1.
Kit (association football)
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In association football, kit is the standard equipment and attire worn by players. The sports Laws of the Game specify the minimum kit which a player must use, footballers generally wear identifying numbers on the backs of their shirts. Professional clubs also usually display players surnames or nicknames on their shirts, Football kit has evolved significantly since the early days of the sport when players typically wore thick cotton shirts, knickerbockers and heavy rigid leather boots. The Laws of the Game set out the equipment which must be worn by all players in Law 4. Five separate items are specified, shirt, shorts, socks, footwear, goalkeepers are allowed to wear tracksuit bottoms instead of shorts. While most players wear studded football boots, the Laws do not specify that these are required, shirts must have sleeves, and goalkeepers must wear shirts which are easily distinguishable from all other players and the match officials. Thermal undershorts may be worn, but must be the colour as the shorts themselves. Shin pads must be covered entirely by the stockings, be made of rubber, plastic or a similar material, and provide a reasonable degree of protection. The only other restriction on equipment defined in the Laws of the Game is the requirement that a player must not use equipment or wear anything that is dangerous to himself or another player. In the event of a match between teams who would wear identical or similar colours the away team must change to a different colour. The England national team plays in red shirts even when it is not required. Many professional clubs also have a kit, ostensibly to be used if both their first-choice and away colours are deemed too similar to those of an opponent. Most professional clubs have retained the basic colour scheme for several decades. Teams representing countries in international competition generally wear national colours in common with other sporting teams of the same nation, shirts are normally made of a polyester mesh, which does not trap the sweat and body heat in the same way as a shirt made of a natural fibre. Depending on local rules, there may be restrictions on how large these logos may be or on what logos may be displayed, competitions such as the Premier League may also require players to wear patches on their sleeves depicting the logo of the competition. The captain of team is usually required to wear an elasticated armband around the left sleeve to identify him as the captain to the referee. Most current players wear specialist football boots, which can be either of leather or a synthetic material. Modern boots are cut slightly below the ankles, as opposed to the high-ankled boots used in former times, studs may be either moulded directly to the sole or be detachable, normally by means of a screw thread
2.
Football in Germany
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Football is the most popular sport in Germany. The German Football Association is the national governing body, with 6.6 million members organized in over 26,000 football clubs. There is a system, with the Bundesliga and 2. The winner of the Bundesliga is crowned the German football champion, additionally, there are national cup competitions, most notably the DFB-Pokal and DFL-Supercup. The Germany national football team has won four FIFA World Cups and it also holds a record three UEFA European Championships. The Germany womens national team has won two FIFA Womens World Cups and a record eight UEFA European Womens Championships. Germany is the nation that has won both the mens and womens World Cup. In addition, Germany is the nation to have won the applicable regional/continental championship for both the mens and womens team. No team has more combined mens and womens World Cup championships, the first football match arguably took place in Braunschweig in 1874. Two schoolteachers, August Hermann and Konrad Koch, initiated the first match after Hermann had obtained a round football from England, in 1875, Koch published the first German version of the rules of football, although Kochs version of the game still closely resembled Rugby football. The Dresden English Football Club is considered the first modern football club in Germany and it was founded in 1874 by Englishmen living and working around Dresden. In the following 20 years the game achieved a growing popularity, Football clubs were founded in Berlin, Hamburg and Karlsruhe. On 28 January 1900, representatives from 86 football clubs from German-speaking areas in and outside the German Empire met in the restaurant Mariengarten in Leipzig, the founding meeting was led by E. J. Kirmse, chairman of the Leipziger Fussball Verband. Ferdinand Hueppe, representing the DFC Prag, was elected first president of the DFB, the first championship beyond municipal areas was held in 1898 from the Verband Sueddeutscher Fussball-Vereine, later affiliated with the DFB. The German national football team represents Germany in international football competitions since 1908 and it is controlled by the German Football Association DFB, the governing body of football in Germany. After the war, Germany was occupied in three states, the DFB and its team continued in what was called West Germany, while the Saarland and East Germany fielded separate teams for some years. The FIFA World Cup 1974 was staged in West Germany, meeting on 22 June 1974 in a politically charged match in Hamburg, East Germany beat West Germany 1–0, on a goal by Jürgen Sparwasser. Both German teams advanced to the second round anyway, the GDR team was eliminated there, while the DFB team eventually went on to win the tournament
3.
