The Oberliga Nord was the fourth tier of the German football league system in the north of Germany. It covered the states of Lower Saxony, Bremen, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. With the introduction of the 3. Liga, the league ceased to exist from 2008.
Overview
The first Oberliga Nord: 1947–1963 The original league of this name existed from 1947 to 1963 and was then the first tier of German football, covering the same region as the "new" Oberliga Nord. For its history, see here.
The second Oberliga Nord: 1974–1994 The league was formed in 1974 as a continuation of the Regionalliga Nord, the then second tier of German football. With the introduction of the 2nd Bundesliga Nord in that year, the Regionalliga was disbanded and its clubs spread among the new 2nd Bundesliga, Oberliga and Amateurligas.
The new Oberliga Nord however was only the third tier of the German football league system, replacing at this level the four Landes- and Amateurligas of Niedersachsen, Hamburg, Bremen and Schleswig-Holstein, who now slipped to the fourth tier of the league system.
Below the Oberliga were originally four leagues, one for each of the four states of the region. The Amateurliga of Niedersachsen changed its name to Landesliga from 1974 and after 1979 to Verbandsliga. The leagues in Bremen and Hamburg changed their name to Verbandsliga straight away in 1974. Schleswig-Holstein changed from Landesliga to Verbandsliga in 1978. In 1994, Niedersachsen, the largest of the four states, split its league into an eastern and a western group, a system already in place until 1964.
Due to the difference in playing strength of the Verbandsligas, champions were not directly promoted but had to go through a play-off system. Eight teams in two divisions were qualified for this competition, with three clubs from Niedersachsen, two each from Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein and one from Bremen, to balance out the difference between the leagues.
In 1975 and 1976, the two first placed teams of the Oberliga took part in the promotion play-off to determine the promoted teams to the 2nd Bundesliga Nord. In 1977 and 1978, the top four teams from the Oberliga Nord went to this competition. With the reduction of the number of Oberligas in 1978, the winner and runners-up of the Oberliga Nord were directly promoted in 1979 and 1980.
No promotion was available in 1981 because the 2nd Bundesliga was reduced to one league only. From 1982, the top two teams in the league had to play-off for promotion again.
The Oberliga Nord was disbanded in 1994, with the re-introduction of the Regionalliga Nord, this time as the third tier of German football. Fourteen of its sixteen clubs went to the new Regionalliga, the bottom two teams were relegated to the two new Oberligas of Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein and Niedersachsen/Bremen.
The third Oberliga Nord: 2004–2008 In 2004, after ten seasons, the Oberliga Nord was reformed, as the league below the Regionalliga Nord, being the fourth tier of football now. The two Oberligas that replaced it in 1994 were disbanded.
With the introduction of the 3. Liga and of a third Regionalliga in 2008, the Oberliga Nord again ceased to exist, being replaced by the five Verbandsligas in its stead. The top five clubs of the Oberliga in the 2007-08 season gained promotion to the Regionalliga Nord, the sixth placed team had to play-off with the Verbandsliga champions for another Regionalliga spot and the rest of the clubs were relegated to the Verbandsligas. The northern region therefore became the only region in Germany without an Oberliga after 2008. In future, the five Verbandsliga champions will have to play-off for two promotion spots to the Regionalliga Nord.
