Country | Germany |
---|---|
State | Berlin |
Founded | 1947 |
Folded | 1991 (44 seasons) |
Replaced by | NOFV-Oberliga |
Level on pyramid | Level 3 |
Promotion to |
|
Relegation to | Landesliga Berlin |
Domestic cup(s) | Berlin Cup |
Last champions |
Tennis Borussia Berlin (1990–91) |
The Amateur-Oberliga Berlin was the second tier of the German football league system in the city of West Berlin in Germany from 1947 until the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963, operating under the name of Amateurliga Berlin. After 1963, it was the third tier until 1991, when the league was disbanded. In 1974, the league changed its name from Amateurliga Berlin to Amateur-Oberliga Berlin.
The league was formed under the name of Amateurliga Berlin in 1947 as the second tier of play in the then still united city of Berlin, below the "old" Oberliga Berlin.
The league operated with two groups in the 1947-48 season, split into four groups the year after, returned to two in 1949-50 and run in one single group from then onwards. After this season, the East Berlin clubs left the Berlin league system to join that of East Germany instead.
It consisted of twelve teams from 1950, with the two first placed clubs gaining promotion to the Oberliga and the two bottom placed teams being relegated to the Landesliga. The number of clubs was extended to fifteen in 1952, with a third team being relegated from then on. In 1959, the number of clubs was extended to sixteen.
With the introduction of the Bundesliga in 1963, the "old" Oberliga Berlin was disbanded and the new second-tier Regionalliga Berlin became the highest league in the city of West-Berlin, absorbing most of its clubs. Three clubs from the Amateurliga Berlin were admitted to the new Regionalliga in 1963, these being the Blau-Weiß 90 Berlin, Union 06 Berlin and Reinickendorfer Füchse.
The league continued with sixteen clubs and three relegated teams but only one promotion spot now to the Regionalliga. With the enlargement of the Regionalliga in 1965, six clubs from the Amateurliga were admitted and a second promotion spot was granted to the league from then on. In 1969, a seventeenth club was added, the year after an eighteenth.
With the introduction of the 2nd Bundesliga Nord and the disbanding of the Regionalliga Berlin in 1974, the Amateurliga became the highest league in Berlin, still as the third tier of the German league system. Nine of the twelve clubs from the Regionalliga went to the Amateurliga which meant that the Amateurliga clubs placed ninth to eighteens were relegated to the Landesliga to keep the number of teams in the league to eighteen. With the reorganization of the Regionalligas in 1974, the league was renamed Amateur-Oberliga Berlin.