2015–16 3. Liga

The 2015–16 3. Liga was the eighth season of the 3. Liga.

3. Liga

Season	2015–16
Champions	Dynamo Dresden
Promoted	Dynamo Dresden Erzgebirge Aue Würzburger Kickers
Relegated	Stuttgart Kickers Energie Cottbus VfB Stuttgart II
Matches played	380
Goals scored	905 (2.38 per match)
Top goalscorer	Justin Eilers (23 goals)
← 2014–15 2016–17 →

Teams

A total of 20 teams contested the league, including 14 sides from the 2014–15 3. Liga. Arminia Bielefeld and MSV Duisburg were directly promoted to the 2015–16 2. Bundesliga at the end of the 2014–15 season. Bielefeld made an immediate return to the 2. Bundesliga after being relegated in 2013–14. Duisburg returned to the 2. Bundesliga after two seasons in the third tier. The two promoted teams were replaced by FC Erzgebirge Aue and VfR Aalen, who finished in the bottom two places of the 2014–15 2. Bundesliga table.

At the other end of the table, Borussia Dortmund II, SpVgg Unterhaching and SSV Jahn Regensburg were relegated to the 2015–16 Regionalliga. The three relegated teams were replaced by the three winners of the 2014–15 Regionalliga promotion playoffs. SV Werder Bremen II from the Regionalliga Nord returned to the national level after three seasons in the fourth tier, while 1. FC Magdeburg from the Regionalliga Nordost and Würzburger Kickers from the Regionalliga Bayern are playing their debut seasons in the 3. Liga.

A further place in the league was available via a two-legged play-off between third-placed 2014–15 3. Liga team Holstein Kiel and 16th-placed 2014–15 2. Bundesliga side TSV 1860 München. The tie ended 2–1 on aggregate and saw Kiel remaining in the 3. Liga.

Stadiums and locations

Aalen

Aspach

Würzburg

Aue

Chemnitz

Köln

Cottbus

Dresden

Erfurt

Halle

Kiel

Mainz

Osnabrück

Münster

Magdeburg

Bremen

Rostock

Stuttgart

Stuttgart

Wiesbaden

Locations of the 2015–16 3. Liga teams

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
VfR Aalen	Aalen	Scholz-Arena	13,251
SG Sonnenhof Großaspach	Aspach	Mechatronik Arena	10,000
Chemnitzer FC	Chemnitz	Stadion an der Gellertstraße	18,712
Dynamo Dresden	Dresden	Glücksgas-Stadion	32,066
Energie Cottbus	Cottbus	Stadion der Freundschaft	22,528
FC Erzgebirge Aue	Aue	Sparkassen-Erzgebirgsstadion	15,711
Hallescher FC	Halle	Erdgas Sportpark	15,057
Hansa Rostock	Rostock	DKB-Arena	29,000
Holstein Kiel	Kiel	Holstein-Stadion	11,386
SC Fortuna Köln	Cologne	Südstadion	14,800
1. FSV Mainz 05 II	Mainz	Stadion am Bruchweg	20,300
1. FC Magdeburg	Magdeburg	MDCC-Arena	27,500
VfL Osnabrück	Osnabrück	Osnatel-Arena	16,667
Preußen Münster	Münster	Preußenstadion	15,050
Rot-Weiß Erfurt	Erfurt	Steigerwaldstadion	17,500
VfB Stuttgart II	Stuttgart	Gazi-Stadion auf der Waldau	10,100
Stuttgarter Kickers	Stuttgart	Gazi-Stadion auf der Waldau	10,100
SV Wehen Wiesbaden	Wiesbaden	BRITA-Arena	12,250
SV Werder Bremen II	Bremen	Weserstadion Platz 11	5,500[1]
Würzburger Kickers	Würzburg	Flyeralarm Arena	14,500

