The Württemberg Football Association (), the ''WFV'', is one of 21 state organisations of 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 ...

, the ''DFB'', and covers the north-eastern part of the state 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 ...

.Regional Associations
''DFB'' website - Map and details of the regional associations, accessed: 15 December 2011 The Württemberg FA is also part of the

Southern German Football Association The Southern German Football Association (), the ''SFV'', is one of five regional organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers the states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Hesse.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 ...

. The other members of the ''SFV'' are the football associations of

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 ...

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 ...

South Baden South Baden (; ), formed in December 1945 from the southern half of the former Republic of Baden, was a subdivision of the French occupation zone of post-World War II Germany. The state was later renamed to Baden (French: ''Bade'') and became a fo ...

and

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 ...

. The ''SFV'' is the largest of the five regional federations and based in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

.Southern German FA website
Intro, accessed: 15 December 2011

History

Pre-''WFV'' history

Football in Southern Germany, and thereby in Baden was originally administrated by the ''Süddeutscher Fussball-Verband'', which was formed on 17 October 1897 in

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

, then under the name of ''Verband Süddeutscher Fussball-Vereine''. The new federation soon began to organise a regional football competition, the

Southern German football championship The Southern German football championship () was the highest association football competition in the southern Germany, established in 1898. The competition was disbanded in 1933 with the rise of the Nazis to power. While no senior Southern German ...

, followed by a league system a few years later. In November 1927, the federation merged with the Southern German track and field association, forming a much enlarged federation, the ''Süddeutscher Fussball- und Leichtathletik-Verband - SFLV''. With the rise of the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

to power in 1933, the federation received the order from

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 ...

to disband itself in March 1933. On 6 August 1933, the ''SFLV'' held its last general meeting, in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, where the order to disband was officially carried out. The financial liquidation of the federation was completed in 1942.''100 Jahre Süddeutscher Fussball-Verband'', p. 15

The ''WFV''

Post-

Second World War 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 ...

Germany saw Württemberg predominantly become part of the US occupation zone, however, the southern parts were located in the French zone. As travel within the occupation zone was restricted, the reestablishing of a Southern German federation seemed initially impossible. In September 1945, a regional football league was established, the

Oberliga Süd Oberliga () may refer to: Association football * Oberliga (football), currently the fifth tier of the German football league system, formerly the first * DDR-Oberliga, the first tier of football in East Germany until 1990, replaced by the NOFV-O ...

, which was made up of 16 of the foremost football clubs of Southern Germany. The organisers of this competition had also received the permission to reestablish the ''SFV'' from the US authorities. Below the Oberliga, the not yet officially reestablished ''SFV'' decreed that Landesligas were to be established for each of the states. On 4 November 1945, the new Oberliga played its first round. To alleviate any friction between the Southern German and the state association, the state associations became a member of the ''SFV'' but the football clubs remained members of their state associations only, not the ''SFV''. The ''SFV'' had the responsibility to organise the Oberliga and the new 2nd Oberliga, all other leagues were part of their state associations. The ''Württembergischer Fußballverband'' was formed on 8 July 1951 in

Ulm Ulm () is the sixth-largest city of the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with around 129,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 60th-largest city. Ulm is located on the eastern edges of the Swabian Jura mountain range, on the up ...

when the Northern Württemberg and the Southern Württemberg/Hohenzollern associations merged. The northern association, in the US zone, had been formed in 1948, the southern association in the French zone in 1949. During the 1970s, Yugoslav gastarbeiters formed their own football clubs but the WFV did not allow them to compete in their league, so the Yugoslavs formed their own league, the

Jugoliga The Jugoliga was a football league in Germany for the football clubs of Yugoslav gastarbeiters during the twentieth century. History The Jugoliga was founded in 1971. References 1971 establishments in West Germany Football leagues in Germa ...

President

The ''WFV'' is led by a president elected at the annual general meeting. From 2003 to 2015 the ''WFV'' was led by Herbert Rösch. The latter will step down on 9 May 2015 and a new president will be elected at the annual general meeting of the ''WFV''.

Member statistics

In 2017, the ''WFV'' had 530,443 members, 1,762 member clubs and 12,792 teams playing in its league system, making it the fourth-largest of the 21 state associations in Germany.

Regional team

The association also organizes the

Württemberg regional football team The Württemberg regional football team is the amateur association football team representing Württemberg, Germany. The team competes in the German Football Association's annual U21 Länderpokal under the auspices of the Württemberg Football As ...

which has represented Germany at four editions of the

UEFA Regions' Cup The UEFA Regions' Cup is a association football, football competition for Amateur sports#Association football, amateur teams in Europe, run by UEFA. It was held for the first time in 1999 UEFA Regions' Cup, 1999 and has been played biennially sinc ...

References

Sources

* ''100 Jahre Süddeutscher Fussball-Verband - SFV'', publisher: Vindelica Verlag, published: 1996

External links

German FA website

Southern German FA website

Württemberg FA website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wurttemberg Football Association Football in Baden-Württemberg Football governing bodies in Germany 1951 establishments in West Germany Sports organizations established in 1951