Bezirksliga Rhein

The Bezirksliga Rhein was the highest association football league in the northern part of the German state of Baden and the Bavarian region of Palatinate from 1923 to 1927, when the league was replaced by the Bezirksliga Rhein-Saar.

Bezirksliga Rhein
Founded1923
Folded1927
Replaced byBezirksliga Rhein-Saar
Country Germany
State
Level on pyramidLevel 1
Last championsVfL Neckarau
(1926–27)

Overview

The league was formed in 1923, after a league reform which was decided upon in Darmstadt, Hesse.[1] It replaced the Kreisliga Odenwald and the Kreisliga Pfalz as the highest leagues in the region.

The Bezirksliga Rhein, named after the river Rhine (German: Rhein), started out with eight teams, playing each other in a home-and-away round with the league winner advancing to the Southern German championship, which in turn was a qualification tournament for the German championship.

The league modus remained unchanged for its first three seasons, 1923–24, 1924–25 and 1925-26. For its last edition however, it expanded to ten clubs. Additionally, the leagues runners-up also qualified for a "consolidation" round with the other runners-up of the southern Bezirksligas. The winner of this round was awarded the third entry spot for the south to the German finals.

In an attempt to bring all Southern German leagues to a similar system, the Bezirksligas were reorganised in 1927. For the Bezirksliga Rhein, this meant, it joined with the southern clubs of the Bezirksliga Rheinhessen-Saar to form the new Bezirksliga Rhein-Saar. In practice, this meant little change for the league as the new Bezirksliga was immediately sub-divided into two independent, regional divisions. Out of the ten clubs in the league, eight went to the new Bezirksliga Rhein-Saar - Rhein division, only the FK Pirmasens found itself grouped into the Saar division of the new league while the SV Darmstadt 98 went to the new Bezirksliga Main-Hessen.

National success

Southern German championship

Qualified teams and their success:

  • 1924:
    • Waldhof Mannheim, 4th place
  • 1925:
    • VfR Mannheim, Southern German champions
  • 1926:
    • VfR Mannheim, 4th place
  • 1927:
    • VfR Mannheim, 4th place Bezirksliga-runners-up round
    • VfL Neckarau, 4th place

German championship

Qualified teams and their success:

  • 1924:
    • none qualified
  • 1925:
    • VfR Mannheim, First round
  • 1926:
    • none qualified
  • 1927:
    • none qualified

Founding members of the league

The league was formed from eight teams:

Winners and runners-up of the Bezirksliga Rhein
Season Champions Runners-Up
1923–24 Waldhof Mannheim VfR Mannheim
1924–25 VfR Mannheim Phönix Lugwigshafen
1925–26 VfR Mannheim Phönix Lugwigshafen
1926–27 VfL Neckarau VfR Mannheim

Placings in the Bezirksliga Rhein 1923 to 1927
Club 1924 1925 1926 1927
Waldhof Mannheim 1 3 4 4
VfR Mannheim 2 1 1 2
Phönix Ludwigshafen 3 2 2 3
FK Pirmasens 4 5 8 5
Pfalz Ludwigshafen 5 8
VfTuR Feudenheim 6 7
Ludwigshafener FG 7 5 7
Phönix Mannheim 8 10
VfL Neckarau 4 3 1
SV Darmstadt 98 6 6 6
SpVgg Mannheim 7
FV Speyer 8
SpVgg Sandhofen 9

Source:"Bezirksliga Rhein". Das deutsche Fussball-Archiv. Retrieved 2008-07-26.

References
  1. History of the Offenburger Fußballverein Archived March 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine (in German) Page 5, accessed: 23 July 2008

Sources
  • Fussball-Jahrbuch Deutschland (in German) (8 vol.), Tables and results of the German tier-one leagues 1919-33, publisher: DSFS
  • Kicker Almanach, (in German) The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937, published by the Kicker Sports Magazine
  • Süddeutschlands Fussballgeschichte in Tabellenform 1897-1988 (in German) History of Southern German football in tables, publisher & author: Ludolf Hyll
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