65-702: The Regionalliga West is a German professional football division administered by the Western German Football Association based in Duisburg . It is one of the five German regional football associations. Being the single flight of the Western German state association, the Regionalliga is currently a level 4 division of the German football league system . It is one of five leagues at this level, together with
130-478: A Reichsliga had been proposed decades ago. Also, professionalism was rejected, and players who played abroad were considered "mercenaries" and not capped. The conservative attitude changed only after disappointing results in the 1962 FIFA World Cup when officials like the 75-year-old Peco Bauwens retired. According to the proposals of Hermann Neuberger, the DFB finally introduced a single nationwide professional league,
195-623: A FIFA friendly on 20 June 1937 in Amsterdam , and another two (Kitzinger again and Anderl Kupfer ) represented a FIFA continental team on 26 October 1938 in London , England. During the war, Germany played international games until 1942. In the aftermath of World War II , German organisations were disbanded by the allies. FIFA decided in November 1945 to ban the no longer existing DFB (and Japan 's football association ) from international competition, while
260-713: A German team from Prague was runner-up in the German championship. On the other hand, clubs of the Danish minority in Northern Schleswig refused to join the DFB. This area after World War I voted to join Denmark. Due to border changes imposed by the Treaty of Versailles , the DFB had to adapt its structure. The Saarland , Danzig , and the Memelland were detached from Germany and East Prussia
325-581: A ballot. Ferdinand Hueppe , the representative of DFC Prague, was named its first president. The DFB consolidated the large number of state-based German regional competitions in play for a single recognized national title for the season 1902/03. Germans were not present in Paris when FIFA was founded by seven nations in May 1904, but by the time the FIFA statutes came into effect on 1 September, Germany had also joined by telegram as
390-619: A club nominally belonging to the West, played in the South. In its first season, the league was won by the reserve team of Borussia Dortmund , which finished three points ahead of the reserve side of the 1. FC Kaiserslautern . The best non-reserve side in the league was the Preußen Münster , finishing fourth, 15 points clear of the champion. At the bottom of the table, 1. FC Kleve and BV Cloppenburg suffered relegation, while 16th placed Wormatia Worms
455-613: A division championship in the Amateurliga Saarland (III) in 1948 before resuming the name FC Homburg in January 1949. The Saarland was occupied by the French who made various efforts to see the state become independent of Germany or join France. In sport this was manifested as separate 1952 Olympic and 1954 World Cup teams for Saarland, the establishment of a short-lived football league for
520-589: A format that could have enabled all Regionalliga champions to be promoted. On that date, the Bundestag delegates voted to grant the Südwest and West champions two direct promotions indefinitely starting in 2021. A third direct promotion place will be assigned according to a rotation principle among the Regionalliga Nord, Nordost and Bavarian champions. The representatives from the remaining two Regionalligen will determine
585-613: A license to play in the Regionalliga West/Südwest (III) and demotion to the Oberliga Südwest (IV). The club qualified for the 2006–07 German Cup, exiting in the first round 1–2 to Bundesliga side VfL Bochum . Homburg was finally promoted to Regionalliga West after finishing atop the Oberliga Südwest ahead of FK Pirmasens on a goal differential of plus 2 in the 2009–10 season. Their Regionalliga cameo ended with
650-557: A short general meeting on 9 July 1933 in Berlin, the DFB did so, at least formally. Later, the Hitler salute was made compulsory; Marxists and Jews were expelled. The records of German Jews were erased from the DFB's records, such as those of Gottfried Fuchs who had scored a world record ten goals for Germany in a 16–0 win against Russia at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, becoming
715-644: A step 4 division in the German football league system , and the step 5 Oberliga Nordost . The NOFV itself is formed by the following state associations: DFB Administration is located in Frankfurt (Main) . It is headed by Secretary General Friedrich Curtius and managing directors Heike Ullrich (Deputy Secretary General), Oliver Bierhoff and Markus Holzherr. FIFA World Cup UEFA European Championship Summer Olympic Games FIFA Confederations Cup FIFA Women's World Cup UEFA Women's Championship Summer Olympic Games The official mascot
