2011–12 3. Liga

VfR Aalen Jahn Regensburg Carl Zeiss Jena Werder Bremen II (17 goals) NOTE: If dates are to be added, those must be cited

A. Bielefeld 0–4 Saarbrücken W. Bremen II 0–4 Aalen Wehen 0–4 Sandhausen W. Bremen II 0–4 Darmstadt Aalen 0–4 Osnabrück

Stuttgart II 2–5 A. Bielefeld

The 2011–12 3. Liga was the fourth season of the 3. Liga, Germany's third tier of its football league system. The season commenced on 22 July 2011, two weeks earlier than the 2011–12 Bundesliga season and one week after the 2011–12 2. Bundesliga season, and ended with the last games on 5 May 2012. The traditional winter break was held between the weekends around 18 December 2011 and 22 January 2012.

The league comprises fourteen teams from the 2010–11 season, the last two teams from the 2010–11 2. Bundesliga, the losers of the promotion play-off between the 16th-placed 2. Bundesliga team and the third-placed 3. Liga team as well as the three champions of the three 2010–11 Regionalliga divisions.

Teams

Eintracht Braunschweig as 2010–11 champions and runners-up Hansa Rostock were directly promoted to the 2011–12 2. Bundesliga. Braunschweig, who were a member of the league since the inaugural season, will return to the 2. Bundesliga after a total of four seasons in the third tier of the German football pyramid, while Rostock only had a cameo appearance in the league.

The two promoted teams will be replaced by the two worst-placed teams of the 2010–11 2. Bundesliga season, Rot-Weiß Oberhausen and Arminia Bielefeld. Pending license approvals (see below), both clubs will make their debut in the league; Oberhausen will drop to the third level after three years, while Arminia will return to the third tier after sixteen seasons.

On the other end of the table, Bayern Munich II were relegated to their respective 2011–12 Fußball-Regionalliga divisions after finishing the 2010–11 season at the bottom of the table, thus ending a run which saw them being part of a German third-tier league since 1973. Wacker Burghausen and Werder Bremen II, who were originally going to be relegated as well, were eventually spared as Rot Weiss Ahlen and TuS Koblenz would not enter the league for the 2011–12 season. Ahlen were automatically demoted after the club had to file for administration after the completion of the 2010–11 season, while Koblenz voluntarily withdrew their participation following being unable to generate an adequate budget for the season.

The three relegated teams will be replaced by the champions of the three 2010–11 Regionalliga divisions, Chemnitzer FC, SV Darmstadt 98 and SC Preußen Münster. All three clubs will make their debuts in the 3. Liga, but nevertheless have played in a third-tier league before. Both Regionalliga Nord champions Chemnitz and Regionalliga West winners Preußen Münster returned to this level after an absence of five seasons, while Darmstadt 98 completed a four-year tenure at the fourth tier.

A further spot in the league was contested in a two-legged relegation/promotion playoff between the 16th-placed team of the 2010–11 2. Bundesliga, VfL Osnabrück, and the third-placed team of the 2010–11 3. Liga, Dynamo Dresden. Dynamo won 4–2 on aggregate and thus returned to the 2. Bundesliga after a five-year absence, while Osnabrück, 3. Liga champions in 2009–10, immediately returned to the 3. Liga, having lost their second relegation/promotion playoff series in three years. This will be the first time a previous champion has played in the 3. Liga.

Stadia and locations

Notes 1 Stadion am Bieberer Berg is being rebuilt during the 2011–12 season, resulting in a significantly reduced capacity during this time.

Personnel and sponsorships

Managerial changes

League table

Results

Top goalscorers

*Source: kicker (German) * Including matches played on 5 May 2012

;17 goals

• GER Marcel Reichwein (Rot-Weiß Erfurt)

;14 goals

• GER Robert Lechleiter (VfR Aalen)
• GER Tobias Schweinsteiger (Jahn Regensburg)

;13 goals

• GER Sebastian Glasner (Wacker Burghausen)
• GER Frank Löning (SV Sandhausen)
• GER Dominik Stroh-Engel (SV Babelsberg 03)

;12 goals

• BIH Zlatko Janjić (SV Wehen Wiesbaden)
• GER Markus Müller (SV Babelsberg 03)

;11 goals

• GER Marius Laux (1. FC Saarbrücken)
• GER Marc Schnatterer (1. FC Heidenheim)
• NED Mijo Tunjić (SpVgg Unterhaching)
• GER Marcel Ziemer (1. FC Saarbrücken)

Player awards

The following players were named as player of the month throughout the season. Fabian Klos won the player of the year award after a poll.

• August: GER Tobias Schweinsteiger (SpVgg Unterhaching)
• September: GER Tobias Schweinsteiger (SpVgg Unterhaching)
• October: GER Niclas Füllkrug (Werder Bremen II)
• November: GER Johannes Rahn (Arminia Bielefeld)
• December: GER Fabian Klos (Arminia Bielefeld)
• February: GER Anton Fink (Chemnitzer FC)
• March: GER Marcel Reichwein (Rot-Weiss Erfurt)
• April: GER Marc Schnatterer (1. FC Heidenheim)

References

References

1. (26 November 2010). "Der Rahmenterminkalender 2011/12". [[Kicker (sports magazine).
2. Kirschner, Klaus. "Bye, bye Bayern". [[kicker (sports magazine).
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4. "Werder weiter in der 3. Liga". [[kicker (sports magazine).
5. Smentek, Klaus. (18 July 2011). "kicker Bundesliga Sonderheft 2011/12". Olympia Verlag.
6. (30 April 2011). "Chaos in Offenbach: Gerstner beurlaubt, Möller tritt zurück". [[Der Spiegel.
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11. (3 June 2011). "Augenthaler und Grosser weg". [[Kicker (sports magazine).
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16. (30 October 2011). "Oberhausen entlässt Schneider". fussball.de.
17. (24 October 2011). "Mario Basler ist neuer Oberhausen-Trainer". [[Bild]].
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23. (5 January 2012). "Reinhard Stumpf neuer Trainer in Burghausen". [[Bayerische Fussball-Verband]].
24. (23 January 2012). "Sofortige Trennung von Chef-Trainer Marc Fascher". [[SC Preußen Münster]].
25. (24 January 2012). "Pavel Dotchev ist der neue Trainer". [[SC Preußen Münster]].
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28. "Spieler des Monats". [[Deutscher Fußball Bund]].