Verbandsliga Baden

Verbandsliga Baden

Country	Germany
State	Baden-Württemberg
Region	Baden
Confederation	Badenian football association
Founded	1945
Number of teams	15
Level on pyramid	Level 6
Promotion to	Oberliga Baden-Württemberg
Relegation to	Landesliga Mittelbaden Landesliga Odenwald Landesliga Rhein/Neckar
Domestic cup(s)	North Baden Cup
Current champions	FC Astoria Walldorf II (2015–16)

The Verbandsliga Baden is a German amateur football division administered by the Badenian Football Association, one of the 21 German state football associations. Being the top flight of the Baden state association, the Verbandsliga is currently a level 6 division of the German football league system.

Overview

The league was formed as Amateurliga Nordbaden in 1945 in the northern half of the then state of Baden, which is now the western 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.

The winner of the Amateurliga Nordbaden 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, Württemberg and (from 1961) Schwarzwald-Bodensee.

The separation of Nordbaden and Südbaden results from the outcome of World War II 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 official names for the two FA's reflect the separation of Südbaden from the original association, with Nordbaden just simply calling itself Baden FA.

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

• VfL Neckarau
• VfB Knielingen
• VfB Mühlburg
• VfR Pforzheim
• ASV Feudenheim
• SpVgg Sandhofen
• Amicitia Viernheim
• FV Daxlanden
• Phönix Mannheim
• 1. FC Pforzheim

The league was split into a northern and a southern group from 1946 to 1948.

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 longest continuous member of the league was the SV Sandhausen which gained promotion to it in 1957 and spent 21 seasons in it until its admittance to the new Oberliga in 1978. The VfR Pforzheim spent a record of 28 out of 33 possible seasons in the league.

At the same time as the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg was introduced in 1978, the Amateurliga Nordbaden was renamed Verbandsliga Nordbaden. The top five teams out of the Amateurliga went to the new Oberliga while the rest of the teams found themselves in the Verbandsliga. The league was now set at tier four of the league system.

The winner of the Verbandsliga gains direct promotion to the Oberliga. The runners-up must play-off against the runners-up of the Verbandsliga Südbaden. The winner of this play-off has to face the runners-up of the Verbandsliga Württemberg for the final Oberliga spot. In 1981 no extra spot and in 1994 three extra spots were available due to league format changes.

Feeder leagues to the Verbandsliga Nordbaden

• Landesliga Mittelbaden
• Landesliga Odenwald
• Landesliga Rhein/Neckar

The term "Verbandsliga" translates as "Football Association League". There are 21 Football Associations within the German Association German Football Association, Nordbaden being one of them.

League champions

The league champions of the league:

Source: "Verbandsliga Nordbaden". Das deutsche Fussball-Archiv. Retrieved 2008-03-07. 

• Bold denotes team gained promotion.
• In 1950, three teams were promoted to the new 2nd Oberliga Süd.
• In 1965, the VfR Pforzheim gained promotion as runners–up as the reserves team of Karlsruher SC was ineligible.

Teams promoted to the Oberliga after play–offs

Since the 1978–79 seasons the runners–up have the opportunity to play–off for promotion. The following runners–up have succeeded in the promotion round:

• 1982 SV Schwetzingen
• 1983 FV 09 Weinheim
• 1985 FV Lauda
• 1989 Amicitia Viernheim
• 1994 Amicitia Viernheim
• 1996 SGK Heidelberg
• 2001 Waldhof Mannheim II
• 2003 TSG Hoffenheim II
• 2009 TSG Weinheim
• 2011 VfR Mannheim
• 2014 FC Germania Friedrichstal
• 2015 1. CfR Pforzheim

League placings

The complete list of clubs in the league and their league placings since 1994.^[1][2]

Key

• S = No of seasons in league (as of 2016–17)

Notes

• ¹ In 1995, VfR Pforzheim withdrew from the Oberliga.
• ² In 1998, FV 09 Weinheim joined TSG Weinheim.
• ³ In 2002, VfR Mannheim withdrew to the Landesliga.
• ⁴ In 2003, Waldhof Mannheim II withdrew from the Oberliga.
• ⁵ In 2010, 1. FC Pforzheim merged with VfR Pforzheim to form 1. CfR Pforzheim.
• ⁶ In 2008, SpVgg Amicitia Viernheim merged with TSV Viernheim to form TSV Amicitia Viernheim.
• ⁷ In 2014, TSV Grunbach withdrew from the Oberliga.

References

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
• Süddeutschlands Fussballgeschichte in Tabellenform 1897-1988 (German) History of Southern German football in tables, publisher & author: Ludolf Hyll
• Die Deutsche Liga-Chronik 1945-2005 (German) History of German football from 1945 to 2005 in tables, publisher: DSFS, published: 2006

External links

• Das deutsche Fussball Archiv (German) Historic German league tables
• Fussball.de: Verbandsliga Nordbaden (German)
• BFV: Baden Football Association (German)