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#1733092269112780-578: A two-legged promotion play-off for the last promotion spot. In 2020, the three direct promotion spots will go to the Südwest champions and the champions of the two leagues that participated in the promotion play-off in the previous season, while the Nordost and West champions participate in the play-off. This format was initially installed as a temporary solution until the DFB-Bundestag in September 2019 decided on
845-649: Is an eagle with black feathers and a yellow beak called "Paule" (since 26 March 2006). FC 08 Homburg Fußball-Club 08 Homburg or simply FC Homburg is a German association football club based in Homburg, Saarland , that competes in the Regionalliga Südwest . The club was founded on 15 June 1908 as Fussball Club Homburg by a group of seventeen young men at the local Hohenburg pub. In February 1913 they were renamed Fussballverein Homburg and went on to take
910-527: Is the governing body of football , futsal , and beach soccer in Germany . A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA , the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge of the men's and women's national teams. The DFB headquarters are in Frankfurt am Main . Sole members of the DFB are the German Football League ( German : Deutsche Fußball Liga ; DFL ), organising
975-511: The 3rd Liga to the Regionalliga . Wormatia Worms had left the league for the southern division to avoid an uneven number of teams between the three Regionalligas after two of the three 3rd Liga outgoers had been from the west. The 2010–11 season saw the league feature thirteen clubs from North Rhine-Westphalia, of which eight are from Westphalia. Of the other five, two were from the Saarland while
1040-643: The Austrian Football Association became part of the German federation. New coach Sepp Herberger was told on short notice to use also Austrian players in his team, which was eliminated in the first round of the World Cup, weakening the situation of football within the Nazi politics to near meaninglessness. Four Germans (Hans Jakob, Albin Kitzinger , Ludwig Goldbrunner, and Ernst Lehner) represented West Europe in
1105-630: The FRVS administers the Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar , a step 5 division. The FRVS itself is formed by the following state associations: The Western German Football Association ( German : Westdeutscher Fußballverband; WDFV ) covers the state of North Rhine-Westphalia . The association was known as WFLV from 2002 to 2016 and used to administer the Western German football championship until 1933. From 1947 to 1963, its highest league
1170-697: The French occupied Saarland , which on 12 June 1950 would be recognized by FIFA as the first of three German FAs after the war. At the FIFA congress held on 22 June prior to the 1950 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, the Swiss Football Association requested that the DFB be reinstated with full FIFA membership, which was granted on 22 September 1950 in Brussels. Thus, Germany was excluded from the 1950 FIFA World Cup and could resume international games only in late 1950. In
1235-618: The Hitler Youth took over youth football (under 16) from the clubs following a deal with Reichssportführer Hans von Tschammer und Osten , who had been in charge of all sports in Germany since 1933, making DFB officials even more powerless. Germany had made a bid to host the 1938 World Cup , but it was withdrawn without comment. Following the Anschluss in March 1938 that made Austria part of Germany,
1300-471: The Mannschaft were runners-up in the 1966, 1982, 1986 and 2002 World Cups and in 1976, 1992 and 2008 European Championships. The DFB has also overseen the rise of Germany as a world power in women's football . The national team has won World Cups in 2003 and 2007 —the latter without conceding a goal in the final tournament, making them the only World Cup champions for men or women to do so. Furthermore,
1365-712: The Northern German football championship until 1933. From 1947 to 1963, its highest league was the Oberliga Nord , the regional division of the former top level German Oberliga . Since the 1994–95 season, the NFV is in charge of the Regionalliga Nord , a step 4 division in the German football league system . The NFV itself is formed by the following state associations: The Northeastern German Football Association ( German : Nordostdeutscher Fußball-Verband; NOFV ) covers
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#17330922691121430-635: The Oberliga Westfalen : From the Oberliga Südwest : From the Oberliga Nord : The winners and runners-up of the league are: The top goal scorers and spectator statistics for the league are: Final league positions for clubs from the region currently covered by the league: Final league positions for clubs from the regions formerly covered by the league: German Football Association#Western Germany The German Football Association ( German : Deutscher Fußball-Bund [ˈdɔʏtʃɐ ˈfuːsbalˌbʊnt] ; DFB [ˌdeːʔɛfˈbeː] )
