 The new single-division "Niedersachsenliga" consisted of 20 clubs in its first season and then 18 thereafter, also fluctuation due to relegation/promotion to and from the Regionalliga are possible.At the end of the 2011–12 season, the top four clubs, being the Goslarer SC, BV Cloppenburg, VfB Oldenburg and BSV Schwarz-Weiß Rehden, were directly promoted to the Regionalliga Nord while the sixth placed club, SV Holthausen/Biene, unsuccessfully entered a promotion playoff with the runners-up from the Oberliga Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein-Liga.Fifth placed VfL Osnabrück II was ineligible for promotion to the Regionalliga as it is the reserve side of a 3.