The Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar, formerly the Oberliga Südwest, is the highest regional football league for the Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland states of Germany, organized by the Southwestern Regional Football Association. It is one of twelve Oberligas in German football, the fifth tier of the German football league system. Until the introduction of the 3. Liga in 2008 it was the fourth tier of the league system. Before the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994, it was the third tier.

From January 1946 up until the creation of the Bundesliga in 1963, the Oberliga Südwest was one of the five highest divisions in Germany. The current league originates from 1978.

History The Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar is one of fourteen Oberligas in Germany. The league is a combination of the regional Rhineland, Saarland and Southwest Football Associations, the next league up is Regionalliga Südwest. It was formed in 1978 out of the top teams of the Amateurligas Rheinland, Saarland and Südwest. Until 2008, when the 3. Liga was introduced, the Oberliga was the fourth tier of the league system.

From 2012 onwards, the league became a feeder league to the new Regionalliga Südwest, together with the Hessenliga and the Oberliga Baden-Württemberg. The previous league the Oberliga Südwest was set below at, the Regionalliga West, from then on only accommodate clubs from Northrhine-Westphalia.

At the end of the 2011–12 season the league was also renamed from Oberliga Südwest to Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar, with Oddset being the official name sponsor of the league.

Rules Nominally 18 teams compete for the Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar title. Teams play each other twice, once at home and once away. At the end of the season the champion used to be promoted into either the Regionalliga Süd or the Regionalliga Nord, later the Regionalliga West, depending on their geographical location. From 2008, the league winner was promoted to the Regionalliga West. In the 2007–08 season, the teams finishing from 2nd to 4th were also promoted.

If the team that wins the league or is on a promotion spot at the end of the season fails to have the correct license then the team who finishes next would be promoted instead of them.

Teams promoted to the new Regionalliga in 2008: 1. FSV Mainz 05 II 1. FC Kaiserslautern II Wormatia Worms Eintracht Trier

Promotion The winner of the Oberliga Südwest was originally directly promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga Süd. After introduction of the unified 2nd Bundesliga in 1981, the champion had to take part in a promotion play-off. With the introduction of the Regionalliga in 1994 the league winners were again directly promoted. However, this league was demoted to fourth tier of German football after 2008.

Relegation The bottom three clubs of the Oberliga will be relegated to the Verbandsliga of their football association (Verband). These are: Verbandsliga Südwest Saarlandliga Rheinlandliga

In turn, the Verbandsliga champions will gain entry to the Oberliga. In more recent history the runners-up of the three Verbandsligas were given the opportunity to compete in a promotion round for one more spot in the Oberliga in the following season.

Previous winners The league champions:

Season Club1978–79Röchling Völklingen1979–80Borussia Neunkirchen1980–811. FSV Mainz 051981–82FC Homburg1982–831. FC Saarbrücken1983–84FC Homburg1984–85FSV Salmrohr1985–86Wormatia Worms1986–87Eintracht Trier1987–881. FSV Mainz 051988–89SV Edenkoben1989–901. FSV Mainz 051990–91Borussia Neunkirchen1991–92FSV Salmrohr1992–93Eintracht Trier1993–94Eintracht Trier1994–951. FC Kaiserslautern II1995–96SV Elversberg1996–971. FC Kaiserslautern II1997–98SV Elversberg1998–99FK Pirmasens1999–2000Borussia Neunkirchen2000–011. FC Kaiserslautern II

Season Club2001–02Borussia Neunkirchen2002–031. FSV Mainz 05 II2003–04TuS Koblenz2004–05Borussia Neunkirchen2005–06FK Pirmasens2006–07FSV Oggersheim2007–081. FSV Mainz 05 II2008–091. FC Saarbrücken2009–10FC 08 Homburg2010–11SC Idar-Oberstein2011–12FC 08 Homburg2012–13SVN Zweibrücken2013–14FK Pirmasens2014–15Saar 05 Saarbrücken2015–16TuS Koblenz2016–17TSV Schott Mainz2017–18FC 08 Homburg2018–19TuS Rot-Weiß Koblenz2019–20TSV Schott Mainz2020–21None; season curtailed2021–22Wormatia Worms2022–23TSV Schott Mainz2023–24Eintracht Trier2024–25TSV Schott Mainz