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
VfR Aalen	Peter Vollmann	Markus Schwabl	Saller	Prowin
Chemnitzer FC	Sven Köhler	Anton Fink	adidas	Ahorn Hotels
Dynamo Dresden	Uwe Neuhaus	Michael Hefele	erima	Feldschlösschen
Energie Cottbus	Claus-Dieter Wollitz	Uwe Möhrle	Saller	Karton.eu
Erzgebirge Aue	Pavel Dochev	Martin Männel	Nike	Kumpelverein
1. FSV Mainz 05 II	Sandro Schwarz	Damian Roßbach	Lotto	Kömmerling
Hallescher FC	Rico Schmitt	Tim Kruse	Puma	Halplus
Hansa Rostock	Christian Brand	Tobias Jänicke	Nike	kurzurlaub.de
Holstein Kiel	Karsten Neitzel	Marlon Krause	adidas	Famila
VfL Osnabrück	Joe Enochs	Tobias Willers	adidas	Sparkasse
1. FC Magdeburg	Jens Härtel	Marius Sowislo	Uhlsport	FAM
Preußen Münster	Horst Steffen	Amaury Bischoff	Nike	Tuja Zeitarbeit
Rot-Weiß Erfurt	Stefan Krämer	Sebastian Tyrała	Jako	Thüringer Energie AG
SC Fortuna Köln	Uwe Koschinat	Florian Hörnig	Jako	HIT Handelsgruppe
SG Sonnenhof Großaspach	Rüdiger Rehm	Kai Gehring	Hummel	Urbacher Mineralquellen
VfB Stuttgart II	Walter Thomae	Tobias Rathgeb	Puma	Mercedes-Benz Bank
Stuttgarter Kickers	Tomislav Stipić	Fabian Baumgärtel	Uhlsport	MHP
SV Wehen Wiesbaden	Torsten Fröhling	Kevin Pezzoni	Nike	Brita
SV Werder Bremen II	Alexander Nouri	Rafael Kazior	Nike	Wiesenhof
Würzburger Kickers	Bernd Hollerbach	Amir Shapourzadeh	Nike	Sansibar

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Dynamo Dresden	Peter Németh	Left	10 April 2015	Pre-season	Uwe Neuhaus	10 April 2015[2]
SV Wehen Wiesbaden	Christian Hock	End of caretaker stint	12 May 2015		Sven Demandt	12 May 2015[3]
FC Erzgebirge Aue	Tomislav Stipić	Mutual termination	27 May 2015[4]		Pavel Dochev	4 June 2015[5]
VfR Aalen	Stefan Ruthenbeck	Left	12 June 2015		Peter Vollmann	12 June 2015[6]
VfL Osnabrück	Maik Walpurgis	Sacked	24 August 2015	19th	Joe Enochs	24 August 2015[7]
Hallescher FC	Sven Köhler	Sacked	30 August 2015[8]	19th	Stefan Böger	8 September 2015[9]
Energie Cottbus	Stefan Krämer	Sacked	19 September 2015[10]	17th	Vasile Miriuță	23 September 2015[11]
Stuttgarter Kickers	Horst Steffen	Sacked	4 November 2015[12]	14th	Tomislav Stipić	4 November 2015[12]
VfB Stuttgart II	Jürgen Kramny	Promoted to first team	24 November 2015[13][14]	18th	Walter Thomae	21 December 2015[15]
Hansa Rostock	Karsten Baumann	Sacked	5 December 2015[16]	18th	Christian Brand	7 December 2015[17]
Rot-Weiß Erfurt	Christian Preußer	Sacked	15 December 2015[18]	16th	Stefan Krämer	30 December 2015[19]
Preußen Münster	Ralf Loose	Sacked	19 December 2015[20]	5th	Horst Steffen	25 December 2015[21]
Chemnitzer FC	Karsten Heine	Sacked	2 March 2016[22]	17th	Sven Köhler	2 March 2016[22]
Wehen Wiesbaden	Sven Demandt	Sacked	7 March 2016[23]	16th	Torsten Fröhling	14 March 2016[24]
Energie Cottbus	Vasile Miriuță	Sacked	12 April 2016[25]	18th	Claus-Dieter Wollitz	12 April 2016[25]
Hallescher FC	Stefan Böger	Sacked	13 April 2016[26]	15th	Rico Schmitt	13 April 2016[26]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Dynamo Dresden (C, P)	38	21	15	2	75	35	+40	78	Promotion to 2. Bundesliga and qualification for DFB-Pokal
2	Erzgebirge Aue (P)	38	19	13	6	42	21	+21	70
3	Würzburger Kickers (O, P)	38	16	16	6	43	25	+18	64	Qualification for promotion play-offs and DFB-Pokal
4	1. FC Magdeburg	38	14	14	10	49	37	+12	56	Qualification for DFB-Pokal
5	VfL Osnabrück	38	14	14	10	46	41	+5	56
6	Chemnitzer FC	38	15	10	13	52	46	+6	55
7	Sonnenhof Großaspach	38	14	12	12	58	47	+11	54
8	Rot-Weiß Erfurt	38	14	8	16	47	50	−3	50
9	Preußen Münster	38	12	13	13	43	41	+2	49
10	Hansa Rostock	38	12	13	13	42	48	−6	49
11	Fortuna Köln	38	14	7	17	56	69	−13	49
12	Mainz 05 II[a]	38	12	12	14	48	47	+1	48
13	Hallescher FC	38	13	9	16	48	48	0	48
14	Holstein Kiel	38	12	12	14	44	47	−3	48
15	VfR Aalen	38	10	14	14	35	40	−5	44
16	Wehen Wiesbaden	38	9	16	13	35	48	−13	43
17	Werder Bremen II[a]	38	11	10	17	42	56	−14	43
18	Stuttgarter Kickers (R)	38	11	10	17	38	52	−14	43	Relegation to Regionalliga
19	Energie Cottbus (R)	38	9	14	15	32	52	−20	41
20	VfB Stuttgart II[a] (R)	38	7	10	21	38	63	−25	31

