The Mittelrheinliga (), sometimes also referred to as Oberliga Mittelrhein after its elevation to Oberliga status in 2012, is a German amateur football division administered by the Football association of the Middle Rhine, one of the 21 German state football associations. Being the top flight of the Middle Rhine state association, the league is currently a level 5 division of the German football league system.
Overview Until 1956, a total of ten Landesliga divisions, among them two divisions of Landesliga Mittelrhein were the highest amateur level in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. After the regular season, the ten Landesliga champions had to play-off for two promotion spots to 2. Oberliga West. Upon decision of the superior Western German football association, in 1956 four divisions of Verbandsliga were introduced, one of them being the Verbandsliga Mittelrhein.fvn.de: Geschichte des FVN (German) These four divisions of Verbandsliga still exist today, with the Verbandsliga Mittelrhein in 2008 renamed to Mittelrheinliga and later in 2012 renamed to Mittelrheinliga.
The Verbandsliga Mittelrhein was upon its inception the third tier of the German football league system. The league champion had to play-off the winners of the Verbandsliga Niederrhein and the two divisions of Verbandsliga Westfalen for two promotion spots to the 2. Oberliga West. Upon introduction of the Bundesliga in 1963, the league was set below the new Regionalliga West but remained as the third tier. With the exception of 1963 and 1974, when the league systems were changed, the champion continued to have the opportunity to win promotion. The clubs from the Verbandsliga Mittelrhein remained mostly unsuccessful as that, only achieving promotion in 1966, 1967, 1968, 1973, 1975, 1976 and 1978.
The league operated with 16 clubs throughout most of its existence, only occasionally altering the numbers to balance out promotion and relegation.
With the replacement of the Regionalliga by the 2nd Bundesliga Nord in 1974, the league champion 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 Nordrhein was formed as the third tier of football in the region compromising the area of the Verbandsliga Mittelrhein and Verbandsliga Niederrhein. One of the main reasons for this move was to provide direct promotion for the tier-three champions again. This season's league winner, Viktoria Köln, was promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga; the clubs placed two to ten in the league were admitted to the new Oberliga, these being:
SV Baesweiler 09 Bonner SC 1. FC Köln II SC Jülich 1910 TuS Langerwehe SV Siegburg 04 FC Niederembt FV Bad Honnef Borussia Brand
Verbandsliga Mittelrhein, together with Niederrhein, remained as a feeder league for the new Oberliga, but now as a tier-four competition. Its champion, and some years the runners-up, were directly promoted to the Oberliga Nordrhein.
With the re-introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994, the league slipped to tier five but remained unchanged otherwise.
From 2008, with the introduction of the 3rd Liga, the Verbandsliga Mittelrhein was downgraded to the sixth tier. The league above it was then the new NRW-Liga, a merger of the Oberligas Nordrhein and Westfalen. The champion of the Verbandsliga continued to be directly promoted but since there was now four Verbandsligen below the Oberliga, the runners-up did not have the option of promotion unless the league winner declined.
The NRW-Liga existed for only four seasons before it was disbanded again in 2012 in the wake of the Regionalliga West becoming a league for clubs from North Rhine-Westphalia only. While the Oberliga Westfalen was established again in one half of the state the regions of Lower Rhine and Middle Rhine opted to elevate the Niederrheinliga and Mittelrheinliga to Oberliga status instead of reforming the Oberliga Nordrhein.
