The Kreisliga Bayern (English: District league Bavaria) was the highest association football league in the German Kingdom of Bavaria and, later, the state of Bavaria from 1909 to 1923. The league was disbanded with the introduction of the Bezirksliga Bayern in 1923.
Overview
1907 to 1914 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 championship, four regional leagues were gradually established from 1907, these being: Ostkreis-Liga, covering Bavaria Nordkreis-Liga, covering Hesse Südkreis-Liga, covering Württemberg, Baden and Alsace Westkreis-Liga, covering the Palatinate, Lorraine and the southern Rhine Province
In 1909, a first Ostkreis-Liga (English: Eastern District League) was established, consisting of only four clubs and playing a home-and-away season, these clubs being:Verband Süddeutscher Fussball Vereine 1910 , accessed: 14 December 2008 Bayern Munich 1. FC Nürnberg MTV 1879 München SpVgg Fürth The winner of this competition, Bayern Munich, advanced to the Southern German championship, which in turn was a qualifying competition for the German championship. The Bavarian clubs from the Palatinate never played in the same league as the clubs from the "mainland", instead, they were part of the Westkreis-Liga. Previous to the new Ostkreis-Liga, regional competitions with a finals round were played but this was not truly an all-Bavarian competition as only clubs from the major cities took part.
The following season, 1910–11, a proper league with ten clubs was established, the teams again playing a home-and-away season. Parallel, the other three Southern Kreisligas were organised in a similar fashion with the four regional winners playing for the southern title.Verband Süddeutscher Fussball Vereine 1911 , accessed: 14 December 2008 In the following season, the league was expanded to eleven teams but the modus remained the same.Verband Süddeutscher Fussball Vereine 1912 , accessed: 14 December 2008
For the 1912-13 season, the league was reduced to eight teams.Verband Süddeutscher Fussball Vereine 1913 , accessed: 14 December 2008 It remained unchanged for its last pre-First World War season in 1913-14.Verband Süddeutscher Fussball Vereine 1914 , accessed: 14 December 2008
1914 to 1919 The outbreak of war in August 1914 lead to a suspension of all football competitions. Initially it was thought that the war would not last long but when it became evident that this was not so, competitions were restarted with players too young or too old to be drafted to the military. In any case, a 1914-15 championship was not held.Verband Süddeutscher Fussball Vereine 1915 , accessed: 14 December 2008 A 1915-16 championship was held on regional level with a Bavarian final rather than a league,Verband Süddeutscher Fussball Vereine 1916 , accessed: 14 December 2008 a system in place for 1916-17 Verband Süddeutscher Fussball Vereine 1917 , accessed: 14 December 2008 and 1917-18 as well.Verband Süddeutscher Fussball Vereine 1918 , accessed: 14 December 2008
1919 to 1923 With the collapse of the German Empire in 1918, no Bavarian championship was played in 1918-19 but football returned to a more organised system in 1919, similar to the one used before the war.
Southern Germany, now without the Alsace region, which had to be returned to France, was sub-divided into ten Kreisligas, these being: Kreisliga Hessen Kreisliga Nordbayern Kreisliga Nordmain Kreisliga Odenwald Kreisliga Pfalz Kreisliga Saar Kreisliga Südbayern Kreisliga Südmain Kreisliga Südwest Kreisliga Württemberg
Bavaria was sub-divided into two Kreisligas, north and south, with ten clubs each.Süddeutschlands Fussball in Tabellenform 1897 - 1988, author: Ludolf Hyll, page: 62, accessed: 14 December 2008 Both league winners advanced to the Southern championship. This system applied for the 1919-20 and 1920-21 season.Süddeutschlands Fussball in Tabellenform 1897 - 1988, author: Ludolf Hyll, page: 65, accessed: 14 December 2008
In 1921-22, the two regional divisions were in turn split into two groups of eight, increasing the number of tier-one clubs in Bavaria to 32. The four league winners then played a semi-final and final to determine the Bavarian champion.Süddeutschlands Fussball in Tabellenform 1897 - 1988, author: Ludolf Hyll, page: 70, accessed: 14 December 2008 This "watering down" of Bavarian football lasted for only one season, in 1922-23, the number of top clubs was halved and the league returned to a northern and southern division, now with eight clubs each. The two league winners played a Bavarian final once more.Süddeutschlands Fussball in Tabellenform 1897 - 1988, author: Ludolf Hyll, page: 73, accessed: 14 December 2008
In 1923, a league reform which was decided upon in Darmstadt, Hesse, established the Southern German Bezirksligas which were to replace the Kreisligas.History of the Offenburger Fußballverein Page 5, accessed: 14 December 2008 The best four teams each from the north and south of Bavaria were admitted to the new Bezirksliga Bayern.
