The Nordrhein-Westfalen-Liga (''North Rhine-Westphalia League''; NRW-Liga) was the highest football league in the 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 state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...
(NRW) from 2008 to 2012. It was one of the eleven Oberliga groups in German football, the fifth tier of the
German football league system
The German football league system, or league pyramid, refers to the hierarchically interconnected league system for association football in Germany that in the 2016–17 season consisted of 2,235 leagues in up to 13 levels having 31,645 teams ...
.
With the reorganisation of the German league system in 2012, the NRW-Liga was disbanded once more as 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 ...
above it would then only contain clubs from North Rhine-Westphalia. The league was replaced by the three regional leagues, the
Mittelrheinliga
The Mittelrheinliga ( en, Middle Rhine League), sometimes also referred to as Oberliga Mittelrhein after its elevation to Oberliga status in 2012, is a German amateur football division administered by the Football association of the Middle Rhine, ...
,
Niederrheinliga
The Oberliga Niederrhein ( en, Premier League of the Lower Rhine) is a German amateur football division administered by the Football Association of the Lower Rhine, one of the 21 German state football associations. Being the top flight of the Lowe ...
and
Oberliga Westfalen
The Oberliga Westfalen is the highest level football league in the region of Westphalia, which is part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The league existed from 1978 to 2008, but was then replaced by the NRW-Liga, a new statewide league. Wit ...
at this level.NRW-Liga-Staffeltagung in Duisburg: Vereine begrüßen Auf- und Abstiegsreglement WFLV website, published: 19 July 2011, accessed: 20 July 2011
Overview
The NRW-Liga was established in 2008 as a feeder league to the also new
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 ...
. The new Oberliga is actually a merger of the
Oberliga Nordrhein
The Oberliga Nordrhein was the highest Football League in the region of Nordrhein which is part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia from 1978 to 2008. In its last season, it was one of nine Oberligas in German football, the 4th tier of the Ge ...
and the
Oberliga Westfalen
The Oberliga Westfalen is the highest level football league in the region of Westphalia, which is part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The league existed from 1978 to 2008, but was then replaced by the NRW-Liga, a new statewide league. Wit ...
, giving the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen its first statewide league since the "old"
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 ...
was disbanded in 1974. Due to the introduction of the 3. Liga in the same year, unlike the two old Oberliga groups who were set at tier four of the league system, the new league will be fifth tier.
The league will retain the four
Verbandsliga
The Verbandsliga ( en, Football Association League) is usually a tier-six football league in the German football league system, covering the area of a '' Bundesland'' or a regional part of such Bundesland.Oberliga groups as its feeder leagues, with the champion of each of those gaining direct promotion to the NRW-Liga. In turn, the top two teams of the NRW-Liga will gain promotion to the Regionalliga West.
The league was made up from a set quota of teams from each of the two predecessor Oberliga groups and the four Verbandsliga groups. While the top four clubs from Nordrhein and Westfalen were promoted to the Regionalliga, teams placed fifth to eleventh were headed go to the new NRW-Liga. The clubs placed twelve to eighteen were relegated to their Verbandsliga group. From the four Verbandsliga groups, the champions will each gain admittance, unless it would be a reserve team of a club already qualified for the Oberliga. In this case, the next eligible club would be admitted.
There was some dispute about the name of the league with the suggestion having been made to rather call it Oberliga West, a league of that name having already existed from 1947 to 1963, the "old"
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 previous league of that name was a tier one league but covered the same region. It has however been decided to officially call it NRW-Liga, short for Nordrhein-Westfalen-Liga.
Additionally, the Verbandsliga groups were renamed Niederrheinliga, Mittelrheinliga and 2 groups of Westfalenliga.
With the end of the 2011-12 season, after four seasons of existence, the NRW-Liga was disbanded again. The place of the league as the fifth tier in North Rhine-Westphalia was then taken up by three regional leagues, the Mittelrheinliga and Niederrheinliga for the North Rhine region and the reformed Oberliga Westfalen for Westphalia. The top three clubs from the NRW-Liga gained direct entry to the Regionalliga while the teams placed fourth to seventh had to play-off with the four champions from the leagues below to determine four additional promoted teams.
Teams 2011–12
Remaining in the NRW-Liga:
*
Alemannia Aachen II
Alemannia Aachen () or ATSV Alemannia 1900 is a German football club from the western city of Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia. A long term fixture of the country's second division, ''Alemannia'' enjoyed a three-year turn in the Bundesliga in the ...
