NRW-Liga
 |
|
| Country |
 Germany
|
|---|---|
| State |
 North Rhine-Westphalia
|
| Founded | 2008 |
| Folded | 2012 |
| Number of teams | 18 |
| Level on pyramid | Level 5 |
| Promotion to | Regionalliga West |
| Relegation to | |
| Last champions |
Viktoria Köln (2011–12) |
The NRW-Liga, or Nordrhein-Westfalen-Liga (English: North Rhine-Westphalia League), was the highest football league in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2008 to 2012. It was one of the eleven Oberliga groups in German football, the fifth tier of the German football league system.
With the reorganisation of the German league system in 2012, the NRW-Liga was disbanded once more as the Regionalliga West above it would then only contain clubs from North Rhine-Westphalia. The league was replaced by the three regional leagues, the Mittelrheinliga, Niederrheinliga and Oberliga Westfalen at this level.
The NRW-Liga was established in 2008 as a feeder league to the also new Regionalliga West. The new Oberliga is actually a merger of the Oberliga Nordrhein and the Oberliga Westfalen, giving the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen its first statewide league since the "old" Regionalliga West was disbanded in 1974. Due to the introduction of the 3. Liga in the same year, unlike the two old Oberliga groups who were set at tier four of the league system, the new league will be fifth tier.
The league will retain the four Verbandsliga groups of the two predecessor Oberliga groups as its feeder leagues, with the champion of each of those gaining direct promotion to the NRW-Liga. In turn, the top two teams of the NRW-Liga will gain promotion to the Regionalliga West.
The league was made up from a set quota of teams from each of the two predecessor Oberliga groups and the four Verbandsliga groups. While the top four clubs from Nordrhein and Westfalen were promoted to the Regionalliga, teams placed fifth to eleventh were headed go to the new NRW-Liga. The clubs placed twelve to eighteen were relegated to their Verbandsliga group. From the four Verbandsliga groups, the champions will each gain admittance, unless it would be a reserve team of a club already qualified for the Oberliga. In this case, the next eligible club would be admitted.
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