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Verbandsliga Südwest
Organising body	Southwest German Football Association
Founded	1952
Country	Germany
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
Region	Rhenish Hesse; Palatinate
Number of clubs	18
Level on pyramid	Level 6
Promotion to	Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar
Relegation to	Landesliga Südwest-Ost; Landesliga Südwest-West;
Domestic cup(s)	South West Cup
Current champions	SC 07 Idar-Oberstein ; (2023–24)

The Verbandsliga Südwest is a German amateur football division administered by the Southwest German Football Association, one of the 21 German state football associations. Being the top flight of the Southwestern state association, the Verbandsliga is a level 6 division of the German football league system.

Overview

The Amateurliga Südwest was formed in 1952 in the southern half of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Before its inception, three separate leagues operated in the area as the highest level of play. The league was a feeder league to the 2. Oberliga Südwest. From 1952 until the establishment of the Oberliga Südwest in 1978, it was the third tier of the football league system.

The winner of the Amateurliga Südwest was not automatically promoted to its superior league but rather had to take part in a promotion play-off. The champion would have to compete with the winners of the Amateurligen Saarland and Rheinland.

Until 1933, the region covered by the Southwest FA was politically part of two other German states during the Weimar Republic era. The south, the Palatinate (Pfalz) region, was part of Bavaria and the north, the Rhenish Hesse (Rheinhessen) region, was part of Hesse. This explains the seemingly odd fact that there are two clubs in the Südwest region named "Bavaria", FC Bavaria Wörth and FC Bavaria Ebernburg. From 1933 to 1945, most of the region was part of the Gau Saar-Palatinate. After the war, these regions were incorporated into the new state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The separation of these areas from their original states resulted from the outcome of the Second World War when they became part of the French occupation zone, while Hessen and Bavaria were in the US zone.

The league was established in 1952 with sixteen teams, the winner gaining promotion to the 2nd Oberliga Südwest. The founder members were:

With the introduction of the Bundesliga in 1963 the Amateurliga was placed below the new Regionalliga Südwest but still retained its third-tier status. It continued to do so after the introduction of the 2nd Bundesliga Süd in 1974.

The 1. FC Kaiserslautern II holds the record for years in the Amateurliga, having spent 21 continuous seasons in it from 1957 to 1978.

The Amateurliga Südwest was renamed in 1978, now becoming the Verbandsliga Südwest. At the same time as this, the Oberliga Südwest was reformed, now as the third tier of the league system. The top five teams out of the Amateurliga went to the new Oberliga while the teams from place 6 to 16 found themselves in the Verbandsliga. The bottom four teams were relegated. The new Verbandsliga was now the fourth tier of the league system.

The winner of the Verbandsliga Südwest, like the winners of the Saarlandliga and Rheinlandliga gains direct promotion to the Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar, formerly the Oberliga Südwest. The runners-up will only get a chance for promotion when there is additional spots to fill in the Oberliga, like 1994 when the Regionalligen were introduced and Hassia Bingen was promoted.

There is room for misunderstanding in the existence of an Oberliga and a Verbandsliga Südwest. While the Oberliga covers the two states of Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate, the Verbandsliga covers only the southern half of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Feeder Leagues to the Verbandsliga Südwest

Landesliga Südwest-Ost
Landesliga Südwest-West

League champions

The league champions:^[1]

Season	Club
1952–53	BSC Oppau
1953–54	SpVgg Weisenau
1954–55	FC Sobernheim
1955–56	Normannia Pfiffigheim
1956–57	Hassia Bingen
1957–58	SC Ludwigshafen
1958–59	Hassia Bingen
1959–60	1. FC Kaiserslautern II
1960–61	FC Sobernheim
1961–62	Phönix Bellheim
1962–63	ASV Landau
1963–64	Eintracht Kreuznach
1964–65	SV Alsenborn
1965–66	VfR Kaiserslautern
1966–67	SC Ludwigshafen
1967–68	1. FC Kaiserslautern II
1968–69	ASV Landau
1969–70	VfR Frankenthal
1970–71	Phönix Bellheim
1971–72	Eintracht Kreuznach
1972–73	Eintracht Kreuznach
1973–74	FK Clausen
1974–75	Eintracht Kreuznach
1975–76	VfR Wormatia Worms

Season	Club
1976–77	VfR Wormatia Worms
1977–78	FSV Mainz 05
1978–79	Viktoria Herxheim
1979–80	TuS Landstuhl
1980–81	FK Clausen
1981–82	VfL Neustadt
1982–83	1. FC Kaiserslautern II
1983–84	SC Birkenfeld
1984–85	FK Clausen
1985–86	SV Edenkoben
1986–87	Viktoria Herxheim
1987–88	SV Edenkoben
1988–89	SV Geinsheim
1989–90	SC Hauenstein
1990–91	Viktoria Herxheim
1991–92	TSG Pfeddersheim
1992–93	SC Hauenstein
1993–94	1. FC Kaiserslautern II
1994–95	SC Idar-Oberstein
1995–96	RW Olympia Alzey
1996–97	FK Pirmasens
1997–98	VfR Wormatia Worms
1998–99	1. FSV Mainz 05 II
1999–2000	Eintracht Bad Kreuznach

Season	Club
2000–01	SpVgg Ingelheim
2001–02	SV Weingarten
2002–03	Hassia Bingen
2003–04	TuS Mechtersheim
2004–05	FSV Oggersheim
2005–06	TuS Hohenecken
2006–07	SC Idar-Oberstein
2007–08	SV Niederauerbach
2008–09	BFV Hassia Bingen
2009–10	SV Gonsenheim
2010–11	Arminia Ludwigshafen
2011–12	TSG Pfeddersheim
2012–13	Alemannia Waldalgesheim
2013–14	TSV Schott Mainz
2014–15	FK Pirmasens II
2015–16	TuS Mechtersheim
2016–17	FV Dudenhofen
2017–18	Arminia Ludwigshafen
2018–19	SV Gonsenheim
2019–20	Alemannia Waldagesheim
2020–21	Season curtailed and annulled
2021–22	SV Morlautern
2022–23	VfR Baumholder
2023–24	SC Idar-Oberstein

Source: "Verbandsliga Südwest". Das deutsche Fussball-Archiv. Retrieved 19 March 2008.

bold denotes club gained promotion.
In 1960, FSV Schifferstadt was promoted as runners-up since Kaiserslautern's reserve team was ineligible for promotion. For the same reason, FV Speyer was promoted in 1968.
In 1994 and 2018, the runner-up Hassia Bingen was also promoted.
In 2016 and 2019, the runners-up SV Morlautern and FV Dudenhofen were promoted respectively after play-offs.

References

^ Historic German football league tables (in German) Das Deutsche Fussball Archiv. Retrieved 9 June 2014

Sources

Deutschlands Fußball in Zahlen, (in German) An annual publication with tables and results from the Bundesliga to Verbandsliga/Landesliga, publisher: DSFS
Kicker Almanach, (in German) The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937, published by Kicker Sports Magazine
Süddeutschlands Fußballgeschichte in Tabellenform 1897-1988 (in German) History of Southern German football in tables, publisher & author: Ludolf Hyll
Die Deutsche Liga-Chronik 1945-2005 (in German) History of German football from 1945 to 2005 in tables, publisher: DSFS, published: 2006