This was to be expected. NRW has seven representatives in the 3rd division. One of them will probably be relegated, which will have an impact on the Regionalliga West.

18 teams are currently playing in the Regionalliga West. The champion (presumably Alemannia Aachen) will be promoted to the 3rd division, while four teams from the three upper leagues (Mittelrhein, Niederrhein, Westfalen) will be promoted – the Westfalen association, as the largest association, will provide two promoted teams.

If this scenario were to continue, there would be four promoted teams and four teams would leave the regional league – the champions and the last three teams.

However, it now looks very likely that MSV Duisburg will be relegated from the 3rd division and will soon be playing in the Regionalliga West. With six match days remaining, the “Zebras” have eight points to make up after the bitter 1:4 in the derby at Rot-Weiss Essen. An almost insurmountable burden.

This means that four instead of three teams would have to be relegated from the Regionalliga West, as the league is not to exceed 18 teams in the coming season. The league could only be expanded if more than two NRW teams are relegated from the 3rd division. There should not be more than four relegated teams.

For the current season, this means that SV Lippstadt would not be saved in 15th place, SSVg Velbert would be as good as relegated because the gap to 14th place (Borussia Mönchengladbach II) is already nine points. And SC Paderborn must also continue to tremble, as the gap to the first relegation place is only five points instead of seven.

Apart from MSV, however, FC Schalke’s U23s could still be affected, namely if the professionals were relegated to the 3rd division, in which case this point would apply:

“If a club/team is relegated from the licensed leagues to the 3rd division, the second team of this club playing in the Regionalliga West is relegated and moves to the bottom of the table. The number of relegated teams is reduced accordingly. If a licensed team is relegated to the Regionalliga West, its second team playing there is deemed to be relegated and the number of relegated teams is reduced accordingly. “