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73-673: The league was formed in a move to improve the organisation of football in Southern Germany in the early 1900s. Within the structure of the Southern German football championship , four regional leagues were gradually established from 1908, these being: Until then, regional leagues had existed which send their champions to the Kreis finals and, from there, the winners went on to the Southern and German championships. In 1908,

146-482: A comparison of leading Bundesliga and Premiership clubs, Bayern Munich received 55% of its revenue from company sponsorship deals, while Manchester United got 37%. Bundesliga clubs are required to be majority-owned by German club members (known as the 50+1 rule  [ de ] to discourage control by a single entity) and operate under tight restrictions on the use of debt for acquisitions (a team only receives an operating licence if it has solid financials); as

219-523: A knock-out round first, the remaining five then played a home-and-away tournament for the championship. After the 1923 season, the German league system was reorganised and streamlined. In the region of the SFV, new Bezirksligas were established as the highest level of play: For the 1924 championship, this meant, the five league champions and the 1923 champion were qualified to compete in a home-and-away round for

292-498: A net loss of €30.4 million in 2009 financial year. Borussia Dortmund GmbH & Co. KGaA, made a net loss of just €2.9 million in 2008–09 season. Based on its per-game average, the Bundesliga is the best-attended association football league in the world; out of all sports, its average of 39,512 spectators per game during the 2023–24 season is the second highest of any professional sports league worldwide, behind only

365-413: A result 11 of the 18 clubs were profitable after the 2008–09 season. By contrast, in the other major European leagues numerous high-profile teams have come under ownership of foreign billionaires and a significant number of clubs have high levels of debt. Exceptions to the 50+1 rule allow Bayer Leverkusen , TSG 1899 Hoffenheim , and VfL Wolfsburg to be owned by corporations or individual investors. In

438-640: A scandal, when the game between Eintracht Frankfurt and the FC Bayern Munich had to be stopped at a 2–0 lead for Eintracht, seven minutes before the end. Bayern supporters had stormed the field and Eintracht Frankfurt was declared the winner. Incidentally, the German final became a rematch which the FC Bayern won 2–0. With the Nazis rise to power in 1933, the Southern German championship

511-603: A subsidiary of the Deutsche Fußball Liga . The Bundesliga broadcast rights are sold along with the broadcast rights to the relegation playoffs, 2. Bundesliga and DFL-Supercup . From 2017 to 2018 to 2018–19, Bundesliga matches were broadcast on TV in Germany on Sky Deutschland and Eurosport. Prior to the 2019–20 season, Eurosport sublicensed its broadcast rights to sports streaming service DAZN , which will broadcast games previously allocated to Eurosport until

584-514: A victory was worth two points, with one point for a draw and none for a loss. Since the 1995–96 season, a victory has been worth three points, while a draw remains worth a single point, and zero points are given for a loss. The club with the most points at the end of the season becomes the German champion. Currently, the top four clubs in the table qualify automatically for the group phase of the UEFA Champions League . The two teams at

657-455: Is composed of two divisions: the 1. Bundesliga (although it is rarely referred to with the First prefix), and, below that, the 2. Bundesliga (2nd Bundesliga), which has been the second tier of German football since 1974 . The Bundesligen (plural) are professional leagues. Since 2008, the 3. Liga (3rd League) in Germany has also been a professional league, but may not be called Bundesliga because

730-478: Is no threat of insolvency do they give approval. The DFB have a system of fines and points deductions for clubs who flout rules, and those who go into the red can only buy a player after selling one for at least the same amount. In addition, no individual is allowed to own more than 49 per cent of any Bundesliga club, the only exceptions being VfL Wolfsburg , Bayer Leverkusen and current Regionalliga Nordost member FC Carl Zeiss Jena should they ever be promoted to

803-418: Is not in the clubs' culture so much [to raise prices]. They are very fan orientated". Uli Hoeneß , president of Bayern Munich, was quoted as saying "We do not think the fans are like cows to be milked. Football has got to be for everybody." The spectator figures for league for the last ten seasons: The Bundesliga TV, radio, internet, and mobile broadcast rights are distributed by DFL Sports Enterprises,

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876-528: Is organised in the region, consisting of the best under 15 sides in Southern Germany. Bundesliga The Bundesliga ( German: [ˈbʊndəsˌliːɡa] ; lit.   ' Federal League ' ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga ( [ˌfuːsbal-] ) or 1. Bundesliga ( [ˌeːɐ̯stə-] ), is a professional football league in Germany located at

