Gauliga Elsaß

:For the main article, see "Gauliga"

The Gauliga Elsaß was the highest football league in the occupied French region of Alsace (German: Elsaß, old orthography of Elsass) from 1940 to 1945. The Nazis reorganised the administrative region and the Alsace became part of the "Gau Baden".

Overview

The league was introduced in 1940, after the French defeat and the German annexation of the Alsace region. The Alsace region was traditionally disputed between the two countries and had last been part of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918, with its football clubs playing in the German league system then.

The "Gauliga Elsaß" was established with sixteen clubs in two groups of eight, all from the Alsace region. The two group winners then played a home-and-away final to determined the Alsace champion and the team entering the German championship.

The league was reduced to one single group of twelve teams in the 1941-42 season with the bottom four teams relegated. The season after, it operated with ten clubs and two relegated teams. This modus remained in place for the 1943-44 season.

In late 1944, the Alsace region became part of the frontline and its doubtful whether the 1944-45 season was even able to get under way. The league was scheduled to have two groups, a northern one with five and a southern one with six clubs.

After the region had been completely reoccupied by allied forces, Strasbourg being retaken on 22 November 1944, the Alsace and its football clubs returned to France with the top club, the RC Strasbourg, reentering the French first division in 1945.

Founding members of the league

The sixteen founding members in 1940 were split into two groups. All clubs came from the French league system an are still active as of 2008, unless stated otherwise [ [http://www.rsssf.com/tablesf/fran2hist.html France - List of Final Tables Second Level] by RSSSF, accessed: 17 May 2008] [ [http://www.rsssf.com/tablesf/franfullhist.html France - First Division Results and Tables 1932-1998] by RSSSF, accessed: 17 May 2008] :
* Group 1:
* Rasen SC Straßburg, "finished 10th in Ligue 1 as RC Strasbourg, reverted to their old name in 1945 "
* SC Schiltigheim, "was Sporting Club Schiltigheim, reverted to their old name in 1945 "
* SG SS Straßburg, "was SC Red-Star Strasbourg, reverted to their old name in 1945 "
* FC Hagenau, "was FC Haguenau, reverted to their old name in 1945 "
* FK Mars Bischheim, "was CS Mars 1905 Bischheim, reverted to their old name in 1945 "
* SV 06 Schlettstadt, "was SC Sélestat, reverted to their old name in 1945 "
* SV Straßburg, "was Association Sportive de Strasbourg, reverted to their old name in 1945 "
* FC Bischweiler, "FC Bischwiller, reverted to their old name in 1945 "

* Group 2:
* FC Mülhausen 93, "finished 7th in Ligue 2 as FC de Mulhouse, reverted to their old name in 1945 "
* SpVgg Kolmar, "finished 5th in Ligue 2 as SR Colmar, reverted to their old name in 1945 "
* SV Wittenheim, "Union Sportive Wittenheim, reverted to their old name in 1945 "
* FC Kolmar, "FC Colmar, reverted to their old name in 1945, renamed Stade de Colmar 77 in 1977 ; club disbanded in June 1986"
* ASV Mülhausen, "was Cercle Athlétique Mulhousien, renamed Association Sportive Mulhousienne in 1945"
* SpVgg Dornach, "was FC Dornach, reverted to their old name in 1945 "
* SV Wittelsheim, "was Association Sportive des Colonies Amélie Wittelsheim, reverted to their old name in 1945 "
* FC St. Ludwig, "was FC Saint-Louis, reverted to their old name in 1945, merged with FC Neuweg in 1990"

* All clubs had to either Germanise their name or, if formed before 1918, revert to their original German name.

Winners and runners-up of the Gauliga Elsaß

ources

* [http://www.f-archiv.de/ The Gauligas] "Das Deutsche Fussball Archiv" (in German)
* [http://www.rsssf.com/tablesd/duithistpre45.html Germany - Championships 1902-1945] at RSSSF.com
* [http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/crossborder.html Where's My Country? - French clubs in the German football structure 1940-1944] Article on cross-border movements of football clubs, at RSSSF.com
* Collectif, "100 ans de football en Alsace" (5 vol.), Strasbourg, LAFA, 2002, ISBN 2-911219-13-9 (in French)

References