# 2015–16 3. Liga

The 2015–16 3. Liga was the eighth season of the 3. Liga.

## Teams

A total of 20 teams contested the league, including 14 sides from the 2014–15 3. Liga. Arminia Bielefeld and MSV Duisburg were directly promoted to the 2015–16 2. Bundesliga at the end of the 2014–15 season. Bielefeld made an immediate return to the 2. Bundesliga after being relegated in 2013–14. Duisburg returned to the 2. Bundesliga after two seasons in the third tier. The two promoted teams were replaced by FC Erzgebirge Aue and VfR Aalen, who finished in the bottom two places of the 2014–15 2. Bundesliga table.
At the other end of the table, Borussia Dortmund II, SpVgg Unterhaching and SSV Jahn Regensburg were relegated to the 2015–16 Regionalliga. The three relegated teams were replaced by the three winners of the 2014–15 Regionalliga promotion playoffs. SV Werder Bremen II from the Regionalliga Nord returned to the national level after three seasons in the fourth tier, while 1. FC Magdeburg from the Regionalliga Nordost and Würzburger Kickers from the Regionalliga Bayern are playing their debut seasons in the 3. Liga.
A further place in the league was available via a two-legged play-off between third-placed 2014–15 3. Liga team Holstein Kiel and 16th-placed 2014–15 2. Bundesliga side TSV 1860 München. The tie ended 2–1 on aggregate and saw Kiel remaining in the 3. Liga.

