The 1936–37 Gauliga was the fourth season of the Gauliga, the first tier of the football league system in Germany from 1933 to 1945.
The league operated in sixteen regional divisions, of which two, the Gauliga Ostpreußen and Gauliga Pommern, were sub-divided into four and two regional groups respectively, with the league containing 183 clubs all up, the same number as the previous season. The league champions entered the 1937 German football championship, won by FC Schalke 04 who defeated 1. FC Nürnberg 2–0 in the final. It was Schalke's third national championship, with the club winning six all up during the Gauliga era of German football from 1933 to 1945.
Two clubs remained unbeaten during the league season, those being FC Schalke 04 and SV 06 Kassel. Of those Schalke would go on to remain unbeaten during the German championship as well while Kassel would lose five out of six finals games. At the other end of the table only one club finished the season without a win, SC Göttingen 05. FC Schalke 04 scored the most goals of any Gauliga club with 103 while Sperber Hamburg conceded the most with 98. FC Schalke 04 achieved the highest points total with 35 while SC Göttingen 05 earned the least with one point to its name.
The 1936–37 season saw the third edition of the Tschammerpokal, now the DFB-Pokal. The 1937 edition was won by FC Schalke 04, defeating Fortuna Düsseldorf 2–1 on 9 January 1938. thereby becoming the first club in Germany to win the double, something not repeated until FC Bayern Munich won it in 1968–69.
Champions The 1936–37 Gauliga champions qualified for the group stage of the German championship. VfB Stuttgart, Hamburger SV, 1. FC Nürnberg and FC Schalke 04 won their championship groups and advanced to the semi-finals with the latter two reaching the championship final which Schalke won.
FC Schalke 04 won their fourth consecutive Gauliga title while Hertha BSC, won their third consecutive one and Fortuna Düsseldorf, SV Waldhof Mannheim, 1. FC Nürnberg, SV Werder Bremen and Viktoria Stolp defended their 1935–36 Gauliga titles. Club League No. of clubs SV Waldhof Mannheim Gauliga Baden 10 1. FC Nürnberg Gauliga Bayern(1936–37 season)10 Hertha BSC Gauliga Berlin-Brandenburg 10 SV 06 Kassel Gauliga Hessen 10 SV Dessau 05 Gauliga Mitte 10 VfR Köln Gauliga Mittelrhein 11Fortuna Düsseldorf Gauliga Niederrhein 10SV Werder Bremen Gauliga Niedersachsen 10 Hamburger SV Gauliga Nordmark 10 Hindenburg Allenstein Gauliga Ostpreußen 28 Viktoria Stolp Gauliga Pommern 14 BC Hartha Gauliga Sachsen 10Beuthener SuSV 09 Gauliga Schlesien 10Wormatia Worms Gauliga Südwest 10FC Schalke 04 Gauliga Westfalen 10VfB Stuttgart Gauliga Württemberg 10
German championship
References
Sources kicker-Almanach 1990 Yearbook of German football, publisher: kicker Sportmagazin, published: 1989, 100 Jahre Süddeutscher Fußball-Verband 100 Years of the Southern German Football Federation, publisher: SFV, published: 1997 Die deutschen Gauligen 1933–45 – Heft 1–3 Tables of the Gauligas 1933–45, publisher: DSFS
External links Das Deutsche Fussball Archiv Historic German league tables