The Oberliga Schleswig-Holstein, formerly referred to as Schleswig-Holstein-Liga, is the fifth tier of the German football league system and the highest league in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It is one of fourteen Oberligas in German football.
Overview
1945–1963 The league was formed in 1947 as Schleswig-Holstein-Liga by thirty clubs in three divisions of ten, in the newly created state of Schleswig-Holstein which was then part of the British occupation zone in Germany. On 30 August 1947, the Schleswig-Holstein FA (SHFV) was formed.
From the start, the league was a feeder league to the Oberliga Nord which its champion had the option of promotion to. Promotion had to be achieved through a play-off with teams from the Amateurligen of Lower Saxony, Bremen and Hamburg. As such, the league was now the second tier of the northern German league system. The league was renamed Landesliga Schleswig-Holstein (English:Schleswig-Holstein State League) in 1948 and united in one division of twelve teams, with the bottom two teams relegated to one of the four Bezirksklassen.
In 1951, the league was expanded to sixteen teams. The number of clubs in the league fluctuated to eighteen in 1954-55, seventeen in 1955–56 and then returned to sixteen again.
From 1954, the league was renamed Amateurliga Schleswig-Holstein.
1963–1974 In 1963, with the introduction of the Bundesliga, the disbanding of the Oberliga Nord and the formation of the Regionalliga Nord, the league fell to tier three, but remained unchanged otherwise, with sixteen clubs as its strength. The champion of Schleswig-Holstein continued to have to play-off for promotion, now to the Regionalliga.
From 1968, the Amateurliga reverted to the name Landesliga Schleswig-Holstein. Below the Landesliga, the number of leagues was reduced from four to two, the new Verbandsligen of Schleswig-Holstein-Nord and -Süd.
1974–1994 After the 1973–74 season, the Regionalliga Nord was disbanded in favor of the 2nd Bundesliga Nord. The new Oberliga Nord was now introduced in northern Germany, as the third tier of the league system, below the 2nd Bundesliga. This meant for the Landesliga a slip to tier four. The top two team of the league was however promoted to the new Oberliga. The system for promotion from the Landesliga remained mostly unchanged.
In 1978, the league was finally renamed Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein, the name it carried until 2008. It took ten seasons for a club of the league under the new name to gain promotion again, a long stretch of nine seasons without success. Below the Verbandsliga the two leagues were now renamed Landesligen instead.
1994–2008 In 1994, the Regionalliga Nord was re-established, now as the third tier of the league system. The Oberliga Nord was in turn replaced by two parallel Oberligen, Niedersachsen/Bremen and Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein. For the Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein, this meant a further slip, now to tier five, but also, for the first time in its history, direct promotion for the league champion and, in some seasons, even the runners-up. In 1994, the league saw its top eight clubs elevated to the new Oberliga.
From 1999, the number of leagues below the Verbandsliga was extended from two to four and the leagues renamed Bezirksoberliga.
The 1999-2000 season saw another league system change with the reduction of numbers of Regionalligen, this however had no effect on the Verbandsliga.
In 2004, it was decided to restore the Oberliga Nord in favor of the two separate Oberligen.
The league was expanded, for the first time, to eighteen teams, for the next three seasons. In 2007-08, the number increased to nineteen. The 2006-07 league winner, TSV Kropp, did not apply for an Oberliga licence and was not promoted. Fifth placed FC Kilia Kiel applied but was refused a licence.
2008 onwards At the end of the 2007–08 season, the new 3rd Liga was established and the Oberliga Nord disbanded, again. The four northern German states were then the only regions without an Oberliga and the five Verbandsligen sit right below the Regionalliga Nord, parallel to the two NOFV-Oberligen. At the end of the 2007-08 season, the five winners of the northern Verbandsligen played with the sixth placed team from the Oberliga Nord for one last spot in the Regionalliga. In the future seasons, promotion for the Schleswig-Holstein champion will only be available through a set of play-off matches with the league winners from Hamburg and Bremen. These three teams will compete for one promotion spot to the Regionalliga.
The Schleswig-Holstein-Liga however maintained its status as a tier five league. This fact means the league is now on the same level as other Oberligas in Germany. Accordingly, the league dropped the name Verbandsliga and simply called itself Schleswig-Holstein-Liga. The leagues below it then adopted the name Verbandsliga. Since the 2017-18 season, the league is known as Oberliga Schleswig-Holstein and relegates to the newly created Landesliga Schleswig-Holstein in the sixth tier.
