2. Amateurliga Bayern

2. Amateurliga Bayern

Founded	1951
Folded	1963
Country	West Germany
State	Bavaria
Level on pyramid	Level 4
Promotion to	Bayernliga
Relegation to	Kreisliga

The 2. Amateurliga Bayern was a set of eleven regional leagues in Bavaria existing from 1951 to 1963 as the fourth tier of football in the state. ^[1]

The leagues were disbanded in 1963, when the German football league system was reorganised with the introduction of the Bundesliga and replaced by the Landesligas. ^[2]

Overview

The 2. Amateurligas were introduced in Bavaria in 1951 to replace the previously existing Kreisligas at this level. ^[1] This step was taken after the introduction of the 2nd Oberliga Süd as the new second division in southern Germany in 1950 and the renaming of the Landesliga Bayern to Amateurliga Bayern in 1951. The Landesliga had, until 1950, been functioning as one of the regional second divisions below the Oberliga Süd , alongside the Landesliga Nordbaden , the Landesliga Hessen and the Landesliga Württemberg . ^[1]

The seven Bavarian Regierungsbezirke

The 2. Amateurliga, as the fourth tier of the German league system, below the Amateurliga Bayern as the third, was sub-divided into seven regions, along the boundaries of the seven Regierungsbezirke , those regions being:

• Upper Bavaria - Oberbayern
• Lower Bavaria - Niederbayern
• Swabia - Schwaben
• Upper Palatinate - Oberpfalz
• Middle Franconia - Mittelfranken
• Lower Franconia - Unterfranken
• Upper Franconia - Oberfranken

Some of the seven regions of the 2. Amateurliga were in turn sub-divided into regional leagues, resulting in the existence of eleven leagues at this level: ^[3]

• 2. Amateurliga Oberbayern A
• 2. Amateurliga Oberbayern B
• 2. Amateurliga Niederbayern
• 2. Amateurliga Schwaben
• 2. Amateurliga Oberpfalz
• 2. Amateurliga Mittelfranken Nord
• 2. Amateurliga Mittelfranken Süd
• 2. Amateurliga Unterfranken West
• 2. Amateurliga Unterfranken Ost
• 2. Amateurliga Oberfranken West
• 2. Amateurliga Oberfranken Ost

Within the four Regierungsbezirke who had two leagues, a championship was played to determine the local champions, but no overall 2. Amateurliga championship was held. Instead, the regional champions would play promotion rounds to determine the teams that would move up to the Amateurliga. The promotion rounds where sub-divided into northern and southern Bavaria. The champions of the three Franconian Regierungsbezirke would play in the northern group while the other four Regierungsbezirke would play in the southern one. Swabia had a special status within this system, being allowed to send both champions and runners-up to the promotion round. Originally, until 1957, the promotion rounds were held in two groups of six teams, playing a home-and-away round, with the top-two teams from each being promoted. ^[4]

In 1953, the Amateurliga Bayern was split in itself in two regional divisions, north and south, resulting in two new leagues: ^[5]

• Amateurliga Nordbayern - Northern Bavaria
• Amateurliga Südbayern - Southern Bavaria

This decision was made rather late, on 7 July 1953, after the promotion rounds had already been played, resulting in all twelve teams that had taken part being promoted. ^[5]

The promotion system remained unchanged after this, two groups of six with the first two in each group still promoted. In 1955, three teams were promoted from the north because VfB Helmbrechts had been promoted to the 2nd Oberliga Süd, thereby providing an additional spot in the Amateurliga Nordbayern. ^[6] An expansion of the Amateurliga Südbayern from 14 to 16 clubs in 1957 allowed four teams to be promoted from the south. ^[7]

From 1957-58 onwards, the promotion system was changed. In the north, the three Regierungsbezirk champions were now directly promoted. In the south, the Oberbayern and Schwaben champions were directly promoted while the champions of Niederbayern and Oberpfalz played a decider for one more promotion spot. ^[8]

In 1958, an additional spot was available because 1. FC Bamberg had been promoted to the second division, this was played out between the three runners-up. ^[9] The same happened in 1959, when SpVgg Bayreuth moved up to the second division. ^[10] In 1960, when Schwaben Augsburg was promoted to the 2nd Oberliga, the losing team of the Niederbayern versus Oberpfalz encounter was also promoted. ^[11]

Disbanding of the 2. Amateurligas

In 1963, the German league system was changed drastically. The Fußball-Bundesliga replaced the previously existing five Oberligas as the highest league in the country. Below it, five Regionalligas were created as the new second divisions.