Association football
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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies making it the worlds most popular sport, the game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by getting the ball into the opposing goal, players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms while it is in play, unless they are goalkeepers. Other players mainly use their feet to strike or pass the ball, the team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is level at the end of the game, the Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football, the first written reference to the inflated ball used in the game was in the mid-14th century, Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe. The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the word soccer was split off in 1863, according to Partha Mazumdar, the term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford -er abbreviation of the word association. Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called football in the United Kingdom and mainly soccer in Canada and the United States. People in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand use either or both terms, although national associations in Australia and New Zealand now primarily use football for the formal name. According to FIFA, the Chinese competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is scientific evidence, cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net. It was remarkably similar to football, though similarities to rugby occurred. During the Han Dynasty, cuju games were standardised and rules were established, phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a vase at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship Cup, athenaeus, writing in 228 AD, referenced the Roman ball game harpastum. Phaininda, episkyros and harpastum were played involving hands and violence and they all appear to have resembled rugby football, wrestling and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all football codes. Non-competitive games included kemari in Japan, chuk-guk in Korea and woggabaliri in Australia, Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other games played around the world FIFA have recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe. The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England
4.
Sonthofen
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Sonthofen is the most southerly town of Germany, located in the Oberallgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. Neighbouring Oberstdorf is situated 14 km farther south but is not classified as a town, Sonthofen is located at 47°30′57″N 10°16′52″E. In 2005, Sonthofen was awarded Alpenstadt des Jahres, in World War II Sonthofen was bombed twice because Adolf Hitler had built the Ordensburg Sonthofen where young boys were trained for service in Nazi Party organizations. The German Armys NBC Defence School is located in barracks in Sonthofen. Sonthofen was given rights on 18 August 1963. It is widely known for its milk and cheese products and as a tourist destination. Sonthofen was awarded Alpine Town of the Year 2005. Media related to Sonthofen at Wikimedia Commons Sonthofen travel guide from Wikivoyage Sonthofen. de Official Sonthofen website, partly English History of Sonthofen - alpine city of the year
5.
Bavaria
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Bavaria is a free state and one of 16 federal states of Germany. Located in the German southeast with an area of 70,548 square kilometres and its territory comprises roughly a fifth of the total land area of Germany, and, with 12.9 million inhabitants, it is Germanys second most populous state. Munich, Bavarias capital and largest city, is the third largest city in Germany, the Duchy of Bavaria dates back to the year 555. In the 17th century CE, the Duke of Bavaria became a Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Bavaria existed from 1806 to 1918, when Bavaria became a republic. In 1946, the Free State of Bavaria re-organised itself on democratic lines after the Second World War, Bavaria has a unique culture, largely because of the states Catholic majority and conservative traditions. Bavarians have traditionally been proud of their culture, which includes such as Oktoberfest. The state also has the second largest economy among the German states by GDP figures, modern Bavaria also includes parts of the historical regions of Franconia, Upper Palatinate and Swabia. The Bavarians emerged in a north of the Alps, previously inhabited by Celts. The Bavarians spoke Old High German but, unlike other Germanic groups, rather, they seem to have coalesced out of other groups left behind by Roman withdrawal late in the 5th century. These peoples may have included the Celtic Boii, some remaining Romans, Marcomanni, Allemanni, Quadi, Thuringians, Goths, Scirians, Rugians, the name Bavarian means Men of Baia which may indicate Bohemia, the homeland of the Celtic Boii and later of the Marcomanni. They first appear in written sources circa 520, a 17th century Jewish chronicler David Solomon Ganz, citing Cyriacus Spangenberg, claimed that the diocese was named after an ancient Bohemian king, Boiia, in the 14th century BCE. From about 554 to 788, the house of Agilolfing ruled the Duchy of Bavaria and their daughter, Theodelinde, became Queen of the Lombards in northern Italy and Garibald was forced to flee to her when he fell out with his Frankish overlords. Garibalds successor, Tassilo I, tried unsuccessfully to hold the frontier against the expansion of Slavs. Tassilos son Garibald II seems to have achieved a balance of power between 610 and 616, after Garibald II little is known of the Bavarians until Duke Theodo I, whose reign may have begun as early as 680. From 696 onwards he invited churchmen from the west to organize churches and his son, Theudebert, led a decisive Bavarian campaign to intervene in a succession dispute in the Lombard Kingdom in 714, and married his sister Guntrud to the Lombard King Liutprand. At Theodos death the duchy was divided among his sons, at Hugberts death the duchy passed to a distant relative named Odilo, from neighbouring Alemannia. He was defeated near Augsburg in 743 but continued to rule until his death in 748, saint Boniface completed the peoples conversion to Christianity in the early 8th century. Bavaria was in ways affected by the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century
6.
