Upper Austria dream shattered

Reform of the regional league: Nothing new in the west

Teams such as Austria Salzburg and Kitzbühel will continue to duel it out in the 3rd Liga West in the future.(Bild: Andreas Tröster)

Salzburg's dream of a joint third league with Upper Austria seems to have finally come to an end after a meeting of the Western League club representatives. This is the result of a letter. They would rather make changes to the existing format. What these changes will look like, however, is completely open. 

For a long time, the Salzburg Football Association wanted to form a regional league with Upper Austria. Most recently, a complete reform of the third tier by an ÖFB working group seemed close to being implemented: three regional leagues will become four from 2026/27 - Vorarlberg will play with Tyrol, Salzburg with Upper Austria, Carinthia with Styria, only the Eastern League (Vienna, Burgenland, Lower Austria) will remain the same. A direct promotion to the 2nd division? History!

"Should continue to exist"
But since a "workshop" of the representatives of the third division clubs from Tyrol, Vorarlberg and Salzburg near Innsbruck, one thing is clear: there will be (almost) nothing new in the west. According to a six-line letter signed by the Tyrolean class representative Ropic, it was agreed "with a clear majority that the existing format (three leagues, direct promotion, note) should continue to exist."

Furthermore, according to the letter, an "exciting variant for a future-oriented development of the regional league was developed." What exactly this means, however, remains unclear. Only this much: the club representatives are in favor of pursuing this option.