### Stadiums and locations

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| VfR Aalen | Aalen | Scholz-Arena | 13,251 |
| SG Sonnenhof Großaspach | Aspach | Mechatronik Arena | 10,000 |
| Chemnitzer FC | Chemnitz | Stadion an der Gellertstraße | 18,712 |
| Dynamo Dresden | Dresden | Glücksgas-Stadion | 32,066 |
| Energie Cottbus | Cottbus | Stadion der Freundschaft | 22,528 |
| FC Erzgebirge Aue | Aue | Sparkassen-Erzgebirgsstadion | 15,711 |
| Hallescher FC | Halle | Erdgas Sportpark | 15,057 |
| Hansa Rostock | Rostock | DKB-Arena | 29,000 |
| Holstein Kiel | Kiel | Holstein-Stadion | 11,386 |
| SC Fortuna Köln | Cologne | Südstadion | 14,800 |
| 1. FSV Mainz 05 II | Mainz | Stadion am Bruchweg | 20,300 |
| 1. FC Magdeburg | Magdeburg | MDCC-Arena | 27,500 |
| VfL Osnabrück | Osnabrück | Osnatel-Arena | 16,667 |
| Preußen Münster | Münster | Preußenstadion | 15,050 |
| Rot-Weiß Erfurt | Erfurt | Steigerwaldstadion | 17,500 |
| VfB Stuttgart II | Stuttgart | Gazi-Stadion auf der Waldau | 10,100 |
| Stuttgarter Kickers | Stuttgart | Gazi-Stadion auf der Waldau | 10,100 |
| SV Wehen Wiesbaden | Wiesbaden | BRITA-Arena | 12,250 |
| SV Werder Bremen II | Bremen | Weserstadion Platz 11 | 5,500 |
| Würzburger Kickers | Würzburg | Flyeralarm Arena | 14,500 |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| VfR Aalen | Peter Vollmann | Markus Schwabl | Saller | Prowin |
| Chemnitzer FC | Sven Köhler | Anton Fink | adidas | Ahorn Hotels |
| Dynamo Dresden | Uwe Neuhaus | Michael Hefele | erima | Feldschlösschen |
| Energie Cottbus | Claus-Dieter Wollitz | Uwe Möhrle | Saller | Karton.eu |
| Erzgebirge Aue | Pavel Dochev | Martin Männel | Nike | Kumpelverein |
| 1. FSV Mainz 05 II | Sandro Schwarz | Damian Roßbach | Lotto | Kömmerling |
| Hallescher FC | Rico Schmitt | Tim Kruse | Puma | Halplus |
| Hansa Rostock | Christian Brand | Tobias Jänicke | Nike | kurzurlaub.de |
| Holstein Kiel | Karsten Neitzel | Marlon Krause | adidas | Famila |
| VfL Osnabrück | Joe Enochs | Tobias Willers | adidas | Sparkasse |
| 1. FC Magdeburg | Jens Härtel | Marius Sowislo | Uhlsport | FAM |
| Preußen Münster | Horst Steffen | Amaury Bischoff | Nike | Tuja Zeitarbeit |
| Rot-Weiß Erfurt | Stefan Krämer | Sebastian Tyrała | Jako | Thüringer Energie AG |
| SC Fortuna Köln | Uwe Koschinat | Florian Hörnig | Jako | HIT Handelsgruppe |
| SG Sonnenhof Großaspach | Rüdiger Rehm | Kai Gehring | Hummel | Urbacher Mineralquellen |
| VfB Stuttgart II | Walter Thomae | Tobias Rathgeb | Puma | Mercedes-Benz Bank |
| Stuttgarter Kickers | Tomislav Stipić | Fabian Baumgärtel | Uhlsport | MHP |
| SV Wehen Wiesbaden | Torsten Fröhling | Kevin Pezzoni | Nike | Brita |
| SV Werder Bremen II | Alexander Nouri | Rafael Kazior | Nike | Wiesenhof |
| Würzburger Kickers | Bernd Hollerbach | Amir Shapourzadeh | Nike | Sansibar |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Dynamo Dresden | Peter Németh | Left | 10 April 2015 | Pre-season | Uwe Neuhaus | 10 April 2015 |
| SV Wehen Wiesbaden | Christian Hock | End of caretaker stint | 12 May 2015 | Pre-season | Sven Demandt | 12 May 2015 |
| FC Erzgebirge Aue | Tomislav Stipić | Mutual termination | 27 May 2015 | Pre-season | Pavel Dochev | 4 June 2015 |
| VfR Aalen | Stefan Ruthenbeck | Left | 12 June 2015 | Pre-season | Peter Vollmann | 12 June 2015 |
| VfL Osnabrück | Maik Walpurgis | Sacked | 24 August 2015 | 19th | Joe Enochs | 24 August 2015 |
| Hallescher FC | Sven Köhler | Sacked | 30 August 2015 | 19th | Stefan Böger | 8 September 2015 |
| Energie Cottbus | Stefan Krämer | Sacked | 19 September 2015 | 17th | Vasile Miriuță | 23 September 2015 |
| Stuttgarter Kickers | Horst Steffen | Sacked | 4 November 2015 | 14th | Tomislav Stipić | 4 November 2015 |
| VfB Stuttgart II | Jürgen Kramny | Promoted to first team | 24 November 2015 | 18th | Walter Thomae | 21 December 2015 |
| Hansa Rostock | Karsten Baumann | Sacked | 5 December 2015 | 18th | Christian Brand | 7 December 2015 |
| Rot-Weiß Erfurt | Christian Preußer | Sacked | 15 December 2015 | 16th | Stefan Krämer | 30 December 2015 |
| Preußen Münster | Ralf Loose | Sacked | 19 December 2015 | 5th | Horst Steffen | 25 December 2015 |
| Chemnitzer FC | Karsten Heine | Sacked | 2 March 2016 | 17th | Sven Köhler | 2 March 2016 |
| Wehen Wiesbaden | Sven Demandt | Sacked | 7 March 2016 | 16th | Torsten Fröhling | 14 March 2016 |
| Energie Cottbus | Vasile Miriuță | Sacked | 12 April 2016 | 18th | Claus-Dieter Wollitz | 12 April 2016 |
| Hallescher FC | Stefan Böger | Sacked | 13 April 2016 | 15th | Rico Schmitt | 13 April 2016 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Dynamo Dresden (C, P) | 38 | 21 | 15 | 2 | 75 | 35 | +40 | 78 | Promotion to 2. Bundesliga and qualification for DFB-Pokal |
| 2 | Erzgebirge Aue (P) | 38 | 19 | 13 | 6 | 42 | 21 | +21 | 70 | Promotion to 2. Bundesliga and qualification for DFB-Pokal |
| 3 | Würzburger Kickers (O, P) | 38 | 16 | 16 | 6 | 43 | 25 | +18 | 64 | Qualification for promotion play-offs and DFB-Pokal |
| 4 | 1. FC Magdeburg | 38 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 49 | 37 | +12 | 56 | Qualification for DFB-Pokal |
| 5 | VfL Osnabrück | 38 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 46 | 41 | +5 | 56 | |
| 6 | Chemnitzer FC | 38 | 15 | 10 | 13 | 52 | 46 | +6 | 55 | |
| 7 | Sonnenhof Großaspach | 38 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 58 | 47 | +11 | 54 | |
| 8 | Rot-Weiß Erfurt | 38 | 14 | 8 | 16 | 47 | 50 | −3 | 50 | |
| 9 | Preußen Münster | 38 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 43 | 41 | +2 | 49 | |
| 10 | Hansa Rostock | 38 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 42 | 48 | −6 | 49 | |
| 11 | Fortuna Köln | 38 | 14 | 7 | 17 | 56 | 69 | −13 | 49 | |
| 12 | Mainz 05 II | 38 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 48 | 47 | +1 | 48 | |
| 13 | Hallescher FC | 38 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 48 | 48 | 0 | 48 | |
| 14 | Holstein Kiel | 38 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 44 | 47 | −3 | 48 | |
| 15 | VfR Aalen | 38 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 35 | 40 | −5 | 44 | |
| 16 | Wehen Wiesbaden | 38 | 9 | 16 | 13 | 35 | 48 | −13 | 43 | |
| 17 | Werder Bremen II | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 42 | 56 | −14 | 43 | |
| 18 | Stuttgarter Kickers (R) | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 38 | 52 | −14 | 43 | Relegation to Regionalliga |
| 19 | Energie Cottbus (R) | 38 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 32 | 52 | −20 | 41 | Relegation to Regionalliga |
| 20 | VfB Stuttgart II (R) | 38 | 7 | 10 | 21 | 38 | 63 | −25 | 31 | Relegation to Regionalliga |
* 1 2 3 Reserve teams are ineligible for promotion or DFB-Pokal qualification.