League placings

The complete list of clubs and placings in the league while operating as the tier five Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar and feeding the Regionalliga Südwest (2012–present):

Club131415161718192022232425 FC 08 Homburg R R R R R 1 R R R R R R SV Eintracht Trier 05 R R R R R4652 R 1 R TSV Schott Mainz 613 1 R7 1 R 1 R 1 1. FC Kaiserslautern II R R R R R39214742 FK Pirmasens 8 1 R R R2 R R R333 TuS Koblenz 1 R R 1 R R44122 R4 Wormatia Worms R R R R R R R7 1 R55 SV Gonsenheim 14941191587426 FV Engers 07 1351165107 TuS/FC Rot-Weiß Koblenz 57 1 R R R68 Arminia Ludwigshafen 641112161314311119 FC Karbach 361012151091210 FV Diefflen 1610514998911 SC Idar-Oberstein R614111712 Eisbachtaler Sportfreunde 18152013 FV Eppelborn 192014 SV Auersmacher10715 TuS Mechtersheim 71315498161161316 SV Viktoria Herxheim 17 SV Morlautern 121614818 FC Cosmos Koblenz 14 SV Alemannia Waldalgesheim 1781515 FV Dudenhofen 14651316 VfR Baumholder 17 Spvgg Quierscheid 18 TSG Pfeddersheim 117361112310131219 FC Bitburg 20 FC Hertha Wiesbach 8105381013416 FSV Jägersburg 8146151817 Ahrweiler BC18 TuS Kirchberg19 SG 2000 Mülheim-Karlich 1721 SV Elversberg II 15591631622 FSV Salmrohr 2279151719 BFV Hassia Bingen 111721 TSV Emmelshausen 1622 FC Speyer 09 23 SV Röchling Völklingen 1014572 R21224 VfB Dillingen 18 SV Saar 05 Saarbrücken 1 R718 FK Pirmasens II 158 SC Hauenstein 332213 Borussia Neunkirchen 51512417 SpVgg Burgbrohl 10131418 SpVgg EGC Wirges 16810 SV Mehring 131617 SVN Zweibrücken 1 R R18 1. FC Saarbrücken II 41117 SG Betzdorf 91218 SV Roßbach/Verscheid 1218 SC Halberg-Brebach 17 Sportfreunde Köllerbach 18

Northern club21 SV Eintracht Trier 051 1. FC Kaiserslautern II2 BFV Hassia Bingen 3 Alemannia Waldalgesheim 4 TuS Koblenz 5 SV Gonsenheim 6 FV Engers 07 7 SG 2000 Mülheim-Karlich 8 FC Karbach 9 FSV Salmrohr 10 Eisbachtaler Spfr. 11 TSV Emmelshausen 12 Southern club21 Wormatia Worms 1 FV Dudenhofen 2 FV Diefflen 3 Arminia Ludwigshafen 4 FSV Jägersburg 5 SV Elversberg II 6 SV Röchling Völklingen 7 TSG Pfeddersheim 8 FC Hertha Wiesbach 9 FC Speyer 09 10 TuS Mechtersheim 11 FV Eppelborn 12

Key Symbol Key B Bundesliga 2B 2. Bundesliga 3L 3. Liga R Regionalliga West/Südwest Regionalliga Süd Regionalliga West Regionalliga Südwest 1 League champions Place League Blank Played at a league level below this league

References

Sources Deutschlands Fußball in Zahlen, An annual publication with tables and results from the Bundesliga to Verbandsliga/Landesliga. DSFS. Kicker Almanach, The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937. Kicker Sports Magazine. Süddeutschlands Fußballgeschichte in Tabellenform 1897-1988 History of Southern German football in tables, by Ludolf Hyll Die Deutsche Liga-Chronik 1945-2005 History of German football from 1945 to 2005 in tables. DSFS. 2006.

External links Das deutsche Fussball Archiv Historic German league tables Weltfussball.de Round-by-round results and tables of the Oberliga Südwest from 1994 onwards The Southwest Football Association (SWFV)