The Oberliga Baden-Württemberg is 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
state
State most commonly refers to:
* State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory
**Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country
**Nation state, a ...
of
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...
and the Baden-Württemberg football league system. It is one of fourteen
Oberligas 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 Football in Germany, association football in Germany that in the 2016–17 Season (sports), season consisted of 2,235 Sports_leagu ...
. Until the introduction of the
3. Liga
The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga.
The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...
in 2008 it was the fourth tier of the league system, and until the introduction of the
Regionalliga
A (, plural ) is a regional league in numerous Sports governing body, sports governing bodies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, usually located in the upper or middle tiers of the sports leagues.
The term is often associated with the Germa ...
s in 1994 the third tier.
Overview
The league was formed in 1978 as the highest level of play in the state. Previous to that, the four Amateurligas
Nordwürttemberg,
Schwarzwald-Bodensee,
Südbaden and
Nordbaden formed the tier right below the
2nd Bundesliga. The Amateurligas changed their name since into Verbandsliga. The Amateurligas Nordwürttemberg and Schwarzwald-Bodensee merged to form the
Verbandsliga Württemberg. The three Verbandsliga's now feed the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg.
Until 1994, the winners of the Oberligas had to
play-off for the four promotion spots to the 2nd Bundesliga with the other Oberliga winners.
In 1994, the
Regionalliga Süd was introduced, and the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg is automatically promoted to this league. In the inaugural season, five clubs from Baden-Württemberg were qualified for the new league, based on their performance over the last three seasons, these clubs being:
*
SSV Ulm 1846
*
SSV Reutlingen
SSV Reutlingen 05 is a Football in Germany, German association football club from Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg.
History
The club was founded as FC Arminia Reutlingen and was renamed SV Reutlingen 1905 in 1910. The club merged with 1. Schwimmv ...
*
VfR Mannheim
VfR Mannheim is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg formed in 1911 out of the fusion of Mannheimer FG 1896, Mannheimer FG 1897 Union, and FC Viktoria 1897 Mannheim. The club captured the n ...
*
TSF Ditzingen
*
SpVgg Ludwigsburg
Originally, a sixth place for the Oberliga was available but because the
Stuttgarter Kickers, a club from Württemberg, was relegated from the 2nd Bundesliga that year, the club took up this spot.
After the reduction of the number of Regionalligas from four to two in 2000, the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg still remained below the Regionalliga Süd, but this reduction meant that the Oberliga champions in that year were not promoted.
With the changes in the league system in 2008, there was four clubs from the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg promoted to Regionalliga Süd after the 2007–08 season, nominally the top four teams, however, there was also financial requirements to receive a
Regionalliga
A (, plural ) is a regional league in numerous Sports governing body, sports governing bodies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, usually located in the upper or middle tiers of the sports leagues.
The term is often associated with the Germa ...
license. The four clubs were:
*
SC Freiburg II
*
SSV Ulm 1846
*
Waldhof Mannheim
*
1. FC Heidenheim 1846
The winners of the three Verbandsligas gain automatic promotion to the Oberliga. The runners-up of North Baden then plays the runners-up of South Baden in a home-and-away series. The winner of this games faces the runners-up of Württemberg for the final Oberliga spot.
Feeder Leagues to the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
*
Verbandsliga Württemberg
*
Verbandsliga Baden
*
Verbandsliga Südbaden
In the past two clubs which played in the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg were not based in the state.
TSV Amicitia Viernheim (
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 ...
) and
SpVgg Au/Iller (
Bavaria
Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
) both were in the Oberliga for a number of years.
The separation of ''Nordbaden'' and ''Südbaden'' is not traditional. It results from the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
when North Baden was in the
American occupation zone and South Baden in the
French. Inter zone travel was difficult then and two separate leagues developed. Until 1950 the clubs from the South Baden and the Schwarzwald-Bodensee regions actually played in the southwest league system, the old (1945–1963)
Oberliga Südwest, only after that were they integrated into the southern league system, where they geographically belonged.
For the 2012–13 season, the Regionalliga Süd was disbanded, and the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg became a feeder league to the new
Regionalliga Südwest, together with the
Hessenliga
The Hessenliga (until 2008 ''Oberliga Hessen'') is the highest football league in the States of Germany, state of Hesse and the Hessian football league system. It is one of fourteen Oberliga (football), Oberligas in German football, the fifth tier ...
and the
Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar.
League champions
The league champions since 1979:
Source:
* In 2014, the third-placed team
FC Nöttingen was also promoted after a play-off.
* In 2016, the runners-up Bahlinger SC were also promoted after a play-off.
* In 2016, the runners-up FC Nöttingen were also promoted after a play-off.
* In 2021, the competition was abandoned bcause of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
* In 2025, the runners-up TSG Balingen were also promoted after a play-off.
Founding members of the league
The Oberliga started in 1978 with 20 clubs from four regions.
From the Amateurliga Nordwürttemberg:
*
SSV Ulm 1846
*
1. Göppinger SV
*
SpVgg Ludwigsburg
*
FC Eislingen
*
SB Heidenheim
From the Amateurliga Schwarzwald-Bodensee:
*
SSV Reutlingen
SSV Reutlingen 05 is a Football in Germany, German association football club from Reutlingen, Baden-Württemberg.
History
The club was founded as FC Arminia Reutlingen and was renamed SV Reutlingen 1905 in 1910. The club merged with 1. Schwimmv ...
*
FV Biberach
*
FC Tailfingen
*
FV Ravensburg
*
VfB Friedrichshafen
From the Amateurliga Nordbaden:
*
FV Weinheim 09
*
SV Sandhausen
Sportverein Sandhausen 1916 e.V., commonly known as simply SV Sandhausen or Sandhausen, is a Football in Germany, German association football club that plays in Sandhausen, immediately to the south of Heidelberg in Baden-Württemberg. It is Ger ...
*
1. FC Pforzheim
*
VfR Mannheim
VfR Mannheim is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg formed in 1911 out of the fusion of Mannheimer FG 1896, Mannheimer FG 1897 Union, and FC Viktoria 1897 Mannheim. The club captured the n ...
*
SV Neckargerach
From the Amateurliga Südbaden:
*
FC Rastatt 04
*
FC 08 Villingen
*
SV Kuppenheim
*
DJK Konstanz
*
Offenburger FV
League placings
Key
References
Sources
* ''Deutschlands Fußball in Zahlen'', An annual publication with tables and results from the Bundesliga to Verbandsliga/Landesliga.
DSFS.
* ''Kicker Almanach'', The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937.
''Kicker'' Sports Magazine.
* ''Süddeutschlands Fussballgeschichte in Tabellenform 1897-1988'' History of Southern German football in tables, by Ludolf Hyll
* ''Die Deutsche Liga-Chronik 1945-2005'' History of German football from 1945 to 2005 in tables.
DSFS. 2006.
External links
Das deutsche Fussball Archiv Historic German league tables
Weltfussball.de Round-by-round results and tables of the ''Oberliga Baden-Württemberg'' from 1994 onwards
Online: Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oberliga Baden-Wurttemberg
Bad
Football competitions in Baden-Württemberg
1978 establishments in West Germany