1495-515: The Regionalliga Bayern , Regionalliga Nordost , Regionalliga Nord and the Regionalliga Südwest . The league came into existence in August 2008 and was formed from the five Regionalliga clubs in its region which did not achieve admittance to the new 3rd Liga and thirteen Oberliga clubs. The number of clubs in the new league was set at eighteen. Along with the formation of this league there
1560-557: The Regionalligas was decided upon. The number of leagues was now expanded to five, with the Regionalliga West losing clubs from the Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate. The new system came into operation with the start of the 2012–13 season. It was also decided to limit the number of reserve teams per Regionalliga to seven. The later however is planned to be achieved through the shifting of clubs between leagues rather than restricting
1625-591: The SFV , except its member Bavarian FA, along with the Football Association of the Southwest is in charge of the Regionalliga Südwest , a step 4 division in the German football league system . The SFV itself is formed by the following state associations: The Southwestern Regional Football Association ( German : Fußball-Regional-Verband Südwest; FRVS ) covers the states Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland and
1690-433: The "old" Regionalliga West , which operated from 1963 to 1974, but this league only covered the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. In 2008–09, with BV Cloppenburg , it included a club from Lower Saxony , while in 2009–10, with Waldhof Mannheim , a club from Baden-Württemberg played in the league. This moving-around of clubs was done to balance out the three Regionalligas in numbers. In 2010–11, in turn, Wormatia Worms ,
1755-547: The 1. FC Saarbrücken, a club freshly promoted from the Oberliga who had played in the Bundesliga in the past but fallen down the ranks in the league system. 1. FCS beat Sportfreunde Lotte by eight points to the top spot. At the bottom end, Eintracht Trier and Wormatia Worms, two clubs from Rhineland-Palatinate, were in 17th and 18th spot with a clear gap to a non-relegation rank, while 16th placed Borussia Mönchengladbach reserves
1820-565: The 2. Liga-Südwest (II) and in December of that year they adopted the name FC 08 Homburg/Saar . The club was relegated to the Amateurliga in 1960 which had become a fourth-tier circuit by 1963. In the late 1970s, the team advanced to the quarter-finals of the DFB-Pokal on two occasions, and, on into the early 1980s, moved frequently between third- and fourth-tier play. In the second half of the decade
1885-522: The Austrian association was re-founded. Internationally, Germans were still represented, with Zürich -based Ivo Schricker serving as General Secretary of FIFA from 1932 to December 1950. In 1948, Switzerland requested FIFA to lift the ban on games against Germans, but this was denied. Swiss clubs played German clubs anyway, but had to cease doing so due to international protests. This was only changed in 1949 when The Football Association requested FIFA to lift
1950-622: The Bundesliga, for the 1963–64 season. The DFB has hosted the World Cup in 1974 and 2006 . Germany also hosted the 1988 European Championship . Upon reunification in 1990, the East German Deutscher Fußball-Verband der DDR (DFV) was absorbed into the DFB. The national team won the World Cup for a second time in 1974, a third time in 1990 , and a fourth in the 2014 FIFA World Cup . Also, they were crowned European champions three times, in 1972, in 1980 and in 1996. On top,
2015-470: The DFB, and the popularity of the sport in Germany. The teams of the DFB and the Saarland were squared off in the qualifiers for the 1954 World Cup before the Saarland and its FA was permitted to rejoin Germany and the DFB in 1956. Due to that success, and due to regional associations fearing to lose influence, the old amateur structure, in which five regional leagues represented the top level, remained in effect longer than in many other countries, even though
Regionalliga West - Misplaced Pages Continue
2080-638: The ban on club games. FIFA did so on 7 May 1949, two weeks before the Federal Republic of Germany was founded, thus games required permission by the military governments of the time. Due to partition into several occupation zones, and states, the DFB was legally re-founded in Stuttgart on 21 January 1950 only by the West German regional associations, without the Saarland Football Association in
