Oberliga West (1947-63)

The Oberliga West was the highest level of the German football league system in the west of Germany from 1947 until the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963. It covered the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populos state of Germany.

Overview

The league was created in 1947 as the highest level of football in the newly created state of Nordrhein-Westfalen, then part of the British occupation zone. It replaced the various Gauligas, which had existed until 1945 in the region:
* Gauliga Köln-Aachen
* Gauliga Moselland
* Gauliga Niederrhein
* Gauliga Westfalen

The league was, together with the Oberliga Nord, the last of the five Oberligas to be formed, the other four being:

*Oberliga Nord (formed in 1947)
*Oberliga Berlin (formed in 1945, originally with clubs from west and east Berlin)
*Oberliga Südwest (formed in 1945)
*Oberliga Süd (formed in 1945)

The Oberliga West was formed from thirteen clubs from the Landesligas Niederrhein, Mittelrhein and Westfalen. The Landesligas remained the second tier of football in the "West" until 1949, when the 2nd Oberliga West was formed.

With the reintroduction of the German championship in 1948, the winner and runners-up of the Oberliga West went on to the finals tournament with the other Oberliga champions. The Oberliga West, together with the Oberliga Süd, were the strongest of the five Oberligas, winning six German titles each in the Oberliga period from 1948 to 1963.

Founding members of the Oberliga West

*Borussia Dortmund
*Sportfreunde Katernberg
*STV Horst-Emscher
*SV Hamborn 07
*Rot-Weiß Oberhausen
*FC Schalke 04
*Fortuna Düsseldorf
*SpVgg Erkenschwick
*Alemannia Aachen
*TSG Vohwinkel, "(to become Wuppertaler SV)"
*Preußen Dellbrück, "(to become Viktoria Köln)"
*VfR Köln, "(to become Viktoria Köln)"
*VfL Witten

Disbanding of the Oberliga

With the introduction of the Bundesliga, five teams from the Oberliga West were admitted to the new Bundesliga. The remaining clubs went to the new Regionalliga West, one of five new second divisions.

The teams admitted to the Bundesliga were:

*1.FC Köln
*Borussia Dortmund
*MSV Duisburg
*Preußen Münster
*FC Schalke 04

The following teams from the Oberliga went to the new Regionalliga:

*Alemannia Aachen
*Schwarz-Weiß Essen
*Viktoria Köln
*Bayer Leverkusen
*Rot-Weiß Oberhausen
*Borussia Mönchengladbach
*SV Hamborn 07
*Fortuna Düsseldorf
*Westfalia Herne
*Wuppertaler SV
*TSV Marl-Hüls

Winners and runners-up of the Oberliga West

1948 Borussia Dortmund Spfr. Katernberg 1949 Borussia Dortmund Rot-Weiß Essen 1950 Borussia Dortmund Preußen Dellbrück 1951 FC Schalke 04 Preußen Münster 1952 Rot-Weiß Essen FC Schalke 04 1953 Borussia Dortmund 1. FC Köln 1954 1.FC Köln Rot-Weiß Essen 1955 Rot-Weiß Essen SV Sodingen 1956 Borussia Dortmund FC Schalke 04 1957 Borussia Dortmund Duisburger SV 1958 FC Schalke 04 1. FC Köln 1959 Westfalia Herne 1. FC Köln 1960 1. FC Köln Westfalia Herne 1961 1. FC Köln Borussia Dortmund 1962 1. FC Köln FC Schalke 04 1963 1. FC Köln Borussia DortmundSource:Cite web
url = http://www.f-archiv.de/
title = Oberliga West
accessdate = 2008-01-09
publisher = Das deutsche Fussball-Archiv

Bold denotes team went on to win German championship.

Placings & overall table of the Oberliga West 1947 to 1963

Source:Cite web
url=http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Midfield/2231/Europeiska_fotbollstabeller/GERMANY_OBERLIGA_45_63.htm
title = All-time table Oberliga West
accessdate = 2008-01-09
publisher = Clas Glenning

*Table includes results from the finals rounds of the German championship.
*"Preussen Dellbrück" merged with "SC Rapid Köln" in 1957 to form "Viktoria Köln". "SC Rapid Köln" was itself a merger club, incooperating "VfR Köln".
*"SSV Wuppertal" and "TSG Vohwinkel" merged in 1954 to form "Wuppertaler SV".

External links

[http://www.f-archiv.de/ Das deutsche Fussball Archiv ]

[http://www.fussballdaten.de/alteoberliga/west/1963/ Oberliga West at Fussballdaten.de]

References

"Kicker Almanach" The Football Yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937, published by the Kicker Sports Magazine