League champions The league champions since 1956: Season Club1956–57SV Stolberg1957–58SSG Bergisch Gladbach1958–59Bonner FV 1959–60SV Baesweiler 091960–61SV Siegburg 041961–62Tura Bonn1962–63SG Düren 991963–64SV Schlebusch1964–651. FC Köln II1965–66SG Düren 991966–671. FC Köln II1967–68Bonner SC1968–69SC Jülich 101969–70SC Jülich 101970–71SC Jülich 101971–72Bonner SC1972–73SV Frechen 201973–74Bayer Leverkusen1974–75Bayer Leverkusen1975–76Bonner SC1976–771. FC Köln II1977–78Viktoria Köln Season Club1978–79Rhenania Richterich1979–80SV Frechen 201980–81Bayer Leverkusen II1981–82TuS Langerwehe 1982–83SG Düren 991983–84SV Siegburg 04 1984–85Bonner SC1985–86TuS Lindlar1986–87SC Jülich 10 1987–88SC Brück 1988–89Alemannia Aachen II1989–90TuS Langerwehe1990–91SC Brück 1991–921. FC Köln II1992–93Germania Teveren1993–94TuS Langerwehe1994–95VfL Rheinbach1995–96SSG Bergisch Gladbach1996–97Rhenania Würselen 1997–98SCB Preußen Köln1998–99TSC Euskirchen1999–2000Borussia Freialdenhoven2000–01Bonner SC Season Club2001–02GFC Düren 092002–03PSI Yurdumspor Köln2003–04Alemania Aachen II2004–05FC Wegberg-Beeck2005–06SSG Bergisch Gladbach2006–07Germania Dattenfeld2007–08VfL Leverkusen2008–09SSG Bergisch Gladbach2009–10FC Wegberg-Beeck2010–11FC Junkersdorf2011–12FC Hennef 052012–13FC Hennef 052013–14FC Hennef 052014–15FC Wegberg-Beeck2015–16Bonner SC2016–17FC Wegberg-Beeck2017–18TV Herkenrath2018–19SV Bergisch Gladbach 092019–20FC Wegberg-Beeck2020–21None2021–221. FC Düren2022–23FC Hennef 052023–24SV Eintracht Hohkeppel Source:
In 1966, second-placed Bonner SC were promoted instead of SG Düren 99. In 1967, second-placed Fortuna Köln were promoted because 1. FC Köln II was ineligible. In 1973, second-placed Viktoria Köln were promoted instead of SV Frechen 20. In 2008, second-placed Fortuna Köln were promoted because VfL Leverkusen was refused a Regionalliga licence. FC Hennef 05 declined promotion in 2012 and 2013 but accepted it in 2014. In 2021, the season was curtailed because of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany, with no champion or promotion. In 2023, second-placed FC Wegberg-Beeck were promoted instead of FC Hennef 05.
Clubs in the Mittelrheinliga since 2012 The final league placings of all clubs in the league since receiving Oberliga status in 2012:Mittelrheinliga tables and results Weltfussball.de Club 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 1. FC Düren 8 2 8 1 R R FC Wegberg-Beeck 7 2 1 R 1 R 2 1 R R 2 R SV Eintracht Hohkeppel 5 1 VfL 08 Vichttal 11 12 10 5 12 3 2 Bonner SC 7 2 1 R R R R R R 4 3 SpVg Frechen 20 9 9 9 4 7 4 SV Bergisch Gladbach 09 R 5 10 3 5 10 1 R R 3 6 5 Siegburger SV 04 10 3 13 5 11 7 13 6 Fortuna Köln II 15 13 13 12 7 TuS Königsdorf 9 8 Borussia Freialdenhoven 3 11 9 6 7 5 4 6 2 5 8 9 FC Hennef 05 1 1 R 9 13 2 3 4 1 2 1 10 FC Hürth 15 4 7 6 9 5 7 3 6 10 11 SpVg Porz 12 FV Bonn-Endenich 13 Union Schafhausen 14 Germania Teveren 15 BC Viktoria Glesch-Paffendorf 10 11 11 Blau-Weiß Friesdorf 11 8 4 10 14 17 8 14 FC Pesch 16 3 7 10 15 Viktoria Arnoldsweiler 4 3 6 8 9 7 11 13 6 9 16 VfL Alfter 11 6 5 2 3 12 14 4 14 SV Eilendorf 8 16 16 14 15 SV Breinig 13 6 6 12 12 16 SV Deutz 05 7 11 15 17 SpVg Wesseling-Urfeld 13 10 12 15 8 16 18 TV Herkenrath 5 2 1 R SSV Merten 13 13 15 TSC Euskirchen 2 8 3 4 4 8 16 Hilal Bergheim 8 14 11 14 FC Inde Hahn 14 VfL Rheinbach 15 Germania Windeck 6 10 12 12 16 Alemannia Aachen II 9 4 7 14 VfL Leverkusen 11 15 SC Brühl 06/45 5 9 13 TSV Hertha Walheim 14 14 FC Bergheim 2000 15 Germania Erftstadt 12 12 16 SV Nierfeld 15 SF Troisdorf 05 10 16 SG Köln-Worringen 16
Key Symbol Key B Bundesliga 2B 2. Bundesliga 3L 3. Liga R Regionalliga West 1 League champions Place League Blank Played at a league level below this league
Founding members of the league
From the 2. Oberliga West: Rhenania Würselen
From the Landesliga Gruppe 1: SSV Troisdorf 05 Rapid Köln VfL Köln 99 SV Habbelrath-Grefrath SG Eschweiler SV Stolberg Tura Hennef
From the Landesliga Gruppe 2: SSG Bergisch Gladbach SC Fortuna Köln FV Godesberg 08 SV Merkstein Viktoria Alsdorf BC Kohlscheid Tura Bonn
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 Verbandsliga Mittelrhein at fussballdaten.de Mittelrhein Football Association (FVM)