Oberliga Südwest (1945–63)


The Oberliga Südwest was the highest level of the German football league system in the southwest of Germany from 1945 until the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963. It covered the two states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland.

Overview

The league was introduced as the highest level of football in the French occupation zone in 1945, replacing the Gauligas as such. As was the French occupation zone, the Oberliga was split into a northern and a southern zone. The northern zone continued till 1963 to form the Oberliga Südwest while the southern zone was integrated into the Oberliga Süd in 1950. Until then, the champion of the Oberliga was determined by a home-and-away final between the two group winners.
The clubs in the Oberliga Süd came from the following Gauligas:
In addition to the Oberliga Südwest, four other Oberligas were formed in Germany in the 1940s.
Next to the Oberliga Berlin, the Oberliga Südwest was the smallest of the five Oberligas. Considering this, it is still impressive that it won two German titles through the 1. FC Kaiserslautern, led by the German captain Fritz Walter, still a legend in Kaiserslautern and Germany.
Set below the Oberliga were originally the Amateurligas. In 1951 the 2. Oberliga Südwest was formed to fit in between.
With the reintroduction of the German championship in 1948, the winner and runners-up of the Oberliga Südwest went on to the finals tournament with the other Oberliga champions.
In 1950, the southern group of the Oberliga Südwest was disbanded and its clubs joined the Southern German Football Association.
From 1948 to 1951 the clubs from the Saarland did not take part in the Oberliga Südwest, playing their own competition instead. The 1. FC Saarbrücken even took part in the French second division in 1948–49, winning the division but being refused further participation.
The 1. FC Kaiserslautern, Wormatia Worms and 1. FSV Mainz 05 took part in all of the 18 seasons of the Oberliga Südwest.
In 1978, the Oberliga Südwest was reformed, as the third tier of German football, but still covering the same region. From the clubs that played the last season in 1963, the 1. FSV Mainz 05, FK Pirmasens, SV Südwest Ludwigshafen, TuS Neuendorf and Eintracht Bad Kreuznach also saw the first season of the new league.

Founding members of the Oberliga Südwest (northern group)

With the introduction of the Bundesliga, two teams from the Oberliga Südwest were admitted to the new Bundesliga. The remaining clubs went to the new Regionalliga Südwest together with six clubs from the 2nd Oberliga Südwest, one of five new second divisions.
While the admittance of the 1. FC Kaiserslautern as the most prolific team of the Oberliga and champion of 1963 was logical, the pick of the 1. FC Saarbrücken was more than dubious, having only finished 5th in the Oberliga that year and coming in below the other Saarland side, Borussia Neunkirchen.

Qualifying for the Bundesliga

The qualifying system for the new league was fairly complex. The league placings of the clubs playing in the Oberligen for the last ten seasons were taken into consideration, whereby results from 1952 to 1955 counted once, results from 1955 to 1959 counted double and results from 1959 to 1963 triple. A first-place finish was awarded 16 points, a sixteenth place one point. Appearances in the German championship or DFB-Pokal finals were also rewarded with points. The five Oberliga champions of the 1962–63 season were granted direct access to the Bundesliga. All up, 46 clubs applied for the 16 available Bundesliga slots.
Following this system, by 11 January 1963, the DFB announced nine fixed clubs for the new league and reduced the clubs eligible for the remaining seven places to 20. Clubs within the same Oberliga that were separated by less than 50 points were considered on equal rank and the 1962-63 placing was used to determine the qualified team.
Of the seven clubs from the league applying, the 1. FC Saarbrücken qualified early even though FK Pirmasens and Borussia Neunkirchen were less than ten points behind in the overall ranking and finished better in 1962–63. The rumor persists that Saarbrücken was chosen because it was from the home state of the later DFB chairman Hermann Neuberger, a very influential figure in German football. The DFB justified the choice of the 1. FCS with the fact that the club had a superior infrastructure to the other two. The 1. FC Kaiserslautern also qualified.
Points table:
RankClubPoints 1952 to 1963Place in 1962–63
11. FC Kaiserslautern 24641
21. FC Saarbrücken 13845
3FK Pirmasens 23823
4Borussia Neunkirchen 23762
5Wormatia Worms 32784
6Saar 05 Saarbrücken 32299
7Sportfreunde Saarbrücken 41606

The winners and runners-up of the Oberliga Südwest:
SeasonWinnerRunner-Up
1945–461. FC Saarbrücken1. FC Kaiserslautern
1946–471. FC KaiserslauternWormatia Worms
1947–481. FC KaiserslauternFC Rastatt 04
1948–491. FC KaiserslauternWormatia Worms
1949–501. FC KaiserslauternWormatia Worms
1950–511. FC KaiserslauternWormatia Worms
1951–521. FC SaarbrückenTuS Neuendorf
1952–531. FC KaiserslauternTuS Neuendorf
1953–541. FC KaiserslauternFK Pirmasens
1954–551. FC KaiserslauternWormatia Worms
1955–561. FC KaiserslauternTuS Neuendorf
1956–571. FC Kaiserslautern1. FC Saarbrücken
1957–58FK Pirmasens1. FC Kaiserslautern
1958–59FK PirmasensBorussia Neunkirchen
1959–60FK PirmasensBorussia Neunkirchen
1960–611. FC SaarbrückenBorussia Neunkirchen
1961–62Borussia NeunkirchenFK Pirmasens
1962–631. FC KaiserslauternBorussia Neunkirchen

The final placings and all-time table of the northern group of the Oberliga Südwest:
Club464748495051525354555657585960616263SGGFGAPoints
1. FC Kaiserslautern211111311111235441184981870579784
FK Pirmasens67443572548111323174841209707641
Wormatia Worms425222441121195147754184981152802591
1. FC Saarbrücken *132SLSLSL135332843135154181125595573
TuS Neuendorf733352234261115111210164501066719532
Borussia Neunkirchen *364SLSLSL7681065322212154181009633519
1. FSV Mainz 0510488111210871410106111251012184988021078432
Phönix Ludwigshafen75106548126674454101617418843834386
Eintracht Trier71266131011121214814131514410630852348
Saar 05 Saarbrücken *9SLSLSL9499799989912356660723337
TuRa Ludwigshafen1095127161013896812356570681324
VfR Frankenthal513985312711151111318518610297
VfR Kaiserslautern991211141213131515141312356520777269
Eintracht Bad Kreuznach1115138117101312131511326480702262
Sportfreunde Saarbrücken *SLSLSL16166106867210362488175
FV Speyer101315141312167210287447157
VfL Neustadt6578145135213292133
Ludwigshafener SC614774120200205121
FV Engers1071115155146264378116
SpVgg Andernach141181414156166257452102
BSC Oppau10141114411415627978
ASV Landau6131538610323661
SV Weisenau9131616411417236557
VfR Kirn16141639011727648
FSV Trier-Kürenz81312154949935341
SV Niederlahnstein16162605921920
SV St. Ingbert161304210616
SV Gonsenheim11132504720516
BFV Hassia Bingen9162485921314
1. FC Idar8118317411
SV Röchling Völklingen *12SLSLSL126318910

Source:
Source:
The final placings of the southern group of the Oberliga Südwest:
Club1947194819491950
SSV Reutlingen2761
SV Tübingen22
Freiburger FC513
FC Singen 04344
VfL Konstanz1485
FV Kuppenheim6
TV Ebingen7
FC Rastatt 045158
FC 08 Villingen39
FV Lahr10
Offenburger FV421211
SC Freiburg79912
VfL Schwenningen66713
VfB Friedrichshafen381014
SV Trossingen1115
SV Hechingen16
TG Biberach81011
SV Laupheim12

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