I thought it might be interesting to look at attendance in the 4th division Regionalliga. So here are the results, along with attendance figures from this weekend. While costs are down due to closer proximities, it’s pretty clear that the reorganization – despite making a lot of sense – hasn’t been a boon to attendance. Germany, like most countries, is watching the fans go to the “money” of the first division. So while the Bundesliga continues with massive numbers, the lower divisions are struggling.

Most clubs seem to get by on less than 1,000, although some of the “traditionals” like Wuppertal, Kiel and Trier tend to draw a bit more. The Nordost, with it’s ex-GDR pedigree, has several clubs that fit in this category.

One bright spot is Essen, where Rot-Weiss is averaging 8,300 a match, including 11,037 in the city “derby” with FC Kray. (Hardly a derby, because I’m sure most of Essen’s football fans never even knew FC Kray existed). In addition RWE drew 12,500 for the DFB Cup match against Union Berlin.

Regionalliga Nord:      7,451 (avg 828)

BV Cloppenburg	         -   Werder Bremen II	     3:3 (3:0)   1,034
Holstein Kiel	         -   SV Meppen	             4:1 (3:1)   3,043
VfL Wolfsburg II	 -   Hamburger SV II	     2:0 (2:0)     180
BSV SW Rehden	         -   Hannover 96 II	     1:2 (1:0)     600
FC St. Pauli II	         -   ETSV Weiche Flensburg   1:2 (1:1)     145
VfB Oldenburg	         -   VfR Neumünster	     1:2 (0:1)     920
VfB Lübeck	         -   Victoria Hamburg	     3:2 (3:2)     901
Goslarer SC 08	         -   FC Oberneuland	     4:1 (2:0)     300
SV Wilhelmshaven	 -   TSV Havelse	     0:0 (0:0)     328

Regionalliga Nordost:  12,237 (avg 1,534)

1. FC Lok Leipzig	 -   1. FC Magdeburg	     3:0 (1:0)   5,289
Optik Rathenow	         -   TSG Neustrelitz	     0:1 (0:0)     437
VfB Auerbach	         -   Berliner AK 07	     0:0 (0:0)     520
VFC Plauen	         -   FSV Zwickau	     0:3 (0:0)   2,540
Germania Halberstadt	 -   1. FC Union Berlin II   1:1 (0:1)     711
Torgelower SV Greif	 -   RasenBallsport Leipzig  0:4 (0:1)     540
Hertha BSC II	         -   Energie Cottbus II	     1:1 (0:0)     334
ZFC Meuselwitz	         -   Carl Zeiss Jena	     0:0 (0:0)   1,902

Regionalliga West:     13,413 (avg 1,490)
	
Rot-Weiss Essen	         -   MSV Duisburg II	     1:1 (1:0)   7,077
Sportfreunde Siegen	 -   Borussia M'gladbach II  4:0 (1:0)   1,309
Sportfreunde Lotte	 -   VfL Bochum II	     0:0 (0:0)     566
Wuppertaler SV Bor.	 -   Rot-Weiß Oberhausen     3:1 (1:1)   1,441
SV Bergisch Gladbach 09	 -   VfB Hüls	             1:4 (0:2)     406
Fortuna Köln	         -   FC Kray	             1:1 (0:1)     915
1. FC Köln II	         -   FC Schalke 04 II	     3:1 (2:1)     350
SC Verl	                 -   SC Wiedenbrück 2000     4:1 (1:0)     657
Fortuna Düsseldorf II	 -   Bayer Leverkusen II     1:2 (1:1)      72
SSVg Velbert	         -   FC Viktoria Köln	     0:2 (0:1)     620

Regionalliga Südwest:  4,320 (avg 540)
 	
