 | |
| Founded | 1938 |
|---|---|
| Folded | 1945 |
| Replaced by | Czechoslovak First League |
| Country |  Nazi Germany |
| Gau (from 1938) | Reichsgau Sudetenland |
| Level on pyramid | Level 1 |
| Domestic cup(s) | Tschammerpokal |
| Last champions | NSTG Brüx (1943–44) |
TheGauliga Sudetenland, was the highestfootball league in theSudetenland, the predominantly German-speaking parts ofCzechoslovakia that were awarded to theGerman Reich on 30 September 1938 through theMunich Agreement. Shortly after the completion of the occupation on 10 October 1938, theNazis reorganised the administration in the region, forming theReichsgau Sudetenland.
After the German occupation, aGauliga Sudetenland championship was organized by theNazi Sports Office in 1938–39 in the form of a knock-out competition involving the four regional champions, theBezirksmeister. The winner of this competition qualified for theGerman championship.
Throughout the league's existence, only ethnically German clubs were permitted to take part in theGauliga. Except for the 1938-39 edition, when clubs still operated under their original names, almost all teams had to adopt the prefixNTSG standing forNationalsozialistische Turnergemeinde and were under direct Nazi control. The only clubs outside this system were the military clubs.[1]
In March 1939, Nazi Germany went to occupy the remaining part of Czechoslovakia. It formed the German controlledProtectorate of Bohemia and Moravia and the nominally independent country ofSlovakia. Ethnically German clubs from the newly occupied region took part in theGauliga Sudetenland, especially fromPrague.
The league proper started in 1939, with eleven teams in two groups. The two group champions played a one-off final to determine theSudetenland champion. The season after the league was reduced to seven teams in an otherwise unchanged setup. The season was greatly shortened due to a number of clubs dropping out throughout it.
The 1941–42 season saw a return to a more organised league system with eighteen clubs in three equal divisions. The three divisional champions then played a home-and-away finals round to determine theSudetenland champion. The following season, the league was again reduced in numbers throughout the season, finishing with fifteen clubs in the same three groups, four in the eastern group, five in the central and six in the western group. Again, a finals tournament for the group champions was played. From 1943, clubs from theProtectorate left to take part in the newGauliga Böhmen und Mähren.
In its last completed season, the league operated with thirteen clubs in two divisions, with a home-and-away final of the two divisional champions at the end. Not every club however completed their full program of matches.
The imminent collapse ofNazi Germany in 1945 affected allGauligas and its doubtful whether the 1944–45 season in theGauliga Sudetenland got under way at all.
The league was formed of twelve clubs in two divisions in 1939:[2]
Group I:
Group II:
The abbreviationNSTG stands forNationalsozialistische Turngemeinde.
The winners and runners-up of the league:[2]
| Season | Winner | Runner-Up |
|---|---|---|
| 1938-39 | Warnsdorfer FK | Teplitzer FK |
| 1939-40 | NSTG Graslitz | NSTG Gablonz |
| 1940-41 | NSTG Prag | Luftwaffen SV Pilsen |
| 1941-42 | Luftwaffen SV Olmütz | NSTG Prag |
| 1942-43 | Militär SV Brünn | NSTG Budweis |
| 1943-44 | NSTG Brüx | NSTG Prosetitz |
At the end of theSecond World War, the German population of theSudetenland wasalmost completely expelled. Only a small minority remains in what is now theCzech Republic.
All German football clubs were dissolved and theCzechoslovak First League once more became the highest level of play for the whole country, but now without any ethnically German clubs, the last of which had been relegated in1936 from the top division.[3]