Germany: the Federation counts 6,969,464 licensees in 2015-16 (+1.2%), a new record

The DFB accounted for 6,969,464 football licensees after the 2015-16 season, its best total since the body's inception in 1900, announced the German Football Federation on 05/08/2016. The number of licensees increased by 1.2% (+80,349) compared to 2014-15 (6,889,115 licensees).

The DFB has been, for several years, the football federation with the most licensees worldwide. The German Federation has a special way of identifying the number of licensees, by recognising redundant registrations as "inactive", if they did not "actively" participate in the current season. The number of active licensees increased by 110,000 in 2015-16 compared to 2014-15, indicated the DFB, without specifying the total number of active licensees.

With 1.58 million licensees, Bavaria is the German regional league with the registered footballers after the 2015-16 season. 25,075 German football clubs competed during 2015-16, or 438 less than in 2014-15.

• 42,000 foreign nationals were licensed last year, including many young refugees who have taken a license in Germany for the first time in 2015-16, thanks to the…