Predecessor 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: •
Ostkreis-Liga,
covering Bavaria •
Nordkreis-Liga,
covering Hesse •
Südkreis-Liga,
covering Württemberg, Baden and Alsace •
Westkreis-Liga,
covering the Palatinate, Lorraine and the southern Rhine Province In 1908, a first Nordkreis-Liga (English:
Northern District League) and Westkreis-Liga (English:
Western District League) were established. 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 With the collapse of the
German Empire in 1918, no Nord- or Westkreis championship was played in 1918-19 but football returned to a more organised system in 1919. Southern Germany, now without the
Alsace and
Lorraine regions, which had to be returned to
France, was sub-divided into ten
Kreisligas, these being: • Kreisliga Hessen •
Kreisliga Nordbayern •
Kreisliga Nordmain •
Kreisliga Odenwald •
Kreisliga Pfalz •
Kreisliga Saar •
Kreisliga Südbayern •
Kreisliga Südmain •
Kreisliga Südwest •
Kreisliga Württemberg The new Kreisliga Hessen was made up from ten clubs from both the Nordkreis and Westkreis leagues. The league winners of the Kreisligas advanced to the Southern championship. This system applied for the 1919-20 and 1920-21 season. In 1921-22, the Kreisliga Hessen 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 Hessen champion, which in turn advanced to a Rheinhessen-Saar championship final against the Saar champion. 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 Rheinhessen-Saar final against the Saar champion once more. In 1923, a league reform which was decided upon in
Darmstadt,
Hesse, established the Southern German
Bezirksligas which were to replace the
Kreisligas. The best four teams each from the Kreisliga Hessen and Saar were admitted to the new
Bezirksliga Rheinhessen-Saar. The four clubs from Hessen were: •
SV Wiesbaden •
TG Höchst •
Alemannia Worms •
FV 02 Bieberich ==National success==