2145-428: The borders of the German states , with the exception of some states ( North Rhine-Westphalia , Rhineland-Palatinate , and Baden-Württemberg ) having up to three state associations covering different areas of such state. The Southern German Football Association ( German : Süddeutscher Fußball-Verband; SFV ) covers the states of Baden-Württemberg , Bavaria and Hesse . The SFV , formed on 17 October 1897 under
2210-406: The defunct FV . The footballers again took up play in second-tier competition and failed in two attempts (1938, 1941) to win their way through the regional promotion playoff to the first division Gauliga Südwest. After World War II, Allied occupation authorities dissolved all types of associations in Germany, including football clubs. The club was soon re-constituted as Sportverein Homburg and won
2275-577: The early years of the division of Germany , West Germany claimed exclusive mandate of all of Germany. Unlike the IOC , which granted only provisional recognition to the East Germans in 1955, demanding they participate in an All-German Olympic team ( United Team of Germany ), FIFA fully recognized the East German Football Association in 1952. Winning the 1954 World Cup was a major success for
2340-554: The eighth nation. The German national team played its first game in 1908. Before 1914, the German Empire was much larger than today's Germany, comprising Alsace-Lorraine and the eastern provinces . The borders of the regional associations were drawn according to suitable railway connections. Also, teams based in Bohemia , then part of Austria-Hungary , were eligible, as they were German Football clubs and thus considered German. Thus,
2405-419: The fan organization FC PlayFair! , mentioned that the growing unpopularity of the men's national team is "just a perfect example of what can happen when you have the fans out of sight". Direct members of the DFB are only its five regional associations and its 21 state associations, along with the German Football League , whereas the clubs participating in the German football league system are members of
2470-465: The first round of the 1991–92 DFB-Pokal . They were relegated from the 2. Bundesliga after the 1994–95 season. In 1988, the DFB prohibited the team from wearing the sponsorship logo of a condom manufacturer on ethical and moral grounds. In 1998, they entered into an agreement with 1. FC Saarbrücken to loan players to that team to help improve Homburg' s financial situation. In 1999, the club became close to bankruptcy, which led to them being denied
2535-472: The fourth promoted club in two-legged playoffs. At the end of March 2023, the Western German Football Association (WDFV) confirmed the Regionalliga West's status as a professional league for the first time with regard to the 2023–24 season's licensing procedure. North Rhine-Westphalia had already classified the league as such in the 2020–21 season to enable the "numerous professional footballers" to continue practicing their profession. At that time, for example,
2600-655: The game operations in the four remaining regional leagues had been stopped prematurely. The Regionalliga West was formed in 2008 with 18 clubs, five from the two Regionalligas (III), four each from the Oberligas Südwest, Nordrhein and Westfalen (IV) and one from the Oberliga Nord (IV). The founding members were: From the Regionalliga Nord : From the Regionalliga Süd : From the Oberliga Nordrhein : From
2665-413: The league that season were after all reprieved and not relegated. For Rot-Weiss Essen this was especially bitter, having been the best-supported club in the league for the second year running, with 5,955 spectators per home game. The gap to the second best supported team however, the 1. FC Saarbrücken, was not as wide as in the previous year, Saarbrücken attracting 4,796 spectators a game. Bayer Leverkusen II
Regionalliga West - Misplaced Pages Continue
2730-401: The local championship that season. By the mid-1920s the side was playing second-division football, but folded on 27 August 1936. A new multi-sport club known as VfL Homburg was formed 5 March 1937 out of a group of local sides that included Turnverein 1878 Homburg , Schwimmverein Homburg , Kraftsportverein Homburg , Boxclub Homburg , Tennis-Club Homburg , as well as the former membership of
2795-500: The men's Bundesliga. Initially, it was played in north and south divisions but became a single league in 1997. Bundesliga teams have enjoyed more success in the UEFA Women's Champions League than those from any other nation; four different clubs have won a total of seven titles, with the most recent being 2015 champions 1. FFC Frankfurt . Since 2005, in memory of former German-Jewish Olympian international footballer Julius Hirsch who
2860-678: The name of Verband Süddeutscher Fußball-Vereine , originally administered the Southern German football championship , until it was dissolved by the Nazis in 1933. Reformed in the American occupation zone after the Second World War, it operated the Oberliga Süd , the regional division of the former top level German Oberliga until the introduction of the Bundesliga in 1963. Since the 2012–13 season,
