The Kreisliga Nordmain (English: District league North Main) was the highest association football league in parts of the German state of Hesse and the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau from 1919 to 1923. The league was disbanded with the introduction of the Bezirksliga Main in 1923.

Kreisliga Nordmain
Map of Germany in 1925
Founded1919
Folded1923
Replaced byBezirksliga Main
Country Germany
State
Level on pyramidLevel 1
Last championsFSV Frankfurt
(1922–23)

The league is named after the river Main, which flows through Frankfurt am Main and reaches the Rhine near Mainz. The league was formed from clubs from the northern side of the river. With a club from Aschaffenburg, it also included a team from the Bavaria.

Overview

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Predecessor

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From 1907, four regional leagues were formed within the structure of the Southern German football championship, in a move to improve the organisation of football in Southern Germany, these being:

In 1908, a first Nordkreis-Liga (English: Northern District League) was established, consisting of ten clubs and playing a home-and-away season.[1] With the outbreak of the First World War, league football came to a halt and, during the war, games were only played on a limited level.

Post-First World War

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With the collapse of the German Empire in 1918, no Nordkreis championship was played in 1918-19 but football returned to a more organised system in 1919.

Southern Germany, now without the Alsace region, which had to be returned to France, was sub-divided into ten Kreisligas, these being:

The clubs of the former Nordkreis-Liga were split into three regional competitions, Nordmain, Südmain and Hessen, each with ten clubs.[2] The three league winners advanced to the Southern championship. This system applied for the 1919–20 and 1920–21 season, except that Nordmain had eleven clubs in 1920–21.[3]

In 1921–22, the Kreisliga Nordmain was split into two groups of eight, increasing the number of tier-one clubs in the region to 16. The two league winners then played a final to determine the Nordmain champion, which in turn advanced to a Main championship final against the Südmain champion. The Hessen champion was not part of this series but rather played a Rhinehesse/Saar championship.[4] This "watering down" of football in the region lasted for only one season, in 1922–23, the number of top clubs was reduced to eight clubs in a single division, with a Main final against the Südmain champion once more.[5]

In 1923, a league reform which was decided upon in Darmstadt, Hesse, established the Southern German Bezirksligas which were to replace the Kreisligas.[6] The best four teams each from the Südmain and Nordmain were admitted to the new Bezirksliga Main. The four clubs from Nordmain were:

National success

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The clubs from the Kreisliga Nordmain were not particularly successful in this era and none managed to qualify for the German championship.

Main championship

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Played in 1922 and 1923, these were the finals:

  • 1922:
    • Nordmain final: Germania 94 Frankfurt - Eintracht Frankfurt 4-1 / 2-2
    • Main final: Germania 94 Frankfurt - VfL Neu-Isenburg 1-0 / 0-3 / 4-2
  • 1923:

Southern German championship

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Qualified teams and their success:

  • 1920:
    • Frankfurter FV, Group stage
  • 1921:
    • Eintracht Frankfurt, Group stage
  • 1922:
    • Germania 94 Frankfurt, Semi-finals
  • 1923:
    • FSV Frankfurt, Group stage

Winners and runners-up of the Kreisliga Nordmain

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Season Champions Runner-Up
1919-20 Frankfurter FV FSV Frankfurt
1920-21 Eintracht Frankfurt Germania 94 Frankfurt
1921-22 Germania 94 Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt
1922-23 FSV Frankfurt Helvetia Frankfurt

Placings in the Kreisliga Nordmain 1919-23

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Club 1920 1921 1922 1923
Eintracht Frankfurt 1 1 1 1 3
FSV Frankfurt 2 8 2 1
VfR Frankfurt 3 4 4 5
Sportfreunde Frankfurt 4 10 3 6
FC Hanau 93 5 9 3 4
Helvetia Frankfurt 6 5 2 2
Viktoria 94 Frankfurt 7 6
Germania 94 Frankfurt 8 2 1 7
FV Großauheim 9
FC Langendiebach 10
Viktoria Aschaffenburg 2 3
Germania Rückingen 7 6
FG Seckbach 11 7
VfB Großauheim 5
Borussia Frankfurt 6
VfB Friedberg 8
Viktoria 1894 Hanau 4 8
FC Rödelheim 5
Fechenheim 03 7
Germania Niederrodenbach 8
  • 1 Frankfurter FV became Eintracht Frankfurt in 1920.
  • 2 Viktoria moved from the Kreisliga Odenwald to the Kreisliga Nordmain in 1920 and then to the Kreisliga Südmain in 1921.

References

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  1. ^ Verband Süddeutscher Fussball Vereine 1909 Archived July 19, 2011, at the Wayback Machine (in German), accessed: 22 March 2009
  2. ^ Süddeutschlands Fussball in Tabellenform 1897 - 1988, (in German) author: Ludolf Hyll, page: 62, accessed: 22 March 2009
  3. ^ Süddeutschlands Fussball in Tabellenform 1897 - 1988, (in German) author: Ludolf Hyll, page: 65, accessed: 22 March 2009
  4. ^ Süddeutschlands Fussball in Tabellenform 1897 - 1988, (in German) author: Ludolf Hyll, page: 70, accessed: 22 March 2009
  5. ^ Süddeutschlands Fussball in Tabellenform 1897 - 1988, (in German) author: Ludolf Hyll, page: 73, accessed: 22 March 2009
  6. ^ History of the Offenburger Fußballverein Archived March 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine (in German) Page 5, accessed: 14 December 2008

Sources

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  • Fussball-Jahrbuch Deutschland (in German) (8 vol.), Tables and results of the German tier-one leagues 1919–33, publisher: DSFS
  • Kicker Almanach, (in German) The yearbook on German football from Bundesliga to Oberliga, since 1937, published by the Kicker Sports Magazine
  • Süddeutschlands Fussballgeschichte in Tabellenform 1897-1988 (in German) History of Southern German football in tables, publisher & author: Ludolf Hyll
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