The Regionalliga Berlin was the second-highest level of the
German football league system in the city of
West-Berlin in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
from 1963 until the formation of the
2. Bundesliga in 1974. It was by far the smallest of the five
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.
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, 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
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 ...
Berlin went another four Regionalligas, these five formed the second tier of German football until 1974:
*
Regionalliga West
The Regionalliga West is a German professional football division administered by the German Football Association#Western Germany, Western German Football Association based in Duisburg. It is one of the five German regional football associations. ...
, covering the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen
*
Regionalliga Süd, covering the state of Bayern, Hessen and Baden-Württemberg
*
Regionalliga Nord
The Regionalliga Nord () 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 Regionalliga Bayern, Regionalliga N ...
, covering the states of Hamburg, Bremen, Niedersachsen and Schleswig-Holstein
*
Regionalliga Südwest, 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 (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 ...
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 and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...
, 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,
SpVgg Blau-Weiß 1890 Berlin,
Wacker 04 Berlin,
Spandauer SV and
Hertha Zehlendorf 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
Tennis Borussia Berlin won promotion to the Bundesliga and therefore only
Wacker 04 Berlin 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
The German Football Association ( ; DFB ) is the governing body of Association football, football, futsal, and beach soccer in Germany. A founding member of both FIFA and UEFA, the DFB has jurisdiction for the German football league system and ...
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 football leagues in Germany
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
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