The Verbandsliga Südwest is a German amateur football division administered by the Southwest German Football Association, one of the 21 German state football associations. Being the top flight of the Southwestern state association, the Verbandsliga is a level 6 division of the German football league system.

Overview The Amateurliga Südwest was formed in 1952 in the southern half of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Before its inception, three separate leagues operated in the area as the highest level of play. The league was a feeder league to the 2. Oberliga Südwest. From 1952 until the establishment of the Oberliga Südwest in 1978, it was the third tier of the football league system.

The winner of the Amateurliga Südwest was not automatically promoted to its superior league but rather had to take part in a promotion play-off. The champion would have to compete with the winners of the Amateurligen Saarland and Rheinland.

Until 1933, the region covered by the Southwest FA was politically part of two other German states during the Weimar Republic era. The south, the Palatinate (Pfalz) region, was part of Bavaria and the north, the Rhenish Hesse (Rheinhessen) region, was part of Hesse. This explains the seemingly odd fact that there are two clubs in the Südwest region named "Bavaria", FC Bavaria Wörth and FC Bavaria Ebernburg. From 1933 to 1945, most of the region was part of the Gau Saar-Palatinate. After the war, these regions were incorporated into the new state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The separation of these areas from their original states resulted from the outcome of the Second World War when they became part of the French occupation zone, while Hessen and Bavaria were in the US zone.

The league was established in 1952 with sixteen teams, the winner gaining promotion to the 2nd Oberliga Südwest. The founder members were:

BSC Oppau VfR Friesenheim FSV Schifferstadt Phönix Bellheim SV Alsenborn TuS Hochspeyer SpVgg Idar Palatia Böhl SC Oberstein 08 ESC West-Kaiserslautern SpVgg Ingelheim SV Gonsenheim Fontana Finthen FC Sobernheim SG Waldfischbach SV Mundenheim

With the introduction of the Bundesliga in 1963 the Amateurliga was placed below the new Regionalliga Südwest but still retained its third-tier status. It continued to do so after the introduction of the 2nd Bundesliga Süd in 1974.

The 1. FC Kaiserslautern II holds the record for years in the Amateurliga, having spent 21 continuous seasons in it from 1957 to 1978.

The Amateurliga Südwest was renamed in 1978, now becoming the Verbandsliga Südwest. At the same time as this, the Oberliga Südwest was reformed, now as the third tier of the league system. The top five teams out of the Amateurliga went to the new Oberliga while the teams from place 6 to 16 found themselves in the Verbandsliga. The bottom four teams were relegated. The new Verbandsliga was now the fourth tier of the league system.

The winner of the Verbandsliga Südwest, like the winners of the Saarlandliga and Rheinlandliga gains direct promotion to the Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar, formerly the Oberliga Südwest. The runners-up will only get a chance for promotion when there is additional spots to fill in the Oberliga, like 1994 when the Regionalligen were introduced and Hassia Bingen was promoted.

There is room for misunderstanding in the existence of an Oberliga and a Verbandsliga Südwest. While the Oberliga covers the two states of Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate, the Verbandsliga covers only the southern half of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Feeder Leagues to the Verbandsliga Südwest

Landesliga Südwest-Ost Landesliga Südwest-West

League champions The league champions:Historic German football league tables Das Deutsche Fussball Archiv. Retrieved 9 June 2014

Season Club1952–53BSC Oppau1953–54SpVgg Weisenau1954–55FC Sobernheim1955–56Normannia Pfiffigheim1956–57Hassia Bingen1957–58SC Ludwigshafen1958–59Hassia Bingen1959–601. FC Kaiserslautern II1960–61FC Sobernheim1961–62Phönix Bellheim1962–63ASV Landau1963–64Eintracht Kreuznach1964–65SV Alsenborn1965–66VfR Kaiserslautern1966–67SC Ludwigshafen1967–681. FC Kaiserslautern II1968–69ASV Landau1969–70VfR Frankenthal1970–71Phönix Bellheim1971–72Eintracht Kreuznach1972–73Eintracht Kreuznach1973–74FK Clausen1974–75Eintracht Kreuznach1975–76VfR Wormatia Worms

Season Club1976–77VfR Wormatia Worms1977–78FSV Mainz 051978–79Viktoria Herxheim1979–80TuS Landstuhl1980–81FK Clausen1981–82VfL Neustadt1982–831. FC Kaiserslautern II1983–84SC Birkenfeld1984–85FK Clausen1985–86SV Edenkoben1986–87Viktoria Herxheim1987–88SV Edenkoben1988–89SV Geinsheim1989–90SC Hauenstein1990–91Viktoria Herxheim1991–92TSG Pfeddersheim1992–93SC Hauenstein1993–941. FC Kaiserslautern II1994–95SC Idar-Oberstein1995–96RW Olympia Alzey1996–97FK Pirmasens1997–98VfR Wormatia Worms1998–991. FSV Mainz 05 II1999–2000Eintracht Bad Kreuznach

Season Club2000–01SpVgg Ingelheim2001–02SV Weingarten2002–03Hassia Bingen2003–04TuS Mechtersheim2004–05FSV Oggersheim2005–06TuS Hohenecken2006–07SC Idar-Oberstein2007–08SV Niederauerbach2008–09BFV Hassia Bingen2009–10SV Gonsenheim2010–11Arminia Ludwigshafen2011–12TSG Pfeddersheim2012–13Alemannia Waldalgesheim2013–14TSV Schott Mainz2014–15FK Pirmasens II2015–16TuS Mechtersheim2016–17FV Dudenhofen2017–18Arminia Ludwigshafen2018–19SV Gonsenheim2019–20Alemannia Waldagesheim2020–21Season curtailed and annulled2021–22SV Morlautern2022–23VfR Baumholder2023–24SC Idar-Oberstein

bold denotes club gained promotion. In 1960, FSV Schifferstadt was promoted as runners-up since Kaiserslautern's reserve team was ineligible for promotion. For the same reason, FV Speyer was promoted in 1968. In 1994 and 2018, the runner-up Hassia Bingen was also promoted. In 2016 and 2019, the runners-up SV Morlautern and FV Dudenhofen were promoted respectively after play-offs.

References

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

External links Das deutsche Fussball Archiv Historic German league tables