Westkreis-Liga
Encyclopedia
| Westkreis-Liga |
|---|
| Founded |
| 1908 |
| Disbanded |
| 1918 |
| Nation |
 German Empire The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German... |
 |
| State States of Germany Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries... |
| Alsace-Lorraine Alsace-Lorraine The Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine was a territory created by the German Empire in 1871 after it annexed most of Alsace and the Moselle region of Lorraine following its victory in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and east... |
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| Grand Duchy of Baden Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden was a historical state in the southwest of Germany, on the east bank of the Rhine. It existed between 1806 and 1918.-History:... |
| Rhine Province Rhine Province The Rhine Province , also known as Rhenish Prussia or synonymous to the Rhineland , was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822-1946. It was created from the provinces of the Lower Rhine and Jülich-Cleves-Berg... |
| Number of Seasons |
| 10 |
| Replaced by |
| Kreisliga Pfalz Kreisliga Pfalz The Kreisliga Pfalz was the highest association football league in the Bavarian region of Palatinate from 1919 to 1923... |
| Kreisliga Saar Kreisliga Saar The Kreisliga Saar was the highest association football league in the German state of Saarland and parts of the Bavarian region of Palatinate and the Prussian Rhine Province from 1919 to 1923... |
| Kreisliga Hessen Kreisliga Hessen The Kreisliga Hessen was the highest association football league in parts of the German state of Hesse and parts of the Bavarian region of Palatinate as well as the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau from 1919 to 1923... |
| Level on Pyramid |
| Level 1 German football league system The German football league system, or league pyramid, refers to a series of hierarchically interconnected leagues for association football clubs in Germany that consists of over 2,300 men's divisions, in which all leagues are bound together by the principle of promotion and relegation... |
| Last Champions 1917-18 |
| FC Phönix Mannheim |
The Westkreis-Liga (English: Western district league) was the highest association football league in the Bavarian
Kingdom of Bavaria
The Kingdom of Bavaria was a German state that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Bavarian Elector Maximilian IV Joseph of the House of Wittelsbach became the first King of Bavaria in 1806 as Maximilian I Joseph. The monarchy would remain held by the Wittelsbachs until the kingdom's dissolution in 1918...
region of Palatinate, the northern parts of the Grand Duchy of Baden
Grand Duchy of Baden
The Grand Duchy of Baden was a historical state in the southwest of Germany, on the east bank of the Rhine. It existed between 1806 and 1918.-History:...
, the southern parts of the Prussian
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
Rhine Province
Rhine Province
The Rhine Province , also known as Rhenish Prussia or synonymous to the Rhineland , was the westernmost province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia, within the German Reich, from 1822-1946. It was created from the provinces of the Lower Rhine and Jülich-Cleves-Berg...
and parts of Lorraine
Lorraine (région)
Lorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...
from 1908 to 1918. The league was disbanded with the introduction of the Kreisliga Pfalz
Kreisliga Pfalz
The Kreisliga Pfalz was the highest association football league in the Bavarian region of Palatinate from 1919 to 1923...
, Kreisliga Saar
Kreisliga Saar
The Kreisliga Saar was the highest association football league in the German state of Saarland and parts of the Bavarian region of Palatinate and the Prussian Rhine Province from 1919 to 1923...
and Kreisliga Hessen
Kreisliga Hessen
The Kreisliga Hessen was the highest association football league in parts of the German state of Hesse and parts of the Bavarian region of Palatinate as well as the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau from 1919 to 1923...
in 1919.
History
The league was formed in a move to improve the organisation of football in Southern Germany in the early 1900s. Within the structure of the Southern German football championshipSouthern German football championship
The Southern German football championship was the highest association football competition in the South of Germany, established in 1898...
, four regional leagues were gradually established from 1908, these being:
- Ostkreis-Liga, covering Bavaria
- Nordkreis-LigaNordkreis-LigaThe Nordkreis-Liga was the highest association football league in the German Grand Duchy of Hesse and the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau from 1909 to 1918...