2925-400: The overall number of reserve teams. As four teams were relegated from the 3rd Liga starting at the end of the 2018–19 season, the Regionalliga West champions, along with their counterparts from the Nordost and Südwest, were promoted directly to the 3rd Liga. The West was chosen by a draw. The remaining two champions also determined by the same draw, from the Regionalliga Nord and Bayern, played
2990-422: The professional Bundesliga and the 2. Bundesliga , along with five regional and 21 state associations, organising the semi-professional and amateur levels. The 21 state associations of the DFB have a combined number of more than 25,000 clubs with more than 6.8 million members, making the DFB the single largest sports federation in the world. From 1875 to the mid-1880s, the first kind of football played in Germany
3055-401: The remaining three were from Rhineland-Palatinate. Unlike the previous two seasons, no club from outside those three states competes in the league this year. It also featured a record ten reserve teams, leaving only eight first teams in the league. The league was won by Preußen Münster , who finished with a ten-point gap to second-placed Eintracht Trier . In October 2010, another reform of
3120-545: The state associations covering their district. Today, more than 25,000 clubs are organised in those state associations, fielding nearly 170,000 teams with over two million active players and totalling over six million members, the largest membership of any single sports federation in the world. The Association governs 870,000 female members and 8,600 female teams. The DFB is organised into five regional associations, which themselves are sub-divided into 21 state associations. These associations typically have their boundaries run along
3185-457: The state, and the German club 1. FC Saarbrücken playing in the French second division. Homburg played in the Saarland Ehrenliga from 1949 to 1951 as FC Homburg-Saar . By the time of the 1951–52 season the return of German teams to the German Football Association had been negotiated: the Ehrenliga faded away and by 1956 the independent Saarland Fussball Bund had re-joined the DFB. A second Amateurliga Saarland title in 1957 advanced FC to
3250-421: The states of Berlin , Brandenburg , Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , Saxony , Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia . The association is the youngest of the five regional associations, having been formed after German reunification in 1990 as a successor of the disbanded German Football Association of the GDR . Since the 2012–13 season and previously from 1994 to 2000, the NOFV administers the Regionalliga Nordost ,
3315-432: The team was greatly successful. They played their way back to the second division and on into the Bundesliga in 1986. Homburg played two seasons there, were relegated, and returned for one final Bundesliga season in 1989–90 before beginning a gradual descent which would lead them to Oberliga Südwest (IV) where they play today. The team was able to beat the famous club FC Bayern Munich in Munich 4–2 after extra time in
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#17330922691123380-439: The top scorer of the tournament and setting an international record. When, in 1972, German former player and national team coach Sepp Herberger asked the German Football Association vice president Hermann Neuberger to invite Fuchs as a guest or a guest of honour to an international against Russia on the 60th anniversary of Fuchs' performance for the German team, the DFB Executive Committee declined to do so, writing that it
3445-419: The women's national team's victory in 2003 made Germany the only nation to have won both the Men's and Women's World Cups, until Spain achieved the same milestone in 2023 . They have also won eight UEFA Women's Championships , including the last six in succession. In 1990, mere months before reunification became official, the DFB founded the women's Bundesliga ( Frauen-Bundesliga ), directly modelled after
3510-463: Was a merger of the Oberligas below it, with Nordrhein and Westfalen forming the new NRW-Liga , while the Oberliga Südwest remained independent. With the inception of the new Regionalliga West in 2008, there were now three Regionalligas which form the fourth tier of the German football league system, these were: The league covered the same region, as the now defunct Regionalliga West/Südwest did from 1994 to 2000. It also shares its name with
3575-510: Was according to rugby rules. Later, association-style football teams formed separate clubs, and since 1890, they began to organise on regional and national levels. The DFB (Deutscher Fußball-Bund) was founded on 28 January 1900 in Leipzig by representatives of 86 clubs . The vote held to establish the association was 62:22 in favour (84 votes). Some delegates present represented more than one club, but may have voted only once. Other delegates present did not carry their club's authority to cast
3640-401: Was by far the best scorer in the league scoring 28 times during the season, nine times more than the second-best, Christopher Kullmann . The reserve team of Fortuna Düsseldorf , 1. FC Saarbrücken and Bonner SC were promoted to the league for the following season, while Waldhof Mannheim crossed over from the southern division to the west. The second edition of the competition was won by
3705-448: Was cut off from the main part by the Polish Corridor . The role of DFB and its representatives like Felix Linnemann under Nazi Germany was documented in 100 Jahre DFB and by Nils Havemann in Fußball unterm Hakenkreuz . According to Gleichschaltung policy, the DFB, with its large membership from all political sides, and strong regional structures compared to weak national ones, submitted to new rulers and new Gau structures. On
3770-464: Was established and Linnemann was appointed leader of its Fachamt Fußball (Football section), which took over the operational affairs, whereas the DFB lost most of its duties until it was formally dissolved in 1940. On the pitch, Germany had done well in 1934, but after a 0–2 loss to Norway in the quarter finals of the 1936 Summer Olympics , with Adolf Hitler attending, the DFB and football fell from grace. Reichsjugendführer Baldur von Schirach and
3835-448: Was formed after the Second World War in the French occupation zone in Germany. Its highest league until the introduction of the Bundesliga in 1963 was the Oberliga Südwest , the regional division of the former top level German Oberliga . Since the 2012–13 season, the FRVS , along with the Southern German football association is in charge of Regionalliga Südwest , a step 4 division in the German football league system . Additionally,
3900-450: Was killed in Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust , the German Football Federation awards the " Julius-Hirsch-Preis " for outstanding examples of integration and tolerance within German football. In 2018, Germany was chosen to host UEFA Euro 2024 . The main criticisms of the DFB are the lack of transparency and the commercialization of football, which has been strongly promoted by DFB officials. Christian Prechtl, from
3965-440: Was not willing to invite Fuchs because it would have created an unfortunate precedent (as was pointed out, given that Fuchs was the last remaining former Jewish German international, the DFB's concern about creating a precedent was a difficult one to understand). As of 2016, Fuchs was still the top German scorer for one match. A new organization, Deutscher Reichsbund für Leibesübungen (German Reich League for Physical Exercise),
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#17330922691124030-423: Was on equal points with no less than four other clubs. All three however were spared from relegation. The top goal scorers in the second season of the league were Ercan Aydogmus and Christian Knappmann, having both scored 16 goals each. At the end of the 2009–10 season, Rot-Weiss Essen, Waldhof Mannheim and Bonner SC were all refused a Regionalliga licence and relegated. This meant, the three last-placed teams in
4095-404: Was once more the least-best supported team but managed to raise its average to 401 spectators by game. Overall, support for the league in its second yearwent up. The teams promoted from the Oberliga at the end of the season were FC 08 Homburg , SC Wiedenbrück and the reserves of Arminia Bielefeld . The reserves of Borussia Dortmund, 2009 champions, and the Wuppertaler SV were relegated from
4160-481: Was spared because FSV Oggersheim , in 12th place, did not apply for a licence for the next season. The league had an average number of 1,372 spectators by game, with Rot-Weiss Essen with 7,077 per game by far the best supported club in the league. Second in this ranking was Preußen Münster with 3,649 spectators per game while the reserve side of Bayer Leverkusen came last in this ranking, attracting only 247 spectators per home game. Sascha Mölders of Rot-Weiss Essen
4225-507: Was the Oberliga West , the regional division of the former top level German Oberliga . Since the 2008–09 season, the WDFV is in charge of the Regionalliga West , a step 4 division in the German football league system . The WDFV itself is formed by the following state associations: The Northern German Football Association ( German : Norddeutscher Fußball-Verband; NFV ) covers the states of Bremen , Hamburg , Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein . The association used to administer
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