| Region |  Germany |
|---|---|
| Current champions | 21 regional winners |
| Most championships | Werder Bremen II (20 titles) |
| Broadcaster | ARD |
 2024–25 Verbandspokal | |
AVerbandspokal (English: "association cup") is a regional men'sassociation football competition in Germany. There are 21 Verbandspokal competitions which function as qualifying tournaments for the following season'sDFB-Pokal, the premier German Cup competition.[1]Bundesliga and2. Bundesliga clubs are not permitted to enter as they are already directly qualified for the first round of the DFB-Pokal.
While no Verbandspokal winner has ever gone on to win the German Cup, two have reached the final.Hertha BSC Amateure won theBerlin Cup in 1992 and went on to lose the1993 DFB-Pokal final againstBayer Leverkusen, andEnergie Cottbus won the 1996Brandenburg Cup and went on to lose the1997 DFB-Pokal final againstVfB Stuttgart.[2]
Apart from the 21 Verbandspokal champions, three more teams qualify from the regional football association, to bring the number of clubs in the first round of the DFB-Pokal to 64. These three teams come from the three regional associations with the most members, these currently being Bavaria, Lower Saxony and Westphalia.[1]
The regional competitions, (plural:Verbandspokale) are generally open to all clubs in the3. Liga and below, however regional rules vary between associations. 3. Liga clubs have a double chance to qualify for the first round of the DFB-Pokal, through the Verbandspokale and through finishing in the top four in their league.
The finals of the competitions can attract large numbers of spectators, like the 2014Lower Rhine Cup betweenMSV Duisburg andTV Jahn Hiesfeld did, which was watched by 24,000 inDuisburg.[3]
As of 2013–14,Werder Bremen II,reserve team ofWerder Bremen, is the most successful team in any Verbandspokal competition, having won theBremen Cup twenty times, followed byTennis Borussia Berlin with sixteenBerlin Cup wins andHolstein Kiel with fifteenSchleswig-Holstein Cup wins.
Rules and regulations for the Verbandspokale are set by the regional football associations and vary. Bavaria, the largest one, stipulates that reserve teams are not permitted to participate in the Bavarian Cup. Teams from lower divisions always have home advantage, if two teams of the same division are drawn against each other the team drawn first receives home advantage.
Bavarian clubs from the 3. Liga and Regionalliga Bayern, except reserve teams, are obliged to participate in the cup. Clubs from the twoBayernliga divisions and the fiveLandesliga Bayern divisions play a qualifying round. Additionally, the 24 regional cup winners in Bavaria, theKreispokale, are also qualified for the first round of the Bavarian Cup. If a game is undecided after regular time a penalty shoot out follows, no extra time is played.[4]
In Lower Saxony, the third-largest association, clubs from the state playing in the 3. Liga,Regionalliga Nord andOberliga Niedersachsen as well as the fourBezirkspokal winners are qualified for the first round of the Lower Saxony Cup.[5]
The longest-running competition of the Verbandspokale is theBerlin Cup, first held in 1907.[6] All other cup competitions originated after theSecond World War.
In Southern Germany, theSouth Baden Cup was established in 1945,[7] theHesse Cup in 1946,[8] theBavarian Cup in 1947, with a long interruption from 1954 to 1998,[9][10] theNorth Baden Cup in 1949,[11] and theWürttemberg Cup in 1950.[12][13]
In Northern Germany, theBremen Cup was established in 1950,[14] theSchleswig-Holstein Cup from 1953,[15] theHamburg Cup was sporadically played from 1954 and permanently from 1981,[16] and theLower Saxony Cup from 1955.[17]
In the formerEast Germany, the Verbandspokale, in the form of theBrandenburg Cup,[18]Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Cup,Saxony Cup,Saxony-Anhalt Cup,[19] andThuringia Cup,[20] were established in 1990.
In Western Germany, theLower Rhine Cup was established in 1980,[21] theWestphalia Cup in 1981,[22] and theMiddle Rhine Cup in 1994.[23]
In South Western Germany, theRhineland Cup was established in 1953, theSouth West Cup in 1973,[24] and theSaarland Cup in 1974.[25]
The winners of the 2017–18 Verbandspokal competitions:
In February 2016 it was announced that German broadcasterARD for the first time would show all 21 Verbandspokal finals live in a conference as well as live stream them and that all finals would be played on the same date, 28 May 2016.[26]
| League competitions | |
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| Cup competitions | |
| National teams | |
| By city | |
| Awards | |
| Defunct | |