Oberliga Westfalen
 | |
| Country |
 Germany |
|---|---|
| State |
 North Rhine-Westphalia |
| Region |
 Westphalia |
| Confederation |
Football and Athletics Association of Westphalia |
| Founded |
1978 (reformed in 2012 after disbanding in 2008) |
| Number of teams | 18 |
| Level on pyramid | Level 5 |
| Promotion to | Regionalliga West |
| Relegation to |
Westfalenliga (2 divisions) |
| Current champions |
TuS Erndtebrück (2014–15) |
| Website | www.oberliga-westfalen.de |
 2015–16 | |
The Oberliga Westfalen is the highest Football League in the region of Westphalia, which is part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The league previously existed from 1978 to 2008, but was then replaced by the NRW-Liga, a new statewide league. With the reform of the league system in 2012, which saw the Regionalliga West reduced to clubs from North Rhine-Westphalia only and the NRW-Liga below it disbanded, the Oberliga Westfalen was reintroduced again as the highest tier in the region and the fifth level overall in Germany.[1] It is one of fourteen Oberligas in German football, the fifth tier of the German football league system.
Overview
The league was formed in 1978 as a highest level of play for the region of Westphalia, which previously was split into two groups and covered the eastern half of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The main reason for the creation of this league was to allow its champion direct promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga Nord rather than having to go through a promotion play-off. The league was created from nine clubs from the Verbandsliga Westfalen-Nordost and eight from the Verbandsliga Westfalen-Südwest. The SC Herford was relegated from the 2. Bundesliga Nord to the new league.
Originally, the league was called Amateur-Oberliga Westfalen, from 1994 this was shortened to just Oberliga Westfalen.
With the introduction of the unified 2nd Bundesliga in 1981, direct promotion for the Oberliga champions became impossible again because there were eight of them competing for four promotion spots. The champion of the Oberliga Westfalen had to compete with the winner and the runner-up of the Oberliga Nord and the winners of the Oberliga Berlin and of the Oberliga Nordrhein for two 2. Bundesliga spots.
Upon creation of the Regionalligas in 1994, the champions of the Oberligas were directly promoted again, however the Oberligas slipped to fourth tier in the German football league system. The top six team of the Oberliga that year were admitted to the new Regionalliga West/Südwest, the clubs being:
- TuS Paderborn-Neuhaus
- Preußen Münster
- Arminia Bielefeld
- SpVgg Erkenschwick
- SC Verl
- SG Wattenscheid 09 II
With the reduction of the number of Regionalligas from four to two in 2000, the Oberliga Westfalen was now located below the Regionalliga Nord. However, the Sportfreunde Siegen, based in the very south of the region, played in the Regionalliga Süd.
With the creation of the 3rd Liga in 2008 the Oberliga Westfalen was replaced by the NRW-Liga, which now is the fifth tier of the league system. The Oberliga Westfalen ceased to exit after 30 seasons. Its clubs were split up over three league levels. The first four teams were promoted to the new Regionalliga West, clubs from place five to eleven went to the new Oberliga while the bottom seven teams were relegated to the Verbandsligas.
The league was reintroduced in 2012 after the NRW-Liga was disbanded once more.
Throughout the league's existence the two leagues below the Oberliga were:
Champions of the Oberliga Westfalen
Original league 1978 to 2008
The league champions of the first era of the league:
|
|
New league from 2012
The league champions and runners-up from 2012 onwards:
| Season | Champions | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|
| 2012-13 | SV Lippstadt 08 | SG Wattenscheid 09 |
| 2013-14 | Arminia Bielefeld II | SV Rödinghausen |
| 2014-15 | TuS Erndtebrück | Rot-Weiß Ahlen |
| 2015–16 |
Placings in the Oberliga Westfalen
The final league placings in the second era of the league from 2012 to present:[4][2][3]
| Club | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SG Wattenscheid 09 | 2 | R | R | R |
| SV Rödinghausen | 2 | R | R | |
| TuS Erndtebrück | 4 | 5 | 1 | R |
| Rot-Weiss Ahlen | 9 | 9 | 2 | R |
| Sportfreunde Siegen | R | R | R | x |
| Westfalia Rhynern | 6 | 7 | 3 | x |
| SC Roland Beckum | 11 | 6 | 4 | x |
| SV Lippstadt 08 | 1 | R | 5 | x |
| SpVgg Erkenschwick | 5 | 3 | 6 | x |
| SuS Stadtlohn | 7 | x | ||
| Arminia Bielefeld II | 3 | 1 | 8 | x |
| TuS Ennepetal | 14 | 12 | 9 | x |
| Eintracht Rheine | 8 | 10 | x | |
| Hammer SpVgg | 12 | 13 | 11 | x |
| ASC 09 Dortmund | 12 | x | ||
| FC Gütersloh 2000 | 8 | 10 | 13 | x |
| TSG Sprockhövel | 10 | 11 | 14 | x |
| SuS Neuenkirchen | 7 | 4 | 15 | x |
| SC Zweckel | 14 | 17 | x | |
| SV Schermbeck | 17 | x | ||
| SC Paderborn 07 II | x | |||
| TSV Marl-Hüls | x | |||
| VfB Hüls | R | 16 | 16 | |
| Westfalia Herne | 16 | 15 | 18 | |
| TuS Heven | 13 | 17 | ||
| TuS Dornberg | 15 | 18 | ||
| 1. FC Gievenbeck | 18 |
Key
| Symbol | Key |
|---|---|
| B | Bundesliga (1963–present) |
| 2B | 2. Bundesliga (1974–present) |
| 3L | 3. Liga (2008–present) |
| R | Regionalliga West/Südwest (1994–2000) Regionalliga Nord (2000–2008) Regionalliga West (2008–present) |
| 1 | League champions |
| Place | League |
| Blank | Played at a league level below this league |
Founding Members of the Oberliga Westfalen
From the 2nd Bundesliga Nord:
From the Verbandsliga Westfalen-Nordost:
- 1. FC Paderborn
- VfB Rheine
- TuS Schloß Neuhaus
- SV Ahlen
- Bünder SV
- SV Emsdetten
- SV Beckum
- DJK Gütersloh, (The DJK Gütersloh merged with Arminia Gütersloh to form FC Gütersloh in 1978)
- TSG Harsewinkel
From the Verbandsliga Westfalen-Südwest:
- SpVgg Erkenschwick
- VfL Gevelsberg
- Sportfreunde Siegen
- Hellweg Lütgendortmund
- SuS Hüsten 09
- SV Holzwickede
- Eintracht Recklinghausen
- VfB Altena
References
- ↑ Die neue Spielklassenstruktur (German) FLVW website, accessed: 20 July 2011
- 1 2 Historical German league tables (German) Das Deutsche Fussball Archiv, accessed: 5 February 2015
- 1 2 Oberliga Westfalen tables and results 1994–present (German) Fussballdaten.de, accessed: 5 February 2014
- ↑ Oberliga Westfalen tables and results (German) Weltfussball.de, accessed: 30 January 2015
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
External links
- (German) Das deutsche Fussball Archiv Historic German league tables
- (German) Westfalen Football Association (FLVW)
| ||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||