will be limited to 4 for the single 3rd league but I just don't see the point why they can't have a reserve league for the teams. Most 3rd divison clubs complained that some of the first team players were sent to the reserve teams and by playing there distorted the outcome at the end of the season. Because some clubs had to face tougher reserve teams than others. Let's wait and see how things will turn out. I for my part am looking forward to a single 3rd division.
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Small correction: Yes, Magdeburg have played in the top flight way back when, but their target this season is the new Bundesliga, not 2. Bundesliga. But the club has an increased budget for two main reasons: Renting the stadium for an entire season in contrast to only one half last season and a youth centre which cost way more than it has until now.
All new players were free transfers, Magdeburg has spent no money on players (yet).
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