Oberliga Nord


The Oberliga Nord was the fourth tier of the German football league system in the north of Germany. It covered the states of Lower Saxony, Bremen, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. With the introduction of the 3. Liga, the league ceased to exist from 2008.

Overview

The first ''Oberliga Nord'': 1947–1963

The original league of this name existed from 1947 to 1963 and was then the first tier of German football, covering the same region as the "new" Oberliga Nord. For its history, see here.

The second ''Oberliga Nord'': 1974–1994

The league was formed in 1974 as a continuation of the Regionalliga Nord, the then second tier of German football. With the introduction of the 2nd Bundesliga Nord in that year, the Regionalliga was disbanded and its clubs spread among the new 2nd Bundesliga, Oberliga and Amateurligas.
The new Oberliga Nord however was only the third tier of the German football league system, replacing at this level the four Landes- and Amateurligas of Niedersachsen, Hamburg, Bremen and Schleswig-Holstein, who now slipped to the fourth tier of the league system.
Below the Oberliga were originally four leagues, one for each of the four states of the region. The Amateurliga of Niedersachsen changed its name to Landesliga from 1974 and after 1979 to Verbandsliga. The leagues in Bremen and Hamburg changed their name to Verbandsliga straight away in 1974. Schleswig-Holstein changed from Landesliga to Verbandsliga in 1978. In 1994, Niedersachsen, the largest of the four states, split its league into an eastern and a western group, a system already in place until 1964.
Due to the difference in playing strength of the Verbandsligas, champions were not directly promoted but had to go through a play-off system. Eight teams in two divisions were qualified for this competition, with three clubs from Niedersachsen, two each from Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein and one from Bremen, to balance out the difference between the leagues.
In 1975 and 1976, the two first placed teams of the Oberliga took part in the promotion play-off to determine the promoted teams to the 2nd Bundesliga Nord. In 1977 and 1978, the top four teams from the Oberliga Nord went to this competition. With the reduction of the number of Oberligas in 1978, the winner and runners-up of the Oberliga Nord were directly promoted in 1979 and 1980.
No promotion was available in 1981 because the 2nd Bundesliga was reduced to one league only. From 1982, the top two teams in the league had to play-off for promotion again.
The Oberliga Nord was disbanded in 1994, with the re-introduction of the Regionalliga Nord, this time as the third tier of German football. Fourteen of its sixteen clubs went to the new Regionalliga, the bottom two teams were relegated to the two new Oberligas of Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein and Niedersachsen/Bremen.

The third ''Oberliga Nord'': 2004–2008

In 2004, after ten seasons, the Oberliga Nord was reformed, as the league below the Regionalliga Nord, being the fourth tier of football now. The two Oberligas that replaced it in 1994 were disbanded.
With the introduction of the 3. Liga and of a third Regionalliga in 2008, the Oberliga Nord again ceased to exist, being replaced by the five Verbandsligas in its stead. The top five clubs of the Oberliga in the 2007-08 season gained promotion to the Regionalliga Nord, the sixth placed team had to play-off with the Verbandsliga champions for another Regionalliga spot and the rest of the clubs were relegated to the Verbandsligas. The northern region therefore became the only region in Germany without an Oberliga after 2008. In future, the five Verbandsliga champions will have to play-off for two promotion spots to the Regionalliga Nord.

Champions of the Oberliga Nord

The league champions:
SeasonClub
1974–75VfB Oldenburg
1975–76Arminia Hannover
1976–77TuS Bremerhaven 93
1977–78OSV Hannover
1978–79OSV Hannover
1979–80VfB Oldenburg
1980–81FC St. Pauli
1981–82SV Werder Bremen II
1982–83FC St. Pauli
1983–84SV Werder Bremen II
1984–85VfL Osnabrück
1985–86FC St. Pauli
1986–87SV Meppen
1987–88Eintracht Braunschweig
1988–89TSV Havelse
1989–90VfB Oldenburg
1990–91VfL Wolfsburg
1991–92VfL Wolfsburg
1992–93VfL Herzlake
1993–94Kickers Emden
1994 – 2004no competition
2004–05Kickers Emden
2005–06SV Wilhelmshaven
2006–07VfL Wolfsburg II
2007–08Holstein Kiel