, covering Hesse - Südkreis-LigaSüdkreis-LigaThe Südkreis-Liga was the highest association football league in the German Kingdom of Württemberg, Grand Duchy of Baden, the Province of Hohenzollern and Alsace-Lorraine from 1908 to 1918...
, covering Württemberg, Baden and Alsace - Westkreis-Liga, covering the Palatinate, Lorraine and the southern Rhine Province
Until then, regional leagues had existed which send their champions to the Kreis finals and, from there, the winners went on to the Southern and German championships.
In 1908, the Westkreis-Liga was established, consisting of seven clubs from the Palatinate, playing a home-and-away season, these clubs being:
- FC 1900 Kaiserlautern
- FC Pfalz Ludwigshafen
- Palatia Kaiserslautern
- Ludwigshafener FG 03
- Germania Ludwigshafen
- Revida Ludwigshafen
- Bavaria Kaiserslautern
FC 1900 Kaiserlautern, the first league champion, qualified thereby for the Southern German championship, where it did not impress, finishing last with only one point out of six games.
In its second year, the league expanded to nine nine clubs, now spanning a wider area and including clubs from Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
and Darmstadt
Darmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
. In 1909-10, the league played in an unchanged format, but was reduced to eight clubs for the next season, a format it maintained until 1914.
In the last pre-First World War season, 1913–14, with the SpVgg Metz, a club from Lorraine joined the league.
The war starting in August 1914 meant an end to the league, no championship was played in 1914-15 at all. In the following three seasons, regional leagues operated, like before 1908. A Westkreis championship as well as a Southern German one was played, but no national title games were held.
With the end of the war in November 1918, football came to a halt once more. Lorraine ceased to be a part of Germany and the German football league system
German football league system
The German football league system, or league pyramid, refers to a series of hierarchically interconnected leagues for association football clubs in Germany that consists of over 2,300 men's divisions, in which all leagues are bound together by the principle of promotion and relegation...
, being awarded to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. New leagues started to operate from 1919 and in the parts of the Westkreis still with Germany, the Kreisliga Pfalz
Kreisliga Pfalz
The Kreisliga Pfalz was the highest association football league in the Bavarian region of Palatinate from 1919 to 1923...
, Kreisliga Saar
Kreisliga Saar
The Kreisliga Saar was the highest association football league in the German state of Saarland and parts of the Bavarian region of Palatinate and the Prussian Rhine Province from 1919 to 1923...
and Kreisliga Hessen
Kreisliga Hessen
The Kreisliga Hessen was the highest association football league in parts of the German state of Hesse and parts of the Bavarian region of Palatinate as well as the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau from 1919 to 1923...
were formed.
National success
The Westkreis was one of the weaker regions as football was concerned in this era, taking out no Southern German championships at the time and never qualifying for the German championship.Southern German championship
Qualified teams and their success:- 1909: FC 1900 Kaiserlautern, 4th
- 1910: Mannheimer FG Union 97, 3rd
- 1911: Mannheimer FG Union 97, 3rd
- 1912: FC Phönix Mannheim, Runners-up
- 1913: VfR Mannheim, 3rd
- 1914: VfR Mannheim, 4th
- 1916: FC Pfalz Ludwigshafen, Runners-up
- 1917: FC Pfalz Ludwigshafen, 4th
- 1918: FC Phönix Mannheim, Runners-up
Winners and runners-up of the Westkreis-Liga and championship
| Season | Winner | Runner-Up |
| 1908-09 | FC 1900 Kaiserlautern | FC Pfalz Ludwigshafen |
| 1909-10 | Mannheimer FG Union 97 | FV Kaiserslautern |
| 1910-11 | Mannheimer FG Union 97 | Mannheimer FC Viktoria 97 |
