The junior football sector is being reformed by the DFB. From the 2024/25 season, a lot will change. An overview.
In the coming season, the U19 and U17 Bundesliga will once again play a first and second round after the Corona pandemic.
From the following 2024/25 season, there will be several changes, which the DFB has now announced. In March 2022, the DFB board was authorised to draw up changes to Germany’s top divisions.
The aim is to improve the promotion of young talent. Instead of the Junior Bundesliga, there will now be the DFB Junior League for the U19s and U17s. Instead of three regional leagues, there will now be a game principle with two phases.
First a regional preliminary round and then a main round, which will be divided into an A and B league. In League A of the main round, there may be supra-regional duels and thus matches at the top level.
What is special: In the U19 and U17 DFB junior leagues, Bundesliga clubs and amateur clubs play in one league from the start. All clubs with a performance centre (LZ) are permanently represented in the DFB junior league.
Clubs with a performance centre: There are no more relegations
The number of participating teams is not capped. During the season, the DFB Junior League is also permeable – a maximum of eleven amateur clubs join the field of participants in the main round and can qualify for the preliminary round of the coming season.
The game mode is divided into two phases: In the preliminary round, there are several regional divisions, whereby state and regional association boundaries do not play a role. All the teams in a season compete against each other in the first and second rounds and qualify for the main round.
The first, second and third-placed teams in the preliminary round groups advance to League A of the main round. The remaining teams are placed in League B. Eleven amateur clubs that qualify via the regional or national competitions (second-highest divisions) join League B in the main round.
Both leagues are again divided into seasons and play a first and second round. The German champion will be played among the teams from League A in a final round.
Important: LZ clubs cannot be relegated. The DFB emphasises in its statement: “In the new system, the pressure on club managers to achieve results is less due to the secured league membership of the LZ, so that the players can develop better individually. Effort can be reduced in individual phases of the season due to the shorter distances, and the number of games at a comparable level of performance is increased.”
In the first season to be played according to the new mode, all teams with a performance centre, all clubs without a performance centre that have not been relegated from the A or B Junior Bundesliga 2023/2024 and all clubs without a performance centre that have been promoted from the second-highest divisions in accordance with the DFB Youth Regulations will qualify.