The reward: Mainz won the U-19 championship last year. Image: picture alliance / Promediafoto
After children’s football, the German Football Association is reforming its youth leagues. In the future there will no longer be any federal leagues for A and B juniors. This is intended to improve training and help amateur clubs.
What happens?
After children’s football, youth football in Germany is also being reformed – at least at the highest level. The federal leagues for A and B juniors will be abolished. Instead, there will be the “DFB youth leagues” from the 2024/25 season onwards. All clubs that have a certified youth performance center (NLZ) are automatically qualified. There are currently 58. There is also a flexible number of amateur clubs that have qualified for the leagues. The German champions will then be determined in a new mode.
Namely?
In the preliminary round, participants compete in regional groups with a maximum of eight teams. How many groups there are is not fixed, but can be adjusted year by year. The first-placed, the second-placed and some third-placed teams continue the competition in the so-called League A, the rest in League B. There are also several groups there. For the U17 they are divided nationally, for the U19 they are divided nationwide, at least in the A league.
