The 1961–62 DDR-Oberliga was the 13th season of the

DDR-Oberliga The DDR-Oberliga (English: ''East German Premier League'' or ''GDR Premier League'') was the top-level association football league in East Germany. Overview Following World War II, separate sports competitions emerged in the Allied-occupied G ...

, the first tier of league football in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. It was the first season played in the traditional autumn-spring format again after the Oberliga had played for six seasons from 1955 to 1960 in the calendar year format instead, modelled on the system used in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. The league was played as a triple round with a home-and-away round and an additional round of games at neutral venues to allow for an earlier start. The league was contested by fourteen teams.

National People's Army The National People's Army (, ; NVA ) were the armed forces of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (DDR) from 1956 until 1990. The NVA was organized into four branches: the (Ground Forces), the (Navy), the (Air Force) and the (Bord ...

club

ASK Vorwärts Berlin 1. Fußballclub Frankfurt (Oder) E. V. e. V., commonly known as 1. FC Frankfurt, is a German football club based in Frankfurt (Oder), Brandenburg. The club was founded as the army club SV VP Vorwärts Leipzig in Leipzig in East Germany in 1951. ...

won the championship, the club's second consecutive one and third overall, eventually winning six national East German championships overall. On the strength of the 1961–62 title Vorwärts qualified for the

1962–63 European Cup The 1962–63 European Cup was the eighth season of the European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. The competition was won by AC Milan, who beat two-time defending champions Benfica in the final at Wembley Stadium, London, on 22 May ...

where the club was knocked out by

Dukla Prague Dukla Prague () was a Czech football club from the city of Prague. Established in 1948 as ATK Praha, the club won a total of 11 Czechoslovak league titles and eight Czechoslovak Cups, and in the 1966–67 season, reached the semi-finals of the ...

in the preliminary round. Eleventh-placed club

SC Chemie Halle Hallescher FC, formerly known as Hallescher FC Chemie, is a German association football club based in Halle an der Saale, Saxony-Anhalt. The club currently plays in the Regionalliga, the fourth highest level in the German football league system. ...

qualified for the

1962–63 European Cup Winners' Cup The 1962–63 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup football club tournament was won by Tottenham Hotspur in a crushing final victory over holders Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), c ...

as the seasons

FDGB-Pokal The FDGB-Pokal (Freier Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund Pokal or Free German Trade Union Federation Cup) was an elimination football tournament held annually in East Germany. It was the second most important national title in East German football af ...

winner and was knocked out by

OFK Beograd OFK Beograd ( sr-Cyrl, ОФК Београд – Омладински фудбалски клуб Београд, English language, English: ''Belgrade Youth Football Club''), also known in English as OFK Belgrade and currently referred to as OFK ...

in the preliminary round as well. Arthur Bialas of SC Empor Rostock was the league's top scorer with 23 goals. The 1961–62 season saw the third-most games played in an Oberliga season, 273. Only 1950–51 and 1951–52 had there been more, 306 and 342, when the league consisted of 18 and 19 clubs. The season also saw the lowest-ever average attendance with 8,088 per match.

Table

The 1961–62 season saw two newly promoted clubs,

SC Turbine Erfurt SC, Sc or sc may refer to: Arts and media * ''Sim City'', a city-building simulator game * Snapchat, a multimedia messaging app * Soccer club, another name for a football club in association football * Social club, a type of club. * ''Soulcalibu ...

and BSG Lokomotive Stendal.

Results

First and second round

Third round

References

Sources

External links

Das Deutsche Fussball Archiv
Historic German league tables {{DEFAULTSORT:Ddr-Oberliga 1961-62

Cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

1961 Events January * January 1 – Monetary reform in the Soviet Union, 1961, Monetary reform in the Soviet Union. * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and cons ...

Ober Ober may refer to: * Ober (playing card), court card in the German and Swiss styles of playing cards * Ober, Indiana, an unincorporated community in Washington Township, Starke County * Oberek (also ''ober''), a lively Polish dance in triple metre ...