Overview
The ''Verbandsliga'' was formed in 1947 under the name of Ehrenliga Saarland in the state of Saarland. The league was originally a feeder league to the Oberliga Südwest (1945-63), Oberliga Südwest. Due to the special situation of Saarland, its clubs left the German football league system from 1949 to 1951 with the 1. FC Saarbrücken playing a year in the Ligue 2, French second division. From its return in 1951, now under the name of Amateurliga Saarland, until the establishment of the ''Oberliga Südwest'' in 1978, it was the third tier of the football league system. The league was established in 1947 with ten teams, the winner gaining promotion to the ''Oberliga Südwest''. The founder members were: *FC 08 Homburg *Sportfreunde Saarbrücken, Sportfreunde Burbach *FC Ensdorf *SC Brebach *Preußen Merchweiler *FV Püttlingen *SV Ludweiler *ASC Dudweiler *SV Bliekastel *Hellas Marpingen *Viktoria Hühnerfeld With the return to the German league system in 1951, two teams from the league, now called Amateurliga Saarland were admitted to the ''Oberliga Südwest'', the 1. FC Saarbrücken and Borussia Neunkirchen. The year after, three clubs were admitted to the new ''2nd Oberliga Südwest'', the Viktoria Hühnerfeld, SC Altenkessel und Sportfreunde Saarbrücken. The winner of the ''Amateurliga Saarland'' was not automatically promoted to its superior league but rather had to take part in a Promotion to the 2. Bundesliga, promotion play-off. The champion would have to compete with the winners of the Amateurliga Südwest, Amateurligen Südwest and Amateurliga Rheinland, Rheinland. With the introduction of the Bundesliga in 1963 the ''Amateurliga'' was placed below the new Regionalliga Südwest (1963-74), Regionalliga Südwest but still retained its third-tier status. It continued to do so after the introduction of the 2. Bundesliga Süd (1974-81), 2nd Bundesliga Süd in 1974. In 1978, the same time as the Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar, Oberliga Südwest, the Amateurliga Saarland was renamed Verbandsliga Saarland and was now the fourth tier of the league system. The top seven teams out of the ''Amateurliga'' went to the new Oberliga (football), Oberliga while the teams from place 8 to 19 found themselves in the Verbandsliga. The winner of the ''Verbandsliga Saarland'', like the winners of the ''Verbandsligen'' Verbandsliga Südwest, Südwest and Rheinlandliga, Rheinland gains direct promotion to the ''Oberliga Südwest''. The runners-up will only get a chance for promotion when there are additional spots to fill in the ''Oberliga'', like 1994 when the Regionalliga, Regionalligen were introduced and ''VfB Dillingen'' was promoted. The Saarland was the youngest of the states of West Germany, until 1957 it was a separate entity under France, French supervision. Its football league was temporarily separate, too. The clubs from the Saar Protectorate, Saar did not play in theLeague winners
The league champions in the single division era: The league champions in the two division era: *bold denotes club gained promotion. *''VfB Dillingen'' (1994), ''Rot–Weiß Hasborn'' (1999), ''1. FC Saarbrücken II'' (2002), ''TuS Steinbach'' (2015), ''FSG Bous'' (2017), ''SF Rehlingen'' (2018) and ''1. FC Reimsbach'' (2019) were also promoted, finishing runners–up. *''FC Kutzhof'' withdrew from the league in 2006; no team from Saarland was promoted that year. The club's main sponsor withdrew its support and the team could not be financed to play in the ''Oberliga''. Kutzhof withdrew on 10 July 2006. Had the withdrawal been done before 30 June, the runners–up of the league could have been promoted instead.References
Sources
* ''Deutschlands Fußball in Zahlen'', An annual publication with tables and results from the Bundesliga to Verbandsliga/Landesliga. Deutscher Sportclub für Fußballstatistiken, DSFS * ''Kicker Almanach'', The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937. Kicker (sports magazine), ''Kicker'' Sports Magazine. * ''Süddeutschlands Fussballgeschichte in Tabellenform 1897-1988'' History of Southern German football in tables, by Ludolf Hyll * ''Die Deutsche Liga-Chronik 1945-2005'' History of German football from 1945 to 2005 in tables. DSFS. 2006.External links