The Kreisliga Südwest (English: ''District league Southwest'') was the highest

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

league in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

state of

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

from 1919 to 1923. The league was disbanded with the introduction of the

Bezirksliga Württemberg-Baden The Bezirksliga Württemberg-Baden was the highest association football league in the Germany, German states of Württemberg and Baden and the Prussian Province of Hohenzollern from 1923 to 1933. The league was disbanded with the rise of the Nazis ...

in 1923.

Overview

Predecessor

From 1907, four regional leagues were formed within the structure of the Southern German football championship, in a move to improve the organisation of football in Southern Germany, these being: * Ostkreis-Liga, ''covering Bavaria'' * Nordkreis-Liga, ''covering Hesse'' *

Südkreis-Liga The Südkreis-Liga (English: ''Southern district league'') was the highest association football league in the German Kingdom of Württemberg, Grand Duchy of Baden, the Province of Hohenzollern and Alsace-Lorraine from 1908 to 1918. The league wa ...

, ''covering Württemberg, Baden and Alsace'' * Westkreis-Liga, ''covering the Palatinate, Lorraine and the southern Rhine Province'' In 1908, a first ''Südkreis-Liga'' (English: ''Southern District League'') was established, consisting of ten clubs and playing a home-and-away season. With the outbreak of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, league football came to a halt and, during the war, games were only played on a limited level.

Post-First World War

With the collapse of the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

in 1918, no Württemberg championship was played in 1918-19 but football returned to a more organised system in 1919. Southern Germany, now without the

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

region, which had to be returned to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, was sub-divided into ten ''Kreisligas'', these being: * Kreisliga Hessen *

Kreisliga Nordbayern The Kreisliga Bayern (English: ''District league Bavaria'') was the highest association football league in the German Kingdom of Bavaria and, later, the state of Bavaria from 1909 to 1923. The league was disbanded with the introduction of the Bezi ...

* Kreisliga Nordmain * Kreisliga Odenwald * Kreisliga Pfalz * Kreisliga Saar * Kreisliga Südbayern * Kreisliga Südmain * Kreisliga Südwest *

Kreisliga Württemberg The Kreisliga Württemberg (English: ''District league Württemberg'') was the highest association football league in the German state of Württemberg from 1919 to 1923. The league was disbanded with the introduction of the Bezirksliga Württemberg ...

The Südkreis-Liga was split into three regional competitions, Württemberg, Odenwald and Südwest, each with ten clubs. The three league winners advanced to the Southern championship. This system applied for the 1919-20 and 1920-21 season. In 1921-22, the Kreisliga Südwest was split into two groups of eight, increasing the number of tier-one clubs in the region to 16. The two league winners then played a final to determine the Südwest champion, which in turn advanced to a Baden-Württemberg championship final against the Württemberg champion. The Odenwald champion was not part of this series but rather played a Rhine championship. This "watering down" of Südwest football lasted for only one season, in 1922-23, the number of top clubs was reduced to eight clubs in a single division, with a Baden-Württemberg final against the Württemberg champion once more. In 1923, a league reform which was decided upon in

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

, established the Southern German ''Bezirksligas'' which were to replace the ''Kreisligas''.History of the Offenburger Fußballverein
Page 5, accessed: 14 December 2008 The best four teams each from the Südwest and Württemberg were admitted to the new ''

''. The four clubs from the Südwest were: * 1. FC Pforzheim *

Freiburger FC Freiburger FC () is a German association football club based in Freiburg, Baden-Württemberg. Freiburger FC were one of the founding clubs of the DFB (German Football Association) in 1900. History Founded in 1897, for many decades FFC were th ...

Phönix Karlsruhe Karlsruher Sport-Club Mühlburg-Phönix e. V., better known as Karlsruher SC, is a Football in Germany, German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that currently plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of Germa ...

* FC Mühlburg

National success

The clubs from the Kreisliga Südwest were not particularly successful in this era and none managed to qualify for the German championship.

Baden-Württemberg championship

Played in 1922 and 1923, these were the finals: * 1922: ** ''Südwest final'': Karlsruher FV - Phönix Karlsruhe 2-2 / 3-2 ** ''Baden-Württemberg final'': Sportfreunde Stuttgart - Karlsruher FV 1-0 / 1-1 * 1923: ** ''Baden-Württemberg final'': 1. FC Pforzheim -

Stuttgarter Kickers Stuttgarter Kickers is a German association football club that plays in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, founded on 21 September 1899 as FC Stuttgarter Cickers. The club currently plays in the Regionalliga Südwest, the fourth tier of German footb ...

3-0 / 1-1

Southern German championship

Qualified teams and their success: * 1920: ** Freiburger FC, ''Semi-finals'' * 1921: ** 1. FC Pforzheim, ''Semi-finals'' * 1922: ** Karlsruher FV, ''not qualified'' * 1923: ** 1. FC Pforzheim, ''4th place''

Winners and runners-up of the Kreisliga Südwest

Placings in the Kreisliga Südwest 1919-23

References

Sources

* ''Fussball-Jahrbuch Deutschland'' (8 vol.), Tables and results of the German tier-one leagues 1919-33, publisher: DSFS * ''Kicker Almanach'', The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937, published by the Kicker Sports Magazine * ''Süddeutschlands Fussballgeschichte in Tabellenform 1897-1988'' History of Southern German football in tables, publisher & author: Ludolf Hyll

External links

The Gauligas
''Das Deutsche Fussball Archiv''
German league tables 1892-1933
''Hirschi's Fussball seiten''

at RSSSF.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Kreisliga Sudwest 1 1919 establishments in Germany 1923 disestablishments in Germany Football competitions in Baden-Württemberg 20th century in Baden-Württemberg Southern German football championship Sports leagues established in 1919 Ger