# 1996–97 Regionalliga

The 1996–97 Regionalliga was the third season of the Regionalliga as the third tier of German football. The league was organised in four regional divisions, Nord, Nordost, West-Südwest and Süd.
FC Energie Cottbus, SG Wattenscheid 09, 1. FC Nürnberg and SpVgg Greuther Fürth were promoted to the 2. Bundesliga.

## North
### Final table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Hannover 96 (C) | 34 | 26 | 5 | 3 | 105 | 25 | +80 | 83 | Qualification to promotion play-off |
| 2 | Eintracht Braunschweig | 34 | 25 | 3 | 6 | 77 | 26 | +51 | 78 | |
| 3 | SV Werder Bremen II | 34 | 21 | 5 | 8 | 71 | 36 | +35 | 68 | |
| 4 | VfL Osnabrück | 34 | 17 | 13 | 4 | 51 | 21 | +30 | 64 | |
| 5 | Hamburger SV II | 34 | 19 | 7 | 8 | 66 | 40 | +26 | 64 | |
| 6 | TuS Celle FC | 34 | 16 | 5 | 13 | 57 | 57 | 0 | 53 | |
| 7 | 1. SC Norderstedt | 34 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 57 | 36 | +21 | 50 | |
| 8 | VfL Herzlake | 34 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 54 | 56 | −2 | 49 | |
| 9 | Kickers Emden | 34 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 40 | 49 | −9 | 41 | |
| 10 | SC Göttingen 05 | 34 | 8 | 15 | 11 | 33 | 42 | −9 | 39 | |
| 11 | Sportfreunde Ricklingen | 34 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 36 | 60 | −24 | 37 | |
| 12 | SV Atlas Delmenhorst | 34 | 10 | 6 | 18 | 48 | 60 | −12 | 36 | |
| 13 | SV Wilhelmshaven | 34 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 35 | 58 | −23 | 35 | |
| 14 | Concordia Hamburg (R) | 34 | 7 | 12 | 15 | 35 | 56 | −21 | 33 | Relegation to Oberliga |
| 15 | FC Altona 93 (R) | 34 | 7 | 9 | 18 | 33 | 68 | −35 | 30 | Relegation to Oberliga |
| 16 | FC St. Pauli II (R) | 34 | 6 | 12 | 16 | 25 | 61 | −36 | 30 | Relegation to Oberliga |
| 17 | Lüneburger SK (R) | 34 | 7 | 7 | 20 | 31 | 61 | −30 | 28 | Relegation to Oberliga |
| 18 | SV Lurup Hamburg (R) | 34 | 5 | 8 | 21 | 32 | 74 | −42 | 23 | Relegation to Oberliga |
* ↑ Altona 93 withdrew from the league.

### Top scorers

| # | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1. | Hakan Cengiz | VfL Herzlake | 28 |
| 2. | Vladan Milovanović | Hannover 96 | 27 |
| 3. | Kreso Kovacec | Hannover 96 | 25 |
| 4. | Miloš Kolaković | Eintracht Braunschweig | 19 |
| 5. | Markus Burmeister | 1. SC Norderstedt | 14 |
| 6. | Daniel Stendel | Hamburger SV (A) | 16 |
| 7. | Arie van Lent | Werder Bremen (A) | 15 |
| 8. | Stephan Prause | Kickers Emden | 14 |
| 9. | Uwe Harttgen | Werder Bremen (A) | 13 |
| 9. | Christian Jablonski | Atlas Delmenhorst | 13 |
| 9. | Leo Marić | Eintracht Braunschweig | 13 |
| 9. | Tibor Nadj | Hamburger SV (A) | 13 |

