The Lower Saxony Cup (German: Niedersächsischer Pokal) is an annual football cup competition, held by the Niedersächsischer Fußball-Verband (English: Lower Saxony Football Association) since 1956. For sponsorship reasons, the official name of the competition is Krombacher-Pokal.[1] The Krombacher brewery, sponsor of the competition since 2010, also sponsored, at the time, the cup competitions in Thuringia, Westphalia, Hesse and Rhineland.[2] It is one of the 21 regional cup competitions in Germany and a qualifying competition for the German Cup, with the winner and runners-up of the competition being automatically qualified for the first round of the German Cup in the following season.[3]
 | |
| Founded | 1956 |
|---|---|
| Region | Lower Saxony, Germany |
| Qualifier for | DFB-Pokal |
| Current champions | SV Meppen (2023–24) |
| Most successful club(s) | VfL Osnabrück (5 titles) |
The record winners of the competition are VfL Osnabrück with five titles, followed by Sportfreunde Salzgitter with four titles and Kickers Emden, VfL Wolfsburg, and Hannover 96 with three titles each to their name.
Mode
editThe competition is open for all member clubs of the Lower Saxony FA playing in the 3. Liga, Regionalliga Nord and Niedersachsenliga. Additionally, the four regional cup winners in the state are also qualified. Reserve teams are not permitted to compete anymore. Regardless of which club has been drawn first, clubs from a lower league will always have home advantage when playing a club from a higher league. In case of a draw after regular time, no extra time is played and the game instead decided by a penalty shoot out. The two cup finalists automatically qualify for the first round of the German Cup.[4]
Winners
editThe winners of the competition:[1]
- ‡ Won by reserve team.
- 1 Known as Sportfreunde Lebenstedt before 1964.
- No competition held in 1979.
References
edit- ^ a b Krombacher-Pokal Herren des NFV (in German) Lower Saxony football association website. Retrieved 30 June 2011
- ^ Krombacher-Brauerei ist neuer Premium-Partner Archived 2012-03-14 at the Wayback Machine (in German) Lower Saxony football association website, published: 21 December 2010. Retrieved 1 July 2011
- ^ DFB Cup Men – Mode Archived 9 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine DFB website. Retrieved 28 June 2011
- ^ Ausschreibung Krombacher Pokal Herren des NFV 2010/11 (in German) Lower Saxony football association website – competition rules. Retrieved 1 July 2011
Sources
edit- Deutschlands Fußball in Zahlen, (in German) An annual publication with tables and results from the Bundesliga to Verbandsliga/Landesliga, publisher: DSFS
External links
edit- NFV – Lower Saxony football association (in German)
- Official DFB results website (in German)