Amateurliga Württemberg

:"For the history of the Amateurliga Württemberg after 1978, see Verbandsliga Württemberg."

The Amateurliga Württemberg was the highest football league in the region of the Württemberg FA and the third tier of the German football league system from its inception in 1945 until the formation of the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg and the Verbandsliga Württemberg below it in 1978.

Overview

The Amateurliga Württemberg was formed in 1945 in the northern half of the then state of Württemberg, which is now the eastern half of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It was a feeder league to the Oberliga Süd and therefore the second tier of the football league system in the south of Germany until the interception of the 2nd Oberliga Süd in 1950. From 1950 until the establishment of the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg in 1978, it was the third tier of the football league system.

Originally, the league was called Landesliga Württemberg, in 1950 it was renamed Amateurliga after being downgraded from second to third tier. Along with this went the integration of three clubs from the Südwürttemberg region, which had been playing in two separate groups and four clubs from the now disbaned southern group of the Oberliga Südwest.

The separation of Württemberg and Südwürttemberg results from the outcome of the 2nd World War when the state was split into two separate occupation zones. The north was in the US zone and the south in the French zone.

The winner of the Amateurliga Württemberg was not automatically promoted but rather had to take part in a promotion play-off to its league above. Usually, the champion would have to compete with the winners of the Amateurligas Südbaden, Nordbaden and (from 1961) Schwarzwald-Bodensee.

The league was established in 1945 with ten teams, the winner gaining promotion to the Oberliga Süd. The founder members were:

*TSG Ulm 1846
*Spfr. Stuttgart
*SV Göppingen
*SC Stuttgart
*SSV Ulm
*SpVgg Feuerbach
*VfR Aalen
*Union Böckingen
*VfR Heilbronn
*FV Zuffenhausen

The league was split into two groups in 1960, a northern and a southern group. However only four clubs actually left from the Amateurliga Württemberg to join the new Amateurliga Schwarzwald-Bodensee. The league in the north was renamed Amateurliga Nordwürttemberg but was essentially still the same league.

The clubs leaving to the new Amateurliga Schwarzwald-Bodensee were:

*FV Ebingen
*FC Wangen 1905
*SC Schwenningen
*VfR Schwenningen

With the introduction of the Bundesliga in 1963 the Amateurliga was placed below the new Regionalliga Süd but still retained its third-tier status.It continued to do so after the introduction of the 2nd Bundesliga Süd in 1974.

The Union Böckingen holds the record for years in the league, having spend 28 seasons out of a possible 33 in it, 19 of it uninerupted from 1954 to 1973. The VfL Sindelfingen holds the record for continuous seasons in the league, having stayed there for 23 seasons from 1950 to 1973.

Disbanding of the Amateurliga Württemberg

In 1978, the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg was formed to alow direct promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga Süd for the Amateure champion of the state. The teams placed one to five gained entry to the Oberliga while the teams placed six to twelve were put into the new Verbandsliga Württemberg, now the fourth tier of the football league system. The last four teams were relegated to the Landesligas.

Admitted to the new Oberliga:

*SSV Ulm 1846
*SV Göppingen
*FC Eislingen
*SB Heidenheim
*SpVgg Ludwigsburg

Relegated to the new Verbandsliga:

*VfB Stuttgart II
*VfR Heilbronn
*Union Böckingen
*TSG Giengen
*VfL Schorndorf
*FV Zuffenhausen
*SpVgg Renningen

Relegated to Landesliga:

*TG Heilbronn
*SC Geislingen
*Germania Bietigheim
*SpVgg Aidlingen

Winners of the Amateurliga Württemberg (including Nordwürttemberg) ["Kicker Almanach" The Football Yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937, published by the Kicker Sports Magazine]

1946 TSG Ulm 1846 1947 Spfr. Stuttgart 1963 VfB Stuttgart II 1948 SpVgg Feuerbach 1964 VfB Stuttgart II 1949 FV Zuffenhausen 1965 VfB Stuttgart II 1950 TSG Ulm 1846 1966 Normannia Gmünd 1951 VfR Aalen 1967 VfB Stuttgart II 1952 Union Böckingen 1968 TSF Esslingen 1953 VfL Sindelfingen 1969 VfR Heilbronn 1954 VfB Friedrichshafen 1970 SV Göppingen 1955 SSV Ulm 1971 VfB Stuttgart II 1956 VfR Heilbronn 1972 SSV Ulm 1846 1957 VfB Friedrichhafen 1973 SSV Ulm 1846 1958 Union Böckingen 1974 VfR Aalen 1959 SC Geislingen 1975 VfR Aalen 1960 VfB Stuttgart II 1976 SpVgg Ludwigsburg "league split" 1977 SSV Ulm 1846 1961 FV Kornwestheim 1978 SSV Ulm 1846 Bold denotes team gained promotion.

*In 1950 there was two teams promoted to the new 2nd Oberliga, the other team being Union Böckingen.
*In 1967 and 1971 the TSG Backnang and the SpVgg Ludwigsburg were promoted as runners-up since the VfB Stuttgart II was ineligible.
*The VfB Stuttgart II and the SSV Ulm 1846 (merger of TSG 1846 and SSV Ulm in 1970) both hold a record six championships in the Landesliga/Amateurliga Württemberg.

External links

* [http://www.f-archiv.de/ Das deutsche Fussball Archiv ]
* [http://mitglied.lycos.de/Tabellenarchiv/tabellen/indexwuerttemberg.htm Historic Tables Verbandsliga Württemberg / Amateurliga Württemberg]
* [http://www.wuerttfv.de/spielbetrieb_herren WFV: The Württemberg FA]

References