The 1965–66 Regionalliga was the third season of the Regionalliga, the second tier of the

German football league system The German football league system, or league pyramid, refers to the hierarchically interconnected league system for association football in Germany that in the 2016–17 season consisted of 2,235 leagues in up to 13 levels having 31,645 teams ...

. The league operated in five regional divisions,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

, South,

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

and

West West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

. The five league champions and four runners-up, the Regionalliga Berlin runners-up was not qualified, entered a promotion play-off to determine the two clubs to move up to the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

for the next season. The two promotion spots went to the Regionalliga West champions

Fortuna Düsseldorf Düsseldorfer Turn- und Sportverein Fortuna 1895 e.V., commonly known as Fortuna Düsseldorf (), is a German football club in Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, which competes in the 2. Bundesliga. Founded in 1895, Fortuna entered the league ...

and runners-up Rot-Weiß Essen.

Regionalliga Nord

The 1965–66 season saw two new clubs in the league,

Bremer SV Bremer SV is a German association football club, based in the city of Bremen, which was founded in 1906. The club play their home games at the Panzenberg Stadium and currently participate in the 4th tier Regionalliga Nord. History Bremer SV w ...

and

Itzehoer SV Itzehoer SV was a German association football club from the town of Itzehoe, Schleswig-Holstein. The club's greatest success was promotion to the tier-one Oberliga Nord, where it spent a single season in 1950–51. It also played in the then-se ...

, both promoted from the Amateurliga, while no club had been relegated from the Bundesliga to the league.

Regionalliga Berlin

The 1965–66 season saw seven new clubs in the league, 1. FC Neukölln, VfB Hermsdorf, Lichterfelder SU, SC Tegel, SC Gatow and

SC Staaken SC Staaken () is a German sports club in Staaken, Berlin Germany. The club was founded in 1919. History The club was founded on 12 July 1919. During this time, Hans Berndt played for the club as a youth player. In 1937, the club merged w ...

, all promoted from the Amateurliga as the Regionalliga had been expanded from 10 to 16 clubs, while

Hertha BSC Berlin Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC (), and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the locality of Westend of the borough of Charlo ...

had been relegated from the Bundesliga to the league.

Regionalliga West

The 1965–66 season saw two new clubs in the league,

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as simply VfL Bochum (), is a German association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has spent 35 seasons in the Bundeslig ...

and VfB Bottrop, both promoted from the Amateurliga, while no club had been relegated from the Bundesliga to the league.

Regionalliga Südwest

The 1965–66 season saw one new club in the league, SV Alsenborn, promoted from the Amateurliga, while no club had been relegated from the Bundesliga to the league.

Regionalliga Süd

The 1965–66 season saw three new clubs in the league, Opel Rüsselsheim, VfR Pforzheim and

SpVgg Weiden SpVgg SV Weiden, formerly just SpVgg Weiden, is a German association football club from the city of Weiden, Bavaria. Playing in the tier-four Regionalliga Süd in 2010–11, the club had to declare insolvency after being more than Euro 1 milli ...

, all promoted from the Amateurliga, while no club had been relegated from the Bundesliga to the league.

Bundesliga promotion round

Qualifying

The runners-up of the Regionalliga Nord and Regionalliga Südwest played a two-leg decider to determine which team qualified for the group stage, which

1. FC Saarbrücken 1. FC Saarbrücken (german: 1. Fußball-Club Saarbrücken e. V.) is a football club based in Saarbrücken, Saarland. The club plays in the 3. Liga, which is the third tier of football in Germany. The club began its existence as the football de ...

won on aggregate.

Group 1

Group 2

References

Sources

* ''30 Jahre Bundesliga'' 30th anniversary special, publisher: '' kicker Sportmagazin'', published: 1993 * ''kicker-Almanach 1990'' Yearbook of German football, publisher: ''kicker Sportmagazin'', published: 1989, * ''DSFS Liga-Chronik seit 1945'' publisher: DSFS, published: 2005

External links

Regionalliga on the official DFB website

Das Deutsche Fussball Archiv
Historic German league tables {{DEFAULTSORT:Regionalliga, 1965-66 1965-66 2 Ger