Landesliga Braunschweig

The Landesliga Braunschweig, called the Bezirksoberliga Braunschweig until 2010,^[1] is the sixth tier of the German football league system and the second highest league in the German state of Lower Saxony (German:Niedersachsen). It covers the region of the now defunct Regierungsbezirk Braunschweig.

It is one of four leagues at this level in Lower Saxony, the other three being the Landesliga Lüneburg, the Landesliga Weser-Ems and the Landesliga Hannover.

The term Landesliga can be translated as State league.

Overview

The league was formed in 2006 as a replacement of the Landesliga Braunschweig, which had existed at this level. The new Bezirksoberliga was made up of fifteen clubs,^[2] two from the Verbandsliga Niedersachsen-Ost, eleven from the Landesliga and one from the two Bezirksligas each. The league was formed in a reorganisation of the league system in Lower Saxony, whereby the four regional Landsligas were replaced by the Bezirksoberligas. Below these, the number of Bezirksligas was increased. In Braunschweig, the two Bezirksligas were expanded to four, as in the other regions, except Weser-Ems, which was expanded to five.^[3]

The Bezirksoberliga, like the Landesliga before, was set in the league system below the Verbandsliga and above the now four Bezirksligas, which were numbered from one to four. The winner of the Bezirksoberliga was directly promoted to the Verbandsliga, while the bottom placed teams, in a varying number, were relegated to the Bezirksliga. The Bezirksoberligas of Weser-Ems and Hannover form the tier below the Verbandsliga West, while those of Lüneburg and Braunschweig form the tier below the eastern division of the Verbandsliga.

In the leagues first season, 2006–07, the runners-up of the league, SCW Göttingen, was also promoted, like the runners-up from Lüneburg.^[4] In the following season, only the league champions were promoted while, in 2009, the ULM Wolfsburg moved up a level as runners-up.

At the end of the 2007-08 season, with the introduction of the 3rd Liga, the Verbandsliga was renamed Oberliga Niedersachsen-Ost.^[5] For the Bezirksoberliga, this had no direct consequences.

After the 2009-10 season, the two Oberligas (English: Premier league) in Lower Saxony will be merged to one single division. The four Bezirksoberliga champions that season will not be automatically promoted, instead they will have to compete with the four teams placed ninth and tenth in the Oberliga for four more spots in this league.^[6]

On 17 May 2010, the Lower Saxony football association decided to rename the four Bezirksoberligas to Landesligas from the 1 July 2010. This change in name came alongside the merger of the two Oberliga divisions above it into the Niedersachsenliga.^[1]

Top-three of the league

• Promoted teams in bold.

Founding members

The league was formed from sixteen clubs from the following leagues:

• From the Verbandsliga Niedersachsen-Ost:
  • SSV Vorsfelde
  • TuSpo Petershütte

• From the Landesliga Braunschweig:
  • TSV Hillerse
  • TSV Helmstedt
  • MTV Isenbüttel
  • SV Breitenberg
  • Fortuna Lebenstedt
  • Braunschweiger SC
  • SCW Göttingen
  • SV GW Vallstedt
  • ULM Wolfsburg
  • SpVg Einbeck
  • Rot-Weiss Braunschweig

• From the Bezirksliga Braunschweig Nord:
  • 1. FC Wolfsburg

• From the Bezirksliga Braunschweig Süd:
  • SVG Göttingen

References

Sources

• Deutschlands Fußball in Zahlen, (German) An annual publication with tables and results from the Bundesliga to Verbandsliga/Landesliga, publisher: DSFS
• Kicker Almanach, (German) The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937, published by the Kicker Sports Magazine
• Die Deutsche Liga-Chronik 1945-2005 (German) History of German football from 1945 to 2005 in tables, publisher: DSFS, published: 2006

External links

• (German) Das deutsche Fussball Archiv Historic German league tables
• (German) The Niedersachsenligas at Fussball.de
• (German) The Lower Saxony Football Association (NFV)