Verbandsliga Saarland

The Verbandsliga Saarland is currently the seventh tier of the German football league system in the German federated state of Saarland. Until the introduction of the Saarlandliga in 2009 it was the sixth tier, until the introduction of the 3. Liga in 2008 it was the fifth tier of the league system, until the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 the fourth tier.

Verbandsliga Saarland

Founded	1947
Country	Germany
State	Saarland
Number of teams	Nordost: 16 Südwest: 17
Level on pyramid	Level 7
Promotion to	Saarlandliga
Relegation to	Landesliga Saarland-Nord Landesliga Saarland-Ost Landesliga Saarland-Süd Landesliga Saarland-West
Domestic cup(s)	Saarland Cup
Current champions	Nordost: SV Bliesmengen-Bolchen Südwest: FV Siersburg (2019–20)

From the 2012-13 season onwards the league will be played in two regional divisions and the Landesligas below it increased in numbers from two to four.

Overview

The Verbandsliga was formed in 1947 under the name of Ehrenliga Saarland in the state of Saarland. The league was originally a feeder league to the Oberliga Südwest. Due to the special situation of Saarland, its clubs left the German football league system from 1949 to 1951 with the 1. FC Saarbrücken playing a year in the French second division.[1] From its return in 1951, now under the name of Amateurliga Saarland, until the establishment of the Oberliga Südwest in 1978, it was the third tier of the football league system.

The league was established in 1947 with ten teams, the winner gaining promotion to the Oberliga Südwest. The founder members were:

• FC 08 Homburg
• Sportfreunde Burbach
• FC Ensdorf
• SC Brebach
• Preußen Merchweiler
• FV Püttlingen
• SV Ludweiler
• ASC Dudweiler
• SV Bliekastel
• Hellas Marpingen
• Viktoria Hühnerfeld

With the return to the German league system in 1951, two teams from the league, now called Amateurliga Saarland were admitted to the Oberliga Südwest, the 1. FC Saarbrücken and Borussia Neunkirchen.

The year after, three clubs were admitted to the new 2nd Oberliga Südwest, the Viktoria Hühnerfeld, SC Altenkessel und Sportfreunde Saarbrücken.

The winner of the Amateurliga Saarland was not automatically promoted to its superior league but rather had to take part in a promotion play-off. The champion would have to compete with the winners of the Amateurligen Südwest and Rheinland.

With the introduction of the Bundesliga in 1963 the Amateurliga was placed below the new Regionalliga Südwest but still retained its third-tier status. It continued to do so after the introduction of the 2nd Bundesliga Süd in 1974.

In 1978, the same time as the Oberliga Südwest, the Amateurliga Saarland was renamed Verbandsliga Saarland and was now the fourth tier of the league system. The top seven teams out of the Amateurliga went to the new Oberliga while the teams from place 8 to 19 found themselves in the Verbandsliga.

The winner of the Verbandsliga Saarland, like the winners of the Verbandsligen Südwest and Rheinland gains direct promotion to the Oberliga Südwest. The runners-up will only get a chance for promotion when there are additional spots to fill in the Oberliga, like 1994 when the Regionalligen were introduced and VfB Dillingen was promoted.

The Saarland was the youngest of the states of West Germany, until 1957 it was a separate entity under French supervision. Its football league was temporarily separate, too. The clubs from the Saar did not play in the German football league system from 1948 to 1951.

Feeder Leagues to the Verbandsliga Saarland

• Landesliga Saarland-Nord
• Landesliga Saarland-Ost
• Landesliga Saarland-Süd
• Landesliga Saarland-West

In May 2008, the Saarland Football Association decided to change the league system by introducing the new Saarlandliga as the sixth tier, between Oberliga and Verbandsliga, from 2009. For the Verbandsliga, this meant, it would lose almost all its clubs to the new league and be relegated to seventh tier. Otherwise, it remained unchanged.

