# 2023–24 3. Liga

The 2023–24 3. Liga was the 16th season of the 3. Liga. It started on 4 August 2023 and concluded on 18 May 2024.
The fixtures were announced on 7 July 2023.

## Teams
### Team changes

| Promoted from 2022–23 Regionalliga | Relegated from 2022–23 2. Bundesliga | Promoted to 2023–24 2. Bundesliga | Relegated to 2023–24 Regionalliga |
| VfB Lübeck Preußen Münster SSV Ulm SpVgg Unterhaching | Arminia Bielefeld SV Sandhausen Jahn Regensburg | SV Elversberg VfL Osnabrück Wehen Wiesbaden | SpVgg Bayreuth FSV Zwickau SV Meppen VfB Oldenburg |

### Stadiums and locations

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Erzgebirge Aue | Aue-Bad Schlema | Erzgebirgsstadion | 15,711 |
| Arminia Bielefeld | Bielefeld | Schüco-Arena | 27,300 |
| Borussia Dortmund II | Dortmund | Stadion Rote Erde | 9,999 |
| Dynamo Dresden | Dresden | Rudolf-Harbig-Stadion | 32,085 |
| MSV Duisburg | Duisburg | Schauinsland-Reisen-Arena | 31,500 |
| Rot-Weiss Essen | Essen | Stadion an der Hafenstraße | 20,650 |
| SC Freiburg II | Freiburg im Breisgau | Dreisamstadion | 24,000 |
| Hallescher FC | Halle | Leuna-Chemie-Stadion | 15,057 |
| FC Ingolstadt | Ingolstadt | Audi Sportpark | 15,000 |
| Viktoria Köln | Cologne | Sportpark Höhenberg | 8,343 |
| VfB Lübeck | Lübeck | Stadion an der Lohmühle | 17,849 |
| Waldhof Mannheim | Mannheim | Carl-Benz-Stadion | 25,667 |
| 1860 Munich | Munich | Grünwalder Stadion | 15,000 |
| Preußen Münster | Münster | Preußenstadion | 14,300 |
| Jahn Regensburg | Regensburg | Jahnstadion Regensburg | 15,210 |
| 1. FC Saarbrücken | Saarbrücken | Ludwigsparkstadion | 16,003 |
| SV Sandhausen | Sandhausen | GP Stadion am Hardtwald | 15,414 |
| SSV Ulm | Ulm | Donaustadion Städtisches Waldstadion$^1$ | 19,500 14,500 |
| SpVgg Unterhaching | Unterhaching | Sportpark Unterhaching | 15,053 |
| SC Verl | Verl | Sportclub Arena | 5,207 |
$^1$ SSV Ulm will play at least five games in Aalen because their own stadium has no Under-soil heating.

