Oberliga Niedersachsen/Bremen
.png) | |
| Country |
 Germany |
|---|---|
| State | |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Folded | 2004 (10 seasons) |
| Replaced by | |
| Level on pyramid | Level 4 |
| Promotion to | Regionalliga Nord |
| Relegation to | |
| Last champions |
VfL Wolfsburg II (2003–04) |
The Oberliga Niedersachsen/Bremen was the fourth tier of the German football league system in the north of Germany, existing from 1994 to 2004. It covered the states of Lower Saxony and Bremen. With the re-formation of the Oberliga Nord in 2004, the league was disbanded.
Overview
The Oberliga Niedersachsen/Bremen started out in 1994 as a replacement for the Oberliga Nord, which was disbanded in that year. Along with this league, the Oberliga Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein was formed to cover the other two of the four states the Oberliga Nord previously had served. The reason for the disbanding of the Oberliga Nord and the creation of two separate leagues in its stead was the formation of the Regionalliga Nord, which became the new third tier of league football in the north and covered exactly the same region as the Oberliga previously.
The league was formed from sixteen clubs, with twelve of them coming from the Verbandsliga Niedersachsen, three from the Verbandsliga Bremen and one from the Oberliga Nord. With the interception of this league, the Verbandsliga Niedersachsen split itself into two groups, east and west.
For the duration of the league's existence, it was fed by the three Verbandsligas of Bremen, Niedersachsen-West and Niedersachsen-Ost with the winners of these leagues gaining direct promotion to the Oberliga. Bremen, the smallest of the twenty-one German football associations, was the junior partner in this league, always only providing a small number of clubs.
The winner of the Oberliga was directly promoted to the Regionalliga from 1995 to 1999. In 2000, no promotion was available due to changes in the league system. From 2001 to 2004, the league champion had to play-off for promotion with the winner of the Oberliga Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein. Only in 2004 could the champion of Niedersachsen/Bremen win this contest and gain promotion.
In 2000, with the reduction of the number of Regionalligas to two, eight clubs were relegated from this league to the Oberliga. The bottom seven clubs of the Oberliga were relegated that year and the league expanded to eighteen teams. The Regionalliga Nord now covered the complete northern half of Germany, not just the traditional region of the Oberliga Nord.
On the grounds of this it was decided in 2004 to reform a united Oberliga Nord which allowed direct promotion to its champion to the Regionalliga. The Oberliga Niedersachsen/Bremen was therefore disbanded. Its champion gained promotion to the Regionalliga this season, the clubs placed second to eighth were admitted to the new Oberliga. The other ten clubs in the league were relegated to the Verbandsligas.
In 2008, with the introduction of the new 3. Liga, the Oberliga Nord was disbanded again. The Oberligas Niedersachsen/Bremen and Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein however were not reformed. Below the Regionalliga Nord the five Verbandsligas in the north functioned instead as the next level of play, making it, until 2012, the only region without an Oberliga and without direct promotion to the Regionalliga.[1]
League champions
| Season | Club |
|---|---|
| 1994–95 | BV Cloppenburg |
| 1995–96 | Sportfreunde Ricklingen |
| 1996–97 | Eintracht Nordhorn |
| 1997–98 | Lüneburger SK |
| 1998–99 | SC Göttingen 05 |
| 1999–2000 | Kickers Emden |
| 2000–01 | SC Göttingen 05 |
| 2001–02 | VfB Oldenburg |
| 2002–03 | Kickers Emden |
| 2003–04 | VfL Wolfsburg II |
Placings in the league from 1994 to 2004
The complete list of clubs in the league and their final placings:[2][3]
| Club | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| VfL Wolfsburg II | 3 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 1 | |||||
