| Oberliga Westfalen | |
| Country: | Germany |
| State: | North Rhine-Westphalia |
| Region: | Westphalia |
| Organiser: | Westphalian Football and Athletics Association |
| Founded: | 1978 (reformed in 2012 after disbanding in 2008) |
| Teams: | 18 |
| Promotion: | Regionalliga West |
| Relegation: | Westfalenliga (2 divisions) |
| Level: | Level 5 |
| Champions: | FC Gütersloh |
| Season: | 2022–23 |
| Current: | 2024–25 Oberliga Westfalen |
The Oberliga Westfalen is the highest level football league in the region of Westphalia, which is part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The league existed from 1978 to 2008, but was then replaced by the NRW-Liga, a new statewide league. With the reform of the league system in 2012, which reduced the Regionalliga West to clubs from North Rhine-Westphalia only and disbanded the NRW-Liga below it, the Oberliga Westfalen was reintroduced as the highest tier in the region and the fifth level overall in Germany.[1] It is one of fourteen Oberligas in German football, the fifth tier of the German football league system.
The league was formed in 1978 as a highest level of play for the region of Westphalia, which used to be split into two groups and covered the eastern half of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The main reason for the creation of this league was to allow its champion direct promotion to the 2nd Bundesliga Nord rather than having to go through a promotion play-off. The league was created from nine clubs from the Verbandsliga Westfalen-Nordost and eight from the Verbandsliga Westfalen-Südwest. The SC Herford was relegated from the 2. Bundesliga Nord to the new league.
The league was founded as the Amateur-Oberliga Westfalen, but from 1994 the name was shortened to Oberliga Westfalen.
With the introduction of the unified 2nd Bundesliga in 1981, direct promotion for the Oberliga champions became impossible again because there were eight of them competing for four promotion spots. The champion of the Oberliga Westfalen had to compete with the winner and the runner-up of the Oberliga Nord and the winners of the Oberliga Berlin and of the Oberliga Nordrhein for two 2. Bundesliga spots.
Upon creation of the Regionalligas in 1994, the champions of the Oberligas were directly promoted again, however the Oberligas slipped to fourth tier in the German football league system. The top six team of the Oberliga that year were admitted to the new Regionalliga West/Südwest, the clubs being:
With the reduction of the number of Regionalligas from four to two in 2000, the Oberliga Westfalen was now located below the Regionalliga Nord. However, the Sportfreunde Siegen, based in the very south of the region, played in the Regionalliga Süd.
With the creation of the 3rd Liga in 2008 the Oberliga Westfalen was replaced by the NRW-Liga, which now is the fifth tier of the league system. The Oberliga Westfalen ceased to exist after 30 seasons. Its clubs were split up over three league levels. The first four teams were promoted to the new Regionalliga West, clubs from place five to eleven went to the new Oberliga while the bottom seven teams were relegated to the Verbandsligas.
The league was reintroduced in 2012 after the NRW-Liga was disbanded again.
Throughout the league's existence the two leagues below the Oberliga were:
The league champions of the first era of the league:
| Season | Club | |
|---|---|---|
| 1978–79 | SC Herford | |
| 1979–80 | SpVgg Erkenschwick | |
| 1980–81 | 1. FC Paderborn | |
| 1981–82 | TuS Schloß Neuhaus | |
| 1982–83 | SC Eintracht Hamm | |
| 1983–84 | FC Gütersloh | |
| 1984–85 | SC Eintracht Hamm | |
| 1985–86 | ASC Schöppingen | |
| 1986–87 | SpVgg Erkenschwick | |
| 1987–88 | Preußen Münster | |
| 1988–89 | Preußen Münster | |
| 1989–90 | Arminia Bielefeld | |
| 1990–91 | SC Verl | |
| 1991–92 | Preußen Münster | |
| 1992–93 | Preußen Münster |
| Season | Club | |
|---|---|---|
| 1993–94 | SC Paderborn 07 | |
| 1994–95 | FC Gütersloh | |
| 1995–96 | LR Ahlen | |