In April 2020, the SHFV curtailed the remainder of the 2019–20 season during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Germany and determined the final standings using points-per-game averages. It was decided in May to suspended relegation for one season to expand the league. The Oberliga was split into two 9-team groups for the 2020–21 season that was later abandoned because of the pandemic, with no promotions or relegations.
Position of the Oberliga Schleswig-Holstein in the league system YearsTierPromotion to1947–1963IIOberliga Nord1963–1974IIIRegionalliga Nord1974–1994IVOberliga Nord1994–2004VOberliga Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein2004–2008VOberliga Nord2008–VRegionalliga Nord
Winners of the Oberliga Schleswig-Holstein The league champions:
Season Club1947–48Itzehoer SV1948–49Itzehoer SV1949–50Itzehoer SV1950–51VfB Lübeck1951–52VfB Lübeck1952–53VfR Neumünster1953–54Itzehoer SV1954–55VfB Lübeck1955–56Heider SV1956–57VfB Lübeck1957–58Heider SV1958–59Heider SV1959–60Heider SV1960–61Holstein Kiel II1961–62Heider SV1962–63Heider SV1963–64VfL Bad Oldesloe1964–65Itzehoer SV1965–66VfR Neumünster1966–67Phönix Lübeck1967–68SV Friedrichsort1968–69VfB Kiel1969–70SV Friedrichsort1970–71Rendsburger TSV1971–72Rendsburger TSV1972–73SpVgg Flensburg 08
Season Club1973–74SpVgg Flensburg 081974–75VfB Lübeck1975–76VfR Neumünster1976–77VfB Lübeck1977–78Phönix Lübeck1978–79NTSV Strand 081979–80VfR Neumünster1980–81Eutin 081981–82Blau-Weiß Friedrichstadt1982–83Heider SV1983–84NTSV Strand 081984–85Itzehoer SV1985–86Itzehoer SV1986–87VfB Lübeck1987–88TuS Hoisdorf1988–89VfB Lübeck1989–90VfB Lübeck1990–91VfB Kiel1991–92VfB Lübeck1992–93VfB Lübeck1993–94Holstein Kiel II1994–95TSV Nord Harrislee1995–96TSB Flensburg1996–97TSV Altenholz1997–98TuS Felde1998–99Eichholzer SV
Season Club1999–00VfR Neumünster2000–01Husumer SV2001–02Holstein Kiel II2002–03FT Eider Büdelsdorf2003–04VfB Lübeck II2004–05Itzehoer SV2005–06SV Henstedt-Rhen2006–07TSV Kropp2007–08Holstein Kiel II2008–09Holstein Kiel II2009–10Holstein Kiel II2010–11VfR Neumünster2011–12VfR Neumünster2012–13SV Eichede2013–14VfB Lübeck2014–15TSV Schilksee2015–16SV Eichede2016–17Eutin 082017–18NTSV Strand 082018–19NTSV Strand 082019–20SV Todesfelde2020–21None2021–22SV Todesfelde2022–23Kilia Kiel2023–24SV Todesfelde2024–25Kilia Kiel2025–26SV Todesfelde
bold denotes club gained promotion. In 1957, the runner-up Phönix Lübeck was also promoted In 1959, the runner-up VfB Lübeck was promoted instead In 1962, the runner-up VfB Lübeck was promoted instead In 1963, the runner-up SV Friedrichsort was promoted instead In 1968 and 1970, the runner-up Heider SV was promoted instead In 1990, the runner-up Eutin 08 was promoted instead In 1994, the top eight clubs were promoted to the new Oberliga Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein In 1995, the runner-up VfR Neumünster was also promoted In 1998, the runner-up Phönix Lübeck was also promoted In 1999, the runner-up TSV Lägerdorf was also promoted In 2001, the second- and third-placed teams, SpVgg Flensburg 08 and FC Kilia Kiel were also promoted In 2002, the runner-up TSB Flensburg was also promoted In 2003, the runner-up TSV Kropp was also promoted In 2005, the runner-up TSV Kropp was promoted instead In 2012, the runner-up ETSV Weiche was also promoted In 2018, the third-placed Holstein Kiel II was promoted instead In 2019, the fourth-placed Heider SV was promoted instead In 2020, the runner-up Phönix Lübeck was promoted instead In 2021, no club was promoted due to the curtailment and annulment of the paused season during the COVID-19 pandemic; Husumer SV later resigned from the Oberliga In 2025, the runner-up Heider SV was promoted instead
