FC Energie Cottbus is a German football club based in Cottbus, Brandenburg. It was founded in 1963 as SC Cottbus in what was East Germany. After the reunification of Germany, Energie played six seasons in the third tier of the German football league system before floating between the 2. Bundesliga and Bundesliga for 17 years between 1997 and 2014. From 2014 to 2016, the club played in the third tier, 3. Liga, and were then relegated to the Regionalliga Nordost. In 2018, they were promoted back into the 3. Liga, only to be relegated again the next season.
The DDR-Oberliga was the top-level association football league in East Germany.
The German football league system, or league pyramid, refers to the hierarchically interconnected league system for association football in Germany that in the 2016–17 season consisted of 2,235 leagues in up to 13 levels having 31,645 teams, in which all divisions are bound together by the principle of promotion and relegation. The top three professional levels contain one division each. Below this, the semi-professional and amateur levels have progressively more parallel divisions, which each cover progressively smaller geographic areas. Teams that finish at the top of their division at the end of each season can rise higher in the pyramid, while those that finish at the bottom find themselves sinking further down. Therefore, in theory, it is possible for even the lowest local amateur club to rise to the top of the system and become German football champions one day. The number of teams promoted and relegated between the divisions varies, and promotion to the upper levels of the pyramid is usually contingent on meeting additional criteria, especially concerning appropriate facilities and finances.
The Regionalliga Nord is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen and Hamburg. It is one of five leagues at this level, together with the Regionalliga Bayern, Regionalliga Nordost, Regionalliga Südwest and the Regionalliga West. Until the introduction of the 3. Liga in 2008 it was the third tier.
The 2005–06 2. Bundesliga was the 32nd season of the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of the German football league system. VfL Bochum, Alemannia Aachen, and Energie Cottbus were promoted to the Bundesliga while Dynamo Dresden, 1. FC Saarbrücken, LR Ahlen, and Sportfreunde Siegen were relegated to the Regionalliga.
Armin Veh is a German football manager and former player who last managed Eintracht Frankfurt. He won the German championship with Bundesliga team VfB Stuttgart in 2007. Veh and his team also had the chance to win "the double" by winning the DFB-Pokal on 26 May 2007 in Berlin, but lost 3–2 in overtime against 1. FC Nürnberg. From 11 December 2017 to 8 December 2019, Veh was the sports director of 1. FC Köln. During his playing career, he played as a midfielder.
Maik Wagefeld is a German footballer who played as a midfielder. He is currently a free agent.
Rocco Milde is a German former professional footballer who played as a forward. Milde had a much-travelled career, but is best remembered as a Dynamo Dresden player, having had three separate spells with the club.
The Regionalliga Nordost is the fourth tier of German football in the states of Berlin, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Thuringia. These comprise the states of former East Germany as well as West Berlin.
The NOFV-Oberliga Süd is the fifth tier of the German football league system in the southern states of the former East Germany. It covers the German states of Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, Saxony and southern Brandenburg. It is one of fourteen Oberligas in German football. Until the introduction of the 3. Liga in 2008 it was the fourth tier of the league system, and until the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 the third tier.
Jörn Lenz is a German former professional footballer who played as a defender. Lenz had four different spells with BFC Dynamo during his professional playing career and has continued to serve as part of the club's backroom staff since retiring in 2008. Lenz played a total of 374 matches for BFC Dynamo between 1988 and 2008. He made two appearances for BFC Dynamo in the 1989-90 European Cup Winners' Cup.
Jens Melzig is a former professional German footballer who played as a defender.
The 1998–99 Regionalliga was the fifth season played in the Regionalliga as the third tier of German football.
The 1999–2000 Regionalliga was the sixth season of the Regionalliga as the third tier of German football. It was also the last season to be competed in four divisions. Teams were not only competing for promotion to the 2. Bundesliga, but also to qualify for the new two-division Regionalliga.
Dominik Stahl is a German former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder for 1860 Munich and SpVgg Unterhaching.
Detlef Irrgang is a German former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is best remembered for his two spells with Energie Cottbus, spanning 22 years, over 400 appearances, and the reunification of Germany.
The 2011–12 season of the NOFV-Oberliga was the fourth season of the league at tier five (V) of the German football league system.
Erik Domaschke is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for SV Meppen.
The 1994–95 Regionalliga season was the first year of the Regionalliga as the third tier of German football. There were four regional sections, Nord, Nordost, West-Südwest and Süd, each with eighteen teams. Most teams qualified from the Oberliga, which dropped to become a fourth-tier league, while five teams were relegated from the previous year's 2. Bundesliga. In the Nord section, four teams were promoted from the formerly fourth-tier Verbandsliga.
The 2015–16 3. Liga was the eighth season of the 3. Liga.