The 2008/09 season of the 3rd division was the first season of the single-track 3rd division . It started on July 25, 2008 with the game between Rot-Weiß Erfurt and Dynamo Dresden (0: 1) and ended on May 23, 2009. The founding members of the league were the four relegated from the 2nd Bundesliga and each of the clubs on the Places three to ten of the regional league seasons of the 2007/08 season .
At the end of the season, champions 1. FC Union Berlin (who won the title of third division champions on the 35th match day) and second-placed Fortuna Düsseldorf were promoted directly to the 2nd Bundesliga, while third-placed SC Paderborn 07 played in relegation games for the Promotion against the third from bottom of the 2nd Bundesliga and prevailed with two 1-0 successes against VfL Osnabrück . In principle, all clubs were eligible for promotion with the exception of the three second representatives of Bundesliga clubs. The first four of the table were also automatically qualified for the first main round of the 2009/10 DFB Cup .
The first relegated team had been the Stuttgarter Kickers since May 14, 2009 after the DFB had imposed a three-point deduction for a loan that was not repaid on time. Furthermore, the VfR Aalen and Wacker Burghausen occupied relegation places; The latter, however, benefited from the withdrawal of the BSV Kickers Emden , which withdrew its application for a license for the 3rd division in the 2009/10 season for economic reasons .
In addition to ticket sales, sponsorship and merchandising income, the clubs in the 3rd division financed themselves primarily from the television rights that ARD had secured. In addition to the summaries in the sports show, several live games, summaries and a conference call on the last match day were broadcast in the third programs. A total of around 625,000 euros were distributed to the clubs in the 3rd division; the second teams of the Bundesliga clubs were not involved.
1 Kickers Emden withdrew the license application for the 3rd division for economic reasons.
2 The Stuttgarter Kickers were deducted three points.
Relegation
The SC Paderborn 07 took third place in the 2008-09 season and joined so on 29 May and 1 June 2009 against 16 of the 2. Bundesliga, the VfL Osnabruck on.
1Due to renovation work on the An der Alten Försterei stadium , 1. FC Union Berlin played its home games in the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark during the season.
2Since the security measures in the GAZi stadium were judged to be insufficient, VfB Stuttgart II had to play the first home game of the season in the Mercedes-Benz Arena . The first home game of the Stuttgarter Kickers could take place in the GAZi stadium.
3The Rudolf Harbig Stadium was rebuilt during the season. After the end of the new building work in 2009, the audience capacity was 32,296 seats.
.svg){kind=small}
