The Bremen-Liga, sometimes also referred to as Oberliga Bremen, is a fifth tier of the German football league system and the highest league in the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. It is one of fourteen Oberligas in German football, the fifth tier of the German football league system.
Overview 1947–1963 The league was formed in 1947 as Amateurliga Bremen by thirteen clubs, including four from outside the city-state, in the newly recreated state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen which was then part of the US occupation zone in Germany.
The Free Hanseatic City of Bremen and its football association are the smallest in Germany. The state is actually separated in two halves, the cities of Bremen and Bremerhaven are split by the state of Lower Saxony.
From the start, the Amateurliga Bremen was a feeder league to the Oberliga Nord which its champion had the option of promotion to. Promotion had to be achieved through a play-off with teams from the Amateurligas of Lower Saxony, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. As such, the league was the second tier of the northern German league system.
Promotion to the Oberliga however, became hard to archive for the Bremen champion which only succeeded in 1948 and 1961. This resulted however in a number of back-to-back championships, an oddity for leagues at this level in Germany where direct promotion is the standard.
After its second season, the four clubs from Lower Saxony left the league to rejoin their state's league system. To this day, the Bremen league system however continues to host a few clubs from the neighboring state, usually clubs based right at the border of Bremen.
The league was expanded to fourteen clubs in its third season, compensating for the lost clubs from Lower Saxony by promoting more local clubs. For the coming seasons, the league stuck mostly with a strength of fifteen clubs.
1963–1974 In 1963, with the introduction of the Bundesliga, the disbanding of the Oberliga Nord and the formation of the Regionalliga Nord, the league fell to tier three, but remained unchanged otherwise, with fifteen clubs as its strength. The champion of Bremen continued to have to play-off for promotion, now to the Regionalliga, with the same opposition as before and the same limited success.
The league was increased in size to sixteen clubs in 1973.
1974–1994 After the 1973–74 season, the Regionalliga Nord was disbanded in favor of the 2. Bundesliga Nord. The new Oberliga Nord was now introduced in northern Germany, as the third tier of the league system, below the 2nd Bundesliga. This meant for the Amateurliga a slip to tier four. The top two teams of the league were however promoted to the new Oberliga and the Amateurliga was renamed Verbandsliga Bremen. The system for promotion from the Verbandsliga remained mostly unchanged but the success rate for the clubs from Bremen greatly improved.
1994–2008 In 1994, the Regionalliga Nord was re-established, now as the third tier of the league system. The Oberliga Nord was in turn replaced by two parallel Oberligas, Niedersachsen/Bremen and Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein. For the Verbandsliga Bremen, this meant a further slip, now to tier five, but also, for the first time in its history, direct promotion for the league champion.
The 1999–2000 season saw another league system change with the reduction of numbers of Regionalligas, this however had only one effect on the Verbandsliga, no promotion was available this year.
In 2004, it was decided to restore the Oberliga Nord in favor of the two separate Oberligas.
The 2006–07 league winner and runner-up, Bremer SV and FC Bremerhaven, did not receive an Oberliga licence and were not promoted.
2008 onwards At the end of the 2007–08 season, the new 3. Liga was established and the Oberliga Nord disbanded, again. The four northern German states then were the only region without an Oberliga and the five Verbandsligen sit right below the Regionalliga Nord, parallel to the two NOFV-Oberligen. At the end of the 2007–08 season, the five winners of the northern Verbandsligas played with the sixth placed team from the Oberliga Nord for one last spot in the Regionalliga. The FC Bremerhaven was however refused a Regionalliga licence and therefore not permitted to take part in the promotion round, being replaced by the FC Oberneuland instead.2007-08 Oberliga Nord at Fussball.de (in German). Retrieved 14 June 2018.
In the future seasons, promotion for the Bremen champion will only be available through a set of play-off matches with the league winners from Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. These three teams will compete for one promotion spot to the Regionalliga.
The Verbandsliga Bremen will however maintain its status as a tier five league. It is also the only league on this level with a single feeder league, the Landesliga Bremen, below it. In the 2007–08 season, two clubs from the Verbandsliga will be relegated to the Landesliga and two clubs promoted from there.
In the 2008–09 season, three teams from Bremen played above the Verbandsliga level, these being:
SV Werder Bremen (Bundesliga) SV Werder Bremen II (3. Liga) FC Oberneuland (Regionalliga Nord)
While this seems a small number, one has to consider that the Bremen FA only consists of 80 clubs.
From the 2008–09 season, the league effectively has the status of an Oberliga and is referred to as such on some websites while the DFB list the league as Bremen-Liga as its new official name.Die Fussballecke - Bremen-Liga results and tables of the 2007–08 league season. Retrieved 7 July 2008.Weltfussball.de - Oberliga Bremen results and tables of the 2007–08 league season. Retrieved 7 July 2008.
