Austrian Regionalliga West

For other uses, see Regionalliga West (disambiguation).

Austrian Regionalliga West

Founded	1960
Country	Austria
Number of clubs	17
Level on pyramid	3
Promotion to	Second League
Relegation to	Landesliga
Domestic cup(s)	Austrian Cup
Current champions	Austria Salzburg (2024–25)
Current: 2025–26

The Regionalliga West ( German for 'Regional League West') is the third tier of the Austrian football league system in the states of Salzburg, Tyrol (excluding East Tyrol) and Vorarlberg. It is one of three Regionalligen at this level, together with the Austrian Regionalliga East and the Austrian Regionalliga Central.

History

Early years

Until the end of the 1973–74 season the Austrian Regionalligen, including the West section which was formed in 1960, operated as the second tier of the national pyramid, with the champions promoted directly to the top flight. A major restructuring in 1974–75 created ten-club First and Second Bundesligen and dissolved the Regionalliga West and Central. Promotion to the Second Bundesliga was thereafter decided by play-offs between the Landesliga champions of Salzburg, Tyrol and Vorarlberg (and other provinces), while the Regionalliga East champion retained direct promotion. In 1977–78, Salzburg and Tyrol introduced the Alpenliga as an intermediate third tier above their Landesligas.

The Regionalliga West, this time explicitly including Vorarlberg, was reinstated as a third-tier competition in 1980–81. In contrast, the Regionalliga East was not contested from 1980–81 to 1984–85 and only resumed in 1985–86, while the Regionalliga Central did not reappear until 1994–95. Up to and including 1995–96, the West and East champions generally enjoyed direct promotion to the Second Division, whereas in the Central area promotion was determined through play-offs among the states of Upper Austria, Carinthia (with East Tyrol) and Styria.

Between the 1996–97 and 2003–04 seasons, the three Regionalliga champions contested promotion/relegation play-offs with the second-last club of the First League for two Second Division places. With the planned expansion of the First League to 12 clubs from the 2005–06 season, direct promotion for Regionalliga champions was restored, although licencing issues delayed the full effect until the following season. In the 2009–10 season, promotion/relegation play-offs were reintroduced with the ninth-placed First League side due to the league's reduction to ten clubs in the 2010–11 campaing. From 2014–15 on, the system changed again to provide one direct promotion place and a play-off for a second berth.

Reform and suspension

Ahead of the 2019–20 season, Salzburg, Tyrol and Vorarlberg abandoned the joint Westliga in favour of three provincial autumn competitions: Regionalliga Salzburg, Regionalliga Tirol and Eliteliga Vorarlberg, followed by a spring "Eliteliga" promotion play-off for access to the Second League. The reform was primarily intended to reduce travel costs. ^[1]

Return of Regionalliga West

In February 2022, the regional associations and the Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) confirmed that the traditional Regionalliga West would be reinstated from the 2023–24 season, reuniting Salzburg, Tyrol and Vorarlberg after the interim Eliteliga format and pandemic-affected campaigns. ^{[2] [3]}

Planned restructuring

Further reform approved by the ÖFB envisages four Regionalligen from 2026–27. Under this model the Regionalliga West will comprise clubs from Tyrol and Vorarlberg, while Salzburg is to combine with Upper Austria in a northern group. The remaining provinces will be organised into south and east groupings, with regionalised autumn phases and spring play-offs designed to control costs and travel. ^[4]

Recent league champions

The most recent champions are listed below. ^[5]

Season	Club
2012–13	FC Liefering
2013–14	Austria Salzburg
2014–15	Austria Salzburg
2015–16	WSG Wattens
2016–17	USK Anif
2017–18	USK Anif
2018–19	FC Dornbirn 1913
2019–20	— no unified West champion (Eliteliga format)
2020–21	— pandemic-affected; no championship awarded
2021–22	— no West champion under interim format
2022–23	Schwarz-Weiß Bregenz
2023–24	Austria Salzburg
2024–25	Austria Salzburg

References

1. Krainer, Josef (14 December 2018). "Im Westen viel Neues: Regionalliga West Reform ist - wie geplant – beschlossen!" [Plenty new in the West: Regionalliga West reform passed – as planned!]. Regionalliga West | ligaportal.at (in German). Archived from the original on 22 April 2025. Retrieved 23 September 2025.
2. Leitner, Peter (16 February 2022). "Aktuelles Format hat im Frühjahr 2023 ausgedient: Rückkehr zur Regionalliga West" [Current format to be scrapped in spring 2023: Return to the Regionalliga West]. MeinBezirk.at (in German). Archived from the original on 23 September 2025. Retrieved 23 September 2025.
3. Gottsmann, Thomas (18 February 2022). "ÖFB-Beschluss hält: Westliga feiert Comeback" [ÖFB confirms decision: Westliga returns]. Salzburger Nachrichten (in German). Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 23 September 2025.
4. "Reform fix! So sieht die neue Regionalliga aus" [Reform confirmed! This is what the new Regionalliga looks like]. LAOLA1 (in German). 19 May 2025. Archived from the original on 23 September 2025. Retrieved 23 September 2025.
5. "Österreich » Regionalliga West » Siegerliste" [Austria: Regional League West – List of champions]. Weltfussball.de (in German). Retrieved 26 May 2016.

External links

• Regionalliga West at Ligaportal (in German)