Training reward: DFL supports 107 amateur clubs below 3. Liga

Florian Wirtz, Bayer 04 Leverkusen (left) and Ansgar Knauff, Borussia Dortmund (right)
Photos: DFL/Getty Images/Lukas Schulze; Witters

19 October 2021 – The DFL Deutsche Fußball Liga has awarded funding of more than €1.7 million to 107 amateur clubs below 3. Liga, in recognition of the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 debuts made during the 2020-21 season by 61 players who were trained at these clubs.

Reigning Bundesliga Player of the Month Florian Wirtz, from Bayer 04 Leverkusen, is among the professional players who made their first senior appearance during the 2020-21 season. SV Grün-Weiß Brauweiler – the Landesliga team from the Rhein-Erft district for which Wirtz, now an international player, played as a youth from 2008 to 2010 – will now be awarded nearly €8,000. The first Borussia Dortmund appearance for U21 international Ansgar Knauff will benefit SVG Göttingen 07, among others: the Oberliga team from Lower Saxony, for which Knauff played from 2006 to 2015, will receive €36,000.

The highest sum – more than €110,000 – will go to FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt. The Oberliga team based in Thuringia is the former home of three professional players who made their debuts in the Bundesliga or Bundesliga 2 last season: Ilia Gruev (2006-2015) from SV Werder Bremen, Tobias Kraulich (2014-2018) from FC Würzburger Kickers and Marvin Lee Rittmüller (2006-2016) from 1. FC Heidenheim 1846.

The training reward is given to clubs that coach players who later go on to become professional. This coaching can take place at any point, from the season of the player’s 6th birthday to the season of their 21st birthday. The clubs receive €4,200 for each full season of training between the player’s 6th-11th birthdays.  For training from the player’s 12th-21st birthdays, the clubs receive €5,400 per season. This reward system, revised by the DFL in favour of amateur clubs, was first implemented in the 2017-18 season. Prior to this date, only the five previous seasons before each player’s debut were considered. Since 2017-18, a total of nearly €7 million has been paid to clubs below 3. Liga.

Here is a list of all clubs that received a reward, the players who made their debuts, and the professional clubs for which they played for the first time in the 2020-21 season:

List of all rewarded clubs below the 3. Liga (training reward 2020/21)