2. Bundesliga Nord (1974–1981)

The 2. Bundesliga Nord was the second-highest level of the West German football league system in the north of West Germany from its introduction in 1974 until the formation of the single-division 2. Bundesliga in 1981. It covered the northern states of North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony, Bremen, Hamburg, Schleswig-Holstein and the city of West Berlin.

2. Bundesliga Nord
Map of West Germany and West Berlin: Position of the 2nd Bundesliga Nord highlighted
Founded1974
Folded1981 (7 seasons)
Replaced by2. Bundesliga
Country West Germany
State
Level on pyramidLevel 2
Promotion toBundesliga
Relegation to
Last championsSV Werder Bremen
(1980–81)

Overview

The league was established in 1974 to reduce the number of second divisions in Germany from five to two and thereby allow direct promotion to the league winners. Along with the foundation of the 2. Bundesliga Nord, formed from clubs of the three former Regionalligas of Nord, Berlin and West, went the foundation of the 2. Bundesliga Süd, which was created from clubs of the other two Regionalligas, Süd and Südwest.

The league was created from twelve clubs from the West, seven from the North and one from Berlin, reflecting the playing strength of the old Regionalligas.

The winner of the 2. Bundesliga Nord was directly promoted to the Bundesliga, the runners-up played a home-and-away series versus the southern runners-up for the third promotion spot.

The bottom four teams were relegated to the Amateurligas, after 1978 to the new Oberligas. In 1979 only three teams were relegated. The winners of the Amateurligas/Oberligas had to determine the promoted teams by the way of a promotion play-off.

The league operated with 20 teams in its first six seasons, expanding to 22 in its last in 1981.

Until 1978, below the 2. Bundesliga Nord ranked the following Verbandsligas and Oberligas:

In 1978 these leagues were reduced to four:

In 1981, the two 2. Bundesligas merged into one, country-wide division. Nine clubs from the south and eight from the north plus the three relegated teams from the Bundesliga were admitted into the new league, the 2. Bundesliga.

SG Wattenscheid 09, VfL Osnabrück, Alemannia Aachen, SC Fortuna Köln and SC Preußen Münster all played every of the seven seasons of the league.

Disbanding of the 2. Bundesliga Nord

The league was dissolved in 1981. Eight clubs of the league went to the new 2. Bundesliga while the champion and runners-up were promoted to the Bundesliga. The twelve remaining clubs were relegated to the Amateurligas.

The teams admitted to the 2. Bundesliga were:

Relegated to the Oberligas were:

Winners and runners-up

The winners and runners-up of the league were:[1]

Season Club Runners-up
1974–75 Hannover 96 Bayer Uerdingen
1975–76 Tennis Borussia Berlin Borussia Dortmund
1976–77 FC St. Pauli Arminia Bielefeld
1977–78 Arminia Bielefeld Rot-Weiss Essen
1978–79 Bayer 04 Leverkusen Bayer Uerdingen
1979–80 Arminia Bielefeld Rot-Weiss Essen
1980–81 SV Werder Bremen Eintracht Braunschweig
  • Promoted teams in bold.

Play-offs for Bundesliga promotion

The third promotion spot to the Bundesliga was decided through a play-off round of the runners-up of the two 2nd Bundesligas. Here are the results of this round:

Season South North Results
1975 FK Pirmasens Bayer Uerdingen 4–4 / 0–6
1976 1. FC Nuremberg Borussia Dortmund 0–1 / 2–3
1977 TSV 1860 München Arminia Bielefeld 4–0 / 0–4 / 2–0
1978 1. FC Nuremberg RW Essen 1–0 / 2–2
1979 SpVgg Bayreuth Bayer Uerdingen 1–1 / 1–2
1980 Karlsruher SC RW Essen 5–1 / 1–3
1981 Kickers Offenbach Eintracht Braunschweig 1–0 / 0–2
  • Bold denotes promotion-winner.

Placings in the 2. Bundesliga Nord 1974–1981

The league placings from 1974 to 1981:[2]

Club 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981
Borussia Dortmund 6 2 B B B B B
Bayer 04 Leverkusen 15 10 8 1 B B
Bayer Uerdingen 2 B 4 7 2 B B
Arminia Bielefeld 4 9 2 1 B 1 B
SV Werder Bremen B B B B B B 1
Eintracht Braunschweig B B B B B B 2
Hertha BSC B B B B B B 3
Hannover 96 1 B 5 5 15 3 4
Alemannia Aachen 15 12 7 14 7 7 5
VfL Osnabrück 8 6 9 16 18 8 6
Union Solingen 13 19 9 9 9 7
Rot-Weiss Essen B B B 2 8 2 8
SC Fortuna Köln 5 4 12 4 4 6 9
SG Wattenscheid 09 7 8 15 6 10 5 10
Viktoria Köln 16 4 11
1. FC Bocholt 18 12
SC Preußen Münster 9 3 6 3 3 10 13
Rot-Weiß Oberhausen 18 15 14
VfB Oldenburg 15
SC Herford 14 17 17 16
Tennis Borussia Berlin B 1 B 10 11 13 17
SC Göttingen 05 10 11 17 18
Holstein Kiel 14 14 19
Rot-Weiß Lüdenscheid 13 19 16 20
SpVgg Erkenschwick 16 18 21
OSV Hannover 12 22
DSC Wanne-Eickel 13 11
OSC Bremerhaven 19 18
Arminia Hannover 13 15 12 19
Wuppertaler SV B 5 3 11 17 20
FC St. Pauli 3 14 1 B 6
Westfalia Herne 10 11 12 5
Wacker 04 Berlin 13 16 18 20
Schwarz-Weiß Essen 12 7 8 20
Bonner SC 16
VfL Wolfsburg 19 20
1. FC Mülheim 11 17
DJK Gütersloh 14 19
Spandauer SV 20
Olympia Wilhelmshaven 17
HSV Barmbeck-Uhlenhorst 20

Source:"2nd Bundesliga Nord". Das deutsche Fussball-Archiv. Archived from the original on 5 January 2008. Retrieved 8 January 2008.

Key
Symbol Key
B Bundesliga
Place League
Blank Played at a league level below this league

Notes
  • Westfalia Herne withdrew from the league in 1979 for financial reasons.
  • FC St. Pauli was refused a licence in 1979 and relegated.
  • DSC Wanne-Eicke' withdrew from the league in 1980 for financial reasons.

References
  1. "Kicker Almanach" The Football Yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937, published by the Kicker Sports Magazine
  2. Das deutsche Fußball-Archiv (in German) Historical German domestic league tables

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 the kicker Sports Magazine
  • Die Deutsche Liga-Chronik 1945–2005 (in German) History of German football from 1945 to 2005 in tables, publisher: DSFS, published: 2006
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