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor | Shirt sponsor | Shirt sponsor |
| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Front | Sleeve | Back |
| Erzgebirge Aue | Pavel Dochev | Martin Männel | Nike | Medical Beauty Research | Erzgebirgssparkasse | G&K Innenausbau |
| Arminia Bielefeld | Michél Kniat | Fabian Klos | Macron | Schüco | JAB Anstoetz Textilien | holz4home |
| Borussia Dortmund II | Jan Zimmermann | Franz Pfanne | Puma | 1&1 | GLS Group | None |
| Dynamo Dresden | Heiko Scholz | Stefan Kutschke | Umbro | ALL-INKL.COM | Sonnenstrahl Dresden | Brandible.de |
| MSV Duisburg | Uwe Schubert | Sebastian Mai | Capelli | Trinkgut | Zoxs | Duisburg CityCom |
| Rot-Weiss Essen | Christoph Dabrowski | Felix Bastians | Jako | ifm Electronic | ifm Electronic | sportwetten.de |
| SC Freiburg II | Thomas Stamm | Sandrino Braun-Schumacher | Nike | JobRad | BABISTA | None |
| Hallescher FC | Stefan Reisinger | Jonas Nietfeld | Puma | MobileBet | Saalesparkasse | ISIHOME |
| FC Ingolstadt | Sabrina Wittmann | Lukas Fröde | Puma | SI Electronics | Audi Schanzer Fußballschule | PROSIS GmbH |
| Viktoria Köln | Olaf Janßen | Moritz Fritz | Capelli | Peynooş | Wintec Autoglas | ETL |
| VfB Lübeck | Jens Martens | Tommy Grupe | Capelli | HanseBelt | Mayo Feinkost | Iperdi |
| Waldhof Mannheim | Marco Antwerpen | Marcel Seegert | Uhlsport | CrazyBuzzer | None | None |
| 1860 Munich | Argiris Giannikis | Jesper Verlaat | Nike | Die Bayerische | Bet3000 | Pangea Life |
| Preußen Münster | Sascha Hildmann | Marc Lorenz | Jako | FIEGE | Stadtwerke Münster | Gieseke |
| Jahn Regensburg | Joe Enochs | Andreas Geipl | Hummel | Netto | Wolf GmbH | Netto |
| 1. FC Saarbrücken | Rüdiger Ziehl | Manuel Zeitz | Adidas | Victor's Group | Saarland-Sporttoto | Victor's Group |
| SV Sandhausen | Gerhard Kleppinger | Dennis Diekmeier | Macron | Weingut Reichsrat von Buhl | Goelz Paletten | Service Pitzler |
| SSV Ulm | Thomas Wörle | Johannes Reichert | Uhlsport | Husqvarna Group | B-ITE E-Recruiting | UZIN UTZ |
| SpVgg Unterhaching | Marc Unterberger | Josef Welzmüller | Uhlsport | Alpenbauer | Lupse & Lupse | None |
| SC Verl | Alexander Ende | Mael Corboz | Joma | Beckhoff | EGE GmbH | None |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing | Manner | Exit date | Exit date | Position in table | Incoming | Incoming date | Incoming date | Ref. |
| Team | Outgoing | Manner | Announced on | Departed on | Position in table | Incoming | Announced on | Arrived on | Ref. |
| SpVgg Unterhaching | Sandro Wagner | Resigned | 23 March 2023 | 30 June 2023 | Pre-season | Marc Unterberger | 27 March 2023 | 1 July 2023 | |
| SV Sandhausen | Gerhard Kleppinger (interim) | End of caretaker | 10 April 2023 | 30 June 2023 | Pre-season | Danny Galm | 19 June 2023 | 1 July 2023 | |
| Waldhof Mannheim | Christian Neidhart | Mutual consent | 28 May 2023 | 30 June 2023 | Pre-season | Rüdiger Rehm | 12 June 2023 | 1 July 2023 | |
| Arminia Bielefeld | Uwe Koschinat | End of contract | 9 June 2023 | 30 June 2023 | Pre-season | Michél Kniat | 13 June 2023 | 1 July 2023 | |
| SC Verl | Michél Kniat | Signed for Arminia Bielefeld | 13 June 2023 | 30 June 2023 | Pre-season | Alexander Ende | 30 June 2023 | 1 July 2023 | |
| MSV Duisburg | Torsten Ziegner | Sacked | 16 September 2023 | 16 September 2023 | 19th | Engin Vural (inteirm) | 18 September 2023 | 18 September 2023 | |
| MSV Duisburg | Engin Vural | End of caretaker | 9 October 2023 | 9 October 2023 | 20th | Boris Schommers | 9 October 2023 | 9 October 2023 | |
| SV Sandhausen | Danny Galm | Sacked | 22 October 2023 | 22 October 2023 | 10th | Jens Keller | 23 October 2023 | 23 October 2023 | |
| 1860 Munich | Maurizio Jacobacci | Sacked | 5 December 2023 | 5 December 2023 | 15th | Frank Schmöller (inteirm) | 5 December 2023 | 5 December 2023 | |
| VfB Lübeck | Lukas Pfeiffer | Sacked | 11 December 2023 | 11 December 2023 | 17th | Bastian Reinhardt (interim) | 11 December 2023 | 11 December 2023 | |
| VfB Lübeck | Bastian Reinhardt (interim) | End of caretaker spell | 28 December 2023 | 28 December 2023 | 18th | Florian Schnorrenberg | 28 December 2023 | 28 December 2023 | |
| 1860 Munich | Frank Schmöller (inteirm) | End of caretaker spell | 10 January 2024 | 10 January 2024 | 15th | Argiris Giannikis | 10 January 2024 | 10 January 2024 | |
| Waldhof Mannheim | Rüdiger Rehm | Sacked | 31 January 2024 | 31 January 2024 | 17th | Marco Antwerpen | 31 January 2024 | 31 January 2024 | |
| VfB Lübeck | Florian Schnorrenberg | Sacked | 11 March 2024 | 11 March 2024 | 19th | Bastian Reinhardt (interim) | 11 March 2024 | 11 March 2024 | |
| VfB Lübeck | Bastian Reinhardt (interim) | End of caretaker spell | 26 March 2024 | 26 March 2024 | 19th | Jens Martens | 26 March 2024 | 26 March 2024 | |
| Hallescher FC | Sreto Ristić | Sacked | 1 April 2024 | 1 April 2024 | 17th | Stefan Reisinger | 1 April 2024 | 1 April 2024 | |
| Dynamo Dresden | Markus Anfang | Sacked | 20 April 2024 | 20 April 2024 | 3rd | Heiko Scholz (interim) | 20 April 2024 | 20 April 2024 | |
| MSV Duisburg | Boris Schommers | Sacked | 23 April 2024 | 23 April 2024 | 18th | Uwe Schubert (interim) | 23 April 2024 | 23 April 2024 | |
| FC Ingolstadt | Michael Köllner | Sacked | 2 May 2024 | 2 May 2024 | 11th | Sabrina Wittmann (interim) | 2 May 2024 | 2 May 2024 | |
| SV Sandhausen | Jens Keller | Mutual consent | 13 May 2024 | 13 May 2024 | 8th | Gerhard Kleppinger (interim) | 13 May 2024 | 13 May 2024 | |