949-707: Is the SpVgg Fürth with five titles. After the Second World War , the Southern German Cup was revitalised in 1952 and functioned as a qualifying tournament for the German Cup . The cup competition was last played in 1974. Source: "Germany – Championships 1902–1945" . RSSSF . Retrieved 2008-07-26 . From 1946, an under 19 championship for Southern Germany existed, having been played annually. A German Under 19 championship

1022-543: The German Football Association (DFB) was formed. It originally was named Verband Süddeutscher Fußball-Vereine (English: Association of Southern German football clubs). One of the leading figures and driving force in the Southern German football was Walther Bensemann , founder of the kicker sportmagazin , a position he retained until the Nazis rise to power. The other driving force behind football in

1095-572: The National Football League of the United States. Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund has the highest average attendance of any football club in the world. Out of Europe's five major football leagues ( Premier League , La Liga , Ligue 1 , and Serie A ), the Bundesliga has the lowest ticket prices and the highest average attendance. Many club stadia have large terraced areas for standing fans (by comparison, stadia in

1168-456: The Oberligen differ between the local areas. The league structure has changed frequently and typically reflects the degree of participation in the sport in various parts of the country. In the early 1990s, changes were driven by the reunification of Germany and the subsequent integration of the national league of East Germany. Every team in the two Bundesligen must have a licence to play in

1241-570: The Südkreis-Liga was established, consisting of ten clubs and playing a home-and-away season, these clubs being: An eleventh club, the FV Straßburg , withdrew before the start of the season. Phönix Karlsruhe, the first league champion, qualified thereby for the Southern German championship, which it won, finishing ahead of 1. FC Nürnberg . From there, the club moved on to the German finals, where BFC Viktoria 89 could be beaten, making

1314-485: The 2000s, the Bundesliga was regarded as competitive, as five teams won the league title. This contrasted with the English Premier League , then dominated by a "Big Four" (Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Arsenal), as well as France's Ligue 1 , won seven consecutive years by Lyon . Since then, however, a resurgent Bayern Munich has won each year from 2013 to 2023. For a number of years,

1387-442: The 2019–20 season were broadcast on ZDF. Radio coverage includes the national Konferenz (whip-around coverage) on the stations of ARD and full match coverage on local radio stations. The Bundesliga is broadcast on TV in over 200 countries. ESPN has held rights in the United States since the beginning of the 2020–21 season. 4 matches per season are reserved for linear television with the rest appearing on ESPN+ . In Canada,

1460-777: The Baltic championship, as the territories they were held in were not part of Germany any more. With the South West German football championship , a new regional competition also appeared in 1945. Ultimately, with the formation of the Bundesliga , all this regional championships ceased altogether. The Süddeutsche Fußball-Verband (SFV), the Southern German Football Association was formed in Karlsruhe on 17 October 1897, three years before

1533-580: The Bundesliga is broadcast live on DAZN . In the United Kingdom and in Ireland, the Bundesliga is broadcast live on Sky Sports . In Spain, the Bundesliga is broadcast live on Movistar+ . In Indonesia, Bundesliga is aired on Vision+ , RCTI , and even iNews in the 2024–25 season only while it was currently unavailable on beIN Sports Asia in the country since the previous season . Taiwan's ELTA TV are expecting to aired Bundesliga for

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1606-434: The Bundesliga since its foundation; on 12 May 2018, Hamburger SV was the last founding club to be relegated for the first time. In the 2008–09 season, the Bundesliga reinstated an earlier German system of promotion and relegation, which had been in use from 1981 until 1991: From 1992 until 2008, a different system was used, in which the bottom three finishers of the Bundesliga were automatically relegated, to be replaced by

1679-543: The Bundesliga since its founding. Bayern Munich has won 32 of 61 titles, as well as eleven consecutive seasons between 2013 and 2023, which is a record for a Big Five league . The Bundesliga has also seen other champions, with Borussia Dortmund , Hamburger SV , Werder Bremen , Borussia Mönchengladbach , and VfB Stuttgart most prominent among them. The Bundesliga is one of the top national leagues, ranked fourth in Europe according to UEFA 's league coefficient ranking for

1752-633: The Bundesliga was created in Dortmund at the Westfalenhallen on 28 July 1962 to begin play starting with the 1963–64 season . At the time, there were five Oberligen (premier leagues) in place representing West Germany's North, South, West, Southwest, and Berlin. East Germany, behind the Iron Curtain, maintained its separate league structure. 46 clubs applied for admission to the new league. 16 teams were selected based on their success on

