Before the
Bezirksoberligas in
Bavaria were introduced in 1988 the
Bezirksligas were the leagues set right below the
Landesligas Bayern in the football pyramid. From 1963 to 1968 the
Bezirksliga Schwaben was played in one single division, in 1968 it was split in a northern and a southern division. For the purpose of administration, the two leagues are still seen as one and teams can be shifted between the two-halves at the end of season. The winner of the
Bezirksliga Schwaben-Nord, like the winner of the
Bezirksliga Schwaben-Süd, is now directly promoted to the
Landesliga Bayern-Südwest. From 1968 to 1988, the league champions were promoted to the
Landesliga Bayern-Süd, from 1988 to 2011 to the
Bezirksoberliga Schwaben. In the later years of the league the runners-up were also given the opportunity to earn promotion by playing a promotion round with the runners-up of the southern division and the three
Bezirksligas from Upper Bavaria. The bottom three teams of each group find themselves relegated to one of the six
Kreisligas. At the same time the six
Kreisliga winners are promoted to the
Bezirksliga. The runners-up of those face a play-off with each other and the 13th placed teams in the
Bezirksliga. The area covered by the
Swabian FA is not identical with the
Bezirk Schwaben, there is a large number of clubs from
Upper Bavaria playing in Swabia, especially in the north. The
Bezirksliga Schwaben-Nord is fed by the following Kreisligas. •
Kreisliga Schwaben-Nord •
Kreisliga Schwaben-West •
Kreisliga Schwaben-Ost Without doubt the greatest player ever to play in the
Bezirksliga Schwaben-Nord was the legendary
Gerd Müller. In his last season before signing with
FC Bayern Munich in 1963–64 he scored 51 goals in 31 matches for his hometown club
TSV 1861 Nördlingen and helped them win promotion! In 2008–09, the
FC Schrobenhausen, league champion in 2006–07 and
Schwaben Cup finalist in 2008, failed to win or draw any of their league games and scored only five goals in 30 games, while conceding 223. With the league reform at the end of the 2011–12 season, which included an expansion of the number of
Landesligas from three to five, the
Bezirksoberligas were disbanded. Instead, the Bezirksligas took the place of the
Bezirksoberligas once more below the
Landesligas. The following qualifying modus applied at the end of the 2011–12 season: • Champions: Promotion round to the Landesliga, winners to the Landesliga, losers to the Bezirksliga. • Teams placed 2nd to 7th: Remain in the Bezirksliga. • Teams placed 8th to 13th: Three additional Bezirksliga places to be determined in a play-off round, winners to the Bezirksliga, losers to the Kreisliga. • Teams placed 14th to 16th: Directly relegated to Kreisliga.
League timeline The league went through the following timeline of name changes, format and position in the league system: == League champions==