Eintracht Frankfurt II	 -   Hessen Kassel	     1:3 (1:2)     250
FC 08 Homburg	         -   SV Elversberg	     0:1 (0:0)   1,138
SC Pfullendorf	         -   SG Sonnenhof Großaspach 2:0 (1:0)     330
Wormatia Worms	         -   Waldhof Mannheim	     canceled
1. FSV Mainz 05 II	 -   Bayern Alzenau	     1:1 (0:1)     375
SC Freiburg II	         -   1. FC Kaiserslautern II 1:1 (0:0)     200
Eintracht Trier	         -   SSV Ulm 1846 Fußball    3:2 (0:2)   1,425
1899 Hoffenheim II	 -   1. FC Eschborn	     4:1 (3:1)     300
FSV Frankfurt II	 -   TuS Koblenz	     1:4 (0:0) 	   302

Regionalliga Bayern:    3,720 (avg 465)
 	
1860 München II	         -   TSV Buchbach	     canceled
SV Seligenporten	 -   SpVgg Greuther Fürth II 1:2 (1:0)     300
FC Augsburg II	         -   Bayern München II	     2:2 (0:1)     800
SV Heimstetten	         -   VfL Frohnlach	     2:1 (1:1)     250
SC Eltersdorf	         -   1. FC Nürnberg II	     1:2 (0:1)     928
FC Ingolstadt 04 II	 -   FV Illertissen	     1:3 (1:1)     200
Würzburger Kickers	 -   FC Ismaning	     0:5 (0:2)     360
SpVgg Bayern Hof	 -   FC Eintracht Bamberg    3:1 (1:0)     480
TSV Rain/Lech	         -   Viktoria Aschaffenburg  4:0 (2:0) 	   402
FC Memmingen	         -   TSV 1860 Rosenheim      postponed

Leaders Braunschweig were largely ho-hum with Sandhausen. The Lions were in control, but weren’t really in much of a hurry. They finally broke through and easily bring home the points. You’ve got to consider that Braunschweig will be going to the Bundesliga next year, as not only do they have a big lead, but they’ve shown ability to grind out points. Sandhausen is just not good enough to get anything from a match like this.

Hertha had their hands full with a determined Ingolstadt. Berlin controlled most of the match, but was unable to break down FCI’s well organized defense. Sami Allagui had a huge chance after coming on as a sub to win it for the home side: he was through 1-on-1 but flubbed it. Hertha probably should have won, but given their strong fight, a nice point for the Schanzer.

Paderborn didn’t do very much, but host Regensburg sucked in the 1st half, so SCP had an easy time and the lead. Jahn was much improved in the 2nd half, but not really enough to threaten the Westfalen, who put things away with a late strike.

Toothless Lions, that’s just what the doctor ordered for struggling St.Pauli. 1860 was totally lame, so the Kiez-Kicker easily get a road win that may set them on the path to recovery. Their recent stinkers have dropped 1860 out of contention, someone really should be shot.

“Extra! Extra! Read all about it! Köln ist krapp..” If that was your headline, you wouldn’t be selling any papers, since Köln is up to their old tricks again. They sucked and looked tired, so hosts Aalen deservedly kicked their ass and get a nice scalp.

DDR-Oberliga matchup in Dresden, but unlike old days, this ended badly for Dynamo. Visitors Union put on a good performance, they being Fabian Schönheim being moved from a defensive to attacking role. He responded with both goals as Union stabilizes their floundering ship. Dresden is now in crisis mode, as they’ve fallen apart and are only above relegation on scoring more goals than Regensburg…

Poor Bochum looked like they would flail to another loss due to a smash-and-grab performance by Cottbus. Energie was very clever as Bochum furiously attacked – at least VfL showing some signs of life. It looked like Cottbus would take all the points, but in the end-run Bochum somehow turned it up again and came back fr a deserved draw. They’ve sucked all season, but at least showed that they’re capable of some spirit and fight. Granted, they’ll probably suck again next week. Energie should actually be statisfied with a point, since they would have lost against anybody else.