1825-577: The Bundesliga, as they were each founded as factory teams. Despite the good economic governance, there have still been some instances of clubs getting into difficulties. In 2004, Borussia Dortmund reported a debt of €118.8 million (£83 million). Having won the Champions League in 1997 and a number of Bundesliga titles, Dortmund had gambled on maintaining their success with an expensive group of largely foreign players but failed, narrowly escaping liquidation in 2006. In subsequent years,

1898-548: The English Premier League are all-seaters due to the Taylor Report ). Teams limit the number of season tickets to ensure everyone has a chance to see the games live, and the away club has the right to 10% of the available capacity. Match tickets often double as free rail passes which encourages supporters to travel and celebrate in a relaxed atmosphere. According to Bundesliga chief executive Christian Seifert , tickets are inexpensive (especially for standing room ) as "It

1971-416: The Southern German championship functioned as a qualifying tournament for it. Nevertheless, it still enjoyed a high value of status. The competition went through a number of changes throughout its live time. From this season onwards, the competition also grew in size. Previously, only a few selected clubs from cities like Frankfurt , Mannheim and Karlsruhe had taken part, now clubs from Bavaria also entered

2044-477: The Southern championship, with both teams still being qualified for the German finals. The two division runners-up played for the third and last spot at the German finals from the south. The 1932 and 1933 season only differed as far as the regional make up being changed in 1933, away from the system were Württemberg-Baden-Bayern played in one group and Main-Hessen-Rhein-Saar in the other, as it traditionally had been. The 1932 Southern German final ended in something of

2117-587: The Year awards including UEFA Club Footballer of the Year . The Bundesliga is the number one association football league in the world in terms of anerage attendance, with an average of 39,512 spectators per game as of the 2023-24 season making it the second-highest attendance of any sports league in the world after the American National Football League . The Bundesliga is broadcast on television in over 200 countries. The Bundesliga

2190-411: The aim of developing local talent for the club and the national team. As of 2010 the Bundesliga and second Bundesliga spend €75m a year on these youth academies, which train five thousand players aged 12–18. This increased the percentage of under-23-year-olds in the Bundesliga from 6% in 2000 to 15% in 2010. This in turn allows more money to be spent on the smaller number of players that are bought. In

2263-424: The bottom of the table are relegated into the 2. Bundesliga, while the top two teams in the 2. Bundesliga are promoted. The 16th-placed team (third-last) in the 1. Bundesliga and the third-placed team in the 2. Bundesliga play a two-leg play-off match. The winner of this match plays the next season in the 1. Bundesliga, and the losing side in the 2. Bundesliga. If teams are level on points, tie-breakers are applied in

Südkreis-Liga - Misplaced Pages Continue

2336-418: The cases of Bayer Leverkusen and Wolfsburg, the clubs were founded by major corporations (respectively Bayer AG and Volkswagen ) as sports clubs for their employees, while Hoffenheim has long received its primary support from SAP co-founder Dietmar Hopp , who played in the club's youth system. After 2000 the German Football Association and the Bundesliga required every club to run a youth academy with

2409-593: The central league concept was national team head coach Sepp Herberger who said, "If we want to remain competitive internationally, we have to raise our expectations at the national level." Meanwhile, in East Germany, a separate league was established with the formation of the DS-Oberliga (Deutscher Sportausschuss Oberliga) in 1950. The league was renamed the Football Oberliga DFV in 1958 and

2482-485: The club German champions. In its second year, the league operated with only nine clubs, with the Karlsruher FV bringing home another Southern and German title to Karlsruhe . In 1909-10, the league played with ten clubs again and Karlsruher FV once more took out the league title as well as the Southern German one. In the national title round, it failed in the semi-finals, being beaten by VfB Leipzig . In 1911-12,

2555-427: The club went through extensive restructuring to return to financial health, largely with young home-grown players. In 2004 Hertha BSC reported debts of £24.7 million and were able to continue in the Bundesliga only after proving they had long term credit with their bank. The leading German club Bayern Munich made a net profit of just €2.5 million in 2008–09 season (group accounts), while Schalke 04 made

2628-683: The clubs in the Bundesliga have been subject to regulations not unlike the UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations agreed upon in September 2009. At the end of each season, clubs in the Bundesliga must apply to the German Football Federation (DFB) for a licence to participate again the following year; only when the DFB, who have access to all transfer documents and accounts, are satisfied that there

