page_title: German football league system
section_title: Lower Rhine
hierarchical_section_title: German football league system / State association league systems / Western Germany / Lower Rhine
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of regional soccer association Niederrhein, Germany Deutsch: DFB-Landesverband Niederrhein
context_page_description: The German football league system, or league pyramid, refers to the hierarchically interconnected league system for association football in Germany that in the 2016–17 season consists of 2,235 divisions having 31,645 teams, in which all divisions are bound together by the principle of promotion and relegation. The top three professional levels contain one division each. Below this, the semi-professional and amateur levels have progressively more parallel divisions, which each cover progressively smaller geographic areas. Teams that finish at the top of their division at the end of each season can rise higher in the pyramid, while those that finish at the bottom find themselves sinking further down. Therefore, in theory, it is possible for even the lowest local amateur club to rise to the top of the system and become German football champions one day. The number of teams promoted and relegated between the divisions varies, and promotion to the upper levels of the pyramid is usually contingent on meeting additional criteria, especially concerning appropriate facilities and finances.
context_section_description: The Lower Rhine Football Association league system is one of three state association league systems in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, covering its northwestern part, and starts at level five of the German league system with the Oberliga Niederrhein on top. The current (2016–17 season) champions are KFC Uerdingen 05. The champions are directly promoted to Regionalliga West.
  Below the state association league system 13 district associations work as feeders to the Bezirksliga. In the 2016–17 season, the full system comprises 91 divisions having 1,476 teams. Additionally, nine teams play above the state association league system: Borussia Mönchengladbach (Bundesliga), MSV Duisburg and Fortuna Düsseldorf (2. Bundesliga), Borussia Mönchengladbach II, Rot-Weiß Oberhausen, Rot-Weiss Essen, Fortuna Düsseldorf II, KFC Uerdingen 05 and Wuppertaler SV (all Regionalliga West).
caption: Lower Rhine Football Association
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