The best U19 and U17 teams in the Lower Rhine and Westphalia regions will be promoted in the winter. This is the situation shortly before the end of the first half of the season.
The first season since the league reform is underway in the youth performance area. The first phase of the DFB Youth League is almost over. After the winter break, the 24 best teams from the eight groups in each case will compete in the U19 and U17 leagues in League A and will later play for the championship. Schalke, BVB and VfL Bochum have already qualified.
The other 40 teams continue in League B. There they are divided into groups. Also in League B: the best teams from the second-highest leagues without a training center. In the RS distribution area, this applies to the autumn champions in the U19 and U17 Lower Rhine and Westphalia leagues. This overview shows which teams can hope for a starting place or have already secured one.
In the Lower Rhine U19 league, Rot-Weiß Oberhausen are on the verge of being promoted to the DFB Youth League. With three matchdays remaining in the first half of the season, RWO top the table, six points ahead of SG Unterrath. With no direct encounter to come, Oberhausen can seal their promotion this weekend.
The U17 Lower Rhine league has already been decided: TSV Meerbusch, which includes the son of Xabi Alonso in its ranks, can look forward to matches against high-profile opponents. Meerbusch is in second place behind league leaders Borussia Mönchengladbach, who cannot be promoted with their U16 team. The same applies to MSV Duisburg and Rot-Weiss Essen, who could still overtake Meerbusch. Otherwise, no club entitled to promotion can overtake TSV. It is a great success for the club, whose U19 team is already competing in the junior league.
In Westphalia, two teams are on course to be promoted. In both age groups, Sportfreunde Siegen are leading the Verbandsliga with two match days remaining. The U19 team is in a close race with Hombrucher SV (one point behind). SV Rödinghausen also still has a chance.
Borussia Dortmund and VfL Bochum are leading the U17-Westfalenliga, but both are not allowed to advance. This puts Siegen in the pole position here as well. With a two-point lead over VfB Waltrop, the promotion can be finalized this weekend.
The thinking behind the change of league in winter: “The clubs without a training center are thus rewarded for their performance in the previous round and are given the opportunity to directly compare themselves at a higher level,” says the DFB.
In League B, the amateur clubs are divided into groups with a maximum of eight teams each, along with the professional clubs. The promoted teams that finish in one of the top four places at the end of the season remain in the junior league over the summer. The others are relegated back to the regional leagues. All clubs that have a performance center are placed in the junior league regardless of their sporting performance.