Bremen-Liga


The Bremen-Liga, sometimes also referred to as Oberliga Bremen, is a fifth tier of the German football league system and the highest league in the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. It is one of fourteen Oberligas in German football, the fifth tier of the German football league system.

Overview

1947-1963

The league was formed in 1947 as Amateurliga Bremen by thirteen clubs, including four from outside the city-state, in the newly recreated state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen which was then part of the US occupation zone in Germany.
The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and its football association are the smallest in Germany. The state is actually separated in two halves, the cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven are split by the state of Lower Saxony.
From the start, the Amateurliga Bremen was a feeder league to the Oberliga Nord which its champion had the option of promotion to. Promotion had to be archived through a play-off with teams from the Amateurligas of Lower Saxony, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. As such, the league was the second tier of the northern German league system.
Promotion to the Oberliga however, became hard to archive for the Bremen champion which only succeeded in 1948 and 1961. This resulted however in a number of back-to-back championships, an oddity for leagues at this level in Germany where direct promotion is the standard.
After its second season, the four clubs from Lower Saxony left the league to rejoin their state's league system. To this day, the Bremen league system however continues to host a few clubs from the neighboring state, usually clubs based right at the border of Bremen.
The league was expanded to fourteen clubs in its third season, compensating for the lost clubs from Lower Saxony by promoting more local clubs. For the coming seasons, the league stuck mostly with a strength of fifteen clubs.

1963-1974

In 1963, with the introduction of the Bundesliga, the disbanding of the Oberliga Nord and the formation of the Regionalliga Nord, the league fell to tier three, but remained unchanged otherwise, with fifteen clubs as its strength. The champion of Bremen continued to have to play-off for promotion, now to the Regionalliga, with the same opposition as before and the same limited success.
The league was increased in size to sixteen clubs in 1973.

1974-1994

After the 1973-74 season, the Regionalliga Nord was disbanded in favor of the 2nd Bundesliga Nord. The new Oberliga Nord was now introduced in northern Germany, as the third tier of the league system, below the 2nd Bundesliga. This meant for the Amateurliga a slip to tier four. The top two teams of the league were however promoted to the new Oberliga and the Amateurliga was renamed Verbandsliga Bremen. The system for promotion from the Verbandsliga remained mostly unchanged but the success rate for the clubs from Bremen greatly improved.

1994-2008

In 1994, the Regionalliga Nord was re-established, now as the third tier of the league system. The Oberliga Nord was in turn replaced by two parallel Oberligas, Niedersachsen/Bremen and Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein. For the Verbandsliga Bremen, this meant a further slip, now to tier five, but also, for the first time in its history, direct promotion for the league champion.
The 1999-2000 season saw another league system change with the reduction of numbers of Regionalligas, this however had only one effect on the Verbandsliga, no promotion was available this year.
In 2004, it was decided to restore the Oberliga Nord in favor of the two separate Oberligas.
The 2006-07 league winner and runner-up, Bremer SV and FC Bremerhaven, did not receive an Oberliga licence and were not promoted.

2008 onwards

At the end of the 2007-08 season, the new 3rd Liga was established and the Oberliga Nord disbanded, again. The four northern German states then were the only region without an Oberliga and the five Verbandsligen sit right below the Regionalliga Nord, parallel to the two NOFV-Oberligen. At the end of the 2007-08 season, the five winners of the northern Verbandsligas played with the sixth placed team from the Oberliga Nord for one last spot in the Regionalliga. The FC Bremerhaven was however refused a Regionalliga licence and therefore not permitted to take part in the promotion round, being replaced by the FC Oberneuland instead.
In the future seasons, promotion for the Bremen champion will only be available through a set of play-off matches with the league winners from Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. These three teams will compete for one promotion spot to the Regionalliga.
The Verbandsliga Bremen will however maintain its status as a tier five league. It is also the only league on this level with a single feeder league, the Landesliga Bremen, below it. In the 2007-08 season, two clubs from the Verbandsliga will be relegated to the Landesliga and two clubs promoted from there.
In the 2008-09 season, only three teams from Bremen played above the Verbandsliga level, these being:
While this seems a small number, one has to consider that the Bremen FA only consists of 80 clubs.
From the 2008-09 season, the league effectively has the status of an Oberliga and is referred to as such on some websites while the DFB list the league as Bremen-Liga''' as its new official name.