On 27 April 1963, it was decided to reorganise the Bavarian league system, too. ^[1] The two Amateurligas in Bavaria were reduced to a single division again, like until 1953. ^[12] The 2nd Amateurligas were completely disbanded and replaced by three Landesligas as the new fourth tier, those being: ^[2]

• Landesliga Bayern-Süd - covering Swabia and Upper Bavaria
• Landesliga Bayern-Mitte - covering Middle Franconia, Lower Bavaria and Upper Palatinate
• Landesliga Bayern-Nord - covering Lower and Upper Franconia

Apart from the ten clubs each that came from the two Amateurligas to the new Landesligas, the top-teams of the 2. Amateurligas in 1962-63 were also allowed to join the new leagues:

From the 2. Amateurliga Schwaben SV Mering TSG Augsburg FC Memmingen TSV Kriegshaber BC Aichach From the 2. Amateurliga Oberbayern TSV 1860 Rosenheim FC Deisenhofen FSV Pfaffenhofen ASV Dachau Sportfreunde Pasing From the 2. Amateurliga Niederbayern SV Saal FC Dingolfing SpVgg Deggendorf From the 2. Amateurliga Oberpfalz TuS Rosenberg FC Maxhütte-Haidhof FC Schwarzenfeld

From the 2. Amateurliga Mittelfranken TV Erlangen FC Hersbruck SpVgg Erlangen 1. FC Nuremberg II FC Stein ASV Neumarkt From the 2. Amateurliga Oberfranken SC Sylvia Ebersdorf ASV Gaustadt VfB Bayreuth VfB Arzberg SpVgg Hof From the 2. Amateurliga Unterfranken SV Großwallstadt TSV Lohr Frankonia Mechenhard Bayern Kitzingen Post SV Würzburg FC Schweinfurt 05 II

All other clubs from the former 2. Amateurligas went to the Bezirksligas, which had existed since 1957, the fifth tier of league football. ^[1]

League champions

The champions of the eleven 2. Amateurligas in Bavaria were:

Southern Bavaria

Season	Oberbayern A	Oberbayern B	Niederbayern	Schwaben	Oberpfalz
1951–52	SC München-Süd	SpVgg Helios München	SpVgg Plattling	FC Kempten	SV Mitterteich
1952–53	MTV Ingolstadt	FC Penzberg	SpVgg Deggendorf	TSV Kottern	SV Mitterteich
1953–54	BSC Sendling	TSV Raubling	SV Saal	SpVgg Kaufbeuren	TV Sulzbach-Rosenberg
1954–55	TSG Pasing	ASV Dachau	SV Saal	FC Memmingen	FC Maxhütte-Haidhof
1955–56	FC Bayern Munich II	SV Aubing	1. FC Passau	FC Kempten	1. FC Schwandorf
1956–57	TSG Pasing	SC 1906 München	1. FC Passau	FC Kempten	FC Maxhütte-Haidhof
1957–58	SpVgg Helios München	SV Aubing	1. FC Passau	SpVgg Kaufbeuren	SpVgg Vohenstrauß
1958–59	TSV 1860 Munich II	FSV Pfaffenhofen	SpVgg Deggendorf	FC Memmingen	Turnerschaft Regensburg
1959–60	TSV 1860 Rosenheim	TSG Pasing	SpVgg Landshut	TSV Kottern	TuS Rosenberg
1960–61	FC Oberau	ESV Ingolstadt	1. FC Passau	TSV Königsbrunn	TV Wackersdorf
1961–62	Wacker Burghausen	FC Wacker München	SV Saal	BC Augsburg II	Jahn Regensburg II
1962–63	TSV 1860 Rosenheim	FSV Pfaffenhofen	SV Saal	SV Mering	TuS Rosenberg