National success
Southern German championship Qualified teams and their success: 1910: Bayern Munich, Runners-up 1911: Bayern Munich, Runners-up 1912: SpVgg Fürth, 3rd place 1913: SpVgg Fürth, 4th place 1914: SpVgg Fürth, Southern German champions 1916: 1. FC Nürnberg, Southern German champions 1917: SpVgg Fürth, Runners-up 1918: 1. FC Nürnberg, Southern German champions 1920: 1. FC Nürnberg, Southern German champions 1921: 1. FC Nürnberg, Southern German champions 1922: Wacker München, Southern German champions 1923: SpVgg Fürth, Southern German champions
German championship 1914: SpVgg Fürth, German champions 1920: 1. FC Nürnberg, German champions 1921: 1. FC Nürnberg, German champions 1922: Wacker München, Semi-finals 1. FC Nürnberg, Runners-up 1923: SpVgg Fürth, Semi-finals
Winners and runners-up of the Kreisliga Bayern SeasonWinnerRunner-Up 1909–10 Bayern Munich 1. FC Nürnberg 1910–11 Bayern Munich 1. FC Nürnberg 1911–12 SpVgg Fürth Bayern Munich 1912–13 SpVgg Fürth Bayern Munich 1913–14 SpVgg Fürth 1. FC Nürnberg 1914–15 not held 1915–16 1. FC Nürnberg TSV 1860 Munich 1916–17 SpVgg Fürth Bayern Munich 1917–18 1. FC Nürnberg Bayern Munich 1918–19 not held
SeasonNorthSouth 1919–20 1. FC Nürnberg Bayern Munich 1920–21 1. FC Nürnberg Wacker München 1921–22 SpVgg Fürth Wacker München 1922–23 SpVgg Fürth Bayern Munich Bold denotes Bavarian champion (when determined).
Placings in the Kreisliga Bayern 1909-23
Ostkreis-Liga 1909-14 Club 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 SpVgg Fürth 4 3 1 1 1 1. FC Nürnberg 2 2 3 3 2 Pfeil Nürnberg 6 5 5 3 Bayern Munich 1 1 2 2 4 MTV 1879 München 3 4 7 4 5 VfB Noris Nürnberg 10 8 6 Kickers Würzburg 6 7 Wacker München 5 4 7 8 TSV 1860 Munich 7 6 8 1. FC Bamberg 9 9 Concordia Nürnberg 10 MTV Augsburg 8 11
Kreisliga Nordbayern 1919-1923 Club 1920 1921 1922 1923 SpVgg Fürth 2 2 1 1 1. FC Nürnberg 1 1 1 2 FV Nürnberg 4 3 2 3 1. FC Bamberg 8 9 4 4 MTV Fürth 6 7 3 5 Kickers Würzburg 7 8 2 6 TV 46 Nürnberg 5 4 4 7 TV 1860 Fürth 6 3 8 TV Weiden 5 FV Würzburg 04 5 Pfeil Nürnberg 3 5 6 TV Schweinau 6 SpVgg Hof 7 SpVgg Erlangen 7 Franken Fürth 8 Bayern Kitzingen 10 8 BSC Nürnberg 9 1. FC Schweinfurt 05 10
Kreisliga Südbayern 1919-1923 Club 1920 1921 1922 1923 Bayern Munich 1 3 2 1 TSV 1860 Munich 2 2 1 2 Wacker München 3 1 1 3 Schwaben Augsburg 4 4 2 4 Jahn Regensburg 3 5 MTV Ingolstadt 6 7 4 6 MTV 1879 München 5 5 3 7 SpVgg München 7 6 4 8 Teutonia München 8 8 5 Viktoria Augsburg 5 TV Neuhausen 6 SpVgg Landshut 6 BC Augsburg 9 7 Armin München 10 7 TV Memmingen 8 TV Dachau 8 TV 1880 München 9 FC Augsburg 10
References
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 Magazine 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