Placings in the Oberliga Nord 1975 to 2008

The clubs in the league and their final placings:
Club757677787980818283848586878889909192939405060708
VfL Wolfsburg2B22B25364514966234112B2BBBBB
FC St. Pauli2B2B2BB2B1016122B12B2BBBB2B2B2BRRR2B
VfL Osnabrück2B2B2B2B2B2B2B2B2B2B12B2B2B2B2B2B2B2B3RRR2B
Eintracht BraunschweigBBBBBB2BBBBB2B2B12B2B2B2B2B2R2B2BR
VfB Lübeck74121215179RRRR
SV Werder Bremen II8107621213594693238RRRR
Hamburger SV II5511610RRRR
Kickers Emden6811RRR
VfL Wolfsburg IIR31R
Holstein Kiel1013342B2B2B737141545474757RRR1
FC Altona 93114111151012141412752
SV Wilhelmshaven2B4101216171511811141721R3
Hannover 96 II11564
BV Cloppenburg6225
TuS Heeslingen6
VfB Oldenburg1378812B916154253712B2B2B67
SV Meppen3613178413765312B2B2B2B2B2B2B3848
FC Oberneuland39
Eintracht Braunschweig II11151417181317121010
VfL Osnabrück II131211
FC St. Pauli II810812
ASV Bergedorf 8510111313
SV Lurup173717101414
Eintracht Nordhorn991312161614101544715
VSK Osterholz-Scharmbeck1416
VfB Lübeck II1717
SV Henstedt-Rhen1618
Holstein Kiel II 1769
VfR Neumünster 251411
Arminia Hannover212B2B2B2B11298692131113189915
VfL 93 Hamburg111117
SV Ramlingen18
TSV Kropp15
Eider Büdelsdorf1416
Meiendorfer SV1317
Brinkumer SV18
HSV Barmbek-Uhlenhorst2B1511511111815
Concordia Hamburg11756913914111316812715121516
Victoria Hamburg4161718
VfL Herzlake1015101314
TuS Hoisdorf8311895
TuS Celle75712
SC Göttingen 052B2B2B3622B312512103626212413
1. SC Norderstedt159864215
Preußen Hameln51241110141716
TSV Havelse1064151679122B316
VfL Stade917
TuS Lingen12
SVG Göttingen1113913
TSV Osterholz-Tenever15
Bremer SV1713151416121616816
Wolfenbütteler SV12108121416
SpVgg Eutin17
FC Mahndorf161318
TuS Esens17
SFL Bremerhaven17
Lüneburger SK81214161314131418
Atlas Delmenhorst61514478181518
Hummelsbüttler SV132718
MTV Gifhorn7105491018
OSC Bremerhaven61012B22B516101217
TuS Hessisch Oldendorf131018
SV Union Salzgitter1252935311817
OSV Hannover91414112B2B18
Itzehoer SV817121615915
Blumenthaler SV781618
1. FC Phönix Lübeck1418
VfL Pinneberg18
SpVgg Bad Pyrmont131818
SpVgg Flensburg 0815
Heider SV16
SC Poppenbüttel18

Founding members of the Oberliga Nord

The league started in 1974 with eighteen clubs from four German states:
From the Regionalliga Nord:
From the Landesliga Hamburg:
From the Amateurliga Bremen:
From the Landesliga Schleswig-Holstein:
From the Amateurliga Niedersachsen:
At the end of its last season, 2007–08, the last round having been played on 30 May 2008, the clubs of the league were spread over various other divisions, according to their final league position. The 6th placed team, TuS Heeslingen, was not granted a Regionalliga licence and the 7th placed club, VfB Oldenburg, qualified for the play-offs instead. The Bremen champion, FC Bremerhaven, was also not granted a licence and the best place club from Bremen in the Oberliga, the FC Oberneuland, qualified instead. Its eighteen clubs went to the following leagues:
To the Regionalliga Nord:
To the Verbandsliga Bremen:
To the Verbandsliga Hamburg:
To the Verbandsligas Niedersachsen:
To the Verbandsliga Schleswig-Holstein: