The Oberliga Niederrhein () is a German amateur football division administered by the Football Association of the Lower Rhine, one of the 21 German state football associations. Being the top flight of the Lower Rhine state association, the Oberliga is currently a level 5 division of the German football league system.
History Until 1956, a total of ten Landesliga divisions, among them three divisions of Landesliga Niederrhein were the highest amateur level in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. After the regular season, the ten Landesliga champions had to play-off for two promotion spots to 2. Oberliga West. Upon decision of the superior Western German football association, in 1956 four divisions of Verbandsliga were introduced, one of them being the Verbandsliga Niederrhein. These four divisions of Verbandsliga still exist today, with the Verbandsliga Niederrhein in 2008 renamed to Niederrheinliga and later in 2012 renamed to Oberliga Niederrhein.
The Verbandsliga Niederrhein was upon its inception the third tier of the German football league system. The league champion had to play-off the winners of the Verbandsliga Mittelrhein and the two divisions of Verbandsliga Westfalen for two promotion spots to the 2nd Oberliga West. Upon introduction of the Bundesliga in 1963, the league was set below the new Regionalliga West but remained as the third tier. With the exception of 1963 and 1974, when the league systems were changed, the champion continued to have the opportunity to win promotion. In 1964, 1970, 1976 and 1978, the league winner failed to do so; in every other season they were successful. In 1977, the runner-up was promoted as Fortuna Düsseldorf II was ineligible.
The league operated with 16 clubs throughout most of its existence, only occasionally altering the numbers to balance out promotion and relegation.
With the replacement of the Regionalliga by the 2nd Bundesliga Nord in 1974, the league champion had to gain promotion through a play-off system with the winners of the other tier-three leagues in northern Germany.
In 1978, the Amateur-Oberliga Nordrhein was formed as the third tier of football in the region compromising the area of the Verbandsliga Niederrhein and Verbandsliga Mittelrhein. One of the main reasons for this move was to provide direct promotion for the tier-three champions again. The clubs placed one to seven in the league were admitted to the new Oberliga, these being:
Olympia Bocholt Rot-Weiß Oberhausen VfB Remscheid TuS Xanten 1. FC Viersen ASV Wuppertal RSV Meerbeck
Verbandsliga Niederrhein, together with Mittelrhein, remained as a feeder league for the new Oberliga, but now as a tier-four competition. Its champion, and in some years the runners-up, were directly promoted to the Oberliga Nordrhein.
With the re-introduction of the Regionalligen in 1994, the league slipped to tier five but remained unchanged otherwise.
From 2008, with the introduction of the 3rd Liga, the Verbandsliga Niederrhein was downgraded to the sixth tier. The league above it was then the new NRW-Liga, a merger of the Oberligen Nordrhein and Westfalen. The champion of the Verbandsliga continued to be directly promoted but since there were now four Verbandsligen below the Oberliga, the runners-up did not have the option of promotion unless the league winner declined.
The NRW-Liga existed for only for seasons before it was disbanded again in the wake of the Regionalliga West becoming a league for clubs from North Rhine-Westphalia only. While the Oberliga Westfalen was established again in one half of the state the regions of Lower Rhine and Middle Rhine opted to elevate the Niederrheinliga and Mittelrheinliga to Oberliga status instead of reforming the Oberliga Nordrhein.
League champions Season Club 1956–57VfL Benrath 1957–58TuS Lintfort1958–59TuS Duisburg 48/991959–60BV Osterfeld1960–61SV Neukirchen1961–62FV Duisburg 08 1962–63Homberger SV 1963–64Homberger SV 1964–65VfB Bottrop 1965–66VfR Neuß 1966–67VfB Bottrop 1967–68Eintracht Duisburg1968–69SSVg Velbert1969–70Sterkrade 06/07 1970–71FC Bayer 05 Uerdingen1971–721. FC Mülheim-Styrum1972–73Union Solingen 1973–74VfB Remscheid1974–75Union Solingen1975–761. FC Bocholt1976–77Fortuna Düsseldorf II1977–78Olympia Bocholt1978–79FC Bayer 05 Uerdingen II Season Club1979–80Spfr. Hamborn 071980–81VfB Bottrop 1981–82Viktoria Goch1982–831. FC Viersen1983–84VfL Rhede 1984–85Spfr. Hamborn 07 1985–86VfB Langenfeld1986–87Rheydter SV 1987–88SV Wermelskirchen1988–89Sportfreunde Katernberg1989–90VfB Homberg1990–91Preußen Krefeld1991–921. FC Wülfrath1992–93Rot-Weiß Oberhausen1993–94Union Solingen1994–95Fortuna Düsseldorf II1995–96SV Straelen 1996–97Borussia Mönchengladbach II1997–98Adler Osterfeld1998–99MSV Duisburg II1999–2000SSVg Velbert2000–01Borussia Wuppertal2001–02Union Solingen Season Club2002–031. FC Kleve2003–04TuRU Düsseldorf2004–05VfB Speldorf2005–06SV Straelen2006–07Fortuna Düsseldorf II2007–08Rot-Weiß Essen II2008–09VfB Speldorf2009–10VfB Homberg2010–11KFC Uerdingen 052011–12FC Kray2012–13KFC Uerdingen 052013–14SV Hönnepel-Niedermörmter2014–15SSVg Velbert2015–16Wuppertaler SV2016–17KFC Uerdingen 052017–18SV Straelen2018–19VfB Homberg2019–20SV Straelen2020–21None2021–221. FC Bocholt2022–23SSVg Velbert2023–24Sportfreunde Baumberg2024–25SSVg Velbert Source:
The 2013–14 champions SV Hönnepel-Niedermörmter declined promotion; FC Kray were promoted instead. The 2020–21 season was curtailed owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. There was no champion or promotion.
