What is "verbandsliga"

The Verbandsliga is usually a tier-six football league in the German football league system, covering the area of a Bundesland or a regional part of such Bundesland.

As the German football league system below the tier-four Regionalliga is organised individually by the 21 state member associations of the nationwide governing body Deutscher Fußball-Bund, the league structure varies somewhat from state to state. Therefore the Verbandsliga does not exist in every Bundesland. In North Rhine-Westphalia (Middle Rhine and Lower Rhine), Saxony, Thuringia, Hamburg, Lower Saxony, Bremen and Bavaria, the corresponding sixth tier is called the Landesliga, whereas the Landesliga is only a tier-seven league in most of the other German states. Nordrhein-Westfalen, Rheinland-Pfalz and Baden-Württemberg are divided into two or three state member associations, each running their own league system. Additionally, in some regions or states, as there are Hessen, Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein the Verbandsliga is operated in two or more groups running in parallel.

In recent years, a number of leagues have dropped the Verband out of their league name, preferring to call themselves just by the region or Bundesland they are from. The Verbandsliga Berlin became the Berlin-Liga, the Verbandsliga Brandenburg became the Brandenburg-Liga, the Verbandsliga Westfalen became the Westfalenliga and the Verbandsliga Rheinland became the Rheinlandliga. The Verbandsliga Mittelrhein became the Mittelrheinliga and the Verbandsliga Niederrhein became the Niederrheinliga, with both leagues elevated to Oberliga status in 2012.