Position of the Bremen-Liga in the league system YearsTierPromotion to1947–1963IIOberliga Nord1963–1974IIIRegionalliga Nord1974–1994IVOberliga Nord1994–2004VOberliga Niedersachsen/Bremen2004–2008VOberliga Nord2008–VRegionalliga Nord Source:
Founding members of the Amateurliga Bremen Thirteen clubs, four from Niedersachsen and the other nine from Bremen, formed the league in 1947, these clubs being:
TuS Bremerhaven 93 Blumenthaler SV SV Hemelingen ATS Bremerhaven Komet Bremen Hastedter TSV VfL Visselhövede, club based in Lower Saxony SSV Delmenhorst, club based in Lower Saxony Cuxhavener SV, club based in Lower Saxony TuRa Bremen TV Arsten Delmenhorster BV, club based in Lower Saxony TSV Bassum Source:
Winners of the Bremen–Liga
Season Club1947–48TuS Bremerhaven 931948–49SV Hemelingen1949–50Blumenthaler SV1950–51Blumenthaler SV1951–52Blumenthaler SV1952–53ATSV 1860 Bremen1953–54ATSV 1860 Bremen1954–55ATSV 1860 Bremen1955–56Bremer SV1956–57SV Werder Bremen II1957–58Bremer SV1958–59Blumenthaler SV1959–60Polizei SV Bremen1960–61Bremer SV1961–62SV Werder Bremen II1962–63AGSV Bremen1963–64Blumenthaler SV1964–65Bremer SV1965–66Eintracht Bremen1966–67SV Werder Bremen II1967–68SV Werder Bremen II1968–69TuS Bremerhaven 93 II1969–70Polizei SV Bremen1970–71Polizei SV Bremen1971–72Blumenthaler SV1972–73Blumenthaler SV
Season Club1973–74Blumenthaler SV1974–75TSV Osterholz-Tenever1975–76SV Werder Bremen II1976–77SG Oslebshausen1977–78Bremer SV1978–79Blumenthaler SV1979–80SFL Bremerhaven1980–81FT Geestemünde1981–82SFL Bremerhaven1982–83Bremer SV1983–84SC Vahr1984–85Bremer SV1985–86Bremer SV1986–87FC Mahndorf1987–88SFL Bremerhaven1988–89Blumenthaler SV1989–90TSV Osterholz-Tenever1990–91TSV Osterholz-Tenever1991–92SFL Bremerhaven1992–93FC Bremerhaven1993–94FC Bremerhaven1994–95SV Vatan Sport1995–96FC Oberneuland1996–97Blumenthaler SV1997–98SV Werder Bremen III1998–99BTS Neustadt
Season Club1999–2000SC Weyhe2000–01SC Weyhe2001–02FC Bremerhaven2002–03SC Weyhe2003–04KSV Vatan Sport Bremen2004–05SC Weyhe2005–06FC Oberneuland2006–07Bremer SV2007–08FC Bremerhaven2008–09Brinkumer SV2009–10SV Werder Bremen III2010–11SV Werder Bremen III2011–12FC Oberneuland2012–13SV Werder Bremen III 2013–14Bremer SV2014–15Bremer SV2015–16Bremer SV2016–17Bremer SV2017–18Brinkumer SV2018–19Bremer SV2019–20FC Oberneuland2020–21None2021–22Bremer SV2022–23FC Oberneuland2023–24SV Werder Bremen II2024–25SV Hemelingen2025–26Blumenthaler SV
Source:
Bold denotes club gained promotion. In 1974 runner–up Bremer SV was also promoted. In 1994 the FC Mahndorf, SC Vahr and BTS Neustadt were also promoted. In 2005 the runner–up Brinkumer SV was promoted instead. In 2013 the fifth placed Brinkumer SV unsuccessfully took part in the promotion round as all better placed clubs were ineligible for the Regionalliga. In 2021 there was no champion or promotion after the decision to curtail the season during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany.
League placings The complete list of clubs and placings in the league since elevation to Oberliga status (2008–present):Bremen-Liga tables & results kicker.de. Retrieved 28 July 2020. Club0910111213141516171819202122232425Bremer SV22222111141521RRRSV Werder Bremen II 3L 3L 3L 3LRRR 3L 3L 3LRRRRR1RSV Hemelingen6107221ESC Geestemünde812951076662OSC Bremerhaven534799813141315163433Brinkumer SV1489532531831211144TV Eiche Horn5Blumenthaler SV68510773225778141276FC Oberneuland 1RRR1R6221RR157Union 60 Bremen6610111513175588SG Aumund-Vegesack81135345677691113349TS Woltmershausen1691310Bremer TS Neustadt791414141547911Werder Bremen III4113157358111618151612Habenhauser FV791088810911121315121713Vatan Sport Bremen1610141516111658101214TuRa Bremen1115SC Vahr-Blockdiek151016Leher TS12148109124111315TuS Komet Arsten9121416TuS Schwachhausen1310912116444642698TuSpo Surheide15SFL Bremerhaven 234310BSC Hastedt310111416SC Borgfeld1281318VfL 07 Bremen9121215139101015TSV Grolland14121316TSV Melchiorshausen14141515SV Grohn1611131116FC Sparta Bremerhaven 3426SV Türkspor Bremen1161413121216OT Bremen121514151. FC Burg6111316SC Lehe-Spaden15TSV Wulsdorf107111416FC Bremerhaven 33574FC Oberneuland II1313SC Weyhe16 1 FC Oberneuland had to declare insolvency in 2013 and was relegated from the Regionalliga Nord, dropping two tiers to the Landesliga Bremen. 2 SFL Bremerhaven withdrew its first team from the league in 2022. 3 FC Bremerhaven was dissolved in 2012 and its football section joined FC Sparta Bremerhaven.
Key Symbol Key B Bundesliga 2B2. Bundesliga 3L 3. Liga RRegionalliga Nord 1 League champions PlaceLeague BlankPlayed 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 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 The Bremen Football Association (BFV)