Football in Southwest Germany
Southwest Germany (organized in the Südwest Regional Football Association ) is the smallest of the five regions in organized German soccer . In the 2017/18 season, south-west Germany has a first division club with 1. FSV Mainz 05 and a second division club with 1. FC Kaiserslautern . In addition, seven south-west German clubs play in the Regionalliga Südwest . 1. FC Kaiserslautern is the most successful football club in this region to date with 4 German championships and two DFB Cup victories.
In addition, the clubs SG 99 Andernach , TSV Schott Mainz , 1. FFC 08 Niederkirchen and 1. FC Saarbrücken play in the second women's football league .
structure
Today's Southwest Association extends over the federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland and consists of the three state associations Southwest (SWFV), Rhineland (FVR) and Saar (SFV).
Southwest German Football Association
The most successful association with the largest number of members is the Southwest German Football Association , which, in addition to the four-time German champions 1. FC Kaiserslautern and 1. FSV Mainz 05 , provides the traditional clubs Wormatia Worms , FK Pirmasens and Phönix Ludwigshafen (today part of SV Südwest Ludwigshafen ). The SWFV extends over Rheinhessen , the Palatinate and the southeastern part of the Hunsrück .
Rhineland Football Association
The Rhineland Football Association is geographically the largest association in southwest Germany. It consists of the parts of the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate that are not part of the SWFV. The most successful clubs in men's soccer at the FVR are TuS Koblenz and Eintracht Trier . The most successful women’s team is SC 07 Bad Neuenahr .
Saarland Football Association
Despite the very small area, the Saarland Football Association , which is geographically identical to Saarland , had a disproportionately large number of nationally successful clubs in the past. The major Saarland clubs are FC 08 Homburg , SV Röchling Völklingen , 1. FC Saarbrücken , Borussia Neunkirchen and, more recently, SV Elversberg . Saarbrücken and Elversberg play fourth-rate in the 2017/18 season in the Regionalliga Südwest, just like Völklingen, which rose from fifth-rate in the 2016/17 season. Homburg was relegated to the fifth-class Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz Saar last season, while Neunkirchen was relegated from the same to sixth division last season.
Beginnings
Organized football began comparatively late in the southwest. The 1. FC Kaiserslautern , which can be attributed to teams from the years 1896 and 1899, but not until much later regional appeared on the scene, is the oldest of the great Southwest clubs. It was not until 1903 to 1907 and especially in 1919 that there was a flood of club foundations. In 1907, with FC Pfalz Ludwigshafen from 1903, a south-west club took part in the southern German finals for the first time. In the previous year, the Ludwigshafeners were already qualified, but decided not to participate. In the South German finals, the southwest clubs did not prevail for a long time. It was not until 1916 that FC Pfalz reached the southern German final (1: 4 against 1. FC Nürnberg ).
A milestone for Southwest German football was the introduction of the district leagues for the 1919/20 season. Nevertheless, the southwest clubs never took part in the final round of the German championship.
Successful clubs
In addition to FC Pfalz and the Kaiserslautern clubs, Wormatia Worms , 1. Mainz FSV 05 (four district league championships each) and Borussia Neunkirchen , later also FV Saarbrücken and FK Pirmasens , experienced their first heyday.
Gauliga
When the Gauliga Mittelrhein was introduced for the 1933/34 season, today's Südwestvereine belonged to two different seasons. The clubs of today's FVR formed Gau 11 (Middle Rhine) with the clubs from the greater Cologne / Bonn area and from the northwest of today's SWFV, while the remaining clubs with the greater Frankfurt area and the southern part of the State of Hesse formed Gau 13 (southwest) formed.
On August 1, 1941, sports area 11 was divided into the new areas Cologne / Aachen and Moselland. In the latter, the clubs from Luxembourg and the Trier area played in the western group. The eastern group consisted of the associations from the Rhineland. At the same time, sports areas 12 (Hessen) and 13 were dissolved and divided into three new sports areas. The Rhenish Hessian clubs and the Hessian representatives of the old sports area formed 13 in the Gauliga Hessen-Nassau, the Palatinate clubs formed the Gauliga Westmark, in which the FV Metz participated as the only French club .
Due to the war, in the 1944/45 season neither in Moselland nor in Westmark the game operation took place. Only in Hessen-Nassau was a cup round with nine seasons, some of which could be played.
Successful clubs
The most successful south-west club in Gauliga times was Wormatia Worms . The Worms took part in the final round of the German Championship in 1936, 1937 and 1939, but missed the semifinals. As the only club besides Wormatia, Phönix Ludwigshafen (1935, out of the group phase) was qualified for the final round before the league reform.
In 1943, FV Saarbrücken advanced to the final, which they lost 3-0 to Dresdner SC . In 1944, the Saarbrückers - now part of a war syndicate - were eliminated in the quarter-finals against the later championship third 1. FC Nürnberg .
post war period
After the Second World War , organized football in the French occupation zone took off late. It was not until January 1946 that games were played again in the northern part of the occupation zone, from which the three today's south-west associations later developed. The first top clubs in the league, which was initially called Oberliga Saarpfalz , then 1st League Southwest-North and from 1950 Oberliga Südwest , were 1. FC Kaiserslautern , 1. FC Saarbrücken and TuS Neuendorf .
