Until 1956, a total of ten
Landesliga divisions, among them three divisions of
Landesliga Niederrhein were the highest amateur level in the state of
North Rhine-Westphalia. After the regular season, the ten Landesliga champions had to play-off for two promotion spots to
2. Oberliga West. Upon decision of the superior
Western German football association, in 1956 four divisions of
Verbandsliga were introduced, one of them being the
Verbandsliga Niederrhein. These four divisions of Verbandsliga still exist today, with the
Verbandsliga Niederrhein in 2008 renamed to
Niederrheinliga and later in 2012 renamed to
Oberliga Niederrhein. The
Verbandsliga Niederrhein was upon its inception the third tier of the
German football league system. The league champion had to play-off the winners of the
Verbandsliga Mittelrhein and the two divisions of
Verbandsliga Westfalen for two promotion spots to the
2nd Oberliga West. Upon introduction of the
Bundesliga in 1963, the league was set below the new
Regionalliga West but remained as the third tier. With the exception of 1963 and 1974, when the league systems were changed, the champion continued to have the opportunity to win promotion. In 1964, 1970, 1976 and 1978, the league winner failed to do so; in every other season they were successful. In 1977, the runner-up was promoted as
Fortuna Düsseldorf II was ineligible. The league operated with 16 clubs throughout most of its existence, only occasionally altering the numbers to balance out promotion and relegation. With the replacement of the Regionalliga by the
2nd Bundesliga Nord in 1974, the league champion had to gain promotion through a
play-off system with the winners of the other tier-three leagues in northern Germany. In 1978, the
Amateur-Oberliga Nordrhein was formed as the third tier of football in the region compromising the area of the Verbandsliga Niederrhein and Verbandsliga Mittelrhein. One of the main reasons for this move was to provide direct promotion for the tier-three champions again. The clubs placed one to seven in the league were admitted to the new Oberliga, these being: •
Olympia Bocholt •
Rot-Weiß Oberhausen •
VfB Remscheid •
TuS Xanten •
1. FC Viersen •
ASV Wuppertal •
RSV Meerbeck Verbandsliga Niederrhein, together with Mittelrhein, remained as a feeder league for the new Oberliga, but now as a tier-four competition. Its champion, and in some years the runners-up, were directly promoted to the Oberliga Nordrhein. With the re-introduction of the Regionalligen in 1994, the league slipped to tier five but remained unchanged otherwise. From 2008, with the introduction of the
3rd Liga, the Verbandsliga Niederrhein was downgraded to the sixth tier. The league above it was then the new
NRW-Liga, a merger of the Oberligen Nordrhein and
Westfalen. The champion of the Verbandsliga continued to be directly promoted but since there were now four Verbandsligen below the Oberliga, the runners-up did not have the option of promotion unless the league winner declined. The NRW-Liga existed for only for seasons before it was disbanded again in the wake of the
Regionalliga West becoming a league for clubs from North Rhine-Westphalia only. While the Oberliga Westfalen was established again in one half of the state the regions of Lower Rhine and Middle Rhine opted to elevate the Niederrheinliga and Mittelrheinliga to Oberliga status instead of reforming the Oberliga Nordrhein. ==League champions==