Champions of the Oberliga Nord The league champions:Historical German league tables Das Deutsche Fussball Archiv. Retrieved 5 February 2015Oberliga Nord tables and results 1994–2008 Fussballdaten.de. Retrieved 5 February 2014 SeasonClub1974–75VfB Oldenburg 1975–76Arminia Hannover 1976–77TuS Bremerhaven 93 1977–78OSV Hannover 1978–79OSV Hannover 1979–80VfB Oldenburg 1980–81FC St. Pauli 1981–82SV Werder Bremen II 1982–83FC St. Pauli 1983–84SV Werder Bremen II 1984–85VfL Osnabrück 1985–86FC St. Pauli 1986–87SV Meppen1987–88Eintracht Braunschweig1988–89TSV Havelse1989–90VfB Oldenburg1990–91VfL Wolfsburg1991–92VfL Wolfsburg1992–93VfL Herzlake1993–94Kickers Emden1994 – 2004no competition2004–05Kickers Emden2005–06SV Wilhelmshaven2006–07VfL Wolfsburg II2007–08Holstein Kiel
Placings in the Oberliga Nord 1975 to 2008 The clubs in the league and their final placings: Club 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 05 06 07 08 VfL Wolfsburg 2B 2 2B 2 5 3 6 4 5 14 9 6 6 2 3 4 1 1 2B 2B B B B B FC St. Pauli 2B 2B 2B B 2B 10 1 6 1 2 2B 1 2B 2B B B B 2B 2B 2B R R R 2B VfL Osnabrück 2B 2B 2B 2B 2B 2B 2B 2B 2B 2B 1 2B 2B 2B 2B 2B 2B 2B 2B 3 R R R 2B Eintracht Braunschweig B B B B B B 2B B B B B 2B 2B 1 2B 2B 2B 2B 2B 2 R 2B 2B R VfB Lübeck 7 4 12 12 15 17 9 R R R R SV Werder Bremen II 8 10 7 6 2 1 2 1 3 5 9 4 6 9 3 2 3 8 R R R R Hamburger SV II 5 5 11 6 10 R R R R Kickers Emden 6 8 1 1 R R R VfL Wolfsburg II R 3 1 R Holstein Kiel 10 13 3 4 2B 2B 2B 7 3 7 14 15 4 5 4 7 4 7 5 7 R R R 1 FC Altona 93 11 4 11 11 5 10 12 14 14 12 7 5 2 SV Wilhelmshaven 2B 4 10 12 16 17 15 11 8 11 14 17 2 1 R 3 Hannover 96 II 11 5 6 4 BV Cloppenburg 6 2 2 5 TuS Heeslingen 6 VfB Oldenburg 1 3 7 8 8 1 2B 9 16 15 4 2 5 3 7 1 2B 2B 2B 6 7 SV Meppen 3 6 13 17 8 4 13 7 6 5 3 1 2B 2B 2B 2B 2B 2B 2B 3 8 4 8 FC Oberneuland 3 9 Eintracht Braunschweig II 11 15 14 17 18 13 17 12 10 10 VfL Osnabrück II 13 12 11 FC St. Pauli II 8 10 8 12 ASV Bergedorf 85 10 11 13 13 SV Lurup 17 3 7 17 10 14 14 Eintracht Nordhorn 9 9 13 12 16 16 14 10 15 4 4 7 15 VSK Osterholz-Scharmbeck 14 16 VfB Lübeck II 17 17 SV Henstedt-Rhen 16 18 Holstein Kiel II 1 7 6 9 VfR Neumünster 2 5 14 11 Arminia Hannover 2 1 2B 2B 2B 2B 11 2 9 8 6 9 2 13 11 13 18 9 9 15 VfL 93 Hamburg 11 11 17 SV Ramlingen 18 TSV Kropp 15 Eider Büdelsdorf 14 16 Meiendorfer SV 13 17 Brinkumer SV 18 HSV Barmbek-Uhlenhorst 2B 15 11 5 11 11 18 15 Concordia Hamburg 11 7 5 6 9 13 9 14 11 13 16 8 12 7 15 12 15 16 Victoria Hamburg 4 16 17 18 VfL Herzlake 10 15 10 13 1 4 TuS Hoisdorf 8 3 11 8 9 5 TuS Celle 7 5 7 12 SC Göttingen 05 2B 2B 2B 3 6 2 2B 3 12 5 12 10 3 6 2 6 2 12 4 13 1. SC Norderstedt 15 9 8 6 4 2 15 Preußen Hameln 5 12 4 11 10 14 17 16 TSV Havelse 10 6 4 15 16 7 9 1 2 2B 3 16 VfL Stade 9 17 TuS Lingen 12 SVG Göttingen 11 13 9 13 TSV Osterholz-Tenever 15 Bremer SV 17 13 15 14 16 12 16 16 8 16 Wolfenbütteler SV 12 10 8 12 14 16 SpVgg Eutin 17 FC Mahndorf 