Schwarz-Weiß Essen
Schwarz-Weiß Essen is a German association football club based in Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia. The side has its origins in the gymnastics club ''Essener Turnerbund'' founded in 1881. A football department was formed in January 1900 and this b ...
*
Westfalia Herne
SC Westfalia Herne is a German football club based in Herne, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club was founded on 13 June 1904 by the sons of the more well-heeled residents of the city as a rival to the worker-based club SV Sodingen.
History
Aft ...
*
VfB Homberg
The VfB Homberg is a German association football club from the Homberg quarter of Duisburg, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club was formed July 1969 through the merger of ''Homberger Spielverein'' and ''Sportvereinigung 89/19 Hochheide''.
__TOC_ ...
*
VfB Hüls
VfB Hüls is a German association football club from Marl, North Rhine-Westphalia.
History
The club was founded on 22 July 1948 as ''Eintracht Lippe'' and then renamed ''Verein für Rasenspiele 1948 e.V. Marl-Hüls'' on 27 January 1951. ''VfR'' ...
*
Westfalia Rhynern
Westfalia Rhynern is a German association football club from the district of Rhynern in the city of Hamm, Westphalia.
History
The club was established in 1935 as ''Turn- und Sportverein Rhynern'', but disappeared after two years when, like man ...
*
SV Schermbeck
SV Schermbeck is a German association football club from Schermbeck, North Rhine-Westphalia. The footballers are part of a larger sports club that also has departments for athletics, badminton, handball, swimming, table tennis, and water polo.
...
*
Sportfreunde Siegen
Sportfreunde Siegen is a German association football club based in Siegen, North Rhine-Westphalia. After going through insolvency in 2008, the first team was forcibly relegated to the fifth-tier NRW-Liga. Promotion to fourth division Regionallig ...
Rot Weiss Ahlen
Rot Weiss Ahlen is a German football club based in Ahlen, North Rhine-Westphalia. Until 2006 the club was known as ''LR Ahlen'' for its major sponsor, but underwent a name change when the sponsor withdrew its support after the team was relegate ...
From the Regionalliga West:
*
Arminia Bielefeld II
DSC Arminia Bielefeld (; full name: ; commonly known as Arminia Bielefeld (), also known as ''Die Arminen'' or ''Die Blauen'' ), or just Arminia (), is a German sports club from Bielefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. Arminia offers the sports of ...
From the Verbandsliga Niederrhein:
*
KFC Uerdingen 05
KFC Uerdingen 05 is a German football club in the Uerdingen district of the city of Krefeld, North Rhine-Westphalia. The former Bundesliga side enjoyed its greatest successes in the 1980s but now plays in the fifth-level Oberliga.
History
Th ...
From the Verbandsliga Mittelrhein:
*
Viktoria Köln
Viktoria usually refers to Viktoria, a name which is the same as Victoria (name), but may also refer to:
Places
* FK Viktoria Stadion, stadium of Viktoria Žižkov
* Viktoria-Luise-Platz, building in Berlin
* Viktoriastadt, now known as Victori ...
* 1 The TSV Germania Windeck declined its right to promotion and withdrew to the Mittelrheinliga, with
Fortuna Köln
Fortuna ( la, Fortūna, equivalent to the Greek goddess Tyche) is the goddess of fortune and the personification of luck in Roman religion who, largely thanks to the Late Antique author Boethius, remained popular through the Middle Ages until a ...
promoted instead.
Placings in the league
The final placings in the league:NRW-Liga tables and results Weltfussball.de, accessed: 20 February 2015
* 1 At the end of the 2012–13 season Germania Dattenfeld withdrew from the league.
* 2 At the end of the 2009–10 season Rot-Weiß Essen II was relegated from the league because the first team had been relegated to the NRW-Liga.
* 3 FC Wegberg-Beeck did not apply for a licence for the 2011–12 season and was relegated.
* 4 The 1. FC Kleve withdrew from the league during the 2010–11 season.
* 5 At the end of the 2009–10 season Bonner SC had to declare insolvency and withdrew to the tier seven Landesliga.
.
Key
References
Sources
* ''Deutschlands Fußball in Zahlen'', An annual publication with tables and results from the Bundesliga to Verbandsliga/Landesliga, publisher: DSFS
* ''Kicker Almanach'', The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937, published by the Kicker Sports Magazine