Oberliga West (1947–63)


The Oberliga West was the highest level of the German football league system in the west of Germany from 1947 until the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963. It covered the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany.

Overview

The league was created in 1947 as the highest level of football in the newly created state of North Rhine-Westphalia, then part of the British occupation zone. It replaced the various Gauligas, which had existed until 1945 in the region:
The league was, together with the Oberliga Nord, the last of the five Oberligas to be formed, the other four being:
The Oberliga West was formed from thirteen clubs from the Landesligas Niederrhein, Mittelrhein and Westfalen. The Landesligas remained the second tier of football in the West until 1949, when the 2. Oberliga West was formed.
With the reintroduction of the German championship in 1948, the winner and runners-up of the Oberliga West went on to the finals tournament with the other Oberliga champions. The Oberliga West, together with the Oberliga Süd, were the strongest of the five Oberligas, winning six German titles each in the Oberliga period from 1948 to 1963.

Founding members of the Oberliga West

With the introduction of the Bundesliga, five teams from the Oberliga West were admitted to the new Bundesliga. The remaining clubs went to the new Regionalliga West, one of five new second divisions.
The teams admitted to the Bundesliga were:
The following teams from the Oberliga went to the new Regionalliga:
The qualifying system for the new league was fairly complex. The league placings of the clubs playing in the Oberligen for the last ten seasons were taken into consideration, whereby results from 1952 to 1955 counted once, results from 1955 to 1959 counted double and results from 1959 to 1963 triple. A first-place finish was awarded 16 points, a sixteenth place one point. Appearances in the German championship or DFB-Pokal finals were also rewarded with points. The five Oberliga champions of the 1962-63 season were granted direct access to the Bundesliga. All up, 46 clubs applied for the 16 available Bundesliga slots.
Following this system, by 11 January 1963, the DFB announced nine fixed clubs for the new league and reduced the clubs eligible for the remaining seven places to 20. Clubs within the same Oberliga that were separated by less than 50 points were considered on equal rank and the 1962-63 placing was used to determine the qualified team.
All Oberliga West clubs except TSV Marl-Hüls applied for Bundesliga membership. Borussia Dortmund, 1. FC Köln and FC Schalke 04 qualified early. Meidericher SV and Preußen Münster qualified even though both clubs had less points than Alemannia Aachen. Aachen finished fifth, Meidericher SV came in fourth and Preußen Münster earned a third-place finish in 1962–63.
Points table:
RankClubPoints 1952 to 1963Place in 1962–63
11. FC Köln 14661
2Borussia Dortmund 14402
3FC Schalke 04 13966
4Alemannia Aachen 22855
5Preußen Münster 22514
6Meidericher SV 22503
7Fortuna Düsseldorf 222513
8Westfalia Herne 222214
9Viktoria Köln 32018
10Schwarz-Weiß Essen 21677
11Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 215410
12Borussia Mönchengladbach 315511
13Hamborn 07 310112
14Bayer Leverkusen 3889
15Wuppertaler SV 45215

The winners and runners-up of the Oberliga West:
SeasonWinnerRunner-Up
1947–48Borussia DortmundSportfreunde Katernberg
1948–49Borussia DortmundRot-Weiß Essen
1949–50Borussia DortmundPreußen Dellbrück
1950–51FC Schalke 04SC Preußen Münster
1951–52Rot-Weiß EssenFC Schalke 04
1952–53Borussia Dortmund1. FC Köln
1953–541. FC KölnRot-Weiß Essen
1954–55Rot-Weiß EssenSV Sodingen
1955–56Borussia DortmundFC Schalke 04
1956–57Borussia DortmundDuisburger SV
1957–58FC Schalke 041. FC Köln
1958–59Westfalia Herne1. FC Köln
1959–601. FC KölnWestfalia Herne
1960–611. FC KölnBorussia Dortmund
1961–621. FC KölnFC Schalke 04
1962–631. FC KölnBorussia Dortmund

The final placings and all-time table of the Oberliga West:
Club48495051525354555657585960616263SGGFGAPoints
Borussia Dortmund1113415511553282165061243738654
1. FC Köln54521873221111144631097657591
FC Schalke 04612612636241114326164951051753587
Alemannia Aachen98121535911353109811516469847853484
Rot-Weiß Essen2361321587661513399802604470
Preußen Münster48277491213671097415451810764466
Fortuna Düsseldorf711512910766831591314408763725405
Meidericher SV8411157488115311330546517343
Rot-Weiß Oberhausen551113111213431010288439468290
Westfalia Herne131311121256149280481461284
Duisburger SV10164421095131610303447558276
Hamborn 074697161616127121211319439590264
Borussia Mönchengladbach14141214111613146131111331503762263
Preussen Dellbrück *112898131014129268425483255
Schwarz-Weiß Essen111361281516479270463471252
SV Sodingen11142914131514159277404479240
STV Horst-Emscher33410131216168230383475202
VfL Bochum8161014411167210331374193
Bayer 04 Leverkusen610731596180298337175
Viktoria Köln9147101086180366415166
SpVgg Erkenschwick8971114166168267343143
Sportfreunde Katernberg2131210155139251308124
Wuppertaler SV *10915154120173240100
Rheydter SV9151539015022171
TSV Marl-Hüls12141639013021265
TSG Vohwinkel *1071437811616163
Rhenania Würselen10132547810047
VfR Köln *12124234317
Arminia Bielefeld15130327217
Duisburger FV 0816130296614
VfL Witten13124305613