Promotion and relegation
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In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between two divisions based on their performance for the completed season. In some leagues, playoffs or qualifying rounds are used to determine rankings. This process can continue through several levels of divisions, with teams being exchanged between levels 1 and 2, levels 2 and 3, levels 3 and 4, the number of teams exchanged between the divisions is almost always identical. Such variations will almost inevitably cause an effect through the lower divisions. Even in the absence of such circumstances, the pyramid-like nature of most European football league systems can still create knock-on effects at the regional level. The system is said to be the characteristic of the European form of professional sports league organization. Promotion and relegation have the effect of allowing the maintenance of a hierarchy of leagues and divisions and they also maintain the importance of games played by many low-ranked teams near the end of the season, which may be at risk of relegation. In contrast, a low-ranked US or Canadian teams final games serve little purpose, although not intrinsic to the system, problems can occur due to the differing monetary payouts and revenue-generating potential that different divisions provide to their clubs. For example, financial hardship has sometimes occurred in leagues where clubs do not reduce their wage bill once relegated, some leagues offer parachute payments to its relegated teams for the following year. The payouts are higher than the money received by some non-relegated teams and are designed to soften the financial hit that clubs take whilst dropping out of the Premier League. However, in many cases these parachute payments just serve to inflate the costs of competing for promotion among the lower division clubs as newly relegated teams retain a financial advantage. If these are not satisfied, a team may be promoted in their place. While the primary purpose of the system is to maintain competitive balance. On several occasions, the Italian Football Federation has relegated clubs found to have involved in match-fixing. This occurred most recently in 2006, when the initial champions Juventus were relegated to Serie B. An exception is the proposed UEFA Nations League, which will feature promotion and relegation across four levels, in tennis, the Davis Cup has promotion and relegation where each group uses a knockout tournament format in which first-round losers play off to avoid relegation. In the United States, Canada, and Australia, teams are not promoted or relegated. The USL set up two leagues, now known as the United Soccer League and the Premier Development League, although the system is now in place, it is not compulsory and is rarely used
7.
Away colours
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Away colours are a choice of coloured clothing used in team sports. They are required to be worn by one team during a game between teams that would wear the same colours as each other, or similar colours. This change prevents confusion for officials, players, and spectators, in most sports it is the visiting team that must change – second-choice kits are commonly known as away kits or change kits in British English, and road uniforms in American English. Some sports leagues mandate that teams must always wear an alternative kit. In some sports, conventionally the home team has changed its kit, in most cases, a team wears its away kit only when its primary kit would clash with the colours of the home team. However, sometimes teams wear away colours by choice, occasionally even in a home game, at some clubs, the away kit has become more popular than the home version. Replica home and away kits are available for fans to buy. Some teams also have produced third-choice kits, or even old-fashioned throwback uniforms, in American sports, road teams usually wear a change uniform regardless of a potential colour clash. Further, almost all road uniforms are white in American football, in the National Basketball Association, home uniforms are white or yellow, and visiting teams wear a darker colour. In the United States, color vs. color games are a rarity, most teams choose to wear their color jerseys at home, with the road team changing to white in most cases. White road uniforms gained prominence with the rise of television in the 1950s, a white vs. color game was easier to follow in black-and-white. According to Phil Hecken, until the mid 1950′s, not only was color versus color common in the NFL, even long after the advent of color television, the use of white jerseys has remained in almost every game. The NFLs current rules require that a home jerseys must be either white or official team color throughout the season. If a team insists on wearing its home uniforms on the road, the road team might instead wear a third jersey, such as the Seattle Seahawks Wolf Grey alternate. According to the Gridiron Uniform Database, the Cleveland Browns wore white for home game of the 1955 season. The only times they wore brown was for games at Philadelphia and the New York Giants, in 1964 the Baltimore Colts, Browns, Vikings and Rams wore white regularly for their home games according to Tim Brulias research. The St. Louis Cardinals wore white for several of their home games, until 1964 Dallas had worn blue at home, but it was not an official rule that teams should wear their colored jerseys at home. The use of white jerseys was instigated by general manager Tex Schramm, the Cowboys still wear white at home today
8.
Regionalliga Bayern
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The Regionalliga Bayern, is the highest association football league in the state of Bavaria and the Bavarian football league system. It is one of five Regionalligas in German football, the tier of the German football league system. The league was established at the end of the 2011–12 season, the German league system, having gone through its last adjustment in 2008, when the 3. Liga was established and the number of Regionalligas increased from two to three, required another adjustment in 2011, many clubs also struggled to cope with the 400-pages long license application, having to rely on volunteers rather than being able draw on permanent staff. In a special conference of the German Football Association, the DFB, for this purpose, the paper also demanded the reestablishment of the German amateur football championship as an incentive and goal for top amateur clubs who did not want to turn professional. On 16 December 2011, the BFV introduced the leagues logo, in March 2012 the BFV announced that the league champions, apart from having the opportunity to compete in the promotion round to the 3. Liga, would qualify directly for the first round of the German Cup. Due to the ban of reserve teams in the German Cup this spot would be handed to the best placed first team should the champions be a reserve side. With the deadline for the applications for the new league set for 1 April 2012,32 clubs had applied for the new league. Of those, one came from the 3, Liga, six from the Regionalliga, eight from the Landesliga and two from leagues outside of Bavaria. Of the 18 Bayernliga clubs,15 applied for a licence, with only TSV Gersthofen, TSV Aindling, of the Landesliga clubs, eight applied for a licence. The BFV planned to complete the procedure by 20 April 2012 and notify all clubs of the outcome by that date. On 20 April 2012 the FSV Erlangen-Bruck opted to withdraw its Regionalliga application because of ongoing financial issues, all Bayernliga and Regionalliga clubs had their licence applications approved by 27 April 2012 while the Landesliga clubs had to wait another week before being notified of a decision. The champions and runners-up of the league, Promoted teams in bold, alexander Deptalla of Bamberg became the first ever goal scorer in the league. The league champions in turn qualified for the round to the 3. Liga, in which it met the runners-up of the Regionalliga Südwest, SV Elversberg, and lost. FC Bayern Munich II won the title in the second season of the league but was, like the reserve of 1860 Munich the year before. The FV Illertissen was, for the consecutive season the best non reserve side in the league
9.