2701-399: The competition. In its early years, competition was very localised and patchy, with a handful of clubs dominating play. From 1907, football became more organised with Southern Germany being split in four local districts (German: Kreis), from 1910 each had their own top-league: This step, away from localised competition and towards a more centralised system of leagues with strong competition

2774-458: The conclusion of the 2020–21 season. Three Friday night matches – the openers of the first and second halves of the season, and on the final matchday before the winter break – are broadcast to all Germans on Sat. 1 . Starting with the 2018–19 season, Sky began arranging simulcasts of high-profile Saturday games on free TV to promote its coverage of the league. The April 2019 Revierderby was broadcast on Das Erste , and two additional games during

2847-713: The current 2024–25 season, based on performances in European competitions over the past five seasons. The Bundesliga led the UEFA ranking from 1976 to 1984 and in 1990 . It has also produced the continent's top-rated club seven times. Bundesliga clubs have won eight UEFA Champions League , seven UEFA Europa League , four European Cup Winners' Cup , two UEFA Super Cup , two FIFA Club World Cup , and three Intercontinental Cup titles. Its players have accumulated nine Ballon d'Or awards, two The Best FIFA Men's Player awards, five European Golden Shoe , and three UEFA Men's Player of

2920-477: The days of a Southern German league. In 1994, the Regionalliga Süd was re-established, now as a tier-three league, covering the three states of Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Hesse. From 2000 to 2008, the south western clubs also formed part of this league once more. From 2008, with the establishment of the 3. Liga , the three southern states are once more the only once covered by this league, now on

2993-433: The duration of the game. The number of German clubs which may participate in UEFA competitions is determined by UEFA coefficients , which takes into account the results of a particular nation's clubs in UEFA competitions over the preceding five years. In the 2009–10 season the Bundesliga's turnover was €1.7bn, broken down into match-day revenue (€424m), sponsorship receipts (€573m) and broadcast income (€594m). That year it

Südkreis-Liga - Misplaced Pages Continue

3066-703: The end of the war in November 1918, football came to a halt once more. Alsace ceased to be a part of Germany and the German football league system , being awarded to France . New leagues started to operate from 1919 and in the parts of the Südkreis still with Germany, the Kreisliga Südwest and Kreisliga Württemberg were formed. The Südkreis was one of the strongest regions as football was concerned in this era, taking out most Southern German championships at

3139-543: The field, economic criteria and representation of the various Oberligen. The first Bundesliga games were played on 24 August 1963. Early favorite 1. FC Köln was the first Bundesliga champion with second place clubs Meidericher SV and Eintracht Frankfurt. Following German reunification in 1990, the East German leagues were merged into the West German system. Dynamo Dresden and FC Hansa Rostock were seeded into

3212-414: The first match day. Defending champions have not lost the opening matches since then, winning 16 of the 21 matches (up to the 2022-23 season). Starting with the 2021–22 season, kick off times were changed with Friday matches starting at 8:30 pm, Saturdays at 3:30 pm and 6:30 pm, and Sundays at 3:30 pm, 5:30 pm and 7:30 pm. Before the formation of the Bundesliga, German football

3285-518: The first placed team automatically winning the championship. In the 1916, 1918, 1920, 1921, 1932 and 1933 season, a final was played again. From 1918 to 1927, the SFV also carried out a cup competition, the Süddeutscher Pokal (English: Southern German Cup), long before a national competition was introduced in Germany in 1935. At times, this cup winner also gained entry to the Southern German championship. The record winner of this competition

3358-419: The following order: If two clubs are still tied after all of these tie-breakers have been applied, a single match is held at a neutral site to determine the placement. However, this has never been necessary in the history of the Bundesliga. In terms of team selection, matchday squads must have no more than five non-EU representatives. Nine substitutes are permitted to be selected, from which five can be used in

3431-472: The fourth tier of the German league system. Nowadays the Southern German Football Association is made up of the following five federations: The winners and runners–up of the Oberliga Süd : The Southern German championship was not always decided by a one-off final. Before 1908, the championship was carried out with a final. From 1908, the championship was determined through a home-and-away round with

3504-766: The league is run by the German Football Association (DFB) and not, as are the two Bundesligen, by the German Football League (DFL). Below the level of the 3. Liga, leagues are generally subdivided on a regional basis. For example, the Regionalligen are currently made up of Nord (North), Nordost (Northeast), Süd (South), Südwest (Southwest) and West divisions. Below this are thirteen parallel divisions, most of which are called Oberligen (upper leagues) which represent federal states or large urban and geographical areas. The levels below

