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| Founded | 1947 |
|---|---|
| Folded | 1963 (16 seasons) |
| Replaced by | Bundesliga |
| Country |  Germany |
| State |  North Rhine-Westphalia |
| Level on pyramid | Level 1 |
| Relegation to | 2. Oberliga West |
| Last champions | 1. FC Köln (1962–63) |
TheOberliga West (English:Premier League West) was the highest level of theGerman football league system in the west ofGermany from 1947 until theformation of theBundesliga in 1963. It covered the state ofNorth Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany.
The league was created in 1947 as the highest level of football in the newly created state ofNorth Rhine-Westphalia, then part of theBritish occupation zone. It replaced the variousGauligas, 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 theWest until 1949, when the2. 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.
With the introduction of the Bundesliga, five teams from the Oberliga West were admitted to the new Bundesliga. The remaining clubs went to the newRegionalliga 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 theOberligen 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 orDFB-Pokal finals were also rewarded with points. The fiveOberliga 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.[1]
AllOberliga 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 thanAlemannia Aachen. Aachen finished fifth, Meidericher SV came in fourth and Preußen Münster earned a third-place finish in 1962–63.[2]
Points table:
| Rank | Club | Points 1952 to 1963 | Place in1962–63 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1. FC Köln1 | 466 | 1 |
| 2 | Borussia Dortmund1 | 440 | 2 |
| 3 | FC Schalke 041 | 396 | 6 |
| 4 | Alemannia Aachen2 | 285 | 5 |
| 5 | Preußen Münster2 | 251 | 4 |
| 6 | Meidericher SV2 | 250 | 3 |
| 7 | Fortuna Düsseldorf2 | 225 | 13 |
| 8 | Westfalia Herne2 | 222 | 14 |
| 9 | Viktoria Köln3 | 201 | 8 |
| 10 | Schwarz-Weiß Essen2 | 167 | 7 |
| 11 | Rot-Weiß Oberhausen2 | 154 | 10 |
| 12 | Borussia Mönchengladbach3 | 155 | 11 |
| 13 | Hamborn 073 | 101 | 12 |
| 14 | Bayer Leverkusen3 | 88 | 9 |
| 15 | Wuppertaler SV4 | 52 | 15 |
The winners and runners-up of the Oberliga West:[3]
| Season | Winner | Runner-Up |
|---|---|---|
| 1947–48 | Borussia Dortmund | Sportfreunde Katernberg |
| 1948–49 | Borussia Dortmund | Rot-Weiß Essen |
| 1949–50 | Borussia Dortmund | Preußen Dellbrück |
| 1950–51 | FC Schalke 04 | SC Preußen Münster |
| 1951–52 | Rot-Weiß Essen | FC Schalke 04 |
| 1952–53 | Borussia Dortmund | 1. FC Köln |
| 1953–54 | 1. FC Köln | Rot-Weiß Essen |
| 1954–55 | Rot-Weiß Essen | SV Sodingen |
| 1955–56 | Borussia Dortmund | FC Schalke 04 |
| 1956–57 | Borussia Dortmund | Duisburger SV |
| 1957–58 | FC Schalke 04 | 1. FC Köln |
| 1958–59 | Westfalia Herne | 1. FC Köln |
| 1959–60 | 1. FC Köln | Westfalia Herne |
| 1960–61 | 1. FC Köln | Borussia Dortmund |
| 1961–62 | 1. FC Köln | FC Schalke 04 |
| 1962–63 | 1. FC Köln | Borussia Dortmund |
Source:"Oberliga West". Das deutsche Fussball-Archiv. Retrieved2008-01-09.
The final placings and all-time table of the Oberliga West:[3][4]
| Club | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | S | G | GF | GA | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Borussia Dortmund | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 16 | 506 | 1243 | 738 | 654 | |
| 1. FC Köln | 5 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 14 | 463 | 1097 | 657 | 591 | |||
| FC Schalke 04 | 6 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 16 | 495 | 1051 | 753 | 587 | |
| Alemannia Aachen | 9 | 8 | 12 | 15 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 16 | 469 | 847 | 853 | 484 | |
| Rot-Weiß Essen | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 15 | 13 | 399 | 802 | 604 | 470 | ||||
| Preußen Münster | 4 | 8 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 12 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 15 | 451 | 810 | 764 | 466 | ||
| Fortuna Düsseldorf | 7 | 11 | 5 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 3 | 15 | 9 | 13 | 14 | 408 | 763 | 725 | 405 | |||
| Meidericher SV | 8 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 11 | 330 | 546 | 517 | 343 | ||||||
| Rot-Weiß Oberhausen | 5 | 5 | 11 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 288 | 439 | 468 | 290 | |||||||
| Westfalia Herne | 13 | 13 | 11 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 14 | 9 | 280 | 481 | 461 | 284 | ||||||||
| Duisburger SV | 10 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 13 | 16 | 10 | 303 | 447 | 558 | 276 | |||||||
| Hamborn 07 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 12 | 7 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 319 | 439 | 590 | 264 | ||||||
| Borussia Mönchengladbach | 14 | 14 | 12 | 14 | 11 | 16 | 13 | 14 | 6 | 13 | 11 | 11 | 331 | 503 | 762 | 263 | ||||||
| Preussen Dellbrück * | 11 | 2 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 10 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 268 | 425 | 483 | 255 | ||||||||
| Schwarz-Weiß Essen | 11 | 13 | 6 | 12 | 8 | 15 | 16 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 270 | 463 | 471 | 252 | ||||||||
| SV Sodingen | 11 | 14 | 2 | 9 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 9 | 277 | 404 | 479 | 240 | ||||||||
| STV Horst-Emscher | 3 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 13 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 8 | 230 | 383 | 475 | 202 | |||||||||
| VfL Bochum | 8 | 16 | 10 | 14 | 4 | 11 | 16 | 7 | 210 | 331 | 374 | 193 | ||||||||||
| Bayer 04 Leverkusen | 6 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 180 | 298 | 337 | 175 | |||||||||||
| Viktoria Köln | 9 | 14 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 180 | 366 | 415 | 166 | |||||||||||
| SpVgg Erkenschwick | 8 | 9 | 7 | 11 | 14 | 16 | 6 | 168 | 267 | 343 | 143 | |||||||||||
| Sportfreunde Katernberg | 2 | 13 | 12 | 10 | 15 | 5 | 139 | 251 | 308 | 124 | ||||||||||||
| Wuppertaler SV * | 10 | 9 | 15 | 15 | 4 | 120 | 173 | 240 | 100 | |||||||||||||
| Rheydter SV | 9 | 15 | 15 | 3 | 90 | 150 | 221 | 71 | ||||||||||||||
| TSV Marl-Hüls | 12 | 14 | 16 | 3 | 90 | 130 | 212 | 65 | ||||||||||||||
| TSG Vohwinkel * | 10 | 7 | 14 | 3 | 78 | 116 | 161 | 63 | ||||||||||||||
| Rhenania Würselen | 10 | 13 | 2 | 54 | 78 | 100 | 47 | |||||||||||||||
| VfR Köln * | 12 | 1 | 24 | 23 | 43 | 17 | ||||||||||||||||
| Arminia Bielefeld | 15 | 1 | 30 | 32 | 72 | 17 | ||||||||||||||||
| Duisburger FV 08 | 16 | 1 | 30 | 29 | 66 | 14 | ||||||||||||||||
| VfL Witten | 13 | 1 | 24 | 30 | 56 | 13 |
Source:"All-time table Oberliga West". Clas Glenning. Archived fromthe original on 2009-07-31. Retrieved2008-01-09.