- Gauliga Westfalen
:For the main article, see "
Gauliga "The Gauliga Westphalia was the highest football league in the Prussian
province of Westphalia and the smallFree State of Lippe from1933 to1945 . Shortly after the formation of the league, theNazis reorganised the administrative regions in Germany, and the "Gaue" "Westphalia-North" and "Westphalia-South" replaced the Prussian province and the Free State.Overview
The league was introduced in 1933, after the Nazi take over of power in Germany .
The "Gauliga Westfalen" was established with ten clubs, all from the Province of Westphalia.
The Gauliga replaced as such a number of separate leagues covering the areas of "Westphalia", "South Westphalia" and "Ruhr", the highest leagues in the region until then.
In its first season, the league had ten clubs, playing each other once at home and once away. The league winner qualified for the German championship while the bottom two teams were relegated. The league remained unchanged until 1940.
Through its existence, the league was dominated by what became the golden era of the
FC Schalke 04 , who won it in every of its eleven completed seasons. Schalke also took out the national championship in 1934, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1942, alongside with being the losing finalist in 1938 and 1941. A cup win in 1937 and four lost finals in 1935, 1936, 1941 and 1942 were also added to this. Despite no other club from the region having any national success, this list means the "Gauliga Westfalen" was the single most successful league in Germany in this era.In 1940-41, the league expanded to twelve clubs, with the bottom four teams relegated. The season after, it returned to its original set-up and remained so until 1944.
The imminent collapse of
Nazi Germany in 1945 gravely affected all "Gauligas" and the leagues last season, 1944-45, was meant to be staged in three regional groups with altogether 20 teams. Play never really got under way and no club absolved more than three matches, most none before it had to be suspended.Aftermath
With the end of the Nazi era, the "Gauligas" ceased to exist and the region of Westphalia found itself in the British occupation zone.
Top-level football did not restart straight away and it took until 1947 for a state-wide league in newly created
North Rhine-Westphalia to kick-off, the Oberliga West.Founding members of the league
The ten founding members and their placings in the 1932-33 season were:
*FC Schalke 04 , "winner Ruhr division"
*SV Höntrop
*SuS Hüsten 09 , "winner Südwestfalen division"
*SV Germania Bochum
*SpVgg 12 Herten
*DSC Hagen
*SV Viktoria Recklingshausen
*Preußen Münster
*Sportfreunde 95 Dortmund
*Arminia Bielefeld , "winner Westfalen division"Winners and runners-up of the Gauliga Westfalen
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.comReferences
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