The Landesliga Westfalen is a German amateur football division administered by the

Westphalian Football and Athletics Association The Westphalia Football and Athletics Association (german: Fußball- und Leichtathletikverband Westfalen, FLVW) is the umbrella organization of football and athletics clubs in the German Westphalia area, and comprises 29 districts. The FLVW was cre ...

, one of the 21 German state football associations. Being the third level of the Westphalian state association, the Landesliga is currently a level seven division 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 ...

History

The Landesliga was introduced in September 1945 under the name of ''1. Division West'' as successor to the defunct

Gauliga Westfalen The Gauliga Westphalia was the highest football league in the Prussian province of Westphalia and the small Free State of Lippe from 1933 to 1945. Shortly after the formation of the league, the Nazis reorganised the administrative regions in Germa ...

. The first season started in February 1946 in an eastern and a western division separated due to geographical considerations. Founding member were those 18 teams that took part in the Gauliga between 1939 and 1944. The first division winners were

FC Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhi ...

(western division) and

SpVgg Erkenschwick SpVgg Erkenschwick is a German football club based in Oer-Erkenschwick in North Rhine-Westphalia. History Founded as ''Sportverein Erkenschwick'' in 1916, they joined ''Emscher-Lippe-Spielverband'' to form ''Sportfreunde Erkenschwick'' in 1 ...

(eastern division). In the early years, the number of divisions varied from one to three; from 1952 the Landesliga was held in five parallel divisions. Upon its introduction in 1946, the Landesliga was one of the many top level divisions in Germany. During the years, it has become a level seven division in the

. Since 1956 the Landesliga is the feeder league to the

Westfalenliga The Westfalenliga (''formerly the '') is the second highest amateur football league in the region of Westphalia which is part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the sixth tier of the German football league system. It operates in two groups ...

Current format

The 2012–13 season was the first after six decades, when the Landesliga format was changed from five to four divisions. The four division winners promote to the Westfalenliga.flvw.de: Die neue Spielklassenstruktur, retrieved 30 July 2012

References

Sources

* ''Vom Kronprinzen bis zur Bundesliga. 1890 bis 1963. Enzyklopädie des deutschen Ligafußballs. Band 1'' , publisher: AGON Sportverlag, published: 1996

External links

Das deutsche Fussball Archiv
Historic German league tables
Westfalen Football Association (FLVW)
{{Football in North Rhine-Westphalia Landesliga Football competitions in North Rhine-Westphalia 1945 establishments in Germany