Crap match in Duisburg, for the taking. Hosts MSV ran around aimlessly like chickens with their heads cut off. FSV Frankfurt was totally passive, content to kick the ball around. The Bornheimers did grab a couple of goals off dead ball situations, and that proved to be the difference, as they grabbed excellent points. Duisburg woke up too late and blows a chance to get off the bottom.

Monday Night Football featured Kaiserslautern leaping into 2nd with a thumping win over Aue.

Weekend attendance was 172,913 (avg 19,213)

 	
Hertha BSC Berlin     -   FC Ingolstadt 04	0:0 (0:0)   36,000

Eintr. Braunschweig   -   SV Sandhausen	        2:1 (1:0)   18,900

                     1:0  Kumbela (45., R. Korte)
                     2:0  Kumbela (50., Vrancic)
                     2:1  Löning (62., Achenbach)

Jahn Regensburg	      -   SC Paderborn 07	0:2 (0:1)    5,410

                     0:1  P. Hofmann (13., Kopfball, Naki)
                     0:2  Zeitz (87., Rechtsschuss, Vrancic)
	

1860 München	      -   FC St. Pauli	        0:2 (0:1)   31,500

                     0:1  Boll (26., Ginczek)
                     0:2  Ginczek (53., Schindler)

MSV Duisburg	      -   FSV Frankfurt	        1:2 (0:2)    8,617

                     0:1  Konrad (34.)
                     0:2  Verhoek (38., Y. Stark)
                     1:2  Exslager (80., Brandy)

Dynamo Dresden	      -   1. FC Union Berlin	0:2 (0:1)   29,452

                     0:1  Schönheim (14., Karl)
                     0:2  Schönheim (54., Zoundi)

VfL Bochum	      -   Energie Cottbus	2:2 (0:1)    9,571

                     0:1  Sanogo (5., Adlung)
                     0:2  Sanogo (52., Banovic)
                     1:2  Sinkiewicz (73., Tasaka)
                     2:2  Dedic (89., Ortega)

VfR Aalen	      -   1. FC Köln	        2:0 (1:0)   10,091

                     1:0  Dausch (31.,)
                     2:0  Cidimar (77.,Traut)

Monday night:
1. FC Kaiserslautern  -   Erzgebirge Aue        4:1 (2:1)   23,372

                     1:0  Zuck (7., Dick)
                     1:1  Hochscheidt (23., Fa. Müller)
                     2:1  Baumjohann (36.)
                     3:1  Baumjohann (79., Idrissou)
                     4:1  Idrissou (81., Baumjohann)




 1  Eintracht Braunschweig	12    9   3   0    21:5   +16 	  30 
 2  1. FC Kaiserslautern (A)	12    6   6   0    25:15  +10 	  24 
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Hertha BSC Berlin (A)	12    6   5   1    19:11  +8 	  23
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  Energie Cottbus	  	12    6   4   2    18:12  +6 	  22
 5  FSV Frankfurt	  	12    6   3   3    18:14  +4 	  21 
 6  FC Ingolstadt 04	  	12    5   5   2    15:11  +4 	  20 
 7  VfR Aalen (N)	  	12    6   1   5    15:12  +3 	  19 
 8  SC Paderborn 07	  	12    5   3   4    19:13  +6 	  18 
 9  1860 München	  	12    4   5   3    14:10  +4 	  17 
10  1. FC Union Berlin	  	12    4   3   5    16:16   0 	  15 
11  FC St. Pauli	  	12    3   5   4    12:15  -3 	  14 
12  1. FC Köln (A)	  	12    3   4   5    13:17  -4 	  13 
13  Erzgebirge Aue	  	12    3   3   6    15:18  -3 	  12 
14  VfL Bochum    	  	12    2   4   6     8:22  -14 	  10 
15  Dynamo Dresden	  	12    2   3   7    14:20  -6 	  9
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  Jahn Regensburg (N)	  	12    3   0   9    12:18  -6 	  9
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  SV Sandhausen (N)	  	12    2   3   7    10:21  -11 	  9 
18  MSV Duisburg	  	12    2   2   8     9:23  -14 	  8

A = Absteiger just Relegated 
N = Neuling just promoted

1st line: Promotion to Bundesliga
2nd line: Playoff with 16th Bundesliga
3rd line: Playoff with no.3 of 3.Liga
4th line: Relegation to 3.Liga 

Bayern stubbed their toe last week with their first loss, but they’re laughing again as their rivals laid eggs. They did take care of business, as they dominated against HSV and got their first win in Hamburg since 2006. HSV has been much improved since a poor start, but they really had no chance against the determined Bavarians.

