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_leagu ...
in the north of
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
. It covered the states of
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...
,
Bremen
Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...
,
Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...
and
Schleswig-Holstein
Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...
. With the introduction of the
3. Liga
The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga.
The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...
, the league ceased to exist from 2008.
Overview
The first ''Oberliga Nord'': 1947–1963
The original league of this name existed from 1947 to 1963 and was then the first tier of German football, covering the same region as the "new" Oberliga Nord. For its history, see
here
Here may refer to:
Music
* ''Here'' (Adrian Belew album), 1994
* ''Here'' (Alicia Keys album), 2016
* ''Here'' (Cal Tjader album), 1979
* ''Here'' (Edward Sharpe album), 2012
* ''Here'' (Idina Menzel album), 2004
* ''Here'' (Merzbow album), ...
.
The second ''Oberliga Nord'': 1974–1994
The league was formed in 1974 as a continuation of the
Regionalliga Nord
The Regionalliga Nord () is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen and Hamburg. It is one of five leagues at this level, together with the Regionalliga Bayern, Regionalliga N ...
, the then second tier of German football. With the introduction of the 2nd Bundesliga Nord in that year, the Regionalliga was disbanded and its clubs spread among the new 2nd Bundesliga, Oberliga and Amateurligas.
The new Oberliga Nord however was only the third tier of the German football league system, replacing at this level the four Landes- and Amateurligas of Niedersachsen, Hamburg, Bremen and Schleswig-Holstein, who now slipped to the fourth tier of the league system.
Below the Oberliga were originally four leagues, one for each of the four states of the region. The ''Amateurliga'' of Niedersachsen changed its name to ''Landesliga'' from 1974 and after 1979 to
Verbandsliga
The Verbandsliga () is the tier-six football league in the German football league system, covering the area of a '' Bundesland'' or a regional part of such Bundesland.promotion play-off to determine the promoted teams to the 2nd Bundesliga Nord. In 1977 and 1978, the top four teams from the Oberliga Nord went to this competition. With the reduction of the number of Oberligas in 1978, the winner and runners-up of the Oberliga Nord were directly promoted in 1979 and 1980.
No promotion was available in 1981 because the 2nd Bundesliga was reduced to one league only. From 1982, the top two teams in the league had to play-off for promotion again.
The Oberliga Nord was disbanded in 1994, with the re-introduction of the
Regionalliga Nord
The Regionalliga Nord () is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen and Hamburg. It is one of five leagues at this level, together with the Regionalliga Bayern, Regionalliga N ...
, this time as the third tier of German football. Fourteen of its sixteen clubs went to the new Regionalliga, the bottom two teams were relegated to the two new Oberligas of Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein and Niedersachsen/Bremen.
The third ''Oberliga Nord'': 2004–2008
In 2004, after ten seasons, the Oberliga Nord was reformed, as the league below the Regionalliga Nord, being the fourth tier of football now. The two Oberligas that replaced it in 1994 were disbanded.
With the introduction of the
3. Liga
The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga.
The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...
and of a third Regionalliga in 2008, the Oberliga Nord again ceased to exist, being replaced by the five Verbandsligas in its stead. The top five clubs of the Oberliga in the 2007-08 season gained promotion to the Regionalliga Nord, the sixth placed team had to play-off with the Verbandsliga champions for another Regionalliga spot and the rest of the clubs were relegated to the Verbandsligas. The northern region therefore became the only region in Germany without an Oberliga after 2008. In future, the five Verbandsliga champions will have to play-off for two promotion spots to the Regionalliga Nord.
Fussballdaten.de
fussballdaten.de is a German-language website that predominantly collects comprehensive statistics on the top five tiers of German football.
The website offers statistics on every Bundesliga, 2. Bundesliga and 3. Liga
The 3. Liga is a p ...
. Retrieved 5 February 2014
Placings in the Oberliga Nord 1975 to 2008
The clubs in the league and their final placings:
*For final placings of Oberliga clubs from this region from 1994 to 2004, see Oberliga Niedersachsen/Bremen and
Oberliga Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein
The Oberliga Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein was the fourth tier of the German football league system in the north of Germany, existing from 1994 to 2004. It covered the states of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. With the re-formation of the Oberliga No ...
.
* 1 In 2007 Holstein Kiel II was relegated due to the relegation of its first team.
* 2 In 2007 VfR Neumünster was refused a licence and relegated.
Key
Founding members of the Oberliga Nord
The league started in 1974 with eighteen clubs from four German states:
From the Regionalliga Nord:
*
VfB Oldenburg
VfB Oldenburg is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Oldenburg (city), Oldenburg, Lower Saxony. In the 2022–23 season, they played in the 3. Liga, the third level of football in Germany.
History
Founded by a gro ...
Arminia Hannover
SV Arminia Hannover is a German association football club based in Hanover, Lower Saxony.
History
The club was founded in 1910 as ''FC Arminia Hannover'' and merged with ''Rugby-Verein Merkur'' in 1918, becoming ''SV Arminia-Merkur''. Two y ...
Blumenthaler SV
Blumenthaler SV is a Football in Germany, German association football club from Blumenthal, the northernmost district of the city of Bremen. The club was established 6 June 1919 as ''Blumenthaler Sportverein'' by former members of ''Blumenthaler F ...
At the end of its last season, 2007–08, the last round having been played on 30 May 2008, the clubs of the league were spread over various other divisions, according to their final league position. The 6th placed team, TuS Heeslingen, was not granted a ''Regionalliga'' licence and the 7th placed club, VfB Oldenburg, qualified for the play-offs instead. The Bremen champion, FC Bremerhaven, was also not granted a licence and the best place club from Bremen in the Oberliga, the FC Oberneuland, qualified instead.Oberliga Nord at kicker.de }. Retrieved 3 June 2008 Its eighteen clubs went to the following leagues:
To the Regionalliga Nord:
* Holstein Kiel
* SV Wilhelmshaven
* FC Altona 93
* BV Cloppenburg
* Hannover 96 II
*
FC Oberneuland
FC Oberneuland Bremen von 1948 is a Football in Germany, German association football club from the Oberneuland quarter of Bremen, founded on 13 April 1948 in the local inn ''Zum Dorfkrug'' as ''Fußball-Club Oberneuland von 1948''. In addition to ...
To the Verbandsliga Bremen:
* ''no club relegated to this league''
To the Verbandsliga Hamburg:
* FC St. Pauli II
* ASV Bergedorf 85
* SV Lurup
To the Verbandsligas Niedersachsen:
*
VfB Oldenburg
VfB Oldenburg is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Oldenburg (city), Oldenburg, Lower Saxony. In the 2022–23 season, they played in the 3. Liga, the third level of football in Germany.
History
Founded by a gro ...
Eintracht Nordhorn
Eintracht Nordhorn was a German association football club from the city of Nordhorn, Lower Saxony. The club was founded in 1945 as ''Sportverein Nordhorn'' and adopted the name ''Eintracht Nordhorn'' in 1947. A separate football club known as ' ...
* ''Deutschlands Fußball in Zahlen'', An annual publication with tables and results from the Bundesliga to Verbandsliga/Landesliga. DSFS.
* ''Kicker Almanach'', The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937. ''Kicker'' Sports Magazine.
* ''Die Deutsche Liga-Chronik 1945-2005'' History of German football from 1945 to 2005 in tables. DSFS. 2006.