| Eintracht Nordhorn | 8 | 1 | R | R | R | 5 | 2 | 4 | 2 | |
| SV Wilhelmshaven | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| BV Cloppenburg | 1 | R | 7 | 2 | R | R | 4 | 10 | 5 | 4 |
| Hannover 96 II | 11 | 12 | 16 | 14 | 5 | |||||
| Kickers Emden | R | R | R | R | R | 1 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 6 |
| Arminia Hannover | 8 | 11 | 2 | R | R | R | 3 | 11 | 7 | 7 |
| SV Meppen | 2B | 2B | 2B | 2B | R | R | 11 | 4 | 8 | 8 |
| VfB Oldenburg | R | R | 2B | R | R | R | 8 | 1 | 6 | 9 |
| Eintracht Braunschweig II | 9 | 10 | ||||||||
| Concordia Irhove | 8 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 11 | ||
| FC Oberneuland | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 12 | ||
| Rotenburger SV | 9 | 11 | 7 | 7 | 13 | 13 | 13 | |||
| SC Langenhagen | 14 | 11 | 14 | |||||||
| VfV 06 Hildesheim | 12 | 15 | ||||||||
| SSV Vorsfelde | 3 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 16 | |||||
| Lüneburger SK | R | R | R | 1 | R | R | R | 15 | 15 | 17 |
| SC Wehye | 17 | 18 | ||||||||
| SC Göttingen 05 | R | 2 | R | R | 1 | R | 1 | 9 | 16 | |
| FC Schüttorf | 14 | 5 | 12 | 12 | 17 | |||||
| FC Bremerhaven | R | 9 | 13 | 5 | 2 | R | 16 | 18 | ||
| SVG Einbeck | 12 | 6 | 11 | 16 | ||||||
| TuS Celle | R | R | R | R | R | R | 13 | 18 | ||
| TSV Havelse | 3 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 15 | |||
| Blau-Weiß Lohne | 5 | 5 | 15 | 9 | 9 | 17 | ||||
| TuS Lingen | 7 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 18 | |||
| Südharz Walkenried | 7 | 9 | 13 | 14 | 12 | |||||
| MTV Wolfenbüttel | 11 | 11 | 7 | 13 | ||||||
| BTS Neustadt | 15 | 14 | ||||||||
| SVG Göttingen | 12 | 3 | 12 | 7 | 12 | 15 | ||||
| Sportfreunde Ricklingen | 4 | 1 | R | R | R | 16 | ||||
| Atlas Delmenhorst 1 | 2 | R | R | R | 13 | |||||
| MTV Gifhorn | 15 | |||||||||
| SV Werder Bremen III | 16 | |||||||||
| SC Harsum | 6 | 4 | 6 | 15 | ||||||
| Blumenthaler SV | 16 | |||||||||
| SpVg Aurich | 10 | 13 | 14 | |||||||
| KSV Vatan Sport Bremen | 14 | |||||||||
| SC Vahr | 13 | 15 | ||||||||
| TuS Esens | 9 | 16 | ||||||||
| Preußen Hameln | 14 | |||||||||
| FC Mahndorf | 16 |
- 1 Atlas Delmenhorst withdrew from the league in 1999.
Key
| Symbol | Key |
|---|---|
| B | Bundesliga (1963–present) |
| 2B | 2. Bundesliga (1974–present) |
| R | Regionalliga Nord (1994–present) |
| 1 | League champions |
| Place | League |
| Blank | Played at a league level below this league |
Founding members of the league
The league was formed from sixteen clubs from two states in 1994, those being:
|
From the Oberliga Nord:
From the Verbandsliga Bremen:
|
From the Verbandsliga Niedersachsen:
|
Disbanding of the league
The league was disbanded in 2004 and replaced by the Oberliga Nord. Its clubs were spread between the Regionalliga Nord, Oberliga Nord and the three Verbandsligas:
|
To the Regionalliga Nord: To the Oberliga Nord: |
To the Verbandsliga Bremen:
To the Verbandsliga Niedersachsen-Ost:
To the Verbandsliga Niedersachsen-West:
Team withdrawn:
|
References
- ↑ "Regulations for the Oberliga Nord 2007-08" (PDF). Northern German FA. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
- 1 2 Historical German league tables (German) Das Deutsche Fussball Archiv, accessed: 5 February 2015
- 1 2 Oberliga Niedersachsen/Bremen tables and results 1994–2008 (German) Fussballdaten.de, accessed: 5 February 2014
Sources
- Deutschlands Fußball in Zahlen, (German) An annual publication with tables and results from the Bundesliga to Verbandsliga/Landesliga, publisher: DSFS
- Kicker Almanach, (German) The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937, published by the Kicker Sports Magazine
- Die Deutsche Liga-Chronik 1945-2005 (German) History of German football from 1945 to 2005 in tables, publisher: DSFS, published: 2006
External links
- Das deutsche Fussball Archiv (German) Historic German league tables
- The Lower Saxony Football Association (NFV) (German)
- The Bremen Football Association (BFV) (German)
- Northern German Football Association (NFV) (German)
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