## Results

| Home \ Away | AAL | AUE | BR2 | CFC | FCE | SGD | ERF | SGS | HFC | KSV | FKO | FCM | MA2 | PRM | OSN | ROS | SKI | ST2 | WEH | FCW |
| VfR Aalen | — | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 |
| Erzgebirge Aue | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| Werder Bremen II | 1–1 | 4–0 | — | 3–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–4 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Chemnitzer FC | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | — | 4–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 5–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Energie Cottbus | 0–4 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–5 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–2 |
| Dynamo Dresden | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | — | 3–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 |
| Rot-Weiß Erfurt | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 3–2 | — | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Sonnenhof Großaspach | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | — | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–2 |
| Hallescher FC | 3–1 | 1–0 | 6–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | — | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–3 |
| Holstein Kiel | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 5–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 0–4 | — | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| Fortuna Köln | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 3–0 | 1–5 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 2–3 | — | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 5–1 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 4–1 | 0–3 |
| 1. FC Magdeburg | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | — | 3–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Mainz 05 II | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | — | 2–3 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Preußen Münster | 0–2 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | — | 0–0 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| VfL Osnabrück | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | — | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 |
| Hansa Rostock | 3–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | — | 0–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 0–0 |
| Stuttgarter Kickers | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–4 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | — | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 |
| VfB Stuttgart II | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | — | 1–2 | 0–2 |
| Wehen Wiesbaden | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 3–1 | — | 0–0 |
| Würzburger Kickers | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | — |

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Justin Eilers | Dynamo Dresden | 23 |
| 2 | Christian Beck | 1. FC Magdeburg | 19 |
| 3 | Pascal Testroet | Dynamo Dresden | 18 |
| 4 | Marco Königs | Fortuna Köln | 16 |
| 5 | Anton Fink | Chemnitzer FC | 15 |
| 6 | Julius Biada | Fortuna Köln | 14 |
| 7 | Julian Derstroff | Mainz 05 II | 12 |
| 7 | Carsten Kammlott | Rot-Weiß Erfurt | 12 |
| 9 | Five players | Five players | 11 |

## Number of teams by state

| Position | State | Number of teams | Teams |
| 1 | Baden-Württemberg | 4 | VfR Aalen, SG Sonnenhof Großaspach, Stuttgart II and Stuttgarter Kickers |
| 2 | Saxony | 3 | Chemnitzer FC, Dynamo Dresden and Erzgebirge Aue |
| 3 | North Rhine-Westphalia | 2 | Fortuna Köln and Preussen Münster |
| 3 | Saxony-Anhalt | 2 | Hallescher FC and FC Magdeburg |
| 5 | Bavaria | 1 | Würzburger Kickers |
| 5 | Brandenburg | 1 | Energie Cottbus |
| 5 | Bremen | 1 | Werder Bremen II |
| 5 | Hesse | 1 | Wehen Wiesbaden |
| 5 | Lower Saxony | 1 | VfL Osnabrück |
| 5 | Mecklenburg-Vorpommern | 1 | Hansa Rostock |
| 5 | Rhineland-Palatinate | 1 | Mainz 05 II |
| 5 | Schleswig-Holstein | 1 | Holstein Kiel |
| 5 | Thuringia | 1 | Rot-Weiss Erfurt |