The Western German Football Association (german: Westdeutscher Fußballverband; ''WDFV'') is one of the five regional associations of the

German Football Association The German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund ; DFB ) is the governing body of football in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and is in charge of t ...

(german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund; ''DFB'') and covers German state of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

Structure

In 2017, the ''WDFV'' football department had 1,711,740 members, 4,561 member clubs and 35,141 teams playing in all its men, women and junior league systems, making it the second largest of the five regional associations of DFB. Since the 2012–13 season, at the top of the ''WDFV'' men's league system sits the

Regionalliga West The Regionalliga West is a German semi-professional football division administered by the Western German Football Association based in Duisburg. It is one of the five German regional football associations. Being the single flight of the Western ...

, a level four division in 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 ...

. The ''WDFV'' itself is formed by the following state associations (football departments only): *

Lower Rhine Football Association The Lower Rhine Football Association (german: Fußballverband Niederrhein, FVN) is the umbrella organization of football clubs in the German Lower Rhine region, and comprises 14 football districts. The FVN was founded in 1947 and has its headquarte ...

(german: Fußball-Verband Niederrhein; ''FVN'') *

Middle Rhine Football Association The Middle Rhine Football Association (german: Fußball-Verband Mittelrhein, FVM) is the umbrella organization of the football clubs in the German mid-Rhein area and covers the football districts of Aachen, Berg, Bonn, Düren, Euskirchen, Heinsbe ...

(german: Fußball-Verband Mittelrhein; ''FVM'') *

Westphalia 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 ...

(german: Fußball- und Leichtathletikverband Westfalen; ''FLVW'') President of the association is Hermann Korfmacher who is also President of the Westphalia Football and Athletics Association.

History

The history of the ''WDFV'' dates back to 1898wdfv.de: History of the WDFV
, retrieved 3 August 2012 with the foundation of the Rhineland local ''Rheinischer Spiel-Verband'', then following several mergers with other local football associations in

Western Germany The old states of Germany (german: die alten Länder) is a jargon referring to the ten of the sixteen states of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) that were part of West Germany and that unified with the eastern German Democratic Republic' ...

. It used to administer the

Western German football championship The Western German football championship (German: ''Westdeutsche Fußball Meisterschaft'') was the highest association football competition in Western Germany, in the Prussian Province of Westphalia, the Rhine Province, the northern parts of the pr ...

for the next decades. In 1933, the association along with all other regional associations was disbanded by the Nazi government, with all German football competitions now organized – by the

Reich ''Reich'' (; ) is a German language, German noun whose meaning is analogous to the meaning of the English word "realm"; this is not to be confused with the German adjective "reich" which means "rich". The terms ' (literally the "realm of an emp ...

. Soon after the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, football competitions in Western Germany typically restarted on an informal basis, with the association officially reintroduced in 1947. Until 1963, it had the jurisdiction on the

Oberliga West Oberliga ( en, Premier league) may refer to: Association football * Oberliga (football), currently the fifth tier of the German football league system, formerly the first * DDR-Oberliga, the first tier of football in East Germany until 1990, re ...

, the regional division of the former lop level German Oberliga. After the introduction of 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 ...

in 1963, the association's league system became a feeder to the nationwide divisions. In 2002, the football department merged with the ''Athletics Association of the North Rhine'' and was known as Western German Football and Athletics Association (''Westdeutscher Fußball- und Leichtathletik Verband'') until August 2016 when the ''WFLV'' took its present name after the two associations separated. The association has been operating an educational institute with a focus on sports since 1977. Target groups are the volunteers working in the football and athletics clubs in the country. The qualifications center is intended for all volunteer officials in organized sports of the WDFV and its other association members. Bases for the courses are the Sportschule Wedau in

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in Nor ...

, the Sportschule Kaiserau in

Kamen Kamen () is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, in the district Unna. Geography Kamen is situated at the east end of the Ruhr area, approximately 10 km south-west of Hamm and 25 km north-east of Dortmund. Neighbouring cities, t ...

and the Sportschule

Hennef Hennef (Sieg) () is a town in the Rhein-Sieg district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated on the river Sieg, approx. south-east of Siegburg and east of Bonn. Hennef is the fourth-biggest town in the Rhein-Sieg-Kreis (i.e. distric ...

References

External links

German Football Association official website

Western German Football Association official website

Football Association of the Lower Rhine official website

Football Association of the Middle Rhine official website

Football and Athletics Association of Westphalia official website
{{Authority control Football governing bodies in Germany Football in North Rhine-Westphalia 1898 establishments in Germany 1933 disestablishments in Germany 1947 establishments in Germany