Western German Football Championship

The Western German football championship (German: ''Westdeutsche Fußball Meisterschaft'') was the highest association football competition in Western Germany, in the Prussian Province of Westphalia, the Rhine Province, the northern parts of the province of Hesse-Nassau as well as the Principality of Lippe, later to become the Free State of Lippe. The competition was disbanded in 1933 with the rise of the Nazis to power.

It is not to be confused with the German championship in what was commonly referred to as West Germany from 1949 to 1990.

Overview

German football was, from its beginnings, divided into regional associations, which carried out their own championship, which often pre-dated the national German championship. With the interception of the later in 1903, the former became qualifying tournaments for it but these regional championships still held a high value for the local clubs. These regional championships were:
* Southern German football championship - ''formed in 1898''
* Brandenburg football championship - ''formed in 1898''
* Central German football championship - ''formed in 1902''
* Western German football championship - ''formed in 1903''
* March football championship - ''existed from 1903 to 1911''
* Northern German football championship - ''formed in 1906''
* South Eastern German football championship - ''formed in 1906''
* Baltic football championship - ''formed in 1908''

All this regional championships were suspended with the rise of the Nazis to power in 1933. At the end of the Second World War, some resumed, now in league format. Others completely disappeared, like the Baltic championship, as the territories they were held in were not part of Germany any more. With the South West German football championship, a new regional competition also appeared in 1945. Ultimately, with the formation of the Fußball-Bundesliga, all this regional championships ceased altogether.

History

Background

When the Western German championship was established in 1903, the region of Western Germany (German: ''Westdeutschland'') was politically divided into three territories, the first three being part of the Kingdom of Prussia:
* Hesse-Nassau, ''northern parts only, from 1906''
* Rhine Province ''northern parts only''
* Province of Westphalia
* Principality of Lippe

With the defeat of the German Empire in 1918 and the formation of a Republic, the former Kingdoms and Principalities became states. For the two Prussian provinces, this only meant that the Kingdom was replaced with the Free State of Prussia, while the Principality was transformed into the Free State of Lippe.

Football association

On 23 October 1898, the ''Rheinischer Spielverband'' was formed, initially without the clubs from the region around Kassel, who moved across in 1906. In 1900, the ''Rheinisch-Westfälischen Spielverband'' was formed, which, in 1907, was renamed ''Westdeutscher Spielverband''.

Competition

1903 to 1914

The Western German football championship was first contested in 1903 and won by the Cölner FC 1899. It consisted of three clubs, one each from Essen, Cologne and Mönchengladbach, then spelled ''München-Gladbach'', and was determined in a group stage with home-and-away games.Rheinisch Westfälischer Spielverband 1903
Hirschi's Fussball Seiten, accessed: 18 May 2009 The winner of this first competition did not take part in the first edition of the national German championship.

To qualify for the Western German championship, a club had to take out the title in its regional competition or league. As more football clubs were formed in Germany, the number of leagues increased and thereby also the numbers of clubs taking part in the Western championship.

The second edition was played out in the same modus and its champion was permitted to enter the national finals for the first time. A round of deciders was necessary to determine the Western champion as all three clubs sat on equal points. In 1906, the championship was expanded to four clubs with a decider once more being necessary to determine the champion.

In 1907, the system to determine the Western champion was altered to a knockout modus with six clubs participating, increased to seven for the following year and eight in 1909. The championship continued to operate as a knockout competition in the following years, and, in 1913, Duisburger SV became the first club from the west to reach a national German final, losing 3–1 to VfB Leipzig