Bezirksliga Rheinhessen-Saar

Bezirksliga Rheinhessen-Saar
Map of Germany in 1925
Founded1923
Folded1927
Replaced byBezirksliga Rhein-Saar
Bezirksliga Main-Hessen
Country Germany
State
Level on pyramidLevel 1
Last championsFSV Mainz 05
(1926–27)

The Bezirksliga Rheinhessen-Saar was the highest association football league in the German state of Saarland, the Rheinhessen part of the state of Hesse and parts of the Bavarian region of Palatinate and the Prussian Rhine Province from 1923 to 1927, when the league was replaced by the Bezirksliga Rhein-Saar and the Bezirksliga Main-Hessen.

Overview

The league was formed in 1923, after a league reform which was decided upon in Darmstadt, Hesse.[1] It replaced the Kreisliga Hessen and the Kreisliga Saar as the highest leagues in the region.

The Bezirksliga Rheinhessen-Saar, named after the region of Rhenish Hesse (German: Rheinhessen) and the river Saar, started out with eight teams, playing each other in a home-and-away round with the league winner advancing to the Southern German championship, which in turn was a qualification tournament for the German championship.

The league modus remained unchanged for its first three seasons, 1923–24, 1924–25 and 1925-26. For its last edition however, it expanded to ten clubs. Additionally, the leagues runners-up also qualified for a "consolidation" round with the other runners-up of the southern Bezirksligas. The winner of this round was awarded the third entry spot for the south to the German finals.

In an attempt to bring all Southern German leagues to a similar system, the Bezirksligas were reorganised in 1927. For the Bezirksliga Rheinhessen-Saar, this meant, it joined with the clubs of the Bezirksliga Rhein to form the new Bezirksliga Rhein-Saar. The clubs from the Saar region became part of the new Saar division of this league. The clubs from the Rhenish Hesse region however became part of the Hessen division of the new Bezirksliga Main-Hessen. It resulted in an even split of clubs, five going to the Main-Hessen league and the other five to the Rhein-Saar league.

National success

Southern German championship

Qualified teams and their success:

  • 1924:
    • Borussia Neunkirchen, 6th place
  • 1925:
    • SV Wiesbaden, 5th place
  • 1926:
    • FV Saarbrücken, 5th place
  • 1927:
    • FV Saarbrücken, 5th place Bezirksliga-runners-up round
    • FSV Mainz 05, 6th place

German championship

Qualified teams and their success:

  • 1924:
    • none qualified
  • 1925:
    • none qualified
  • 1926:
    • none qualified
  • 1927:
    • none qualified

Founding members of the league

The league was formed from eight teams:

Winners and runners-up of the Bezirksliga Rheinhessen-Saar

Season Champions Runners-Up
1923–24 Borussia Neunkirchen SV Wiesbaden
1924–25 SV Wiesbaden FV Saarbrücken
1925–26 FV Saarbrücken FSV Mainz 05
1926–27 FSV Mainz 05 FV Saarbrücken

Placings in the Bezirksliga Rheinhessen-Saar 1923 to 1927

Club 1924 1925 1926 1927
Borussia Neunkirchen 1 5 6 7
SV Wiesbaden 2 1 5 4
TG Höchst 3 6 7
FV Saarbrücken 4 2 1 2
1. FC Idar 5 3 3 6
SV Trier 05 6 8
FV Biebrich 7
Alemannia Worms 8 8
Wormatia Worms 4 4 3
Saar 05 Saarbrücken 7 9
FSV Mainz 05 2 1
SpVgg Griesheim 8
Hassia Bingen 5
Eintracht Trier 10

Source:"Bezirksliga Rheinhessen-Saar". Das deutsche Fussball-Archiv. Retrieved 2008-07-27.

References

  1. ^ History of the Offenburger Fußballverein Archived March 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine (in German) Page 5, accessed: 23 July 2008

Sources

  • Fussball-Jahrbuch Deutschland (in German) (8 vol.), Tables and results of the German tier-one leagues 1919-33, publisher: DSFS
  • Kicker Almanach, (in German) The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937, published by the Kicker Sports Magazine
  • Süddeutschlands Fussballgeschichte in Tabellenform 1897-1988 (in German) History of Southern German football in tables, publisher & author: Ludolf Hyll