Source: DFB
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Reserve teams are ineligible for promotion or DFB-Pokal qualification.

Results

Home \ Away	AAL	AUE	BR2	CFC	FCE	SGD	ERF	SGS	HFC	KSV	FKO	FCM	MA2	PRM	OSN	ROS	SKI	ST2	WEH	FCW
VfR Aalen	—	0–2	1–2	0–0	3–0	0–0	2–2	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–2	0–0	3–2	0–0	1–0	1–1	3–0	1–0	3–1	0–1
Erzgebirge Aue	1–0	—	1–0	2–0	1–0	1–1	2–2	2–0	4–0	0–0	2–0	0–0	1–0	3–0	0–0	0–0	2–0	1–0	1–1	0–0
Werder Bremen II	1–1	4–0	—	3–2	0–2	1–2	0–1	0–4	2–0	2–1	1–3	1–1	2–1	0–0	0–1	1–1	1–0	0–1	1–0	0–0
Chemnitzer FC	1–1	1–2	2–1	—	4–0	2–2	1–1	0–2	3–1	4–2	3–1	0–0	5–1	0–1	2–1	1–1	1–0	2–1	1–0	0–1
Energie Cottbus	0–4	0–0	1–1	0–1	—	0–2	2–1	0–5	2–0	1–2	0–0	2–0	2–3	0–0	1–2	0–1	1–2	2–2	2–2	1–2
Dynamo Dresden	4–0	1–1	2–1	1–0	0–1	—	3–1	2–1	3–2	0–0	4–0	3–2	3–0	0–0	2–1	2–2	1–1	4–1	4–0	2–1
Rot-Weiß Erfurt	2–0	0–1	2–1	0–2	0–1	3–2	—	0–2	1–1	1–3	0–2	0–2	3–0	1–1	4–2	3–2	1–0	3–0	0–0	1–0
Sonnenhof Großaspach	2–0	2–0	0–1	4–2	1–1	0–0	2–2	—	0–0	0–0	1–1	1–0	0–3	3–1	3–3	0–1	1–1	1–3	0–1	1–2
Hallescher FC	3–1	1–0	6–2	1–2	1–1	0–0	2–1	4–1	—	0–2	1–1	1–2	1–1	1–3	1–0	2–0	1–1	3–0	3–0	1–3
Holstein Kiel	1–0	3–0	3–0	5–2	1–2	1–2	0–3	3–1	0–4	—	2–2	0–0	0–4	0–0	0–1	0–0	1–2	1–0	1–1	1–2
Fortuna Köln	1–1	0–2	2–1	0–3	3–0	1–5	1–3	2–2	0–2	2–3	—	2–1	3–1	2–1	3–1	5–1	3–1	1–3	4–1	0–3
1. FC Magdeburg	1–2	0–3	1–1	2–0	2–2	2–2	2–1	4–0	2–1	0–1	0–0	—	3–1	3–0	3–0	4–1	2–1	2–2	1–0	0–1
Mainz 05 II	1–0	1–1	2–2	0–0	0–1	1–1	1–0	2–1	2–0	0–0	0–1	2–2	—	2–3	0–0	4–0	1–2	3–1	0–0	1–0
Preußen Münster	0–2	0–1	3–1	3–1	3–0	2–3	2–0	1–1	0–1	2–0	3–1	1–2	0–1	—	0–0	1–1	4–2	1–2	0–0	0–0