TSV Rain am Lech
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The TSV Rain am Lech is a German association football club from the town of Rain am Lech, Bavaria. The clubs most notable achievement has been to qualify for the tier four Regionalliga Bayern in 2012 and it returned to this league after a Bayernliga title in 2015. The club has qualified for the first round of the DFB-Pokal. The club was formed in 1896 under the name TV Rain am Lech as a gymnastics club, a football department was however not formed, instead, the FC Rain am Lech came into being on 31 August 1920 and took up the sport. While the two clubs existed independently for many years, in 1941 a forced merger formed the TSG Rain am Lech, the worsening war situation had made this step necessary but activities were severely limited in the coming years. With the end of the Second World War, this merger ended. The FC soon reestablished itself but the TV was struggling to do so due to a number of losses of its members during the war. In the spring of 1946, the two decided to merge once more, this time by free choice and the TSV Rain am Lech was formed. The new club retained the old colors of the TV, red, a new club constitution was drafted on 30 April 1946 and the US occupation authorities sanctioned the new club on 6 May 1946. By the end of June 1946, the new club already had 180 members, while the club offered a number of sports, football was virtually the only one played on competitive level. In 1987, the club celebrated a new record in membership, after its formation in 1920, The FC Rain entered the 2nd Kreisklasse Schwaben Nord, a league it performed rather well in the coming seasons. After its third title in this league in 1929–30, it earned promotion to the 1st Kreisklasse, the club once more achieved promotion in 1937 but this time only lasted for one year in the higher level. Despite winning the title and promotion again in 1938–39 the FC Rain chose to withdraw from the due to the outbreak of the war. The club continued in 1945 where it finished six years earlier, under the new name of TSV Rain, this trend continued. In 1949, the 2nd Kreisliga was renamed B-Klasse and the belonged to this league for two seasons until winning promotion in 1951 to the now A-Klasse Nordschwaben. The TSV remained in this league until 1962 with the exception of 1953–54, in 1962, a A-Klassen championship earned them promotion to the Bezirksliga for the first time and the team held this league, the Bezirksliga Schwaben until 1967. From 1967 to 1974, they played in the A-Klasse once more, another title in this league in 1973–74 meant a return to the now regionalised Bezirksliga Schwaben-Nord. In this league, the TSV Rain finished on top in its first season, the Landesliga proved to be a much harder place to succeed in and the team was immediately relegated
10.
TSV 1865 Dachau
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Turn- und Sportverein Dachau 1865 e. V. commonly known as TSV1865 Dachau, is a German sports club based in Dachau, Bavaria. TSV1865 Dachau is best known for the success of the Taekwondo department within the club, TSV1865 Dachau was founded in Dachau in 1865. However, the TSV1865 Dachau does not have their own field for almost 55 years before the Ludwig-Böswirth-Platz was erected on the Augustenfeld in Dachau in 1921. World War II led the discontinuantion of the club and it was not revived again till 1950, the club finally added their own sports hall as it was built on the clubs sports field between 1956 and 1959. The taekwondo department was originally a department of sports club SSV Dachau-Ost in the 1970s, since 1976, the members of the Taekwondo department have won several regional, German national, and international championships. The current trainer of the department is Reinhard Langer, who achieved fourth place in the Summer Olympics, as well as a former a 5-time German champion, the German national team has their Olympic Training Center in Dachau, due to the success of TSV1865 Dachaus taekwondo team. The football department of TSV was founded in 1912 as the first independent department of the club, before joining the South German Football Association, the TSV1865 Dachau only played the friendlies in the first year. After joining the Association, the first official game was played in 1917, also in 1917 during the first season, TSV1865 Dachau won the Bezirks München over TSV1860 München and FC Bayern Munich. Next season in 1918, the finished third behind those associations. After the conclusion of World War I, the club started to play in A-Klasse, after played in A-Klasse, TSV1865 Dachau was promoted to the highest Bayern football league, Kreisliga Bayern in 1922. Being placed in the Kreisliga Südbayern, TSV1865 Dachau finished the 1922 season in 8th place, after the relegation, the club was unable to achieve any more significant success ever since. In the last decade, the mens first team played in the Bezirksliga Oberbayern-Nord, in the decider, TSV1865 Dachau lost to TSV Manching in a penalty shoot-out and finished second behind TSV Manching in 2010–11 Bezirksliga Oberbayern-Nord. At the end of the 2012–13 season, TSV1865 Dachau was moved to the division within the Landesliga Bayern. Winning this league the club earned promotion to the Bayernliga for the first time, the basketball department is known as the Dachau Spurs and currently plays in the 1. Christian Stüber holds the record for the most appearance in the official matches with 226 appearances for Dachau Spurs. Dachau Spurs plays their games in the Jahnhalle which is part of the Jahnstraße in Dachau. The TSVs basketball department also plays in the youth leagues such as, U10 Kreisliga, U12 Kreisliga, U13 Kreisliga, U14 Bezirksoberliga, U16 Bezirksliga, U17 Kreisliga. Official website TSV1865 Dachau – Taekwondo department Dachau Spurs – TSV1865 Dachaus Basketball department
11.