Once again “Hoeness’ Law” (a relative of IT centric “Moore’s Law” no doubt): “The others are too dumb to win the title”. It was truly on display in Hoffenheim. Schalke *was* in superb recent form, and they dominated against Hoffenheim with crisp attacking play. GK Tim Wiese was in top form (which has been rare this season for the Hoppers), but Schalke was creating chances and looked like they would win in a rout. But somehow they couldn’t pull away – indeed they spent most of their day chasing their tail, as Hoffenheim was ruthlessly efficient on counters. And in injury, the supreme insult as the Hoppers stole all the points.

Dortmund faced a determined Stuttgart, and was somewhat unlucky to break through. The Neons pressed hard, but VfB GK Ulreich was in top form. Perhaps Dortmund was unlucky not to get the win, but sometimes you have to make your own luck. Bad news was increased as Sebastian Kehl went down injured as well (he got elbowed in the eye). Good point for Stuttgart.

Despite a dream blitz-start, Frankfurt was unable to get the win against a battling Greuther Fürth. Alex Meier continued his great season in the battle of promoted sides, but Eintracht seemed a bit lackadasical, and were duly punished.

Leverkusen made things more difficult than necessary against sinking Düsseldorf. The Aspirins should have been free and clear, but they continually kicked themselves in the balls when they were on the verge of breaking it open. However despite Simon Rolfes getting his ass tossed, the hosts were able to prevail in a Rhein-derby. Fortuna looks in free-fall, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they get relegated. They had a nice start, but they’ve been “gewogen und zu leicht gefunden” (basically, they’ve been “figured out”)

Hannover has been sucking recently, so nothing like a good dose of Augsburg to cure themselves. The Fuggers were horrible, so the 96ers waltzed along to an easy victory. They shouldn’t get too complacent, as they could have easily run up a half-dozen scores. Augsburg looked like a 2.Liga side again.

Intense match in Gladbach, but a deserved draw for Freiburg. The hosts had more of the play, but were frustrated by a disciplined SCF and their own incompetance. Gladbach coach Lucien Favre crowned the day by getting his ass tossed for whining too much.

Werder Bremen was somewhat fortunate to get the win against Mainz. An outstanding Aaron Hunt scored both for the Greens, capping it with a late direct freekick. (BTW, Mainz GK Wetklo knocked himself out by banging his face into the post). Mainz was fully in the match, and wasted many chances to score.

Two struggling teams in Nürnberg, and the hosts prevailed over lethargic Wolfsburg in the end. Overall, der Club deserved the win, since they pressed (in an incompetant manner for most of the match). Wolfsburg was never interested, so they get a deserved loss. Perhaps Felix Magath is chuckling as he collects his unemployment check.

This round’s attendance was 407,521 (avg 45,280)

Eintracht Frankfurt   -   SpVgg Greuther Fürth	1:1 (1:0)   47,400

                     1:0  Meier (1.)
                     1:1  Stieber (53., Sararer)

Borussia Dortmund     -   VfB Stuttgart	        0:0 (0:0)   80.645

Borussia M'gladbach   -   SC Freiburg	        1:1 (0:0)   47,673

                     1:0  de Camargo (49., Wendt)
                     1:1  D. Caligiuri (77., penalty, Sorg)