Northern Bavaria

Season	Mittelfranken Nord	Mittelfranken Süd	Unterfranken West	Unterfranken Ost	Oberfranken West	Oberfranken Ost
1951–52	Jahn Forchheim	ASV Fürth	Viktoria Kahl	FC Bad Kissingen	VfB Coburg	VfB Bayreuth
1952–53	ATSV Erlangen	FC Stein	Viktoria Kahl	TSV Gochsheim	FC Michelau	VfB Helmbrechts
1953–54	SpVgg Erlangen	TSV Südwest Nürnberg	1. FC Haßfurt	FC Eibelstadt	FC Pressig	SpVgg Bayreuth
1954–55	SpVgg Erlangen	1. FC Nuremberg II	VfR Goldbach	Bayern Kitzingen	TSV Küps	SpVgg Hof
1955–56	ATSV Erlangen	TSV 04 Schwabach	Alemannia Haibach	ASV Rimpar	SC Sylvia Ebersdorf	Wacker Marktredwitz
1956–57	SpVgg Büchenbach	TSV Südwest Nürnberg	1. FC Haßfurt	VfR Goldbach	SV Neuses	1. FC Bayreuth
1957–58	SpVgg Fürth II	ESV Nürnberg-West	SpVgg Niedernberg	TSV Gochsheim	FC Wallenfels	1. FC Bayreuth
1958–59	FC Hersbruck	ASV Nürnberg-Süd	VfR Goldbach	1. FC Haßfurt	TSV Küps	VfB Rehau
1959–60	1. FC Röthenbach	TSV Johannis Nürnberg	TuS Aschaffenburg	FV 04 Würzburg	ASV Gaustadt	ATS Kulmbach
1960–61	FC Hersbruck	ASV Zirndorf	Alemannia Haibach	ASV Rimpar	Wacker Marktredwitz	SV Neuses
1961–62	FC Schnaittach	ASV Zirndorf	Frankonia Mechenhard	TSV Gochsheim	1. FC Bayreuth	SV Neuses
1962–63	TV Erlangen	1. FC Nuremberg II	SV Großwallstadt	Bayern Kitzingen	SC Sylvia Ebersdorf	VfB Bayreuth

• Promoted teams in Bold.
• In 1953, FC Memmingen, runners-up in Schwaben, was also promoted.
• In 1957, TSV Gersthofen, runners-up in Schwaben, was also promoted.

References

1. Die Bayernliga 1945-1997(in German) Introduction. DSFS. 1998. p. 3.
2. DSFS 1998, p. 56.
3. DSFS 1998, p. 24.
4. DSFS 1998, p. 24-38.
5. DSFS 1998, p. 26.
6. DSFS 1998, p. 32.
7. DSFS 1998, p. 38.
8. DSFS 1998, p. 41-53.
9. DSFS 1998, p. 41.
10. DSFS 1998, p. 44.
11. DSFS 1998, p. 47.
12. DSFS 1998, p. 54.

Sources

• Die Bayernliga 1945 - 1997(in German) published by the DSFS, 1998.
• Deutschlands Fussball in Zahlen(in German) An annual publication with tables and results from the Bundesliga to Verbandsliga/Landesliga, publisher: DSFS
• Kicker Almanach(in German) The Football Yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937, published by the Kicker Sports Magazine
• 50 Jahre Bayerischer Fussball-Verband(in German) 50th Anniversary book of the Bavarian FA

External links

• Bayrischer Fussball Bund (Bavarian FA)
• Das deutsche Fussball Archiv
• Bavarian League tables and results
• Private website with tables and results from Oberliga to Bezirksliga