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | SSV Ulm (C, P) | 38 | 23 | 8 | 7 | 65 | 38 | +27 | 77 | Promotion to 2. Bundesliga and qualification for DFB-Pokal |
| 2 | Preußen Münster (P) | 38 | 19 | 10 | 9 | 68 | 49 | +19 | 67 | Promotion to 2. Bundesliga and qualification for DFB-Pokal |
| 3 | Jahn Regensburg (O, P) | 38 | 17 | 12 | 9 | 51 | 42 | +9 | 63 | Qualification for promotion play-offs and DFB-Pokal |
| 4 | Dynamo Dresden | 38 | 19 | 5 | 14 | 58 | 40 | +18 | 62 | Qualification for DFB-Pokal |
| 5 | 1. FC Saarbrücken | 38 | 15 | 15 | 8 | 60 | 43 | +17 | 60 | |
| 6 | Erzgebirge Aue | 38 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 51 | 47 | +4 | 60 | |
| 7 | Rot-Weiss Essen | 38 | 17 | 8 | 13 | 60 | 53 | +7 | 59 | |
| 8 | SV Sandhausen | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 58 | 57 | +1 | 56 | |
| 9 | SpVgg Unterhaching | 38 | 16 | 7 | 15 | 50 | 49 | +1 | 55 | |
| 10 | FC Ingolstadt | 38 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 65 | 51 | +14 | 54 | |
| 11 | Borussia Dortmund II | 38 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 58 | 53 | +5 | 54 | |
| 12 | SC Verl | 38 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 59 | 56 | +3 | 53 | |
| 13 | Viktoria Köln | 38 | 13 | 10 | 15 | 59 | 65 | −6 | 49 | |
| 14 | Arminia Bielefeld | 38 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 48 | 47 | +1 | 46 | |
| 15 | 1860 Munich | 38 | 13 | 7 | 18 | 40 | 42 | −2 | 46 | |
| 16 | Waldhof Mannheim | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 51 | 60 | −9 | 43 | |
| 17 | Hallescher FC (R) | 38 | 11 | 7 | 20 | 50 | 68 | −18 | 40 | Relegation to Regionalliga |
| 18 | MSV Duisburg (R) | 38 | 8 | 10 | 20 | 41 | 65 | −24 | 34 | Relegation to Regionalliga |
| 19 | VfB Lübeck (R) | 38 | 6 | 14 | 18 | 37 | 77 | −40 | 32 | Relegation to Regionalliga |
| 20 | SC Freiburg II (R) | 38 | 8 | 6 | 24 | 37 | 64 | −27 | 30 | Relegation to Regionalliga |
* 1 2 Reserve teams are ineligible for promotion or DFB-Pokal qualification.

## Results

| Home \ Away | AUE | BIE | DOR | DRE | DUI | ESS | FRE | HAL | ING | KÖL | LÜB | MAN | MUN | MÜN | REG | SAA | SAN | ULM | UNT | VER |
| Erzgebirge Aue | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 |
| Arminia Bielefeld | 2–2 | — | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–6 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 |
| Borussia Dortmund II | 2–2 | 0–2 | — | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 5–2 |
| Dynamo Dresden | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | — | 4–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 7–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| MSV Duisburg | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–4 | — | 1–2 | 4–2 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 |
| Rot-Weiss Essen | 1–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | — | 4–3 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 0–5 |
| SC Freiburg II | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | — | 1–2 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–1 |
| Hallescher FC | 2–3 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | — | 3–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–4 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| FC Ingolstadt | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 4–0 | — | 1–3 | 6–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 |
| Viktoria Köln | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–5 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 4–2 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 3–5 | 1–1 | 2–5 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 3–1 |
| VfB Lübeck | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–5 | 0–1 | 5–3 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–4 | 3–2 | — | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 0–0 |
| Waldhof Mannheim | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | — | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 4–2 | 0–2 | 6–1 | 1–2 |
| 1860 Munich | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | — | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| Preußen Münster | 4–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | — | 1–3 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 3–1 |
| Jahn Regensburg | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 |
| 1. FC Saarbrücken | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 2–2 | — | 4–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 4–3 |
| SV Sandhausen | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 6–3 | 2–2 | — | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 |
| SSV Ulm | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | — | 2–0 | 4–2 |
| SpVgg Unterhaching | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–4 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–2 | — | 1–0 |
| SC Verl | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 4–4 | 0–3 | 0–0 | — |

