The Bezirksliga Mittelfranken 1 ( en, District league Middle Franconia 1), formerly the Bezirksliga Mittelfranken Nord, is currently the seventh tier of the

German football league system The German football league system, or league pyramid, refers to the hierarchically interconnected league system for Football in Germany, association football in Germany that in the 2016–17 Season (sports), season consisted of 2,235 Sports_leag ...

in the northern part of the

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

n ''

Regierungsbezirk A ' () means "governmental district" and is a type of administrative division in Germany. Four of sixteen ' ( states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts. Saxony has ' (directorate districts) with more res ...

'' of

Middle Franconia Middle Franconia (german: Mittelfranken, ) is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the west of Bavaria and borders the state of Baden-Württemberg. The administrative seat is Ansbach; however, ...

(german: Mittelfranken). Until the disbanding of the

Bezirksoberliga Mittelfranken The Bezirksoberliga Mittelfranken was the seventh tier of the German football league system in the Bavarian ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Middle Franconia (german: Mittelfranken). Until the introduction of the 3. Liga in 2008 it was the sixth tier of th ...

in 2012 it was the eighth tier. From 2008, when the 3. Liga was introduced, it was the seventh tier of the league system, until the introduction of the

Regionalliga The Regionalliga () is the fourth tier in the German football league system. Until 1974, it was the second tier in Germany. In 1994, it was introduced as the third tier. Upon the creation of the new nationwide 3. Liga in 2008, it became the four ...

s in 1994 the sixth tier. From the league's inception in 1963 to the introduction of the ''Bezirksoberliga'' in 1988 it was the fifth tier.

Overview

History

Before the Bezirksoberligas in

were introduced in 1988 the Bezirksligas were the leagues set right below the Landesligas Bayern in the

football pyramid In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

from 1963 onwards, when the Landesligas and Bezirksligas were established. Until the establishment of the Bezirksoberliga, the league champions were not automatically promoted but instead had to play-off for promotion as there was six Bezirksligas feeding the Landesliga Mitte, two each in Middle Franconia, Upper Palatinate and Lower Bavaria. In 1988, when the Bezirksoberligas were introduced, the league lost some of its status as it was relegated one tier. On a positive note, the league champions were now always promoted and the league runners-up had the opportunity to play-off for promotion as well. After the 2010–11 season the league's name was changed from the geographical distinction ''Nord'' to a number, becoming the Bezirksliga Mittelfranken 1. With the league reform at the end of the 2011–12 season, which included an expansion of the number of Landesligas from three to five, the ''Bezirksoberligas'' were disbanded. Instead, the Bezirksligas took the place of the Bezirksoberligas once more below the Landesligas.

Format

The winner of the Bezirksliga Mittelfranken-Nord, like the winner of the Bezirksliga Mittelfranken-Süd was, until 2011, directly promoted to the

. The runners-up of the Bezirksligas in Middle Franconia would take part in a promotion round with the best-placed Bezirksoberliga team which did finish on a relegation rank to determine one or more additional promotion spots, depending on availability. From the 2012–13 season onwards, the league champion will be promoted to one of the Landesligas, depending on geographic location.Die neue Landesliga-Einteilung
fupa.net, Map of the new Landesligas with all 2012-13 clubs. Retrieved 13 June 2012 The bottom three teams of each group are relegated to one of the

Kreisliga The Kreisliga ( en, District League), along with the ''Kreisoberliga'' ( en, District Premier League) and the ''Kreisklasse'' ( en, District Class), are the lowest set of divisions in the German football league system, set at step 8 and below. S ...

s. At the same time the Kreisliga champions were promoted to the Bezirksliga. The runners-up of the Kreisligas faced a play-off with each other and the 13th placed teams in the Bezirksliga. The Bezirksliga Mittelfranken 1 is fed by the following Kreisligas: * Kreisliga Erlangen/Pegnitzgrund 1 * Kreisliga Erlangen/Pegnitzgrund 2 * Kreisliga Nürnberg/Frankenhöhe 2 From 1995, the league was generally operated with a strength of 16 clubs and rarely deviated from this until 2012, when the number was increased to 18. In 2019, it was decreased back to 16.

League timeline

The league went through the following timeline of positions in the league system:

League champions

The winners and runners–up of the league:Tables and results of the Bezirksliga Mittelfranken-Nord
Manfreds Fussball Archiv. Retrieved 21 July 2012

1963–88

The league champions and runners–up while being a feeder league to the Landesliga:

1988–2012

The league champions and runners–up while being a feeder league to the Bezirksoberliga:

2012–present

The league champions and runners–up while being a feeder league to the Landesliga once more: * Promoted teams in bold. * ⁺ Teams finished on equal points, decider needed to determine final position. * In 2008 third placed FSV Stadeln was also promoted. * In 2020 the season was suspended and later extended to 2021, when the champion and the runner-up were ranked on a points per game basis.

Current clubs

The clubs in the league in the 2021–22 season and their 2019–21 final positions:

References

Sources

* ''50 Jahre Bayerischer Fußball-Verband'' 50-year-anniversary book of the Bavarian FA. Vindelica Verlag. 1996

External links

Bayerischer-Fußball Verband (Bavarian FA)

Bavarian League tables and results

Website with tables and results from the Bavarian Oberliga to Bezirksliga
{{Football in Bavaria 4 Football in Middle Franconia 1963 establishments in West Germany Bezirksliga Sports leagues established in 1963