Founding members of the Oberiga Schleswig-Holstein
Northern Group Eckernförder SV, qualified for the new Landesliga SpVgg Flensburg 08, qualified for the new Landesliga Husumer SV, qualified for the new Landesliga ATSV Flensburg, qualified for the new Landesliga Schleswig 06 VfB Kiel VfR Laboe Rot-Weiß Niebüll Schwarz-Weiß Elmschenhagen SC Comet Kiel
Eastern Group FC Kilia Kiel, qualified for the new Landesliga Phönix Lübeck, qualified for the new Landesliga Eutin 08, qualified for the new Landesliga Polizei SV Kiel, qualified for the new Landesliga TSV Schlutup TSV Kücknitz TSV Mölln VfL Oldesloe Preetzer TSV Oldenburger SV
Western Group Itzehoer SV, qualified for the new Landesliga Fortuna Glückstadt, qualified for the new Landesliga Union Neumünster, qualified for the new Landesliga TSV Brunsbüttelkoog, qualified for the new Landesliga Gut-Heil Neumünster Heider SV Rendsburger TSV VfR Neumünster TuS Nortorf VfL Kellinghusen
League placings The complete list of clubs and placings in the league since elevation to Oberliga status (2008–present): Club0910111213141516171819202122232425 VfB Lübeck R R R R R 1 R R R R R R 3L R R 3L RSC Weiche Flensburg 081 9 6 2 R R R R R R R R R R R R R Holstein Kiel II 1 1 7 3 2 4 2 3 2 3 R R R R R R R 1. FC Phönix Lübeck 2 R R R R RSV Todesfelde 13 11 5 8 5 5 9 6 3 1 3 1 3 1 RFC Kilia Kiel 17 13 18 1 R 1 Heider SV 4 10 14 13 7 10 14 6 7 7 4 R R R 6 5 2Union Neumünster 14 15 3 12 11 12 13 11 10 8 9 4 3 3SV Eichede 3 2 4 1 R 3 1 R 5 7 5 1 2 2 2 4TSV Nordmark Satrup 8 5SV Preußen Reinfeld 9 13 14 7 6MTSV Hohenwestedt 13 7Oldenburger SV 12 15 7 5 5 11 10 8Eutiner SV 1908 9TuS Rotenhof 10VfR Neumünster 2 2 1 1 R R R 10 3 11 14 9 11VfB Lübeck II 8 6 4 5 12 6 6 11 12 8 11 12Eckernförder SV 12 7 17 16 15 3 7 6 13TSB Flensburg 4 4 2 2 4 4 4 5 4 14Eidertal Molfsee 15FC Dornbreite Lübeck 9 14 16 14 14 11 13 12 16Inter Türkspor Kiel 8 10 14 18 8 9 14TSV Bordesholm 16 17 8 8 2 6 10 15SC Weiche Flensburg 08 II 4 5 3 6 10 12 16SV Frisia Risum-Lindholm 11 10 13 11 9 13 14TSV Pansdorf 12 7 15Husumer SV 16 16 15 12 17 16SV Grün-Weiß Siebenbäumen 17TSV Altenholz 14 17 10 5 8 9 16 7 15Eutin 08 4 2 1 R 9 13 16 16TSV Kronshagen 10 17TSV Kropp 13 12 8 6 4 6 6 8 14 12 15 NTSV Strand 08 18 5 7 8 12 15 6 1 1 TSV Lägerdorf 10 9 15TSV Schilksee 11 1 R 8 12 16TSV Friedrichsberg-Busdorf 15TSV Wankendorf 16SpVgg Flensburg 08 10 8 10 8 3 7 9 7 5TuS Hartenholm 15 13 11 14 13TSG Concordia Schönkirchen 17Preetzer TSV 10 6 2 7 15SV Henstedt-Ulzburg 3 5 9 12 16 10 16TuRa Meldorf 14 9 13 17FC Reher/Puls 18FC Angeln 02 18SSC Hagen Ahrensburg 13 16SV Eichede II 17Heikendorfer SV 7 11 11 14 11 181. Schleswiger SV 06 9 13 18 17FC Sylt 3 9 18Eider Büdelsdorf 5 4 12 15SV Schackendorf 17Breitenfelder SV 18TSV Klausdorf 15SC Comet Kiel 6 16Itzehoer SV 11 18VfR Horst 15 1 Previously known as ETSV Weiche.
Key Symbol Key B Bundesliga 2B 2. Bundesliga 3L 3. Liga R Regionalliga Nord 1 League champions Place League Blank Played at a league level below this league
References
Sources Deutschlands Fußball in Zahlen, An annual publication with tables and results from the Bundesliga to Verbandsliga/Landesliga. DSFS.