The clubs from the Saar area were not allowed to participate in German games from 1947 to 1951. While most Saar clubs formed their own league, 1. FC Saarbrücken competed in the second French league, where they promptly became champions, but were not allowed to advance. The FCS then said goodbye to league operations and only played friendly games until the Saar clubs returned to the league for the 1951/52 season.
see also: Football Oberliga Südwest
Successful clubs
1. FC Kaiserslautern set a Germany-wide record, reaching 784 points in 498 league games - more than any other league team. In its eleven finals between 1948 and 1963, the FCK with its five world champions was twice German champion and three times runner-up.
After all, 1. FC Saarbrücken was runner-up in 1952 in the first of its three finals.
Borussia Neunkirchen and TuS Neuendorf also played three times for the German championship title, but remained just as unsuccessful as FK Pirmasens (four participations) and Wormatia Worms (two participations).
The southwest in the national leagues
Bundesliga
In the Bundesliga , the southwest has so far been almost exclusively represented by 1. FC Kaiserslautern , which, however, has rarely been in the top group. The two championships in 1991 (twelfth in the previous year) and 1998 (as promoted) came as a surprise and could not be substantiated in the immediately following years. After all, apart from the 1996/97 season until relegation in 2006, the Palatinate team competed in every Bundesliga season.
1. FC Saarbrücken , which for a long time was considered the second force in south-west football , only appeared sporadically in the Bundesliga. The Saarlanders only ended one of their five Bundesliga years without being relegated.
The other two big Saar clubs, Borussia Neunkirchen (in the first years of the league) and FC 08 Homburg (in the late 80s), each managed three Bundesliga years. The 1. FSV Mainz 05 , who rose in 2004 as the second team from the Rhineland-Palatinate in the league, played until 2007, three years in the Bundesliga . In 2009 he managed to rise again.
2nd Bundesliga
In the 2nd Bundesliga , which was founded in 1974 and has been single-track since 1981 , the southwest was represented with several long-running favorites. The 1. FC Saarbrücken denied 19 second division seasons. 1. FSV Mainz 05 played in the 2. Bundesliga for 17 years and FC 08 Homburg for 15 years .
Also represented were Eintracht Trier , who played in the 2nd Bundesliga South for five years and from 2002 for three years in the single-track 2nd Bundesliga, Wormatia Worms (six years between 1974 and 1982), SV Röchling Völklingen and FK Pirmasens (four Years in the 1970s), Borussia Neunkirchen (relegated three times in three attempts) as well as Eintracht Bad Kreuznach (1975/76), FSV Salmrohr (1986/87) and as a guest from the Bundesliga of 1. FC Kaiserslautern (1996 / 97, relegated again in 2006). For the first time in the club's history, TuS Koblenz was promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga in 2006 , in which it played until the 2009/10 season.
Substructure
Regional league
As a substructure of the Bundesliga, the Regionalliga Südwest was introduced in 1963 , which was largely identical to the previous league. Until it was dissolved in the 1974/75 season, the Regionalliga Südwest provided two participants each year in the promotion round to the Bundesliga. The low sporting strength of the league compared to the other four regional leagues can be seen from the fact that, apart from Borussia Neunkirchen (successful in 1964 and 1967), none of the south-west clubs achieved promotion to the Bundesliga.
In addition to Borussia, which could not be there for a total of three years due to their membership in the first division, and the Bundesliga founding member 1. FC Saarbrücken , who was relegated to the regional league after one year, FK Pirmasens , 1. FSV Mainz 05 , TuS Neuendorf played (now TuS Koblenz ), Wormatia Worms and SV Röchling Völklingen never below this league in the eleven years of the regional league. SV Alsenborn , which was promoted to the regional league in 1965, caused a sensation, became Southwest Champion in 1968, 1969 and 1970 and was not taken over into the newly founded 2nd Bundesliga in 1974 for rather flimsy reasons .
see also main article Regionalliga Südwest (football)
Amateur league
The deletion of the regional leagues without replacement when the 2nd Bundesliga was founded created a large gap below the two professional leagues: The immediate substructure of the 2nd Bundesliga was the amateur leagues that still exist today as a (sixth-class) association league - one in each sub-association in the southwest. It was correspondingly difficult for the newcomers - Eintracht Bad Kreuznach 1975, Eintracht Trier 1976, Wormatia Worms 1977 and Borussia Neunkirchen 1978 - who were faced with completely inferior village clubs on the way to the promotion round, in which the three amateur league champions took part enforce in the 2nd Bundesliga.
The overdue league reform did not take place until 1978, when a cross-association amateur league was introduced in the southwest as well as in 1974 in northern Germany and later in Baden-Württemberg and the North Rhine associations, in which the best clubs from the previous year's amateur leagues took part. The amateur leagues continued to exist in fourth class under the name Verbandsliga . For the first time in the history of southwest German football, there were now direct promoters to professional football who did not have to go through a promotion round. Already in 1981, the direct promotion of the Southwest Champion ended with the single-track 2nd Bundesliga. In promotion rounds, the aspirants of the amateur Oberliga Südwest met the representatives from Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria and Hesse.
