Westfalenliga - Overview

Overview

The league was formed as a tier-three league under the name Verbandsliga Westfalen in two groups of 16 clubs in 1956 to provide a more streamlined top level for the regional football governing body, the Westphalian Football Association. In earlier years, the Landesliga Westfalen, operated in five groups, was the highest levels of football in the region. The Landesliga still remains as the tier below the Verbandsliga until today.

Despite being operated in two groups, called Nordost or (Gruppe 1) and Südwest or (Gruppe 2), the Verbandsliga Westfalen has to be seen as one league with two regional groups as clubs have been moved frequently between groups, according to geographical needs. The administration and history of the two groups have always been closely tied.

In the early years, the league held a championship series between the two group winners for the title of Westphalian champions at the end of the season. The winner of this series however was not automatically the team promoted to the tier-two 2. Oberliga West. Instead, promotion was determined by a series of games involving the two Verbandsliga Westfalen group winners as well as the champions of the Verbandsliga Niederrhein and Verbandsliga Mittelrhein. This championship series was abandoned after the Oberliga Westfalen was introduced in 1978 as a highest league for the region.

With the introduction of the Bundesliga in 1963, the Verbandsliga came a feeder the also new implemented Regionalliga West but remained, unchanged otherwise, as the third tier of the league system. The same applied when the Regionalliga was replaced by the 2nd Bundesliga Nord in 1974. The league champions however now 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 Westfalen was formed as the third tier of football in Westfalen. One of the main reasons for this move was to provide direct promotion for the tier-three champions again. The clubs placed one to nine in each Verbandsliga group were admitted to the new Oberliga. The Verbandsliga became the feeder league for the new Oberliga, but now as a tier-four competition. Both champions, and some years one or both runners-up, were directly promoted to Oberliga. With the re-introduction of the Regionalligen in 1994, the league slipped to tier-five but remained unchanged otherwise.

In 2008, with the introduction of the 3. Liga, the Verbandsliga was downgraded to the tier-sixth. Also, the league now became a feeder to the new founded NRW-Liga, a merger of the Oberliga Nordrhein and the Oberliga Westfalen. The champions of both Verbandsliga groups were still directly promoted. Promotions for the runners-up was abolished due to the merger. The league also changed their name to Westfalenliga.

In 2012 the Oberliga Westfalen was reintroduced as the league above the Westfalenliga, replacing the NRW-Liga again. The number of Landesligas below the Westfalenliga was also reduced from five to four.