Association of Berlin Ball Game Clubs

The Association of Berlin Ball Game Clubs (VBB for short) is a former football association from Berlin . It was founded on September 11, 1897 as the Association of German Ball Game Clubs (VDB) and existed (from May 10, 1902 under the new name) until 1911. The association was re-established in 1949 under the same name and in 1991 in Berlin football Association renamed.

History 1897 to 1911

Memorial plaque , Bergmannstrasse 107, in Berlin-Kreuzberg

1897: foundation

The VDB was founded on September 11, 1897 as an alternative to the German Football and Cricket Association (DFuCB), in which internal disputes escalated. After the Association of German Football Players, a Berlin association integrated the word German in its name as a representation claim for the entire German Empire . But the time for this was long over after associations were founded in Hamburg / Altona , southern Germany and Leipzig .

The six founding clubs of the VDB were BFC Preussen 1894 , BFC Fortuna 1894 , FV Brandenburg 1892 , SC Argo, SC Hohenzollern Lichterfelde and Friedenauer SC 1896. A few weeks later, three other Berlin clubs belonged to the VDB. Six clubs finally appeared in the first round of the championship, which began in November 1897 and was held in one division. After the end of the championship, three clubs were tied at the top of the table, which meant a decision-making round had to be held. Champion was the BTuFC Britannia 1892 , which could win both of its games.

1897–1902: Membership growth and renaming

In the following season 1898/99 the association was able to organize a championship in three divisions. Furthermore, Berlin's leading club, the BTuFC Viktoria 89 , also joined the VDB. For the following season 1899/00 the BFC Germania 1888 and the BTuFC Union 1892 also joined the association. Despite these illustrious names, the BFC Preussen was the superior champion in 1894 and won all 16 point games. Prussia's success was based on the short passing game, the modern technical style of play adopted by the English and originally developed by Schotten in the 1870s and 1880s.

In the 1900/01 season, five classes were played, for the first time also with third teams from 1st class clubs. A year later the 1st class was split into two squadrons, group A won Britannia in 1892, in season B Victoria 89 . The master of the VDB had to be determined in two final games, of which each team could win one. The BTuFC Viktoria 89 was then able to clearly win the deciding game.

On May 10, 1902, the Association of German Ball Game Clubs was renamed the Association of Berlin Ball Game Clubs (VBB). The development in the following years was rapid. No other Berlin football association had so many member clubs and the national sporting output was also considerable.

1902–1911: Successes in the final round of the German championship

From the 1902/03 season, the German Football Association (DFB), as the umbrella organization for all regional football associations, organized a final round of the German championship . All regional champions and thus also the championship first of the VBB were eligible to participate.

As the first representative of the Berlin Association, Britannia 92 was allowed to take part in the German championship 1902/03 . After the first game, however, it was over: Britannia had to admit defeat to future champions VfB Leipzig . In the 1903/04 season Britannia even reached the final, but this was due to the violation of the statutes of the DFB game committee against its own regulations (the quarter-final game between Karlsruhe FV and Britannia took place on Britannia's place and thus, like all other games, not on neutral Floor instead) canceled. In 1905 the time had finally come: The BTuFC Union 1892 won the first title in the capital .

Since Union could not defend its title in the VBBV in the following season, but was set for the final round as the reigning German champion, two Berlin VBB teams were even allowed to participate in the German championship 1906 (in addition to a Berlin team from the Märkischer Fußball-Bund ) : Union 92 this was the BFC Hertha 92 . Both clubs fail in the semi-finals.

In the following year another Berlin soccer team, Viktoria 89 Berlin, began to soar again. Between 1907 and 1919, the Tempelhof club won the Berlin championship seven times. Viktoria also became a determining force nationally and won the German championship in 1908 and 1911 . Furthermore, the finals could be reached twice ( 1907 and 1909 ).

