Niedersachsenliga

Niedersachsenliga
Founded
1947
Nation
Germany
States
Lower Saxony
Promotion To
Regionalliga Nord
Relegation To
LL Braunschweig
LL Lüneburg
LL Hannover
LL Weser-Ems
Number of Clubs
18
Level on Pyramid
Level 5
Current champions 2010-11
SV Meppen

The Niedersachsenliga, (English: Lower Saxony league) sometimes referred to as Oberliga Niedersachsen, is the fifth tier of the German football league system and the highest league in the German state of Lower Saxony (German: Niedersachsen). Since 1994, the league was split into a western and an eastern group. From 2010, it returned to a single-division format.^[1] It is one of eleven Oberligas in German Football.

Overview

1947-1963

The league was formed as Landesliga Niedersachsen in 1947, operating with four divisions in variable strength, all up with 42 clubs. The four regional divisions were named after the capital city of the district, being Hannover, Hildesheim, Braunschweig and Osnabrück. Additionally, some clubs from Niedersachsen also played in the Amateurliga Bremen, a trend that continues to a lesser degree even today. The state of Lower Saxony had only recently then been formed in the British occupation zone and Bremens status as an independent German state had not been fully confirmed yet.

From the start, the Landesliga Niedersachsen was a feeder league to the Oberliga Nord which its champion had the option of promotion to. Promotion had to be archived through a play-off with teams from the Amateurligas of Bremen, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. As such, the league was the second tier of the northern German league system.

In 1949, the four Landesligen were disbanded in favor of the two new Amateuroberligen, the Amateuroberliga Niedersachsen-West and the Amateuroberliga Niedersachsen-Ost. The western division started with sixteen, the eastern with eighteen clubs. The majority of clubs previously playing in the Bremen leagues also returned to the Niedersachsen league system. Below the Amateuroberligen, eight Amateurligen were established. This system remained as such unchanged until 1964.

The two leagues continued to exchange clubs to balance out promotion and relegation but did not play out a Niedersachsen champion as such since promotion was decided between these two leagues and the other three northern German leagues. Especially the clubs from Hannover were frequently transferred between divisions.

After the first couple of seasons went with ever changing club numbers in the two leagues, reaching a peak of twenty, by 1954 both leagues had arrived at sixteen clubs each, which they maintained for the most of the coming seasons.

1963-1974

In 1963, with the introduction of the Bundesliga, the disbanding of the Oberliga Nord and the formation of the Regionalliga Nord, the leagues fell to tier three, but initially remained unchanged otherwise. The champions of the Niedersachsen leagues continued to have to play-off for promotion, now to the Regionalliga, with the same opposition as before.

The year 1964 saw the creation of a single-division highest league for Niedersachsen. Eight clubs from the western group, seven from the eastern group, one team from the Regionalliga and two promoted teams made up the new Amateurliga Niedersachsen. Promotion however still had to be archived through a promotion round with the other northern German champions.

Below the Amateurliga, four new Verbandsligas were established, North, South, East and West, with their champions directly promoted and four clubs relegated from the eighteen-team Amateurliga.

The late sixties and early seventies saw the oddity of fourth and fifth placed teams being promoted. The reasons for this were the fact that Lower Saxony, as the strongest association in northern Germany was permitted to send more than one team to the promotion round and the high finishes of reserve teams of the likes of Hannover 96, Arminia Hannover and Eintracht Braunschweig in the league, which were ineligible to enter the promotion rounds.

The league strength for most of these season stood at sixteen clubs.

1974-1994

After the 1973-74 season, the Regionalliga Nord was disbanded in favor of the 2nd Bundesliga Nord. The new Oberliga Nord was now introduced in northern Germany, as the third tier of the league system, below the 2nd Bundesliga. This meant for the Amateurliga a slip to tier four. The top three teams of the league were however promoted to the new Oberliga and the Amateurliga was renamed Landesliga Niedersachsen. The system for promotion from the Landesliga remained mostly unchanged and the league continued to operate on sixteen clubs.

For the first time, reserve teams were also eligible for promotion from the Niedersachsen league and Eintracht Braunschweig II became the first team to do so in 1975.

In 1979, the league changed its name once more, now becoming the Verbandsliga Niedersachsen, but remaining unchanged otherwise.

1994-2008

In 1994, the Regionalliga Nord was re-established, now as the third tier of the league system. The Oberliga Nord was in turn replaced by two parallel Oberligen, Niedersachsen/Bremen and Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein. For the Verbandsliga Niedersachsen, this meant a further slip, now to tier five, and a split to two separate divisions again, but also, for the first time in its history, direct promotion for the league champions.

While the first and third placed team from the 1993-94 season gained entry to the new Regionalliga, the other twelve clubs of the top-fourteen were promoted to the Oberliga Niedersachsen/Bremen. Only the bottom five teams of the field of nineteen of that season actually remained in the Verbandsligas.

