The Bezirksliga Bayern was the highest association football league in the German state of Bavaria from 1923 to 1933. The league was disbanded with the rise of the Nazis to power in 1933.
Overview The league was formed in 1923, after a league reform which was decided upon in Darmstadt, Hesse.History of the Offenburger Fußballverein (in German) Page 5, accessed: 23 July 2008
Until the introduction of the Bezirksliga, the Kreisliga Südbayern and Kreisliga Nordbayern were the highest leagues in the state.Die Geschichte des TSV 1860 (in German) History of 1860 Munich, accessed: 23 July 2008
The league started out with eight clubs from all over the state of Bavaria, but without any teams from the Palatinate region (German:Pfalz), then politically a part of Bavaria but not geographically connected to the rest of the state. The eight clubs played each other in a home-and-away round with the two top teams advancing to the Southern German championship, which in turn was a qualification tournament for the German championship.
In its second season, the league started to incooperate clubs from the city of Ulm, Württemberg, which lies right across the border from Bavaria. Otherwise, the modus of the league remained unchanged but only the league champion qualified for the Southern German finals in this season.
For the 1926–27 season, the league was expanded to ten teams. The top team was again qualified for the finals. Additionally, the SpVgg Fürth as Southern German cup winner also qualified for this round. The runners-up of the Bezirksligas in the south also played a championship round to determine a third team from the region to go to the German finals.
After this season, the league was split into a northern and a southern group, the north having nine and the south seven teams. The winner of each division would advance to the Southern German finals while the two runners-up again played in a separate round like in the previous season.
The 1928–29 season saw no change in modus but both leagues now operated on a strength of eight clubs. The qualification system for the finals also remained unchanged. This system remained in place until 1931.
For the 1931–32 season, both divisions were expanded to ten teams. The top-two teams from each league then advanced to the Southern German finals, which were now staged in two regional groups with a finals game between the two group winners at the end. The same system applied for the final season of the league in 1932–33.
With the rise of the Nazis to power, the Gauligas were introduced as the highest football leagues in Germany. In Bavaria, the Gauliga Bayern replaced the Bezirksliga Bayern as the highest level of play. The twelve best teams from Bavaria qualified for this new, statewide league.
National success The clubs from the Bezirksliga Bayern were among the most successful in Germany in this era, specifically the 1. FC Nürnberg.
Southern German championship Qualified teams and their success: 1924: SpVgg Fürth, Runners-up 1. FC Nürnberg, Southern German champions 1925: 1. FC Nürnberg, Runners-up 1926: SpVgg Fürth, Runners-up FC Bayern Munich, Southern German champions 1927: TSV 1860 Munich, Winner of the Bezirksliga-runners-up round SpVgg Fürth, Runners-up 1. FC Nürnberg, Southern German champions 1928: VfR Fürth, 7th place in the Bezirksliga-runners-up round southwest division TSV 1860 Munich, 3rd place in the Bezirksliga-runners-up round southwest division 1. FC Nürnberg, 2nd place in the Bezirksliga-runners-up round southwest division Wacker München, Winner of the Bezirksliga-runners-up round southwest division, winner division final SpVgg Fürth, 3rd place FC Bayern Munich, Southern German champions 1929: ASV Nürnberg, 7th place in the Bezirksliga-runners-up round southwest division TSV 1860 Munich, 3rd place in the Bezirksliga-runners-up round southwest division TSV Schwaben Augsburg, 2nd place in the Bezirksliga-runners-up round southwest division SpVgg Fürth, Winner of the Bezirksliga-runners-up round southwest division, winner division final FC Bayern Munich, Runners-up 1. FC Nürnberg, Southern German champions 1930: Jahn Regensburg, 6th place in the Bezirksliga-runners-up