In 1907, the Association of Pommerscher Ballspiel-Vereine joined the VBB as a local branch in Stettin and remained a member until 1911. The championship of Pomerania and Stettin were organized on their own, but the winner of the league was allowed to compete against the winner of the second-class 2nd class of the VBB for promotion to 1st class. In all three cases, however, Berlin clubs were able to prevail.

1906–1910: Association cup

From 1906, the association held a cup round in addition to the championship games and thus awarded the first Berlin Cup . Here too Viktoria 89 dominated the competition and won the first three finals in a row. It was not until 1910 that Weißenseer FC was able to break the dominance of the Victorians . In the following season, however, the cup was no longer played and was only awarded again in 1920 by the successor association of the VBB.

1908–1911: Crown Prince Cup

From the 1908/09 season until the end of the German Empire played the national teams of the regional associations around the the Crown Prince Wilhelm of Prussia donated Crown Prince Cup . As a representative of Berlin, the VBB reached the final in both 1909 and 1910, but failed despite the space advantage in both finals. The final in 1909 was lost to Central Germany with 1: 3, a year later VBB failed after two extra times and a golden goal with 5: 6 to South Germany .

1911: dissolution

On April 29, 1911, the VBB merged with the two other Berlin football associations, the Märkischer Fußball-Bund and the Association of Berlin Athletics Associations, and merged into the Association of Brandenburgischer Ballspielvereine (also VBB). The association of Berliner Ballspielvereine was given a slight advantage over the other associations in the division into classes for the 1910/11 season, which led to slight initial unrest. Because the Märkische Fußball-Bund in particular also had a certain level of skill at that time, which was not necessarily taken into account. A number of clubs from the smaller associations then did not join the new VBB.

Association master 1897 to 1911

society	title	year
BTuFC Victoria 89	5	1902, 1907, 1908, 1909, 1911
BFC Prussia	4th	1899, 1900, 1901, 1910
BTuFC Britannia 1892	3	1898, 1903, 1904
BTuFC Union 1892	1	1905
BFC Hertha 92	1	1906

Known association members from 1897 to 1911

Club name back then	Club name today	Successes u. a.
BTuFC Britannia 1892	Berliner SV 92	German championship finalist 1904
BTuFC Victoria 89	BFC Victoria 1889	German champion 1908 and 1911
BTuFC Union 1892	Blue-White 90 Berlin	German champion 1905 (as Union 92) and Bundesliga club (as Blau-Weiß 90 Berlin)
BFC Hertha 1892	Hertha BSC	German champion 1930 and 1931 as well as current Bundesliga club
BFC Germania 1888	remained	oldest German football club
SC Union Oberschöneweide	1. FC Union Berlin ( SC Union 06 Berlin )	German runner-up in 1923 (as Union Oberschöneweide), GDR Cup winner 1968 and DFB Cup finalist (as 1. FC Union Berlin)

History after 1911

1911–1933: The new VBB

The new VBB existed until the National Socialists came to power in 1933. After that, the DFB and all regional football associations were dissolved and replaced by the Football and Football District Office. Instead of the VBB, the Gau Berlin-Brandenburg stepped with the Gauliga Berlin-Brandenburg as the top division.

1949: re-establishment

After the end of the Second World War , the Gauligen were disbanded and football was initially organized under the leadership of the Allied Control Council . On 2 December 1949, the founding of the VBB took place once again as Association of Berlin ballgame clubs as the Brandenburg region after the division of Germany to the GDR belonged. Just one year later, due to the planned introduction of contract player status for the Berlin City League, joint play with teams from all four sectors of the city ended . The East Berlin teams switched to GDR game operations and the new VBB was henceforth responsible for West Berlin . As one of five regional and at the same time one of 16 regional associations of the DFB, it existed until 1991. After German unification , it went over to the Berlin Football Association , which became a regional association of the NOFV .

Web links

Commons : Association of Berliner Ballspielvereine - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Final tables (attention: some headings are incorrect)
Final tables (also of the lower divisions)