The big news in Berlin today is that the panda twins Leni & Lotte celebrated their first birthday with ice balls made from carrot juice.
So understandably, SV Lichtenberg vs FC Ankar Wismar has been pushed off the front page.
Today finds us in the Oberliga NOFV – in the fifth tier of the German football pyramid
Early days, but today’s game sees 4th play 3rd.
Note when you look at the table how many of the teams are from Berlin or its close environs. There is even a Lichtenberg derby (see sticker)..
So, pretty regionalised. Although you do have to travel to Rostock. Well, you don’t have to. Best off staying in Berlin…
When British friends accompany me to German Football in tiers IV and V, the conversation at some point turns to a comparison of the standard of football in the English vs German leagues. Specifically the lower leagues.
Before dealing with the essence of the question, you have to deal with the arithmetic of it. This is because the pyramid in Germany becomes increasingly regionalised in each tier, from tier IV downwards (or, at least it is now, but that’s another story).
Germany tier IV (Regionalliga): 90 teams in 5 divisions.
England tier IV (League Two): 24 teams in 1 division.
Germany tier V (Oberliga): 251 teams in 14 divisions.
England tier V (the National League) : 24 teams in 1 division.
The worst side in Germany (Tier V) is the 397th best team in the pyramid.
The worst side in England (Tier V) is the 116th best team in the pyramid.
So while, yes, obviously the standard of the average game in the German 4th or 5th tier is lower, you could only really compare them by constructing imaginary unified ‘national’ lower tiers in the German system. These two imaginary leagues would contain a solid sprinkling of famous names , (eg Dynamo Dresden, Chemie Leipzig, BFC Dynamo, Lokomotive Leipzig, Carl Zeiss Jena) – note these are all DDR era teams – and some decent stadiums eg Alemannia Aachen, Stuttgarter Kickers – note, these aren’t (football hipster note: the lack of modernisation in some of the historic DDR-era stadiums is of course, a plus point).
Incidentally, if you have any interest in DDR era football then ‘The Turning Season’ by Michael Wagg is a thoroughly charming read which I recommend highly.
For an illustration of the modern German pyramid, see here:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fu%C3%9Fball-Ligasystem_in_Deutschland
See my football diary in full at:
fussballistunserleben.com
Now it’s time for SV Lichtenberg vs Ankar Wismar FC.
(Today’s song -“Nana nana hey hey hey Lichtenberg” to the tune of the Bananarama hit)