Hannover 96	      -   FC Augsburg	        2:0 (1:0)   41,200

                     1:0  M. Diouf (26., Stindl)
                     2:0  Stindl (85., M. Diouf)

1. FC Nürnberg	      -   VfL Wolfsburg	        1:0 (0:0)   37,586

                     1:0  Gebhart (76., Chandler)

1899 Hoffenheim	      -   FC Schalke 04 	3:2 (1:1)   30,150

                     1:0  Volland (13., Johnson)
                     1:1  Neustädter (37., Farfan)
                     2:1  Roberto Firmino (67., penalty, Volland)
                     2:2  Uchida (82., Huntelaar)
                     3:2  Schipplock (90. + 1, Grifo)

Hamburger SV	      -   Bayern München	0:3 (0:1)   57,000

                     0:1  Schweinsteiger (40., Kroos)
                     0:2  T. Müller (48., Ribery)
                     0:3  Kroos (53., Ribery)

Bayer Leverkusen      -   Fortuna Düsseldorf	3:2 (2:1)   27,153

                     1:0  Sam (16., Kießling)
                     1:1  Rafael (40., Bellinghausen)
                     2:1  Schürrle (41.)
                     3:1  Castro (66., Carvajal)
                     3:2  Bodzek (86.)

Werder Bremen	      -   1. FSV Mainz 05	2:1 (1:0)   39,114

                     1:0  Hunt (10., Petersen)
                     1:1  Szalai (64., Zabavnik)
                     2:1  Hunt (85.)
 	


 1  Bayern München	  	10    9   0   1    30:4	 +26 	  27 
 2  FC Schalke 04	  	10    6   2   2    20:11  +9 	  20 
 3  Eintracht Frankfurt (N)	10    6   2   2    21:14  +7 	  20
 4  Bayer Leverkusen	  	10    5   3   2    18:14  +4 	  18
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 5  Borussia Dortmund (M, P)	10    4   4   2    20:11  +9 	  16 
 6  Hannover 96	  	        10    4   2   4    20:16  +4 	  14
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 7  Werder Bremen	  	10    4   2   4    17:15  +2 	  14 
 8  1. FSV Mainz 05	  	10    4   2   4    13:12  +1 	  14 
 9  Hamburger SV	  	10    4   1   5    11:14  -3 	  13 
10  VfB Stuttgart	  	10    3   4   3    10:15  -5 	  13 
11  Borussia M'gladbach	  	10    3   4   3    13:19  -6 	  13 
12  SC Freiburg	  	        10    3   3   4    14:13  +1 	  12 
13  1899 Hoffenheim	  	10    3   2   5    16:22  -6 	  11 
14  1. FC Nürnberg	  	10    3   2   5     8:15  -7 	  11 
15  Fortuna Düsseldorf (N)	10    2   4   4     9:15  -6 	  10
--------------------------------------------------------------------
16  VfL Wolfsburg	  	10    2   2   6     6:17  -11 	  8
--------------------------------------------------------------------
17  SpVgg Greuther Fürth (N)	10    1   4   5     7:16  -9 	  7 
18  FC Augsburg	  	        10    1   3   6     5:15  -10 	  6

M = Meister, defending Champion
P = Pokal, defending Cup winner
N = Neuling, newly promoted
1st line: Champions League
2nd line: Europaliga (+ Cup winner)
3rd line: Playoff with 2.Liga 3rd place
4th line: Releghation to 2.Liga

Osnabrück remains on top with a tight win at Stuttgart B. The visitors had their hands full, but a double in the 2nd period and tight defense allowed them to bring home the bacon.

Münster has been strugglin recently, and last place Erfurt sniffed the opportunity for a point. Despite the hosts dominating, they couldn’t put away the pesky easterners. Finally another goal by Matt Taylor gave Preussen some breathing room, and they got the win. Good effort by Erfurt.

Unterhaching is back on track as they easily kicked Burghausen’s ass. Oddly enough, Wacker was the attacking side as the hosts laid back in a rope-a-dope. Then a 1-2 combo early in the 2nd decided things.