The first season of the new separated leagues saw a strong imbalance of clubs, West operated on sixteen, East on twenty-one teams. The year after, both run on a strength of sixteen.

The 1999-2000 season saw another league system change with the reduction of numbers of Regionalligen, this however had only one effect on the Verbandsligen, no direct promotion was available this year.

In 2004, it was decided to restore the Oberliga Nord in favor of the two separate Oberligen.

2008-2010

At the end of the 2007-08 season, the new 3rd Liga was established and the Oberliga Nord disbanded, again. The four northern German states were then the only region without an Oberliga and the five Verbandsligen sat right below the Regionalliga Nord, parallel to the two NOFV-Oberligas. At the end of the 2007-08 season, the five winners of the northern Verbandsligas played with the sixth placed team from the Oberliga Nord for one last spot in the Regionalliga.^[2] In the future seasons, promotion for the Niedersachsenliga winners will only be available through a decider between the two champions. These two teams will compete for one promotion spot to the Regionalliga. The Niedersachsen-Liga will however maintain their status as tier five leagues and accordingly be renamed Oberliga Niedersachsen.

2010 onwards

The 2009-10 season will function as a qualifying stage for the new single-division Oberliga, which will kick-off in 2010. While the Lower Saxony champion will be promoted to the Regionalliga, as in the previous season, the other fifteen teams placed one to eight in the two leagues will directly qualify for the new league. The four teams placed ninth and tenth will take part in a qualifying round with the four Bezirksoberliga champions. In two groups of four, the top-two of each group will also qualify for the new league. The teams placed eleventh or lower in the Oberligas in 2009-10 will automatically be relegated.^[1]

The new single-division Oberliga Niedersachsen will consist of 20 clubs in its first season and then 18 thereafter.

Position of the Oberliga Niedersachsen in the league system

Years	Tier	Promotion to
1947-63	II	Oberliga Nord
1963-74	III	Regionalliga Nord
1974-94	IV	Oberliga Nord
1994–2004	V	Oberliga Niedersachsen/Bremen
2004-08	V	Oberliga Nord
2008-	V	Regionalliga Nord

Source:"Verbandsliga Niedersachsen". Das deutsche Fussball-Archiv. http://www.f-archiv.de/. Retrieved 2008-03-05. 

Winners of the Niedersachsenligas

Landesliga Niedersachsen

Season	Staffel Braunschweig	Staffel Hildesheim	Staffel Hannover	Staffel Osnabrück
1947-48	MTV Braunschweig	Göttingen 05	Teutonia Uelzen	Eintracht Osnabrück
1948-49	Rot-Weiß Braunschweig	SV Hameln 07	SV Linden 07	VfB Oldenburg

• Due to irregularities in the previous season, Hannover 96 was also promoted in 1949.

Amateuroberligas Niedersachsen West and Ost

Season	West	East
1949-50	Eintracht Osnabrück	TSV Goslar
1950-51	Kickers Emden	VfR Osterode
1951-52	VfB Oldenburg	VfL Wolfsburg
1952-53	Eintracht Nordhorn *	Eintracht Braunschweig
1953-54	Eintracht Nordhorn	VfL Wolfsburg
1954-55	Eintracht Nordhorn	VfV Hildesheim
1955-56	Olympia Wilhelmshaven	Eintracht Braunschweig II
1956-57	VfB Oldenburg	Union Salzgitter
1957-58	Arminia Hannover	VfV Hildesheim
1958-59	VfB Oldenburg *	Arminia Hannover
1959-60	Hannover 96 II *	SC Leu Braunschweig
1960-61	Arminia Hannover *	SC Leu Braunschweig
1961-62	Arminia Hannover	SC Leu Braunschweig
1962-63	VfL Oldenburg	VfL Wolfsburg
1963-64	Olympia Wilhelmshaven	Hannover 96 II

• In 1954, the runner-up VfB Oldenburg was promoted instead.
• In 1959, the runner-up Eintracht Osnabrück was promoted instead.
• In 1960, the runner-up VfB Oldenburg was promoted instead.
• In 1961, the third placed Eintracht Nordhorn was promoted instead.
• In 1964, the runner-up Göttingen 05 was promoted instead.

