Everything about Gauliga Westfalen totally explained
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Gauliga
The
Gauliga Westphalia was the highest
football league in the
Prussian province of
Westphalia and the small
Free State of Lippe from
1933 to
1945. Shortly after the formation of the league, the
Nazis reorganised the administrative regions in Germany, and the
Gaue Westphalia-North and
Westphalia-South replaced the Prussian province and the Free State.
Overview
The league was introduced in 1933, after the
Nazi take over of power in Germany .
The
Gauliga Westfalen was established with ten clubs, all from the Province of Westphalia.
The Gauliga replaced as such a number of separate leagues covering the areas of
Westphalia,
South Westphalia and
Ruhr, the highest leagues in the region until then.
In its first season, the league had ten clubs, playing each other once at home and once away. The league winner qualified for the
German championship while the bottom two teams were relegated. The league remained unchanged until 1940.
Through its existence, the league was dominated by what became the golden era of the
FC Schalke 04, who won it in every of its eleven completed seasons. Schalke also took out the national championship in 1934, 1935, 1937, 1939, 1940, 1942, alongside with being the losing finalist in 1938 and 1941. A cup win in 1937 and four lost finals in 1935, 1936, 1941 and 1942 were also added to this. Despite no other club from the region having any national success, this list means the
Gauliga Westfalen was the single most successful league in Germany in this era.
In 1940-41, the league expanded to twelve clubs, with the bottom four teams relegated. The season after, it returned to its original set-up and remained so until 1944.
The imminent collapse of
Nazi Germany in 1945 gravely affected all
Gauligas and the leagues last season, 1944-45, was meant to be staged in three regional groups with altogether 20 teams. Play never really got under way and no club absolved more then three matches, most none before it had to be suspended.
Aftermath
With the end of the Nazi era, the
Gauligas ceased to exist and the region of Westphalia found itself in the
British occupation zone.
Top-level football didn't restart straight away and it took until 1947 for a state-wide league in newly created
North Rhine-Westphalia to kick-off, the
Oberliga West.
Founding members of the league
The ten founding members and their placings in the 1932-33 season were:
Winners and runners-up of the Gauliga Westfalen
Sources
The Gauligas
Das Deutsche Fussball Archiv (in German)
Germany - Championships 1902-1945 at RSSSF.comFurther Information
Get more info on 'Gauliga Westfalen'.
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