| 1996–97 | Sportfreunde Siegen | |
| 1997–98 | Borussia Dortmund II | |
| 1998–99 | VfL Bochum II | |
| 1999–2000 | VfB Hüls | |
| 2000–01 | SC Paderborn 07 | |
| 2001–02 | Borussia Dortmund II | |
| 2002–03 | FC Schalke 04 II | |
| 2003–04 | Arminia Bielefeld II | |
| 2004–05 | SG Wattenscheid 09 | |
| 2005–06 | Borussia Dortmund II | |
| 2006–07 | SC Verl | |
| 2007–08 | Preußen Münster |
The league champions and runners-up from 2012 onwards:
| Season | Champions | Runners-up | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012–13 | SG Wattenscheid 09 | ||
| 2013–14 | SV Rödinghausen | ||
| 2014–15 | TuS Erndtebrück | Rot-Weiss Ahlen | |
| 2015–16 | Sportfreunde Siegen | SpVgg Erkenschwick | |
| 2016–17 | TuS Erndtebrück | Westfalia Rhynern | |
| 2017–18 | SV Lippstadt 08 | 1. FC Kaan-Marienborn | |
| 2018–19 | FC Schalke 04 II | TuS Haltern | |
| 2019–20 | SC Wiedenbrück | Rot Weiss Ahlen | |
| 2020–21 | None | None | |
| 2021–22 | 1. FC Kaan-Marienborn | SG Wattenscheid 09 | |
| 2022–23 | FC Gütersloh | Preußen Münster II |
See main article: List of clubs in the Oberliga Westfalen. The final league placings in the second era of the league from 2012 to present:
| Club | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SV Rödinghausen | 2 | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | ||
| SV Lippstadt 08 | 1 | R | 5 | 6 | 6 | 1 | R | R | R | R | R | |
| FC Schalke 04 II | R | R | R | R | R | 6 | 1 | R | R | R | R | |
| Rot-Weiss Ahlen | 9 | 9 | 2 | R | R | 14 | 9 | 2 | R | R | R | |
| 1. FC Kaan-Marienborn | 7 | 2 | R | 9 | 6 | 1 | R | |||||
| SG Wattenscheid 09 | 2 | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | 9 | 2 | R | |
| FC Gütersloh 2000 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 10 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 1 | |
| Preußen Münster II | 10 | 11 | 12 | 2 | ||||||||
| SC Paderborn 07 II | 16 | 12 | 13 | 7 | 6 | 15 | 3 | 3 | ||||
| Sportfreunde Lotte | R | R | R | R | 3L | 3L | 3L | R | R | R | 4 | |
| TuS Bövinghausen | 5 | |||||||||||
| Westfalia Rhynern | 6 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 2 | R | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 6 | |
| ASC 09 Dortmund | 12 | 15 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 5 | 6 | 7 | |||
| TSV Victoria Clarholz | 19 | 15 | 8 | |||||||||
| SG Finnentrop/Bamenohl | 17 | 14 | 9 | |||||||||
| Eintracht Rheine | 8 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 15 | 4 | 18 | 7 | 10 | ||
| SpVgg Vreden | 8 | 11 | 11 | |||||||||
| SV Schermbeck | 17 | 17 | 6 | 12 | 16 | 10 | 12 | |||||
| 1. FC Gievenbeck | 18 | 18 | 13 | |||||||||
| Sportfreunde Siegen | R | R | R | 1 | R | 11 | 12 | 14 | 10 | 9 | 14 | |
| TSG Sprockhövel | 10 | 11 | 14 | 3 | R | 10 | 4 | 15 | 4 | 13 | 15 | |
| TuS Ennepetal | 14 | 12 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 16 | |
| TuS Erndtebrück | 4 | 5 | 1 | R | 1 | R | 14 | 17 | 14 | 8 | 17 | |
| Delbrücker SC | 18 | |||||||||||
| RSV Meinerzhagen | 3 | 7 | 17 | |||||||||
| Hammer SpVg | 12 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 16 | 18 | 21 | 18 | ||
| Holzwickeder SC | 11 | 7 | 2 | 19 | ||||||||
| TuS Haltern | 5 | 2 | R | 13 | 20 | |||||||
| Westfalia Herne | 16 | 15 | 18 | 9 | 8 | 16 | 20 | 21 | ||||
| FC Brünninghausen | 11 | 7 | 17 | |||||||||
| Arminia Bielefeld II | 3 | 1 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 15 | ||||||
| SC Hassel | 8 | 17 | ||||||||||
| TSV Marl-Hüls | 9 | 4 | 18 | |||||||||
| SuS Neuenkirchen | 7 | 4 | 15 | 8 | 15 | |||||||
| SC Roland Beckum | 11 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 16 | |||||||
| SuS Stadtlohn | 7 | 13 | 17 | |||||||||
| SpVgg Erkenschwick | 5 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 18 | |||||||
| SC Zweckel | 14 | 17 | 18 | |||||||||
| VfB Hüls | R | 16 | 16 | |||||||||
| TuS Heven | 13 | 17 | ||||||||||
| TuS Dornberg | 15 | 18 |
From the 2nd Bundesliga Nord:
From the Verbandsliga Westfalen-Nordost:
From the Verbandsliga Westfalen-Südwest: