Kreisliga Pfalz Explained

Kreisliga Pfalz
Founded:1919
Folded:1923
Country: Germany
State Type:State
State: Palatinate
Successor:Bezirksliga Rhein
Level:Level 1
Season:1922–23
Champions:Phönix Ludwigshafen

The Kreisliga Pfalz (English: District league Palatinate) was the highest association football league in the Bavarian region of Palatinate from 1919 to 1923. The league was disbanded with the introduction of the Bezirksliga Rhein in 1923.

Overview

Predecessor

From 1907, four regional leagues were formed within the structure of the Southern German football championship, in a move to improve the organisation of football in Southern Germany, these being:

In 1908, a first Westkreis-Liga (English: Western District League) was established.[1] With the outbreak of the First World War, league football came to a halt and, during the war, games were only played on a limited level.

Post-First World War

With the collapse of the German Empire in 1918, no Westkreis championship was played in 1918-19 but football returned to a more organised system in 1919.

Southern Germany, now without the Alsace and Lorraine regions, the later having been part of the Westkreis and had to be returned to France, was sub-divided into ten Kreisligas, these being:

The new Kreisliga Pfalz was made up from eight clubs from the Westkreis region.[2] The league winners of the Kreisligas advanced to the Southern championship. This system applied for the 1919-20 and 1920-21 season, with the league expanding to ten clubs for the later.[3]

In 1921-22, the Kreisliga Pfalz was split into two groups of eight, increasing the number of tier-one clubs in the region to 16. The two league winners then played a final to determine the Pfalz champion, which in turn advanced to a Rhein championship final against the Odenwald champion.[4] This "watering down" of football in the region lasted for only one season, in 1922-23, the number of top clubs was reduced to eight clubs in a single division, with a Rhein final against the Odenwald champion once more.[5]

In 1923, a league reform which was decided upon in Darmstadt, Hesse, established the Southern German Bezirksligas which were to replace the Kreisligas.[6] The best four teams each from the Kreisliga Odenwald and Pfalz were admitted to the new Bezirksliga Rhein. The four clubs from Pfalz were:

National success

No club from the Kreisliga Pfalz managed to qualify for the German championship but in three out of four years, the Pfalz champion reached the final of the Southern German championship to lose to the Bavarian representative.

Rhein championship

Played in 1922 and 1923, these were the finals:

Southern German championship

Qualified teams and their success:

Winners and runners-up of the Kreisliga Pfalz

SeasonChampionsRunner-Up
1919–20Pfalz LudwigshafenPhönix Ludwigshafen
1920–21Phönix LudwigshafenFG 03 Ludwigshafen
1921–22Phönix LudwigshafenFG 03 Ludwigshafen
1922–23Phönix LudwigshafenPfalz Ludwigshafen

Placings in the Kreisliga Pfalz 1919-23

Club1920192119221923
Pfalz Ludwigshafen1332
Phönix Ludwigshafen2111
FG 03 Ludwigshafen3213
FV Frankenthal4436
SC Ludwigshafen 04555
Alemannia Worms6
Wormatia Worms7
Arminia Rheingönheim85
FK Pirmasens624
SC Pirmasens 0576
FV Kaiserslautern827
VfR Kaiserslautern945
FV Speyer106
Viktoria St. Ingbert7
Pirmasens 18638
VB Zweibrücken48
MTV Pirmasens7
Union Ludwigshafen8

References

Sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.fussball-historie.de/Sueddeutschland/Sued1909.html Verband Süddeutscher Fussball Vereine 1909
  2. Süddeutschlands Fussball in Tabellenform 1897 - 1988, author: Ludolf Hyll, page: 62, accessed: 22 March 2009
  3. Süddeutschlands Fussball in Tabellenform 1897 - 1988, author: Ludolf Hyll, page: 65, accessed: 22 March 2009
  4. Süddeutschlands Fussball in Tabellenform 1897 - 1988, author: Ludolf Hyll, page: 70, accessed: 22 March 2009
  5. Süddeutschlands Fussball in Tabellenform 1897 - 1988, author: Ludolf Hyll, page: 73, accessed: 22 March 2009
  6. http://ofv.avenit.de/files/upload/Vereinsgeschichte.pdf History of the Offenburger Fußballverein