VfL Osnabrück	2–1	0–0	3–1	2–0	0–0	0–3	1–0	2–2	2–0	3–2	1–3	2–0	1–1	2–2	—	0–1	1–1	1–1	4–0	1–1
Hansa Rostock	3–0	0–2	1–2	1–0	1–1	1–3	3–1	1–3	3–1	1–0	4–2	1–1	1–0	0–0	0–0	—	0–1	2–0	4–0	0–0
Stuttgarter Kickers	0–0	1–1	0–2	0–1	0–0	1–2	0–1	0–4	1–0	0–0	2–1	1–0	1–4	1–0	2–2	2–0	—	4–1	1–0	1–2
VfB Stuttgart II	1–1	1–2	1–1	1–1	0–1	1–1	1–2	0–3	1–1	1–3	3–0	0–1	1–1	1–3	0–1	3–1	2–1	—	1–2	0–2
Wehen Wiesbaden	0–1	1–0	3–1	1–1	0–0	2–2	3–0	2–2	1–0	3–1	3–0	0–0	1–1	0–2	0–2	0–0	3–3	3–1	—	0–0
Würzburger Kickers	2–2	1–0	1–1	1–1	2–2	1–1	0–0	0–1	0–1	1–1	4–1	1–1	1–0	3–0	0–1	2–1	2–1	0–0	0–0	—

Source: DFB
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals[27]
1	Justin Eilers	Dynamo Dresden	23
2	Christian Beck	1. FC Magdeburg	19
3	Pascal Testroet	Dynamo Dresden	18
4	Marco Königs	Fortuna Köln	16
5	Anton Fink	Chemnitzer FC	15
6	Julius Biada	Fortuna Köln	14
7	Julian Derstroff	Mainz 05 II	12
	Carsten Kammlott	Rot-Weiß Erfurt
9	Five players		11

Number of teams by state

Position	State	Number of teams	Teams
1	Baden-Württemberg	4	VfR Aalen, SG Sonnenhof Großaspach, Stuttgart II and Stuttgarter Kickers
2	Saxony	3	Chemnitzer FC, Dynamo Dresden and Erzgebirge Aue
3	North Rhine-Westphalia	2	Fortuna Köln and Preussen Münster
	Saxony-Anhalt	2	Hallescher FC and FC Magdeburg
5	Bavaria	1	Würzburger Kickers
	Brandenburg	1	Energie Cottbus
	Bremen	1	Werder Bremen II
	Hesse	1	Wehen Wiesbaden
	Lower Saxony	1	VfL Osnabrück
	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	1	Hansa Rostock
	Rhineland-Palatinate	1	Mainz 05 II
	Schleswig-Holstein	1	Holstein Kiel
	Thuringia	1	Rot-Weiss Erfurt