The2014–15 Verbandspokal (English:2014–15 Association Cup), consisting of twenty-one regional cup competitions, theVerbandspokale, is the qualifying competition for the2015–16 DFB-Pokal, theGerman Cup.[1]
All clubs from the3. Liga and below could enter the regional Verbandspokale, subject to the rules and regulations of each region. Clubs from theBundesliga and2. Bundesliga could not enter but were instead directly qualified for the first round of the DFB-Pokal.Reserve teams are not permitted to take part in the DFB-Pokal or the Verbandspokale. The precise rules of each regional Verbandspokal are laid down by the regional football association organising it.[2][3]
All twenty-one winners were qualified for the first round of the German Cup in the following season. Three additional clubs were also qualified for the first round of the German Cup, these being from the three largest state associations, Bavaria, Westphalia and Lower Saxony. The qualified team was the runners-up of theLower Saxony Cup while, in Bavaria and Westphalia, the best-placedRegionalliga Bayern andOberliga Westfalen non-reserve team qualified for DFB-Pokal.[1]
Of the twenty-two teams qualified for the DFB-Pokal through the Verbandspokale, eighteen were knocked out in the first round. Three clubs,SSV Reutlingen,FC Carl Zeiss Jena andFC Viktoria Köln, were knocked out in the second round whileSpVgg Unterhaching was the only one of the twenty-two to advance to the third, where it lost toBayer Leverkusen. Jena and Unterhaching eliminated one Bundesliga club each in the first round,Hamburger SV andFC Ingolstadt 04 while the others advanced though defeating 2. Bundesliga clubs.[4]
¶The three largest regional associations were allowed to send an additional team. In Lower Saxony this was the losing finalist of the cup. In Bavaria and Westphalia this place went to the best non-reserve team of theRegionalliga Bayern,Würzburger Kickers, and theOberliga Westfalen,TuS Erndtebrück.
‡ AsHolstein Kiel was already qualified for the DFB-Pokal through its 3. Liga place VfB Lübeck was qualified regardless of the outcome of the final.