3577-572: The league played with eleven clubs and KFV continued its dominance, reaching the German final once more but losing 1-0 to Holstein Kiel in that game. Now with eight clubs, the 1912-13 league champion, Stuttgarter Kickers, took out the Southern championship but only managed to reach the first round of the German finals, signaling the end of the dominance of the Südkreis-Liga in Germany. In the last pre- First World War season, 1913–14, Kickers won

3650-488: The league title once more but in the Southern finals, rising SpVgg Fürth proved to good and went on to win the German title as well. The war starting in August 1914 meant an end to the league, no championship was played in 1914-15 at all. In the following three seasons, regional leagues operated, like before 1908. A Südkreis championship as well as a Southern German one was played, but no national title games were held. With

3723-542: The league, or else they are relegated into the regional leagues. To obtain a licence, teams must be financially healthy and meet certain standards of conduct as organisations. As in other national leagues, there are significant benefits to being in the top division: The 1. Bundesliga is financially strong, and the 2. Bundesliga has begun to evolve in a similar direction, becoming more stable organizationally and financially, and reflecting an increasingly higher standard of professional play. No clubs have played continuously in

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3796-538: The modus again remained unchanged. However, an additional tournament for the five Bezirksliga runners-up was introduced. The winner of this competition then took up the third Southern German spot in the German Finals, alongside the winner and runners-up of the championship tournament. After this season, the Bezirksligas were partly reorganised and reduced to four in numbers. However, each Bezirksliga in turn

3869-508: The national German championship . With the inception of the latter in 1903, the former became qualifying tournaments for it but these regional championships still held a high value for the local clubs. These regional championships were: All this regional championships were suspended with the rise of the Nazis to power in 1933. At the end of the Second World War, some resumed, now in league format. Others completely disappeared, like

3942-418: The semi-finals, the group winners and the second placed team in the group of four qualifying for it. The semi-final winners then entered the Southern German final. The number of leagues remained the same for the 1922 edition but now league winner and runners-up both qualified for a knock-out round to determine the champion. In 1923, the league winners again were the only once qualified and the ten teams played

4015-428: The south of Germany was Friedrich Wilhelm Nohe , chairman of the Karlsruher FV. The association was formed by eight clubs, those being: The SFV originally covered a much larger area. Upon its formation in 1897, the following German states and regions were part of it: From 1898, the SFV started to organise an annual Southern German football championship. With the inception of the German football championship in 1903,

4088-552: The southern half of the state of Baden also became part of the Oberliga Süd region. The area west of the river Rhine however remained separate from the SFV and formed the Oberliga Südwest . Up until 1963, the winner of the Oberliga Süd was still referred to as Southern German champions. After 1963, a competition which would have determined a true Southern German champion was not played anymore. The Oberliga system

4161-430: The third southern team to go to the German finals. This modus was in place for the 1928, 1929, 1930 and 1931 season. For its last two seasons, 1932 and 1933, the modus was changed once more for the Southern German championship. The league winners and runners-up now qualified both for the finals tournament, which was played in two groups of eight teams, again regionally sub-divided. The two division winners then played out

4234-402: The time. On national level, the clubs from there were quite successful, too. Qualified teams and their success: Qualified teams and their success: Southern German football championship The Southern German football championship ( German : Süddeutsche Meisterschaft ) was the highest association football competition in the southern Germany , established in 1898. The competition

4307-406: The title. Only the champion would then move on to the German championship. In the following season, only the five league winners would compete for the southern title but the best three teams from this competition would then qualify for the German title tournament. For the 1926 edition, the modus remained unchanged apart from the Southern German cup winner also entering the finals tournament. In 1927,

4380-565: The top of the German football league system . The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga . Seasons run from August to May. Games are played on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, with a focus on Saturdays. All of the Bundesliga clubs take part in the DFB-Pokal cup competition. The winner of the Bundesliga qualifies for the DFL-Supercup . Fifty-eight clubs have competed in

4453-487: The top three finishers in the 2. Bundesliga. From 1963 until 1981 two, or later three, teams were relegated from the Bundesliga automatically, while promotion was decided either completely or partially in promotion play-offs . The season starts in early August and lasts until late May, with a winter break of six weeks (mid-December through to the end of January). Starting with the 2002-03 season, opening matches were introduced to feature defending champions on Friday nights on