## North-East
### Final table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | FC Energie Cottbus (C, P) | 34 | 25 | 7 | 2 | 80 | 17 | +63 | 82 | Qualification to promotion play-off |
| 2 | FC Erzgebirge Aue | 34 | 20 | 11 | 3 | 60 | 32 | +28 | 71 | |
| 3 | FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt | 34 | 19 | 9 | 6 | 80 | 39 | +41 | 66 | |
| 4 | Chemnitzer FC | 34 | 19 | 7 | 8 | 60 | 27 | +33 | 64 | |
| 5 | 1. FC Union Berlin | 34 | 19 | 5 | 10 | 51 | 37 | +14 | 62 | |
| 6 | Tennis Borussia Berlin | 34 | 16 | 13 | 5 | 60 | 27 | +33 | 61 | |
| 7 | Dynamo Dresden | 34 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 57 | 38 | +19 | 57 | |
| 8 | Eisenhüttenstädter FC Stahl | 34 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 56 | 57 | −1 | 49 | |
| 9 | FC Sachsen Leipzig | 34 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 61 | 52 | +9 | 46 | |
| 10 | VFC Plauen | 34 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 44 | 50 | −6 | 44 | |
| 11 | FSV Lok Altmark Stendal | 34 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 38 | 34 | +4 | 43 | |
| 12 | Wacker Nordhausen | 34 | 9 | 9 | 16 | 41 | 62 | −21 | 36 | |
| 13 | FC Berlin | 34 | 7 | 14 | 13 | 29 | 48 | −19 | 35 | |
| 14 | Reinickendorfer Füchse | 34 | 8 | 8 | 18 | 32 | 42 | −10 | 32 | |
| 15 | Hertha Zehlendorf | 34 | 4 | 15 | 15 | 26 | 52 | −26 | 27 | |
| 16 | Spandauer SV | 34 | 6 | 7 | 21 | 33 | 72 | −39 | 25 | |
| 17 | SC Charlottenburg (R) | 34 | 3 | 8 | 23 | 29 | 74 | −45 | 17 | Relegation to Oberliga |
| 18 | FSV Velten (R) | 34 | 4 | 5 | 25 | 25 | 102 | −77 | 17 | Relegation to Oberliga |

### Top scorers

| # | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1. | Marco Weißhaupt | Rot-Weiß Erfurt | 21 |
| 2. | Ilija Aračić | Chemnitzer FC | 18 |
| 2. | Daniel Bärwolf | Rot-Weiß Erfurt | 18 |
| 4. | Mike Sadlo | Erzgebirge Aue | 17 |
| 5. | Oleg Golowan | FC Sachsen Leipzig | 14 |
| 6. | Toralf Konetzke | Energie Cottbus | 15 |
| 7. | Ronny Hebestreit | Rot-Weiß Erfurt | 14 |
| 8. | Thomas Adler | Tennis Borussia Berlin | 13 |
| 8. | Detlef Irrgang | Energie Cottbus | 13 |
| 8. | Rainer Wiedemann | FSV Lok Altmark Stendal | 13 |

## West/South-West
### Final table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | SG Wattenscheid 09 (C, P) | 34 | 23 | 8 | 3 | 78 | 35 | +43 | 77 | Promotion to 2. Bundesliga |
| 2 | Rot-Weiß Oberhausen | 34 | 19 | 8 | 7 | 62 | 22 | +40 | 65 | |
| 3 | 1. FC Saarbrücken | 34 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 64 | 38 | +26 | 61 | |
| 4 | LR Ahlen | 34 | 15 | 12 | 7 | 61 | 38 | +23 | 57 | |
| 5 | Preußen Münster | 34 | 15 | 12 | 7 | 52 | 32 | +20 | 57 | |
| 6 | Wuppertaler SV | 34 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 46 | 40 | +6 | 51 | |
| 7 | SC Verl | 34 | 14 | 7 | 13 | 61 | 52 | +9 | 49 | |
| 8 | FC 08 Homburg | 34 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 47 | 47 | 0 | 45 | |
| 9 | Eintracht Trier | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 41 | 45 | −4 | 43 | |
| 10 | TuS Paderborn-Neuhaus | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 40 | 46 | −6 | 43 | |
| 11 | Alemannia Aachen | 34 | 11 | 9 | 14 | 40 | 48 | −8 | 42 | |
| 12 | FC Germania Teveren | 34 | 9 | 14 | 11 | 34 | 45 | −11 | 41 | |
| 13 | SpVgg Erkenschwick | 34 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 46 | 55 | −9 | 40 | |
| 14 | FSV Salmrohr | 34 | 10 | 9 | 15 | 39 | 54 | −15 | 39 | |
| 15 | FC Remscheid | 34 | 8 | 13 | 13 | 30 | 42 | −12 | 37 | |
| 16 | SC Hauenstein (R) | 34 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 46 | 62 | −16 | 36 | Relegation to Oberliga |
| 17 | 1. FC Bocholt (R) | 34 | 6 | 7 | 21 | 24 | 66 | −42 | 25 | Relegation to Oberliga |
| 18 | SV Elversberg (R) | 34 | 4 | 8 | 22 | 34 | 78 | −44 | 20 | Relegation to Oberliga |