League winners

The league champions in the single division era:

Season Club 1947–48 FC 08 Homburg 1948–49 Borussia Neunkirchen 1949–50 Sportfreunde Saarbrücken 1950–51 1. FC Saarbrücken 1951–52 Sportfreunde Saarbrücken 1952–53 VfB Dillingen 1953–54 SV Ludweiler 1954–55 SV St. Ingbert 1955–56 Viktoria Hühnerfeld 1956–57 FC 08 Homburg 1957–58 VfB Theley 1958–59 SC Friedrichsthal 1959–60 Röchling Völklingen 1960–61 Röchling Völklingen 1961–62 SV Fraulautern 1962–63 Viktoria Sulzbach 1963–64 Viktoria Sulzbach 1964–65 SV Ludweiler 1965–66 FC 08 Homburg 1966–67 SC Friedrichsthal 1967–68 SV Landsweiler–Reden 1968–69 SC Friedrichsthal

Season Club 1969–70 VfB Theley 1970–71 SV Fraulautern 1971–72 VfB Theley 1972–73 FC Ensdorf 1973–74 SV St. Ingbert 1974–75 ASC Dudweiler 1975–76 Borussia Neunkirchen 1976–77 Borussia Neunkirchen 1977–78 Borussia Neunkirchen 1978–79 FC Ensdorf 1979–80 SV Elversberg 1980–81 Rot-Weiß Hasborn 1981–82 FC St. Wendel 1982–83 Röchling Völklingen 1983–84 FC Ensdorf 1984–85 FSV Saarwellingen 1985–86 SSV Überherrn 1986–87 Rot–Weiß Hasborn 1987–88 1. FC Saarbrücken II 1988–89 FSG Schiffweiler 1989–90 Saar 05 Saarbrücken 1990–91 FC 08 Homburg II

Season Club 1991–92 FSG Schiffweiler 1992–93 SV Mettlach 1993–94 SV Elversberg 1994–95 SV Auersmacher 1995–96 SSV Überherrn 1996–97 SC 08 Halberg-Brebach 1997–98 1. FC Saarbrücken II 1998–99 VfB Theley 1999–2000 SV Mettlach 2000–01 Saar 05 Saarbrücken 2001–02 Röchling Völklingen 2002–03 Spfr. Köllerbach 2003–04 SC 08 Halberg-Brebach 2004–05 Rot–Weiß Hasborn 2005–06 FC Kutzhof 2006–07 Spfr. Köllerbach 2007–08 SV Elversberg II 2008–09 SV Auersmacher 2009–10 VfB Theley 2010–11 SpVgg Hangard 2011–12 Saar 05 Saarbrücken

The league champions in the two division era:

Season	Nordost	Südwest
2012–13	VfL Primstal	SV Klarenthal
2013–14	Preussen Merchweiler	FSV Hemmersdorf
2014–15	DJK Bildstock	1. FC Riegelsberg
2015–16	FV Lebach	TuS Herrensohr
2016–17	FC 08 Homburg II	FV 09 Schwalbach
2017–18	SV Rohrbach	FC Rastpfuhl
2018–19	Rot-Weiß Hasborn	FV 09 Bischmisheim
2019–20	SV Bliesmengen-Bolchen	FV Siersburg

Source: "Verbandsliga saarland". Das deutsche Fussball–Archiv. Retrieved 18 March 2008.

• bold denotes club gained promotion.
• VfB Dillingen (1994), Rot–Weiß Hasborn (1999), 1. FC Saarbrücken II (2002), TuS Steinbach (2015), FSG Bous (2017), SF Rehlingen (2018) and 1. FC Reimsbach (2019) were also promoted, finishing runners–up.
• FC Kutzhof withdrew from the league in 2006; no team from Saarland was promoted that year. The club's main sponsor withdrew its support and the team could not be financed to play in the Oberliga. Kutzhof withdrew on 10 July 2006. Had the withdrawal been done before 30 June, the runners–up of the league could have been promoted instead.[2]

References

1. France - List of Final Tables Second Level Archived 14 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine
2. FC Kutzhof vor dem Aus Archived 10 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine (in German) Saarländischer Rundfunk. 11 July 2006. Retrieved 7 August 2008

Sources

• Deutschlands Fußball in Zahlen, (in German) An annual publication with tables and results from the Bundesliga to Verbandsliga/Landesliga. DSFS
• Kicker Almanach, (in German) The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937. Kicker Sports Magazine.
• Süddeutschlands Fussballgeschichte in Tabellenform 1897-1988 (in German) History of Southern German football in tables, by Ludolf Hyll
• Die Deutsche Liga-Chronik 1945-2005 (in German) History of German football from 1945 to 2005 in tables. DSFS. 2006.

External links

• Das deutsche Fussball Archiv (in German) Historic German league tables
• Saarland Football Association website (in German)
• Verbandsliga Saarland at Fussball.de (in German)