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4526-442: The top-tier Bundesliga division ahead of the 1991–92 Bundesliga , with other clubs being sorted into lower tiers. Gazprom became a major sponsor of Bundesliga football in 2006, with Gerhard Schröder 's climb to the top of the company. The German football champion is decided strictly by play in the Bundesliga. Each club plays every other club once at home and once away, which makes a total of 34 matchdays per season. Originally,

4599-493: Was VfB Leipzig , who beat DFC Prague 7–2 in a game played at Altona on 31 May 1903. Through the 1950s, there were continued calls for the formation of a central professional league, especially as professional leagues in other countries began to draw Germany's best players away from the semi-professional domestic leagues. At the international level, the German game began to falter as German teams often fared poorly against professional teams from other countries. A key supporter of

4672-429: Was disbanded in 1933 with the rise of the Nazis to power. While no senior Southern German championship exists nowadays, the under 15 juniors still play an annual competition for the title, often involving the junior teams of clubs who had once been involved in the senior edition. German football was, from its beginnings, divided into regional associations which carried out their own championship, which often pre-dated

4745-616: Was a vital factor in the rise of the Southern German clubs to dominance in Germany in the 1920s. After the end of the First World War , the region of Alsace-Lorraine once more became part of France and its clubs did not compete in the SFV-championship any more. From the 1919–20 season, Southern Germany was sub-divided into ten regional leagues, those being: The ten league champions then played in two groups of three and one group of four to determine four clubs to enter

4818-430: Was disbanded in 1963 in favor of the Bundesliga and the Regionalliga Süd , a tier-two league became the highest regional league. With its disbanding in 1974 in favor of the 2. Bundesliga Süd , the region which was once covered by the Southern German football championship briefly had a united league again, even so it was only on the second tier. This league in turn was disbanded in 1981 for the 2. Bundesliga , which ended

4891-537: Was disbanded. The new Nazi Germany did not wish for regional identities to be preserved. Instead of the Bezirksligas, the Gauligas were established: A Southern championship was not played anymore. Shortly after the end of the Second World War , the Oberliga Süd was established and the South of Germany had a united highest football league for the first time. The region it covered in 1945 originally was: From 1950,

4964-479: Was founded in 1962 in Dortmund and the first season started in 1963–64. The structure and organisation of the Bundesliga, along with Germany's other football leagues, have undergone frequent changes. The Bundesliga was founded by the Deutscher Fußball-Bund (English: German Football Association), but is now operated by the Deutsche Fußball Liga (English: German Football League). The Bundesliga

5037-519: Was generally referred to simply as the DDR-Liga or DDR-Oberliga. The league fielded 14 teams with two relegation spots. [REDACTED] The defeat of the national team by Yugoslavia (0–1) in a 1962 World Cup quarter-final game in Chile was one impetus (of many) towards the formation of a national league. At the annual DFB convention under new DFB president Hermann Gösmann (elected that very day)

5110-480: Was only established in 1969 and shortly after this, in 1973, the Southern German edition was disbanded. In 1979, a Southern German under 15 championship was established, being played annually between the five regional champions. It is now the only level of men's football that still plays out a true Southern championship. The end-of-season tournament is held at a neutral location. Since 2010 the Under 15 Regionalliga Süd

5183-648: Was played at an amateur level in a large number of sub-regional leagues until, in 1949, part-time (semi-) professionalism was introduced and only five regional Oberligen (Premier Leagues) remained. Regional champions and runners-up played a series of playoff matches for the right to compete in a final game for the national championship. On 28 January 1900, a national association, the Deutscher Fußball Bund (DFB) had been founded in Leipzig with 86 member clubs. The first recognized national championship team

5256-435: Was sub-divided into two regional groups: From the 1928 season, the best team from each of the eight divisions qualified for southern tournament, still played in a home-and-away modus. Additionally, the second and third placed team from each league went to a consolidation tournament. These sixteen clubs were split into two divisions of eight, regionally subdivided. The two division winners then played an on-off final to determine

5329-444: Was the only European football league where clubs collectively made a profit. Bundesliga clubs paid less than 50% of revenue in players' wages, the lowest percentage out of the European leagues. The Bundesliga has the lowest ticket prices and the highest average attendance among Europe's five major leagues . Bundesliga clubs tend to form close associations with local firms, several of which have since grown into big global companies; in

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