Amateurliga/Landesliga/Verbandsliga Niedersachsen

Season Club 1964-65 Hannover 96 II 1965-66 Hannover 96 II 1966-67 Hannover 96 II 1967-68 SV Meppen 1968-69 SC Leu Braunschweig 1969-70 Eintracht Braunschweig II 1970-71 OSV Hannover 1971-72 VfB Oldenburg 1972-73 Union Salzgitter 1973-74 Preußen 07 Hameln 1974-75 VfB Peine 1975-76 Atlas Delmenhorst 1976-77 TSV Helmstedt 1977-78 Germania Leer 1978-79 SV Meppen

Season Club 1979-80 Lüneburger SK 1980-81 TuS Celle 1981-82 TuS Hessisch-Oldendorf 1982-83 Blau-Weiß Lohne 1983-84 Atlas Delmenhorst 1984-85 VfL Herzlake 1985-86 Atlas Delmenhorst 1986-87 VfL Herzlake 1987-88 VfL Herzlake 1988-89 Kickers Emden 1989-90 TuS Celle 1990-91 Kickers Emden 1991-92 TuS Lingen 1992-93 BV Cloppenburg 1993-94 SV Wilhelmshaven

• In 1967, the third placed TuS Haste was promoted instead.
• In 1968, the fourth placed TuS Celle was promoted instead.
• In 1969, the fourth placed Olympia Wilhelmshaven was also promoted.
• In 1970, the fifth placed SV Meppen was promoted instead.
• In 1972, the runner-up SV Meppen was also promoted.
• In 1974, the top three teams were promoted to the new Oberliga Nord, SpVgg Bad Pyrmont and Union Salzgitter were therefore also promoted.
• In 1975, the second and third placed Eintracht Nordhorn and Eintracht Braunschweig II were promoted instead.
• In 1979, the third placed MTV Gifhorn was also promoted.
• In 1981, the third placed TSV Havelse was promoted instead.
• In 1982, the runner-up Olympia Wilhelmshaven was also promoted.
• In 1983, the third placed Eintracht Braunschweig II was promoted instead.
• In 1985, the second and third placed Eintracht Braunschweig II and Wolfenbüttler SV were promoted instead.
• In 1986, the runner-up SpVgg Göttingen was also promoted.
• In 1989, the third placed TuS Esens was promoted instead.
• In 1990, the third placed Eintracht Nordhorn was also promoted.
• In 1993, the runner-up Preußen 07 Hameln was promoted instead.
• In 1994, the top fourteen clubs were all promoted!

Verbandsligas Niedersachsen West and Ost

Season	West	East
1994-95	Eintracht Nordhorn	SV Südharz Walkenried
1995-96	Concordia Ihrhove	Wolfenbüttler SV *
1996-97	FC Schüttorf	SpVgg Einbeck *
1997-98	Blau-Weiß Lohne	MTV Gifhorn
1998-99	FC Schüttorf	VfL Wolfsburg II
1999–2000	Hannover 96 II	Eintracht Braunschweig II
2000-01	SC Langenhagen	SpVgg Einbeck
2001-02	VfV Hildesheim	Eintracht Braunschweig II
2002-03	Hannover 96 II	SSV Vorsfelde
2003-04	VfL Osnabrück II	TSV Neuenkirchen
2004-05	VfL Osnabrück II	Eintracht Braunschweig II
2005-06	SV Ramlingen-Ehlershausen	VSK Osterholz Scharmbeck
2006-07	VfB Oldenburg	TuS Heeslingen
2007-08	VfL Oldenburg	MTV Gifhorn

Source:"Verbandsliga Niedersachsen". Das deutsche Fussball-Archiv. http://www.f-archiv.de/. Retrieved 2008-03-05. 

• Bold denotes club gained promotion.
• In 1996, the runner-up SSV Vorsfelde was also promoted.
• In 1997, the runner-up Rotenburger SV was also promoted.

Oberligas Niedersachsen West and Ost

Season	West	East
2008-09	VfB Oldenburg	SC Goslar 08
2009-10	TSV Havelse	Eintr. Braunschweig II

• In 2010 both champions gained promotion as none of the champions from the Bremen-Liga, Hamburg-Liga and Schleswig-Holstein-Liga applied for a Regionalliga-licence

Oberliga Niedersachsen

Season	Club
2010-11	SV Meppen
2011-12

• Bold denotes club gained promotion.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Oberliga Niedersachsen 2009-10: Regulations (German) NFV website, accessed: 9 July 2009
2. ^ "Regulations for the Oberliga Nord 2007-08". Northern German FA. http://www.nordfv.de/cms/fileadmin/Downloads/Ringbuch_07_08/Dfb_Oberliga_23_07_2007.pdf. Retrieved 2008-03-04. ^{[dead link]}

Sources

• Deutschlands Fußball in Zahlen, (German) An annual publication with tables and results from the Bundesliga to Verbandsliga/Landesliga, publisher: DSFS
• Kicker Almanach, (German) The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937, published by the Kicker Sports Magazine
• Die Deutsche Liga-Chronik 1945-2005 (German) History of German football from 1945 to 2005 in tables, publisher: DSFS, published: 2006

External links

• (German) Das deutsche Fussball Archiv Historic German league tables
• (German) The Niedersachsenliga at Fussball.de
• (German) The Lower Saxony Football Association (NFV)