| 1911-12 | FC Phönix Mannheim | FV Kaiserslautern |
| 1912-13 | VfR Mannheim | FC Phönix Mannheim |
| 1913-14 | VfR Mannheim | FC Phönix Mannheim |
| 1914-15 | not held | |
| 1915-16 | FC Pfalz Ludwigshafen | FC Phönix Mannheim |
| 1916-17 | FC Pfalz Ludwigshafen | FC Phönix Mannheim |
| 1917-18 | FC Phönix Mannheim | FC Alemannia Worms |
| 1918-19 | not held | |
Placings in the Westkreis-Liga 1908-14
| Club | 1909 | 1910 | 1911 | 1912 | 1913 | 1914 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FC 1900 Kaiserlautern 1 | 1 | |||||
| FC Pfalz Ludwigshafen | 2 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 |
| Palatia Kaiserslautern 1 | 3 | |||||
| Ludwigshafener FG 03 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 6 |
| Germania Ludwigshafen | 5 | 9 | 9 | 7 | ||
| Revida Ludwigshafen | 6 | |||||
| Bavaria Kaiserslautern 1 | 7 | |||||
| Mannheimer FG Union 97 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| FV Kaiserslautern 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 | |
| FC Phönix Mannheim | 3 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 2 | |
| Union VfB Mannheim 97 | 4 | 5 | ||||
| FC Olympia Darmstadt | 5 | 8 | 6 | 8 | ||
| Mannheimer FC Viktoria 97 2 | 6 | 2 | ||||
| VfR Mannheim VfR Mannheim VfR Mannheim is a German association football club based in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg formed in 1911 out of the fusion of Mannheimer FG 1896, Mannheimer FG 1897 Union, and FC Viktoria 1897 Mannheim... |
3 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Phönix Ludwigshafen | 8 | 4 | 3 | |||
| Borussia Neunkirchen Borussia Neunkirchen Borussia VfB Neunkirchen is a German association football club based in Neunkirchen, Saarland. The club SC Borussia Neunkirchen was founded out of the 1907 merger of FC 1905 Borussia and SC Neunkirchen.-History:... |
7 | 7 | ||||
| SpVgg Metz 3 | 8 | |||||
- 1 In 1909, FC 1900 merged with FC Palatia and FC Bavaria to form FV Kaiserslautern. In 1929, this club merged with SV Phönix to form 1. FC Kaiserslautern1. FC Kaiserslautern1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern, also known as 1. FCK, FCK or simply Kaiserslautern, is a German association football club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. On 2 June 1900, Germania 1896 and FG Kaiserslautern merged to create FC 1900...
. - 2 In 1911, FG Union 97 merged with FC Viktoria 97 and FG 1896 to form VfR MannheimVfR MannheimVfR Mannheim is a German association football club based in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg formed in 1911 out of the fusion of Mannheimer FG 1896, Mannheimer FG 1897 Union, and FC Viktoria 1897 Mannheim...
. - 3 SpVgg Metz (sometimes SV Metz) players formed Cercle Athlétique Messin in 1919, which evolved to become FC MetzFC MetzFootball Club de Metz, commonly referred to as simply Metz , is a French association football club based in Metz. The club was formed in 1932 and has spent most of its history in the Ligue 1, though they currently play in Ligue 2, the second level in French football league system. Metz plays its...
in 1932.
Sources
- Fussball-Jahrbuch Deutschland (8 vol.), Tables and results of the German tier-one leagues 1919-33, publisher: DSFS
- Kicker Almanach, The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937, published by the Kicker Sports MagazineKicker (sports magazine)kicker Sportmagazin is Germany's leading sports magazine and is focused primarily on football. The magazine was founded in 1920 by German football pioneer Walther Bensemann and is published twice a week, usually Monday and Thursday, in Nuremberg...
- Süddeutschlands Fussballgeschichte in Tabellenform 1897-1988 History of Southern German football in tables, publisher & author: Ludolf Hyll
External links
The Gauligas Das Deutsche Fussball Archiv German league tables 1892-1933 Hirschi's Fussball seiten- Germany - Championships 1902-1945 at RSSSF.com