### Top scorers

| # | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1. | René Deffke | LR Ahlen | 24 |
| 1. | Marcus Feinbier | Alemannia Aachen / SG Wattenscheid 09 | 24 |
| 3. | Branko Zibert | 1. FC Saarbrücken | 23 |
| 4. | Achim Weber | Wuppertaler SV / Rot-Weiß Oberhausen | 18 |
| 5. | Andreas Lässig | SC Hauenstein | 14 |
| 5. | Jürgen Serr | Preußen Münster | 14 |
| 7. | Brent Goulet | Wuppertaler SV | 13 |
| 7. | Ermin Melunović | Eintracht Trier | 13 |
| 9. | Markus Zuraski | SC Verl | 12 |
| 10. | Sergio Allievi | SG Wattenscheid 09 | 11 |
| 10. | Marek Czakon | Eintracht Trier | 11 |
| 10. | Thomas Pröpper | Rot-Weiß Oberhausen | 11 |
| 10. | Astrit Ramadani | FSV Salmrohr | 11 |
| 10. | Ulf Raschke | SC Verl | 11 |

## South
### Final table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | 1. FC Nürnberg (C, P) | 34 | 25 | 5 | 4 | 75 | 26 | +49 | 80 | Promotion to 2. Bundesliga |
| 2 | SpVgg Greuther Fürth (P) | 34 | 23 | 7 | 4 | 76 | 28 | +48 | 76 | Promotion to 2. Bundesliga |
| 3 | SSV Reutlingen | 34 | 19 | 7 | 8 | 67 | 33 | +34 | 64 | |
| 4 | Borussia Fulda | 34 | 16 | 7 | 11 | 58 | 37 | +21 | 55 | |
| 5 | Wacker Burghausen | 34 | 16 | 7 | 11 | 50 | 37 | +13 | 55 | |
| 6 | SSV Ulm 1846 | 34 | 16 | 6 | 12 | 71 | 50 | +21 | 54 | |
| 7 | VfR Mannheim | 34 | 16 | 6 | 12 | 66 | 54 | +12 | 54 | |
| 8 | Bayern Munich II | 34 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 49 | 52 | −3 | 46 | |
| 9 | SC Neukirchen 1899 | 34 | 12 | 8 | 14 | 44 | 59 | −15 | 44 | |
| 10 | SC Weismain | 34 | 10 | 10 | 14 | 53 | 64 | −11 | 40 | |
| 11 | FC Augsburg | 34 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 46 | 50 | −4 | 38 | |
| 12 | KSV Hessen Kassel | 34 | 10 | 7 | 17 | 43 | 65 | −22 | 37 | |
| 13 | SV Darmstadt 98 | 34 | 9 | 9 | 16 | 49 | 61 | −12 | 36 | |
| 14 | Karlsruher SC II | 34 | 9 | 9 | 16 | 38 | 57 | −19 | 36 | |
| 15 | TSF Ditzingen | 34 | 10 | 6 | 18 | 53 | 74 | −21 | 36 | |
| 16 | SpVgg 07 Ludwigsburg (R) | 34 | 9 | 7 | 18 | 40 | 66 | −26 | 34 | Relegation to Oberliga |
| 17 | SG Quelle Fürth (R) | 34 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 38 | 68 | −30 | 33 | Relegation to Oberliga |
| 18 | SG Egelsbach (R) | 34 | 7 | 9 | 18 | 44 | 79 | −35 | 30 | Relegation to Oberliga |

### Top scorers

| # | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1. | Frank Türr | SpVgg Greuther Fürth | 25 |
| 2. | Olivier Djappa | Borussia Fulda | 24 |
| 2. | Michael Mayer | SSV Reutlingen | 24 |
| 4. | Carsten Lakies | Bayern Munich (A) | 22 |
| 4. | Dragan Trkulja | SSV Ulm 1846 | 22 |
| 6. | Sascha Licht | SC Weismain | 20 |
| 6. | Heiko Liebers | SC Neukirchen | 20 |
| 8. | Markus Kurth | 1. FC Nürnberg | 16 |
| 9. | Marco Flading | Borussia Fulda | 14 |
| 10. | Marcus Volke | SV Darmstadt 98 | 13 |

## Promotion playoff

The last promotion place was contested between the champions of the North and North-East regions.

### Second leg

    Energie Cottbus won 3–1 on aggregate and so were promoted to the 2. Bundesliga.