Rostock had a relatively easy time against their timid visitors from the Saar.

Karlsruhe is slowly getting rolling. They won their fourth in a row thanks to a strong start at Chemnitz.

Things got better at the end of the week for Aachen. First, they haven’t gone bankrupt, and 2nd they didn’t lose. Alemannia actually largely outplayed Heidenheim, who did little to suggest that they want to play at the top.

Huge win for struggling Darmstadt in the Hessen-derby against Offenbach. The Kickers have been in good form, but didn’t show enough against the 98ers. The hosts fought hard and since Offenbach was too lackadaisical in the 1st, went in with a deserved lead at the whistle. Kickers raised their game after the restart, but Darmstadt held firm.

Babelsberg had an important victory over Stuttgart. In a hard fought match the Potsdamers prevailed despite Kickers having a man advantage for 50 minutes.

Attendance was 52,180 (avg 5,218 per match). The 520 in Stuttgart was a season low (I think).

 	
SpVgg Unterhaching   -   Wacker Burghausen	3:0 (0:0)    3,300
1. FC Heidenheim     -   Alemannia Aachen	1:1 (0:1)    8,200 	
SV Babelsberg 03     -   Stuttgarter Kickers	1:0 (1:0)    2,828
VfB Stuttgart II     -   VfL Osnabrück	        1:2 (1:0)      520
Hallescher FC	     -   Arminia Bielefeld	2:2 (1:2)    6,934
SV Wehen Wiesbaden   -   Borussia Dortmund II	3:1 (1:1)    2,372
Hansa Rostock	     -   1. FC Saarbrücken	2:0 (2:0)    9,000
SV Darmstadt 98	     -   Kickers Offenbach	1:0 (1:0)    9,600
Chemnitzer FC	     -   Karlsruher SC	        1:2 (1:2)    4,900
Preußen Münster	     -   Rot-Weiß Erfurt	3:2 (2:1)    4,526


 1  VfL Osnabrück	  	16    11   2   3     25:11  +14   35
 2  Preußen Münster	  	16     9   5   2     29:14  +15   32
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 3  Arminia Bielefeld	  	16     9   4   3     24:16  +8 	  31
--------------------------------------------------------------------
 4  SpVgg Unterhaching	  	15     9   3   3     29:20  +9 	  30
 5  Hansa Rostock (A)	  	16     8   4   4     20:18  +2 	  28
 6  Karlsruher SC (A)	  	16     6   7   3     20:11  +9 	  25
 7  1. FC Heidenheim	  	16     7   4   5     27:24  +3 	  25
 8  Wacker Burghausen	  	16     8   1   7     22:21  +1 	  25
 9  Kickers Offenbach	  	16     6   5   5     26:19  +7 	  23
10  Chemnitzer FC	  	16     6   4   6     20:18  +2 	  22 
11  VfB Stuttgart II	  	16     6   3   7     21:20  +1 	  21 
12  1. FC Saarbrücken	  	16     6   2   8     20:26  -6 	  20 
13  SV Wehen Wiesbaden	  	16     2  11   3     19:19   0 	  17 
14  Alemannia Aachen (A)	16     3   7   6     17:23  -6 	  16 
15  Stuttgarter Kickers (N)	15     4   3   8     18:18   0 	  15 
16  Hallescher FC (N)	  	16     3   6   7     13:22  -9 	  15 
17  SV Babelsberg 03	  	15     4   3   8     12:21  -9 	  15
--------------------------------------------------------------------
18  SV Darmstadt 98	  	16     3   5   8     15:24  -9 	  14 
19  Borussia Dortmund II (N)	16     2   5   9     13:30  -17   11 
20  Rot-Weiß Erfurt	  	15     2   4   9     15:30  -15   10


1st line: Promotion to 2.Liga
2nd line: Promotion Playoff with 2.Liga 16th place
3rd line: Relegation to Regionalliga