DFB-Pokal
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The DFB-Pokal or German Cup is a German knockout football cup competition held annually. Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundesliga and it is considered the second-most important club title in German football after the Bundesliga championship. The DFB-Pokal is run by the German Football Association, and runs from August until June, the winner qualifies for the DFL-Supercup and the UEFA Europa League unless the winner already qualifies for the UEFA Champions League in the Bundesliga. The competition was founded in 1935, then called the Tschammer-Pokal, in 1937, Schalke 04 were the first team to win the double. The Tschammer-Pokal was suspended in 1944 due to World War II, in 1952–53, the cup was reinstated as the DFB-Pokal, named after the DFB, and was won by Rot-Weiss Essen. Bayern Munich have won the most titles with 18 wins, also being the incumbent title holders, fortuna Düsseldorf hold the record for most consecutive tournament game wins between 1978 and 1981, winning the cup in 1979 and 1980. The competition format has varied considerably since the inception of the Tschammer-Pokal in 1935, the DFB-Pokal begins with a round of 64 teams. The 36 teams of the Bundesliga and 2, Bundesliga, along with the top four finishers of the 3. Liga are automatically qualified for the tournament, of the remaining slots 21 are given to the cup winners of the regional football associations, the Verbandspokale. The three remaining slots are given to the three regional associations with the most mens teams and they may assign the slot as they see fit but usually give it to the runner-up in the association cup. Reserve teams like Borussia Dortmund II are not permitted to enter, the pairings for the DFB Cup are not entirely random as the teams are split into two pots of 32 teams each. One pot contains all the amateur teams including teams from the 3, liga and the teams just being promoted to the 2. The other pot contains the teams from the Bundesliga and the teams of the 2, Bundesliga who has not just been promoted. Therefore, in the first round of the cup each professional team plays an amateur team, since 1982, the amateur generally plays at home when facing a professional team. For the second round, the teams are divided into two pots according to the same principles. This time, the dont have to be of equal size, though. Amateur teams get paired with professional teams until one pot is empty, the remaining teams are then drawn from the nonempty pot with the team first drawn playing at home. For the remaining other than the final the teams are drawn from one pot
12.
2. Bundesliga
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Bundesliga is the second division of professional football in Germany. Bundesliga is ranked below the Bundesliga and above the 3, liga in the German football league system. Bundesliga clubs qualify for the DFB-Pokal, the annual German Cup competition, a total of 125 clubs have competed in the 2. The decision to establish the league as the level of football in West Germany was taken in May 1973. The league started operating in August 1974, then two divisions of 20 clubs. It was reduced to a division in 1981. From the 1991–92 season onwards clubs from former East Germany started participating in the league and it returned to a single division format again at the end of that season and has had 18 clubs as its strength since 1994. Bundesliga are directly promoted to the Bundesliga, while a third promoted club has been determined through play-offs from 1974 to 1991, between 1991 and 2008 the third-placed club in the league was directly promoted. The bottom clubs in the league are relegated to the division which has been, from 1974 to 1994 the Oberliga, from 1994 to 2008 the Regionalliga. The number of relegated clubs has fluctuated over the years, since 2008 two clubs are directly relegated while the third-last team has the opportunity to defend its league place in play-offs against the third placed team of the 3. FC Nürnberg holds the number of championships in the league with four. The club also holds the record for number of promotions from the 2, for the 2015–16 season, an average of 19,176 spectators watched 2. Bundesliga the worlds most-watched secondary football league, the decision to establish the 2. Bundesliga as a professional league below the Bundesliga was made at the annual convention of the German Football Association. The league replaced the five Regionalligas that were at this level from 1963 to 1974, the qualified teams were established through a ranking that took the last five seasons of the Regionalliga into account. Bundesliga was split into a northern and a division with 20 clubs each. Each division had its champion directly promoted to the Bundesliga while the two runners-up would contest a two-leg play-off to determine the promoted team. The first-ever game of the league was played on Friday,2 August 1974 between 1, FC Saarbrücken and SV Darmstadt 98 and ended in a 1–0 win for Saarbrücken, with Nikolaus Semlitsch scoring the first-ever goal of the new league