After the introduction of the regional league , the amateur league seamlessly merged into the fifth-class Oberliga Südwest, which still exists today.
Lower divisions
The divisions below the Oberliga Südwest fall under the jurisdiction of the three south-west German state associations, so they are not uniform.
SWFV
The Southwest Association has the most divisions in the Southwest:
- the sixth class association league
- two seventh-class national leagues (West and East)
- four eight-class district leagues (Nahe, Rheinhessen, Vorderpfalz and Westpfalz)
- ten ninth grade district classes
The district associations are responsible for:
- 20 tenth-rate circular leagues
- 66 11th to 15th class leagues
SFV
The Saarland Association has eight of its own classes:
- the sixth class Saarland League
- the seventh-class association league Saar
- two eight-tier national leagues (northeast and southwest)
- four ninth-rate district leagues (north, east, south and west)
The district associations are responsible for:
- 30 tenth to thirteenth class leagues
FVR
The Rhineland Association has the fewest of its own divisions:
- the sixth class Rhineland League
- three seventh-class district leagues (east, middle and west)
The district associations are responsible for:
- 75 eight- to eleven-class circular leagues
Cup competitions
The three Southwest Associations each hold a cup competition, the winner of which qualifies for the first main round of the DFB Cup in the following year .
SWFV
All regional to state league teams as well as the quarter-finalists of the district competitions take part in the SWFV Association Cup. The most successful club in recent years is 1. FSV Mainz 05 , whose second team was last five times in a row Southwest Cup winners before they lost the 2006 final against FK Pirmasens .
In the DFB Cup , the SWFV Cup winners are rather unsuccessful. In the 1989/90 season, the then top division team 1. FSV Mainz 05 beat the second division team Alemannia Aachen 2-0. The Mainz team was not qualified as a SWFV Cup winner, but as a relegated second division. The last Southwest Cup winner for a long time, who threw a higher-class team out of the competition, was also Mainz: in 1986 with a 1-0 win against FC Schalke 04 . Only 20 years later this succeeded again with FK Pirmasens , a Southwest Cup winner (5: 3 n.E. against Werder Bremen ). In the second round, however, "the club" failed at the second division side SpVgg Unterhaching . In 2012, Wormatia Worms eliminated second division Hertha BSC (2: 1), in the second round the Worms were then defeated by second division 1. FC Köln on penalties.
SFV
In Saarland, all clubs below the 2nd Bundesliga that are registered in the association and want to participate are allowed to participate. The winners of the last six years are FC 08 Homburg (twice), 1. FC Saarbrücken (once each with the first and second team), Borussia Neunkirchen and FC Kutzhof .
The Saar Cup winners have never had a chance in the DFB Cup recently. After FC 08 Homburg was still in the quarter-finals in 1995/96, they have not made it into the second main round since 1. FC Saarbrücken beat SC Freiburg 1-0 in the 1997/98 season. After all: Borussia Neunkirchen was able to look forward to a home game against FC Bayern Munich in 2003 and an Ellenfeldstadion that was sold out for the first time in decades .
FVR
In the Rhineland, all regional to state league teams and the winners of the district cups take part. The last five Rhineland Cup winners are (in reverse chronological order) TuS Koblenz , TuS Mayen , SpVgg EGC Wirges , FSV Salmrohr and Eintracht Trier .
The last Rhineland Cup winner to reach the second main round in the DFB Cup is Eintracht Trier . The Trier prevailed in the 1999/00 season against Karlsruher SC (5: 4 n. E.) and TSV 1860 Munich (2: 1) before they failed in the round of 16 against Hansa Rostock (0: 4). Two years earlier, Trier had even made it into the semi-finals by winning against SpVgg Unterhaching (2: 1), FC Schalke 04 (1: 0), Borussia Dortmund (2: 1) and SV Waldhof Mannheim (1: 0) . There were 22 penalties against MSV Duisburg to determine the winner. In the 1998/99 season the Eisbachtaler Sportfreunde had reached the second round with a 1-0 nV against FC Gütersloh , in which they were defeated by Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 1: 4.
Women's soccer
A total of three clubs from southwest Germany have won the German championship so far. When a German champion was determined for the first time in 1974, TuS Wörrstadt beat DJK Eintracht Erle with 4-0 goals in the final. Four years later, the SC 07 Bad Neuenahr was successful, who prevailed in the return leg against FC Marpingen from Saarland. The so far last championship of a south-west club was secured in 1993 by TuS Niederkirchen , who defeated the huge favorites TSV Siegen 2-1 in the final .
In the DFB Cup , the clubs from the southwest were less successful. Only TuS Wörrstadt reached the final in 1981, but had to admit defeat to the then top team of SSG 09 Bergisch Gladbach 5-0.
In terms of sport, the SC 07 Bad Neuenahr is the flagship of the region. Since the last promotion in 1997, the team has played continuously in the Bundesliga . With Célia Okoyino da Mbabi , Sandra Minnert and Isabell Bachor , the club currently has three national players .