Clubs in the Oberliga Niederrhein since 2012 The final league placings of all clubs in the league since receiving Oberliga status in 2012:Oberliga Niederrhein tables and results Weltfussball.de Club 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Wuppertaler SV R 3 2 1 R R R R R R R R R 1. FC Bocholt 6 12 3 10 3 5 1 1 R R R KFC Uerdingen 05 1 R R 2 1 R 3L 3L 3L R 6 3 R SSVg Velbert R R 1 R 5 8 5 4 2 3 1 R 1 SpVg Schonnebeck 5 2 2 9 3 12 9 7 2 2 Schwarz-Weiß Essen 6 7 12 15 13 6 13 10 9 10 5 4 3 DJK Teutonia/SC St. Tönis 8 15 14 10 4 VfB Homberg 10 9 18 7 3 1 R R R 12 5 5 VfB 03 Hilden 13 14 14 10 13 10 8 15 2 2 6 6 FC Büderich 02 9 7 SV Sonsbeck 8 16 15 13 8 8 Germania Ratingen 5 15 3 11 8 7 6 14 4 5 4 7 9 TSV Meerbusch 15 11 10 9 15 7 6 14 11 8 14 10 SV Biemenhorst 11 1. FC Monheim 11 4 2 11 8 17 12 1. FC Kleve 12 11 5 7 15 13 13 Sportfreunde Baumberg 12 14 16 12 4 2 7 3 4 9 1 14 SC Union Nettetal 14 16 16 13 11 11 15 Sportfreunde Niederwenigern 18 19 21 16 Mülheimer FC 97 12 17 TVD Velbert 13 10 6 3 15 18 DJK Adler Union Frintrop 16 Hamborn 07 20 10 17 SV 19 Straelen 1 R 1 R R R MSV Düsseldorf 16 Cronenberger SC 17 14 16 17 18 17 18 TuRu Düsseldorf 2 8 9 4 11 14 8 9 17 12 19 FC Kray R 2 R R 18 12 20 16 20 FSV Duisburg 18 22 18 21 TV Jahn Hiesfeld 9 4 7 3 6 5 16 21 14 SpVgg Sterkrade-Nord 6 19 SC Düsseldorf-West 6 9 9 15 7 20 SC Velbert 11 15 13 22 1. FC Mönchengladbach 16 23 23 VfB Speldorf 11 18 12 17 VfR Krefeld-Fischeln 19 8 7 4 15 FSV Vohwinkel 17 Düsseldorfer SC 99 18 SC Kapellen-Erft 4 10 13 8 16 SV Hönnepel-Niedermörmter 14 1 4 10 17 MSV Duisburg II R 5 5 13 Rot-Weiß Oberhausen II 13 6 11 17 TV Kalkum-Wittlaer 18 VdS Nievenheim 17 Rot-Weiß Essen II 12 VfL Rhede 3 17 SV Uedesheim 16 19 PSV Wesel-Lackhausen 20 Wuppertaler SV II 7 1. FC Wülfrath 18
Key Symbol Key B Bundesliga 2B2. Bundesliga 3L 3. Liga RRegionalliga West 1 League championsPlaceLeagueBlankPlayed at a league level below this league
Founding members of the league From the Landesliga Gruppe 1: TSV Eller 04 VfL Benrath Grün-Weiß Viersen SpVgg Gräfrath TuRU Düsseldorf
From the Landesliga Gruppe 2: FV Duisburg 08 TuS Lintfort SpVgg Hochheide Homberger SV SC Kleve
From the Landesliga Gruppe 3: TuS Duisburg 48/99 Sterkrade 06/07 BV Osterfeld 1. FC Mülheim-Styrum SV Borbeck TSG Karnap
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. 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 Niederrhein Football Association (FVN)