Position of the Bremen-Liga in the league system

Source:

Founding members of the Amateurliga Bremen

Thirteen clubs, four from Niedersachsen and the other nine from Bremen, formed the league in 1947, these clubs being:
Source:

Winners of the Bremen–Liga

SeasonClub
1947–48TuS Bremerhaven 93
1948–49SV Hemelingen
1949–50Blumenthaler SV
1950–51Blumenthaler SV
1951–52Blumenthaler SV
1952–53ATSV 1860 Bremen
1953–54ATSV 1860 Bremen
1954–55ATSV 1860 Bremen
1955–56Bremer SV
1956–57SV Werder Bremen II
1957–58Bremer SV
1958–59Blumenthaler SV
1959–60Polizei SV Bremen
1960–61Bremer SV
1961–62SV Werder Bremen II
1962–63AGSV Bremen
1963–64Blumenthaler SV
1964–65Bremer SV
1965–66Eintracht Bremen
1966–67SV Werder Bremen II
1967–68SV Werder Bremen II
1968–69TuS Bremerhaven 93 II
1969–70Polizei SV Bremen
1970–71Polizei SV Bremen
1971–72Blumenthaler SV

SeasonClub
1972–73Blumenthaler SV
1973–74Blumenthaler SV
1974–75TSV Osterholz-Tenever
1975–76SV Werder Bremen II
1976–77SG Oslebshausen
1977–78Bremer SV
1978–79Blumenthaler SV
1979–80SFL Bremerhaven
1980–81FT Geestemünde
1981–82SFL Bremerhaven
1982–83Bremer SV
1983–84SC Vahr
1984–85Bremer SV
1985–86Bremer SV
1986–87FC Mahndorf
1987–88SFL Bremerhaven
1988–89Blumenthaler SV
1989–90TSV Osterholz-Tenever
1990–91TSV Osterholz-Tenever
1991–92SFL Bremerhaven
1992–93FC Bremerhaven
1993–94FC Bremerhaven
1994–95SV Vatan Sport
1995–96FC Oberneuland

SeasonClub
1996–97Blumenthaler SV
1997–98SV Werder Bremen III
1998–99BTS Neustadt
1999–2000SC Weyhe
2000–01SC Weyhe
2001–02FC Bremerhaven
2002–03SC Weyhe
2003–04KSV Vatan Sport Bremen
2004–05SC Weyhe
2005–06FC Oberneuland
2006–07Bremer SV
2007–08FC Bremerhaven
2008–09Brinkumer SV
2009–10SV Werder Bremen III
2010–11SV Werder Bremen III
2011–12FC Oberneuland
2012–13SV Werder Bremen III
2013–14Bremer SV
2014–15Bremer SV
2015–16Bremer SV
2016–17Bremer SV
2017–18Brinkumer SV
2018–19Bremer SV
2019–20FC Oberneuland

Source:
The complete list of clubs and placings in the league since elevation to Oberliga status :
Club09101112131415161718192021
FC Oberneuland 1RRR1R6221R
TuS Schwachhausen1310912116444642x
Brinkumer SV148953253183x
SFL Bremerhaven34x
Bremer SV222221111415x
SV Hemelingen6x
Blumenthaler SV6851077322577x
SC Borgfeld128x
SG Aumund-Vegesack8113534567769x
ESC Geestemünde8129510x
BSC Hastedt31011x
Leher TS1214810912x
Union 60 Bremen6610111513x
Bremer TS Neustadt79141414x
Habenhauser FV791088810911121315x
Werder Bremen III41131573581116x
TuS Komet Arstenx
OSC Bremerhaven534799813141315x
Vatan Sport Bremen16101415161116x
VfL 07 Bremen9121215139101015
TSV Grolland14121316
TSV Melchiorshausen14141515
SV Grohn1611131116
FC Sparta Bremerhaven 2426
SV Türkspor Bremen1161413121216
OT Bremen12151415
1. FC Burg6111316
SC Lehe-Spaden15
TSV Wulsdorf107111416
FC Bremerhaven 23574
TS Woltmershausen16
FC Oberneuland II1313
SC Weyhe16
SC Vahr-Blockdiek15