The Verbandsliga Saarland is currently the seventh tier of the German football league system in the German federated state of Saarland. Until the introduction of the Saarlandliga in 2009 it was the sixth tier, until the introduction of the 3. Liga in 2008 it was the fifth tier of the league system, until the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 the fourth tier.

From the 2012-13 season onwards the league will be played in two regional divisions and the Landesligas below it increased in numbers from two to four.

Overview The Verbandsliga was formed in 1947 under the name of Ehrenliga Saarland in the state of Saarland. The league was originally a feeder league to the Oberliga Südwest. Due to the special situation of Saarland, its clubs left the German football league system from 1949 to 1951 with the 1. FC Saarbrücken playing a year in the French second division.France – List of Final Tables Second Level From its return in 1951, now under the name of Amateurliga Saarland, until the establishment of the Oberliga Südwest in 1978, it was the third tier of the football league system.

The league was established in 1947 with ten teams, the winner gaining promotion to the Oberliga Südwest. The founder members were:

FC 08 Homburg Sportfreunde Burbach FC Ensdorf SC Brebach Preußen Merchweiler FV Püttlingen SV Ludweiler ASC Dudweiler SV Bliekastel Hellas Marpingen Viktoria Hühnerfeld

With the return to the German league system in 1951, two teams from the league, now called Amateurliga Saarland were admitted to the Oberliga Südwest, the 1. FC Saarbrücken and Borussia Neunkirchen.

The year after, three clubs were admitted to the new 2nd Oberliga Südwest, the Viktoria Hühnerfeld, SC Altenkessel und Sportfreunde Saarbrücken.

The winner of the Amateurliga Saarland was not automatically promoted to its superior league but rather had to take part in a promotion play-off. The champion would have to compete with the winners of the Amateurligen Südwest and Rheinland.

With the introduction of the Bundesliga in 1963 the Amateurliga was placed below the new Regionalliga Südwest but still retained its third-tier status. It continued to do so after the introduction of the 2nd Bundesliga Süd in 1974.

In 1978, the same time as the Oberliga Südwest, the Amateurliga Saarland was renamed Verbandsliga Saarland and was now the fourth tier of the league system. The top seven teams out of the Amateurliga went to the new Oberliga while the teams from place 8 to 19 found themselves in the Verbandsliga.

The winner of the Verbandsliga Saarland, like the winners of the Verbandsligen Südwest and Rheinland gains direct promotion to the Oberliga Südwest. The runners-up will only get a chance for promotion when there are additional spots to fill in the Oberliga, like 1994 when the Regionalligen were introduced and VfB Dillingen was promoted.

The Saarland was the youngest of the states of West Germany, until 1957 it was a separate entity under French supervision. Its football league was temporarily separate, too. The clubs from the Saar did not play in the German football league system from 1948 to 1951.

Feeder Leagues to the Verbandsliga Saarland Landesliga Saarland-Nord Landesliga Saarland-Ost Landesliga Saarland-Süd Landesliga Saarland-West

In May 2008, the Saarland Football Association decided to change the league system by introducing the new Saarlandliga as the sixth tier, between Oberliga and Verbandsliga, from 2009. For the Verbandsliga, this meant, it would lose almost all its clubs to the new league and be relegated to seventh tier. Otherwise, it remained unchanged.

League winners The league champions in the single division era:

Season Club1947–48FC 08 Homburg1948–49Borussia Neunkirchen1949–50Sportfreunde Saarbrücken1950–511. FC Saarbrücken1951–52Sportfreunde Saarbrücken1952–53VfB Dillingen1953–54SV Ludweiler1954–55SV St. Ingbert1955–56Viktoria Hühnerfeld1956–57FC 08 Homburg1957–58VfB Theley1958–59SC Friedrichsthal1959–60Röchling Völklingen1960–61Röchling Völklingen1961–62SV Fraulautern1962–63Viktoria Sulzbach1963–64Viktoria Sulzbach1964–65SV Ludweiler1965–66FC 08 Homburg1966–67SC Friedrichsthal1967–68SV Landsweiler–Reden1968–69SC Friedrichsthal

Season Club1969–70VfB Theley1970–71SV Fraulautern1971–72VfB Theley1972–73FC Ensdorf1973–74SV St. Ingbert1974–75ASC Dudweiler1975–76Borussia Neunkirchen1976–77Borussia Neunkirchen1977–78Borussia Neunkirchen1978–79FC Ensdorf1979–80SV Elversberg1980–81Rot-Weiß Hasborn1981–82FC St. Wendel1982–83Röchling Völklingen1983–84FC Ensdorf1984–85FSV Saarwellingen1985–86SSV Überherrn1986–87Rot–Weiß Hasborn1987–881. FC Saarbrücken II1988–89FSG Schiffweiler1989–90Saar 05 Saarbrücken1990–91FC 08 Homburg II

Season Club1991–92FSG Schiffweiler1992–93SV Mettlach1993–94SV Elversberg1994–95SV Auersmacher1995–96SSV Überherrn1996–97SC 08 Halberg-Brebach1997–981. FC Saarbrücken II1998–99VfB Theley1999–2000SV Mettlach2000–01Saar 05 Saarbrücken2001–02Röchling Völklingen2002–03Spfr. Köllerbach2003–04SC 08 Halberg-Brebach2004–05Rot–Weiß Hasborn2005–06FC Kutzhof2006–07Spfr. Köllerbach2007–08SV Elversberg II2008–09SV Auersmacher2009–10VfB Theley2010–11SpVgg Hangard2011–12Saar 05 Saarbrücken

The league champions in the two division era: Season Nordost Südwest2012–13 VfL Primstal SV Klarenthal2013–14 Preussen Merchweiler FSV Hemmersdorf2014–15 DJK Bildstock 1. FC Riegelsberg2015–16 FV Lebach TuS Herrensohr2016–17 FC 08 Homburg II FV 09 Schwalbach2017–18 SV Rohrbach FC Rastpfuhl2018–19 Rot-Weiß Hasborn FV 09 Bischmisheim2019–20SV Bliesmengen-BolchenFV Siersburg

bold denotes club gained promotion. VfB Dillingen (1994), Rot–Weiß Hasborn (1999), 1. FC Saarbrücken II (2002), TuS Steinbach (2015), FSG Bous (2017), SF Rehlingen (2018) and 1. FC Reimsbach (2019) were also promoted, finishing runners–up. FC Kutzhof withdrew from the league in 2006; no team from Saarland was promoted that year. The club's main sponsor withdrew its support and the team could not be financed to play in the Oberliga. Kutzhof withdrew on 10 July 2006. Had the withdrawal been done before 30 June, the runners–up of the league could have been promoted instead.FC Kutzhof vor dem Aus (in German) Saarländischer Rundfunk. 11 July 2006. Retrieved 7 August 2008

References

Sources Deutschlands Fußball in Zahlen, An annual publication with tables and results from the Bundesliga to Verbandsliga/Landesliga. DSFS Kicker Almanach, The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937. Kicker Sports Magazine. Süddeutschlands Fussballgeschichte in Tabellenform 1897-1988 History of Southern German football in tables, by Ludolf Hyll Die Deutsche Liga-Chronik 1945-2005 History of German football from 1945 to 2005 in tables. DSFS. 2006.

External links Das deutsche Fussball Archiv Historic German league tables Saarland Football Association website Verbandsliga Saarland at Fussball.de