The FC Augsburg II is the reserve team of the German :Category:Football clubs in Germany|association football club FC Augsburg from the city of Augsburg, Bavaria, whose first team play in the Bundesliga. The team, which has never played above the fourth tier, had its greatest success in 1977, when it won the local Schwaben Cup, qualified for the German Cup and reached the third round of the competition, going out to Hertha BSC Berlin. The side plays as an under-23 team.
History
The club's reserve side can trace its roots back to the pre-merger BC Augsburg Amateure, which had its greatest success when it played for a season in the southern division of the Amateurliga Bayern in 1962–63. A sixth place there allowed the side to qualify for the unified Bavarian league the following year but, along with the decline of the senior team, the reserve side got relegated too, finishing 17th. In the post-merger era, the team disappeared into the lower amateur leagues after that but returned to the Landesliga Bayern-Süd in 1976, finishing runners-up in the league in its first season, now as FC Augsburg Amateure. By 1978 however, the side was relegated again, not to return to this level for a quarter of a decade. It did however take out the Schwaben Cup in 1977 and qualified for the first round of the 1977–78 German Cup. After away victories over second division side Arminia Hannover and fellow amateur club 1. FC Normannia Gmünd in the first two rounds, the team reached the third round, where it lost 0–4 to Hertha BSC Berlin. Incidentally, the senior team was knocked out in the same round, too, losing to TSV 1860 München. After becoming a founding member of the Bezirksoberliga Schwaben in 1988, the team was withdrawn at the end of the season, disbanded altogether and not reformed for more than a decade. After 2004 the side once more played in the Landesliga Bayern-Süd again, generally achieving good results but not managing another promotion, with a second place in 2012 as its best result. The team was one of two clubs in the league to apply for a licence in the new tier four Regionalliga Bayern. Taking part in the promotion play-off, FCA II advance past Bayernliga clubs SB/DJK Rosenheim and FC Schweinfurt 05 to play in the Regionalliga from 2012. The club was thereby also able to win promotion from the sixth tier to the fourth without playing in the fifth. In the 2012–13 season the club had to struggle against relegation all season and beyond, having to defend its league place in the relegation round with the Bayernliga runners-up. In a two-leg play-off against BC Aichach FCA II defended its league place with an aggregate score of 5–2. The following season was much more successful for the team, finishing fourth in the Regionalliga. After two better seasons with a fourth place in 2014 as its best result Augsburg had to enter the relegation play-off once more in 2015–16 but successfully defended its league place against TSV 1860 Rosenheim.
The recent season-by-season performance of the club:
Season
Division
Tier
Position
2002–03
Bezirksliga Schwaben-Süd
VII
1st ↑
2003–04
Bezirksoberliga Schwaben
VI
1st ↑
2004–05
Landesliga Bayern-Süd
V
10th
2005–06
Landesliga Bayern-Süd
V
5th
2006–07
Landesliga Bayern-Süd
V
4th
2007–08
Landesliga Bayern-Süd
V
4th
2008–09
Landesliga Bayern-Süd
VI
9th
2009–10
Landesliga Bayern-Süd
VI
3rd
2010–11
Landesliga Bayern-Süd
VI
5th
2011–12
Landesliga Bayern-Süd
VI
2nd ↑
2012–13
Regionalliga Bayern
IV
16th
2013–14
Regionalliga Bayern
IV
4th
2014–15
Regionalliga Bayern
IV
10th
2015–16
Regionalliga Bayern
IV
16th
2016–17
Regionalliga Bayern
IV
With the introduction of the Bezirksoberligas in 1988 as the new fifth tier, below the Landesligas, all leagues below dropped one tier. With the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 and the 3. Liga in 2008 as the new third tier, below the 2. Bundesliga, all leagues below dropped one tier. With the establishment of the Regionalliga Bayern as the new fourth tier in Bavaria in 2012 the Bayernliga was split into a northern and a southern division, the number of Landesligas expanded from three to five and the Bezirksoberligas abolished. All leagues from the Bezirksligas onwards were elevated one tier.
