2. Bundesliga South promotion modus From 1975 until 1978 the champions of the
Amateurligas Bayern and
Hessen were directly promoted to the
2. Bundesliga. The winners of the
Amateurligas Nordbaden,
Südbaden,
Schwarzwald-Bodensee and
Württemberg played out a third promotion spot. The winners of the
Amateurligas Saarland,
Südwest and
Rheinland played out a fourth spot. Both these rounds were played in a home-and-away round robin. In 1979 and 1980 there was no play-offs as the nine southern Amateurligas had merged to four Oberligas and therefore each champion was promoted directly. This fact was actually the main reason for the merger.
2. Bundesliga North promotion modus In 1975 and 1976 the champions of the
Amateurligas Niederrhein,
Mittelrhein and the second placed team in the
Oberliga Nord played out two promotion spots. The champion of the
Amateurliga Berlin, the champion of the
Oberliga Nord and the winner of the decider of the two
Westfalen champions played out another two spots. In 1977 and 1978 the top four teams of the
Oberliga Nord, the champions of the
Amateurligas Niederrhein,
Mittelrhein,
Westfalen 1,
Westfalen 2 and
Berlin played out the four promotion spots in two groups of four. Beforehand, a decider between the 4th placed team from the
North and the runners-up of
Westfalen reduced the number to eight out of those nine. In 1979 and 1980 there was no play-offs as the six northern leagues merged to form four
Oberligas like in the south. The champions of the
Oberligas Nord,
Nordrhein and
Westfalen were promoted directly, the winner of
Oberliga Berlin had to play the runners-up of the
Oberliga Nord for the last spot.
2. Bundesliga promotion modus From 1982 until 1991 the play-offs were split into a north and a south group. In the southern group the four
Oberliga champions of
Bayern,
Baden-Württemberg,
Hessen and
Südwest played out two promotion spots. In 1982 this was done in a single round system, afterwards in a home-and-away round robin. In the northern group the winners of the four
Oberligas Berlin,
Westfalen,
Nordrhein and
Nord played out two promotion spots. In 1982 this was done in a single round system, afterwards in a home-and-away round robin. From 1984 the runners-up of the
Oberliga Nord was also included in this play-off, taking the number of teams to five. After the reunification of
Germany the number of teams was extended. In 1991 there was an additional two groups of four teams from
East Germany. The winner of each of those four groups were promoted. In 1992 there was 13 teams in four groups with the group winner gaining promotion. Qualified to this play-off were the ten
Oberliga champions, the runners-up from
Oberliga Nord and two teams from
2. Bundesliga. In 1993 and 1994 the ten
Oberliga champions and the runners-up from
Oberliga Nord played in three groups, two times four and one time three, for three promotion spots. in 1994 the four
Regionalliga were introduced as an intermediate between
2. Bundesliga and the
Oberligas.
Oberliga teams were now promoted to the
Regionalligas instead.
Modus from 1994 With the introduction of the four
Regionalligas in 1994, the system for promotion was somewhat simpler. The champions of the
Regionalligas Süd and
West/Südwest were always directly promoted. The
Regionalligas Nord and
Nordost were considered a single entity for the purpose of promotion, therefore only one of the two winners could get directly promoted. From 1996, the two winners of the league had to play a home-and-away decider. The reason for this was that each of the first two
Regionalligas covered areas with a population and playing strength roughly equal to the combined second two. The fourth promotion spot was allocated the following way: • 1995: To the
Nord/Nordost region, therefore both league winners promoted. • 1996: To the
West/Südwest region, runners-up of that region promoted. • 1997: To the
Süd region, runners-up of that region promoted. • 1998 to 2000: The runners-up of
West/Südwest and
Süd plus the losing team from the
Nord/Nordost area play a group round-robin to determine the fourth promoted team. With the reduction of the numbers of
Regionalligas in 2000 to two, play-offs became unnecessary and two teams from each league were directly promoted.
Modus from 2000 After the changes in the league system in 2000, the reduction of the numbers of
Regionalligas from four to two, direct promotion was available to the
2. Bundesliga once more. The champions and runners-up of the two
Regionalligas moved up without having to play a promotion round. In some instances, a promotion spot was held by a reserve team of a
Bundesliga or
2. Bundesliga side, in those cases, the next-best placed first team was promoted instead. In 2008, the
3. Liga was established as the new third tier, between
Regionalligas and
2. Bundesliga. The top-two teams out of the third division are directly promoted. The third placed club has to play the 16th placed team of the
2. Bundesliga in a home and away round to determine who receives the last spot in the second division. Reserve sides, which also play in the
3. Liga, can not earn promotion. ==Clubs taking part in the promotion round==