Country Germany Founded 1923 Replaced by Gauliga Bayern | State Bavaria Folded 1933 Level on pyramid Level 1 | |
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The Bezirksliga Bayern was the highest association football league in the German state of Bavaria from 1923 to 1933. The league was disbanded with the rise of the Nazis to power in 1933.
Contents
Overview
The league was formed in 1923, after a league reform which was decided upon in Darmstadt, Hesse.
Until the introduction of the Bezirksliga, the Kreisliga Südbayern and Kreisliga Nordbayern were the highest leagues in the state.
The league started out with eight clubs from all over the state of Bavaria, but without any teams from the Palatinate region (German:Pfalz), then politically a part of Bavaria but not geographically connected to the rest of the state. The eight clubs played each other in a home-and-away round with the two top teams advancing to the Southern German championship, which in turn was a qualification tournament for the German championship.
In its second season, the league started to incooperate clubs from the city of Ulm, Württemberg, which lays right across the border from Bavaria. Otherwise, the modus of the league remained unchanged but only the league champion qualified for the Southern German finals in this season.
For the 1926-27 season, the league was expanded to ten teams. The top team was again qualified for the finals. Additionally, the SpVgg Fürth as Southern German cup winner also qualified for this round. The runners-up of the Bezirksligas in the south also played a championship round to determine a third team from the region to go to the German finals.
After this season, the league was split into a northern and a southern group, the north having nine and the south seven teams. The winner of each division would advance to the Southern German finals while the two runners-up again played in a separate round like in the previous season.
The 1928-29 season saw no change in modus but both leagues now operated on a strength of eight clubs. The qualification system for the finals also remained unchanged. This system remained in place until 1931.
For the 1931-32 season, both divisions were expanded to ten teams. The top-two teams from each league then advanced to the Southern German finals, which were now staged in two regional groups with a finals game between the two group winners at the end. The same system applied for the final season of the league in 1932-33.
With the rise of the Nazis to power, the Gauligas were introduced as the highest football leagues in Germany. In Bavaria, the Gauliga Bayern replaced the Bezirksliga Bayern as the highest level of play. The twelve best teams from Bavaria qualified for this new, statewide league.
National success
The clubs from the Bezirksliga Bayern were among the most successful in Germany in this era, specifically the 1. FC Nuremberg.
Founding members of the league
The league was formed from eight clubs from Bavaria:
Clubs from the northern division
Source:"Bezirksliga Bayern". Das deutsche Fussball-Archiv. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
Clubs from the southern division
Source:"Bezirksliga Bayern". Das deutsche Fussball-Archiv. Retrieved 2008-07-23.