16 13 18 TuS Esens 17 SFL Bremerhaven 17 Lüneburger SK 8 12 14 16 13 14 13 14 18 Atlas Delmenhorst 6 15 14 4 7 8 18 15 18 Hummelsbüttler SV 13 2 7 18 MTV Gifhorn 7 10 5 4 9 10 18 OSC Bremerhaven 6 10 1 2B 2 2B 5 16 10 12 17 TuS Hessisch Oldendorf 13 10 18 SV Union Salzgitter 12 5 2 9 3 5 3 11 8 17 OSV Hannover 9 14 14 1 1 2B 2B 18 Itzehoer SV 8 17 12 16 15 9 15 Blumenthaler SV 7 8 16 18 1. FC Phönix Lübeck 14 18 VfL Pinneberg 18 SpVgg Bad Pyrmont 13 18 18 SpVgg Flensburg 08 15 Heider SV 16 SC Poppenbüttel 18 For final placings of Oberliga clubs from this region from 1994 to 2004, see Oberliga Niedersachsen/Bremen and Oberliga Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein. 1 In 2007 Holstein Kiel II was relegated due to the relegation of its first team. 2 In 2007 VfR Neumünster was refused a licence and relegated.
Key Symbol Key B Bundesliga 2B 2. Bundesliga R Regionalliga Nord 1 League champions Place League Blank Played at a league level below this league
Founding members of the Oberliga Nord The league started in 1974 with eighteen clubs from four German states:
From the Regionalliga Nord: VfB Oldenburg SV Meppen Arminia Hannover Concordia Hamburg OSV Hannover Holstein Kiel TuS Bremerhaven 93 Heider SV Itzehoer SV Phönix Lübeck
From the Landesliga Hamburg: SC Victoria Hamburg SC Poppenbüttel
From the Amateurliga Bremen: Blumenthaler SV Bremer SV
From the Landesliga Schleswig-Holstein: SpVgg Flensburg 08
From the Amateurliga Niedersachsen: Preußen Hameln SpVgg Bad Pyrmont Union Salzgitter
Disbanding of the Oberliga in 2008 At the end of its last season, 2007–08, the last round having been played on 30 May 2008, the clubs of the league were spread over various other divisions, according to their final league position. The 6th placed team, TuS Heeslingen,TuS Heeslingen verzichtet Die Fussballecke.de, 28 May 2008. Retrieved 1 June 2008 was not granted a Regionalliga licence and the 7th placed club, VfB Oldenburg, qualified for the play-offs instead. The Bremen champion, FC Bremerhaven, was also not granted a licence and the best place club from Bremen in the Oberliga, the FC Oberneuland, qualified instead.Oberliga Nord at kicker.de }. Retrieved 3 June 2008 Its eighteen clubs went to the following leagues:
To the Regionalliga Nord: Holstein Kiel SV Wilhelmshaven FC Altona 93 BV Cloppenburg Hannover 96 II FC Oberneuland
To the Verbandsliga Bremen: no club relegated to this league
To the Verbandsliga Hamburg: FC St. Pauli II ASV Bergedorf 85 SV Lurup
To the Verbandsligas Niedersachsen: VfB Oldenburg TuS Heeslingen SV Meppen Eintracht Braunschweig II VfL Osnabrück II Eintracht Nordhorn VSK Osterholz-Scharmbeck
To the Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein: VfB Lübeck II SV Henstedt-Rhen
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. 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 Northern German Football Association (NFV)