Verbandspokal
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| Region |  Germany |
|---|---|
| Current champions | 21 regional winners |
| Most successful team(s) | Werder Bremen II (20 titles) |
| Television broadcasters | ARD |
 2023–24 Verbandspokal | |
A Verbandspokal (English: Association Cup) is a regional men's association football competition in Germany. There are 21 Verbandspokal competitions which function as qualifying tournaments for the following season's DFB-Pokal, the premier German Cup competition.[1] Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga clubs are not permitted to enter as they are already directly qualified for the first round of the DFB-Pokal.
While no Verbandspokal winner has ever gone on to win the German Cup, two have reached the final. Hertha BSC Amateure won the Berlin Cup in 1992 and went on to lose the 1993 DFB-Pokal final against Bayer Leverkusen, and Energie Cottbus won the 1996 Brandenburg Cup and went on to lose the 1997 DFB-Pokal final against VfB Stuttgart.[2]
Apart from the 21 Verbandspokal champions, three more teams qualify from the regional football association, to bring the number of clubs in the first round of the DFB-Pokal to 64. These three teams come from the three regional associations with the most members, these currently being Bavaria, Lower Saxony and Westphalia.[1]
The regional competitions, (plural:Verbandspokale) are generally open to all clubs in the 3. Liga and below, however regional rules vary between associations. 3. Liga clubs have a double chance to qualify for the first round of the DFB-Pokal, through the Verbandspokale and through finishing in the top four in their league.
The finals of the competitions can attract large numbers of spectators, like the 2014 Lower Rhine Cup between MSV Duisburg and TV Jahn Hiesfeld did, which was watched by 24,000 in Duisburg.[3]
As of 2013–14, Werder Bremen II, reserve team of Werder Bremen, is the most successful team in any Verbandspokal competition, having won the Bremen Cup twenty times, followed by Tennis Borussia Berlin with sixteen Berlin Cup wins and Holstein Kiel with fifteen Schleswig-Holstein Cup wins.
Rules and regulations
[edit]Rules and regulations for the Verbandspokale are set by the regional football associations and vary. Bavaria, the largest one, stipulates that reserve teams are not permitted to participate in the Bavarian Cup. Teams from lower divisions always have home advantage, if two teams of the same division are drawn against each other the team drawn first receives home advantage.
Bavarian clubs from the 3. Liga and Regionalliga Bayern, except reserve teams, are obliged to participate in the cup. Clubs from the two Bayernliga divisions and the five Landesliga Bayern divisions play a qualifying round. Additionally, the 24 regional cup winners in Bavaria, the Kreispokale, are also qualified for the first round of the Bavarian Cup. If a game is undecided after regular time a penalty shoot out follows, no extra time is played.[4]
In Lower Saxony, the third-largest association, clubs from the state playing in the 3. Liga, Regionalliga Nord and Oberliga Niedersachsen as well as the four Bezirkspokal winners are qualified for the first round of the Lower Saxony Cup.[5]
History
[edit]
The longest-running competition of the Verbandspokale is the Berlin Cup, first held in 1907.[6] All other cup competitions originated after the Second World War.
In Southern Germany, the South Baden Cup was established in 1945,[7] the Hesse Cup in 1946,[8] the Bavarian Cup in 1947, with a long interruption from 1954 to 1998,[9][10] the North Baden Cup in 1949,[11] and the Württemberg Cup in 1950.[12][13]
In Northern Germany, the Bremen Cup was established in 1950,[14] the Schleswig-Holstein Cup from 1953,[15] the Hamburg Cup was sporadically played from 1954 and permanently from 1981,[16] and the Lower Saxony Cup from 1955.[17]
In the former East Germany, the Verbandspokale, in the form of the Brandenburg Cup,[18] Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Cup, Saxony Cup, Saxony-Anhalt Cup,[19] and Thuringia Cup,[20] were established in 1990.
In Western Germany, the Lower Rhine Cup was established in 1980,[21] the Westphalia Cup in 1981,[22] and the Middle Rhine Cup in 1994.[23]
In South Western Germany, the Rhineland Cup was established in 1953, the South West Cup in 1973,[24] and the Saarland Cup in 1974.[25]
Current holders
[edit]The winners of the 2017–18 Verbandspokal competitions:
Broadcasting
[edit]In February 2016 it was announced that German broadcaster ARD for the first time would show all 21 Verbandspokal finals live in a conference as well as live stream them and that all finals would be played on the same date, 28 May 2016.[26]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Modus (in German) DFB website: Modus, accessed: 17 January 2015
- ^ Historie (in German) DFB website: History, accessed: 17 January 2015
- ^ Hiesfeld schnuppert am Pokal-Coup (in German) Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, published: 16 May 2014, accessed: 18 January 2015
- ^ Spielordnung Archived 15 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine (in German) BFV website: Rules & Regulations, accessed: 18 January 2015
- ^ Spielordnung (in German) NFV website: Rules & Regulations, accessed: 18 January 2015
- ^ Berliner Pokalendspiele 1907–2006 (in German) www.die-fans.de: Berlin Cup finals since 1907, accessed: 17 January 2015
- ^ Ehrentafel Südbadische Pokalsieger (in German) DSFS, accessed: 17 January 2015
- ^ Hessenpokal (in German) DSFS, accessed: 17 January 2015
- ^ Endspiele um den Bayerischen Pokal (in German) DSFS, accessed: 17 January 2015
- ^ Die Endspiele (in German) BFV website: Cup finals since 1998, accessed: 18 January 2015
- ^ Ehrentafel Nordbadische Pokalsieger (in German) DSFS, accessed: 17 January 2015
- ^ wfv-Pokal-Ergebnisse der Herren seit 1951 Archived 20 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine (in German) Württemberg Football Association website, accessed: 17 January 2015
- ^ Some sources state 1945 but the WFV website lists cup finals from 1950–51 onwards.
- ^ Bremen: Meister und Pokalsieger (in German) DSFS, accessed: 17 January 2015
- ^ Schleswig-Holstein: Meister und Pokalsieger (in German) DSFS, accessed: 17 January 2015
- ^ Hamburg: Meister und Pokalsieger (in German) DSFS, accessed: 17 January 2015
- ^ Niedersachsen: Meister und Pokalsieger (in German) DSFS, accessed: 17 January 2015
- ^ Geschichte: 1991 (in German) Brandenburg Football Association website: History 1991, accessed: 17 January 2015
- ^ Saxony-Anhalt Cup statistics (in German) Saxony-Anhalt Football Association, accessed: 17 January 2015
- ^ Ehrentafel der Verbandspokalsieger Thüringens (in German) DSFS, accessed: 17 January 2015
- ^ Endspiele und Titelgewinner im Niederrheinpokal (in German) Lower Rhine Football Association website, accessed: 17 January 2015
- ^ Pokalsieger auf Verbandsebene seit 1982 Archived 3 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine (in German) Football and Athletics Association of Westphalia website, accessed: 17 January 2015
- ^ FVM-Pokalsieger Herren Archived 23 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine (in German) Middle Rhine Football Association website, accessed: 17 January 2015
- ^ Sieger des Verbandspokals seit 1973 (in German) South West Football Association website, accessed: 17 January 2015
- ^ Geschichte des Pokals (in German) www.saarlandpokal.de, accessed: 17 January 2015
- ^ "ARD überträgt alle Landespokal-Endspiele" [ARD will broadcast all State Cup finals]. kicker.de (in German). kicker (sports magazine). 11 February 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2016.
External links
[edit]- Official DFB website (in German) The German Football Association
- Fussball.de (in German) Official results website of the DFB
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