The Regionalliga Berlin was the second-highest level 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 ...

in the city of West-Berlin in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

from 1963 until the formation of the

2. Bundesliga The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...

in 1974. It was by far the smallest of the five Regionalligas.

Overview

The Regionalliga Berlin started out in 1963 with 10 teams in the league. From 1965 the league was expanded to 16 clubs. In 1969-70 the league played with 14 clubs and after that always with 12. It was formed from the clubs of the Oberliga Berlin which finished second to eighth and the first three clubs of the Amateurliga Berlin. The last winner of the Oberliga Berlin,

Hertha BSC Berlin Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC (), and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the locality of Westend of the borough of Charlo ...

, was promoted to the new Bundesliga and the bottom two teams of the Oberliga were relegated to the Amateurliga. The Regionalliga Berlin was as such a continuation of the Oberliga Berlin under a different name and a tier lower. Along with the Regionalliga Berlin went another four Regionalligas, these five formed the second tier of German football until 1974: *

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 ...

, covering the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen * Regionalliga Süd, covering the state of Bayern, Hessen and Baden-Württemberg *

Regionalliga Nord The Regionalliga Nord ( en, Regional League North) 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 Regional ...

, covering the states of Hamburg, Bremen, Niedersachsen and Schleswig-Holstein *

Regionalliga Südwest The Regionalliga Südwest ( en, Regional League Southwest) is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Hesse, Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. It is one of five leagues at this level, together wit ...

, covering the states of Rheinland-Pfalz and Saarland The new Regionalligas were formed along the borders of the old post-

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 opposing ...

Oberligas, not after a balanced regional system. Therefore, the Oberligas Berlin and West covered small but populous areas while Nord and Süd covered large areas. Südwest was something of an anachronism, neither large nor populous. The winners and runners-up of this league were admitted to the promotion play-off to the new

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 ...

, which was staged in two groups of originally four, later five teams each with the winner of each group going up. The bottom team was relegated to the Amateurliga. Below the Regionalliga Berlin was the Amateurliga Berlin.

Tennis Borussia Berlin Tennis Borussia Berlin is a German football club based in the locality of Westend in Berlin. History The team was founded in 1902 as ''Berliner Tennis- und Ping-Pong-Gesellschaft Borussia'' taking its name from its origins as a tennis and ta ...

, SpVgg Blau-Weiß 1890 Berlin,

Wacker 04 Berlin Wacker 04 Berlin was a German football club based in Berlin. The club folded in 1994 after becoming insolvent. ''Wacker'' played at the highest level in Berlin for many years throughout its history, in the Oberliga Berlin-Brandenburg, the Gaul ...

Spandauer SV Spandauer SV was a German football club from Berlin. History Early years The capital city was one of the earliest centres of German football and was home to 1. Spandauer Fußballklub Triton, formed on 24 May 1894, and Sportclub Germania S ...

and

Hertha Zehlendorf The Hertha Zehlendorf is a German football club from the suburb of Zehlendorf in Berlin. The club is one of the largest football clubs in the country and has a strong youth department which has won two national youth championships. The depar ...

all played every season of the Regionalliga Berlin.

Disbanding of the Regionalliga Berlin

The league was dissolved in 1974. Originally two clubs from the Regionalliga Berlin were to be integrated in the new 2. Bundesliga Nord, however, the Regionalliga champion

won promotion to the Bundesliga and therefore only

was admitted into the new second division. The other ten teams in the league went to the new Oberliga Berlin.

Winners and runners-up of the Regionalliga Berlin

The winners and runners-up of the league were: * Bold denotes team went on to gain promotion to the Bundesliga. * In 1965, SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin were promoted to Bundesliga even though they only finished third in the Regionalliga. This was because Hertha BSC was demoted from the Bundesliga for breach of rules, Tennis Borussia having failed in the promotion play–offs and Spandauer SV declining promotion. The German Football Association still wished to have a representative for Berlin in the league and elevated SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin instead. * ''TeBe'' is the only team from Berlin to have won the old Regionalliga (1965, 1974) and the new one (1996, 1998).

Placings in the Regionalliga Berlin 1963 to 1974

The league placings from 1963 to 1974:Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv
Historical German domestic league tables

Key

Notes

* SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin went bankrupt in 1973 but reformed as SV Tasmania-Gropiusstadt 1973.

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 * ''Die Deutsche Liga-Chronik 1945-2005'' History of German football from 1945 to 2005 in tables, publisher: DSFS, published: 2006

External links

Regionalligen at fussballdaten.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Regionalliga Berlin (1963-74) Defunct association football leagues in Germany

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Football competitions in Berlin 1963 establishments in West Germany 1974 disestablishments in West Germany Sports leagues established in 1963 Sports leagues disestablished in 1974 Ger