## Statistics
### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Jannik Mause | FC Ingolstadt | 18 |
| 2 | Malik Batmaz | Preußen Münster | 17 |
| 2 | Joel Grodowski | Preußen Münster | 17 |
| 4 | Dominic Baumann | Hallescher FC | 15 |
| 5 | Stefan Kutschke | Dynamo Dresden | 14 |
| 5 | Lars Lokotsch | SC Verl | 14 |
| 5 | Luca Marseiler | Viktoria Köln | 14 |
| 8 | Marcel Bär | Erzgebirge Aue | 13 |
| 8 | Patrick Hobsch | SpVgg Unterhaching | 13 |
| 8 | Ole Pohlmann | Borussia Dortmund II | 13 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | Club | Against | Result | Date |
| Malik Batmaz | Preußen Münster | Erzgebirge Aue | 4–0 (H) | 5 October 2023 |
| Mathias Fetsch$^4$ | SpVgg Unterhaching | Rot-Weiss Essen | 4–0 (H) | 5 October 2023 |
| Oliver Batista Meier | SC Verl | Rot-Weiss Essen | 5–0 (A) | 7 October 2023 |
| Stefan Kutschke | Dynamo Dresden | Viktoria Köln | 5–1 (A) | 10 November 2023 |
| Ole Pohlmann | Borussia Dortmund II | SpVgg Unterhaching | 4–3 (A) | 24 February 2024 |
| Maximilian Breunig | SC Freiburg II | VfB Lübeck | 3–0 (A) | 9 March 2024 |
| Leonardo Vonić | Rot-Weiss Essen | VfB Lübeck | 3–3 (A) | 18 May 2024 |
$^4$ Player scored four goals.

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Christian Ortag | SSV Ulm | 16 |
| 2 | René Vollath | SpVgg Unterhaching | 14 |
| 3 | Nikolai Rehnen | SV Sandhausen | 11 |
| 4 | Jonas Kersken | Arminia Bielefeld | 10 |
| 4 | Luca Unbehaun | SC Verl | 10 |
| 6 | Marius Funk | FC Ingolstadt | 9 |
| 6 | Jakob Golz | Rot-Weiss Essen | 9 |
| 6 | Marco Hiller | 1860 Munich | 9 |
| 6 | Martin Männel | Erzgebirge Aue | 9 |
| 6 | Tim Schreiber | 1. FC Saarbrücken | 9 |
| 6 | Maximilian Schulze Niehues | Preußen Münster | 9 |

## Attendances

Dynamo Dresden drew the highest average home attendance in the 2023-24 edition of the 3. Liga.
| # | Football club | Home games | Average attendance |
| 1 | Dynamo Dresden | 19 | 28,732 |
| 2 | Arminia Bielefeld | 19 | 18,640 |
| 3 | RW Essen | 19 | 16,652 |
| 4 | 1860 München | 19 | 15,000 |
| 5 | MSV Duisburg | 19 | 12,119 |
| 6 | 1. FC Saarbrücken | 19 | 10,910 |
| 7 | Preußen Münster | 19 | 10,783 |
| 8 | Waldhof Mannheim | 19 | 10,389 |
| 9 | SSV Ulm 1846 | 19 | 10,350 |
| 10 | Jahn Regensburg | 19 | 9,725 |
| 11 | Erzgebirge Aue | 19 | 8,720 |
| 12 | Hallescher FC | 19 | 7,837 |
| 13 | FC Ingolstadt 04 | 19 | 5,638 |
| 14 | VfB Lübeck | 19 | 5,485 |
| 15 | SpVgg Unterhaching | 19 | 5,136 |
| 16 | Viktoria Köln | 19 | 4,095 |
| 17 | SV Sandhausen | 19 | 4,060 |
| 18 | Borussia Dortmund II | 19 | 3,324 |
| 19 | SC Verl | 19 | 2,632 |
| 20 | SC Freiburg II | 19 | 2,334 |