2020–21 Verbandspokal
Football tournament season
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The 2020–21 Verbandspokal (English: 2020–21 Association Cup) consisted of twenty-one regional cup competitions, the Verbandspokale, the qualifying competition for the 2021–22 DFB-Pokal, the German Cup.[1]
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country | Germany |
| Teams | 44 |
All clubs from the 3. Liga and below could enter the regional Verbandspokale, subject to the rules and regulations of each region. Clubs from the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga could not enter but were instead directly qualified for the first round of the DFB-Pokal. Reserve teams were 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 qualified for the first round of the German Cup in the following season. Three additional clubs also qualified for the first round of the German Cup, these being from the three largest state associations, Bavaria, Westphalia and Lower Saxony. The Lower Saxony Cup was split into two paths, one for teams from the 3. Liga and the Regionalliga Nord and one for the teams from lower leagues. The winners of both paths qualified for the DFB-Pokal. In Bavaria the winners of the Bavarian Regional League Cup qualified for the DFB-Pokal while in Westphalia the best-placed Westphalian Regionalliga West team qualified.[1][4][5]
The finals of the Verbandspokal competitions were scheduled to be played on the Amateurs' Final Day (German: Finaltag der Amateure), which was scheduled for 29 May 2021.[6]
By the end of April 2021, a large number of state and regional associations had already cancelled or even annulled their league seasons from the Regionalliga downwards due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. As a result, in several association cup competitions, the final rounds had not even been reached or only the first rounds had been played. Further handling was therefore up to each individual association, which should ultimately determine two finalists or a participant in the DFB-Pokal.[6]
Competitions
The finals of the 2020–21 Verbandspokal competitions (winners listed in bold):
Notes
- On 3 May 2021, the Baden Football Association decided to cancel the semi-finals and remove the remaining amateur teams from the competition, leaving Waldhof Mannheim and Astoria Walldorf to compete in the final.[7]
- The Hamburg Cup was abandoned on 25 May 2021. The highest-ranked team from Hamburg was supposed to be awarded the DFB-Pokal berth; however, the 2020–21 Regionalliga Nord season was annulled, which meant that Eintracht Norderstedt, Teutonia Ottensen and Altona 93 were equally ranked. Since Altona 93 declined to participate in a play-off, only a single play-off match was held between Eintracht Norderstedt and Teutonia Ottensen.[8]
- The amateurs' path of the Lower Saxony Cup was abandoned on 19 May 2021. VfL Oldenburg was awarded the DFB-Pokal berth after a draw between the remaining participants.[10]
- The Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Cup was abandoned on 20 May 2021. Greifswalder FC was awarded the DFB-Pokal berth.[11]
- On 4 May 2021, the Rhineland Football Association announced that, since the cup season could not be completed until 30 June, a qualification match for the DFB-Pokal spot would be played between the top-ranked remaining team, Rot-Weiß Koblenz, and another team decided by draw between the remaining teams that are allowed and willing to participate in the match. The result of the draw was that Koblenz's opponent would be VfB Linz.[12][13] The remainder of the cup season was to be completed by August, originally 24 July; however, the winner would not qualify for the DFB-Pokal.[14]
- On 21 April 2021, the Saarland Football Association has decided to cancel the remaining regularly scheduled cup matches and have SV Elversberg, FC 08 Homburg and 1. FC Saarbrücken play for the title. In a draw, SV Elversberg was given a bye to the final while Homburg and Saarbrücken played a semi-final match to decide the second finalist.[15]
- On 24 April 2021, the Saxony-Anhalt Cup was paused and would be continued in 2021–22 starting with the round of 16. The 3. Liga teams Hallescher FC and 1. FC Magdeburg played a "qualification match" to determine the DFB-Pokal participant.[16] On 28 May 2021, this decision was overturned by the association court.[17] The dispute was settled on 23 June 2021, allowing Magdeburg to participate in the DFB-Pokal.[18]
- The Southwestern Cup was abandoned on 14 June 2021. 1. FC Kaiserslautern was awarded the DFB-Pokal berth.[19]
- On 19 April 2021, the football season in Thuringia was abandoned and annulled. The Thuringian Football Association (TFV) originally decided that the cup final is to be played between the only two remaining teams that were allowed to train at that moment, Carl Zeiss Jena and ZFC Meuselwitz.[20] However, on 4 May 2021, this decision was overturned by the TFV sports court.[21] It was then decided to finish the season with 16 teams until 30 June 2021.[22]
- As one of the three largest regional associations, Westphalia gets an additional DFB-Pokal berth, which goes to the best-placed Westphalian team of the Regionalliga West.[5]
- On 4 May 2021, the remaining amateur teams were removed from the competition, letting SSV Ulm advance to the final. Stuttgarter Kickers and TSG Balingen played a semi-final match to determine the second finalist.[23]