round southwest division ASV Nürnberg, 5th place in the Bezirksliga-runners-up round southwest division TSV 1860 Munich, 2nd place in the Bezirksliga-runners-up round southwest division 1. FC Nürnberg, Winner of the Bezirksliga-runners-up round southwest division, winner division final FC Bayern Munich, 3rd place SpVgg Fürth, Runners-up 1931: VfR Fürth, 6th place in the Bezirksliga-runners-up round southwest division TSV Schwaben Augsburg, 3rd place in the Bezirksliga-runners-up round southwest division 1. FC Nürnberg, 2nd place in the Bezirksliga-runners-up round southwest division TSV 1860 Munich, Winner of the Bezirksliga-runners-up round southwest division, winner division final FC Bayern Munich, 3rd place SpVgg Fürth, Southern German champions 1932: TSV 1860 Munich, 6th place southwest division SpVgg Fürth, 5th place southwest division 1. FC Nürnberg, 2nd place southwest division, 3rd place Southern German championship FC Bayern Munich, Winner southwest division, Runners-up Southern German championship 1933: FC Bayern Munich, 4th place eastwest division 1. FC Nürnberg, 3rd place eastwest division SpVgg Fürth, 2nd place eastwest division, 4th place in Southern German championship TSV 1860 Munich, Winner eastwest division, Runners-up Southern German championship
German championship Qualified teams and their success: 1924: 1. FC Nürnberg, German champions 1925: 1. FC Nürnberg, German champions 1926: FC Bayern Munich, First round SpVgg Fürth, German champions 1927: TSV 1860 Munich, Semi-finals SpVgg Fürth, Semi-finals 1. FC Nürnberg, German champions 1928: FC Bayern Munich, Semi-finals Wacker München, Semi-finals 1929: FC Bayern Munich, Quarter-finals 1. FC Nürnberg, Semi-finals SpVgg Fürth, German champions 1930: SpVgg Fürth, Quarter-finals 1. FC Nürnberg, Semi-finals 1931: SpVgg Fürth, Quarter-finals TSV 1860 Munich, Final 1932: 1. FC Nürnberg, Semi-finals FC Bayern Munich, German champions 1933: TSV 1860 Munich, Semi-finals
Founding members of the league The league was formed from eight clubs from Bavaria: 1. FC Nürnberg SpVgg Fürth FC Bayern Munich FV Nürnberg TSV 1860 Munich Wacker München VfR Fürth TSV Schwaben Augsburg
Winners and runners-up of the Bezirksliga Bayern SeasonWinnerRunner-Up 1923–24 1. FC Nürnberg SpVgg Fürth 1924–25 1. FC Nürnberg SpVgg Fürth 1925–26 FC Bayern Munich 1. FC Nürnberg 1926–27 1. FC Nürnberg TSV 1860 Munich
SeasonNorthSouth 1927–28 SpVgg Fürth FC Bayern Munich 1928–29 1. FC Nürnberg FC Bayern Munich 1929–30 SpVgg Fürth FC Bayern Munich 1930–31 SpVgg Fürth FC Bayern Munich 1931–32 1. FC Nürnberg FC Bayern Munich 1932–33 1. FC Nürnberg FC Bayern Munich
Placings in the Bezirksliga Bayern 1923–33
Clubs from the northern division Club 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1. FC Nürnberg 1 1 2 1 2 1 2 2 1 1 SpVgg Fürth 2 2 3 4 1 2 1 1 2 2 FC Schweinfurt 05 4 3 1. FC Bayreuth 9 6 7 6 8 7 4 ASV Nürnberg 4 6 4 6 5 3 3 6 3 5 VfR Fürth 7 7 7 3 4 7 3 5 6 FV Würzburg 04 4 5 5 5 8 7 Germania Nürnberg 8 Kickers Würzburg 7 6 9 SpVgg Erlangen 10 SpVgg Weiden 9 Bayern Hof 7 6 4 4 10 SpVgg Hof 8 Franken Nürnberg 8 FSV Nürnberg 8 FC Fürth 8 9 Source: The FV Nürnberg joined the ASV Nürnberg in 1925.
Clubs from the southern division Club 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 FC Bayern Munich 3 4 1 5 1 1 1 1 1 1 TSV 1860 Munich 5 5 5 2 2 3 3 2 2 2 FV Ulm 8 3 Wacker München 6 3 6 3 3 4 4 5 5 4 SSV Ulm 6 5 DSV München 5 6 6 8 7 6 TSV Schwaben Augsburg 8 8 10 6 2 5 3 8 7 Teutonia München 8 7 7 6 3 8 SpVgg Landshut 9 Jahn Regensburg 4 5 2 4 4 10 VfB Ingolstadt-Ringsee 7 9 FC Straubing 10 Schwaben Ulm 7 7 8 Source:
References
Sources Fussball-Jahrbuch Deutschland (8 vol.), Tables and results of the German tier-one leagues 1919–33, publisher: DSFS Kicker Almanach, The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937, published by the Kicker Sports Magazine Süddeutschlands Fussballgeschichte in Tabellenform 1897–1988 History of Southern German football in tables, publisher & author: Ludolf Hyll
External links The Gauligas Das Deutsche Fussball Archiv German league tables 1892–1933 Hirschi's Fussball seiten Germany – Championships 1902–1945 at RSSSF.com