1954–55 Oberliga

The 1954–55 Oberliga was the tenth season of the Oberliga, the first tier of the football league system in West Germany and the Saar Protectorate. The league operated in five regional divisions, Berlin, North, South, Southwest and West. The five league champions and the runners-up from the west, south, southwest and north then entered the 1955 German football championship which was won by Rot-Weiss Essen. It was Essen's sole national championship while, for losing finalist 1. FC Kaiserslautern, it was the fourth final it played in five seasons.[2][3]

For other uses, see 1954–55 Oberliga (disambiguation).

Oberliga

Season	1954–55
Champions	Hamburger SV Viktoria 89 Berlin Rot-Weiss Essen 1. FC Kaiserslautern Kickers Offenbach
Relegated	Bremer SV Harburger TB BFC Südring BFC Nordstern Meidericher SV VfL Bochum FV Speyer Sportfreunde Saarbrücken KSV Hessen Kassel FC Bayern Munich
German champions	Rot-Weiss Essen 1st German title
Top goalscorer	Ernst-Otto Meyer (36 goals)[1]
← 1953–54 1955–56 →

Map of the five German Oberligas 1945 to 1963

On the strength of this title Rot-Weiss Essen and 1. FC Saarbrücken, the best-placed Oberliga team from the Saar Protectorate, participated in the first edition of the European Cup, going out to Hibernian F.C. in the first round, as did Saarbrücken against A.C. Milan.[4]

A similar-named league, the DDR-Oberliga, existed in East Germany, set at the first tier of the East German football league system. The 1954–55 DDR-Oberliga was won by SC Turbine Erfurt.[5]

Oberliga Nord

The 1954–55 season saw two new clubs in the league, VfL Wolfsburg and VfB Oldenburg, both promoted from the Amateurliga. The league's top scorer was Günter Schlegel of Hamburger SV with 30 goals.[1]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Hamburger SV	30	23	1	6	108	41	+67	47	Qualification to German championship
2	TuS Bremerhaven 93	30	17	7	6	56	38	+18	41
3	Werder Bremen	30	15	8	7	68	46	+22	38
4	FC Altona 93	30	15	8	7	73	51	+22	38
5	Hannover 96	30	14	6	10	52	41	+11	34
6	Eintracht Braunschweig	30	15	3	12	58	56	+2	33
7	FC St. Pauli	30	10	11	9	45	41	+4	31
8	Eimsbütteler TV	30	9	10	11	51	60	−9	28
9	VfL Osnabrück	30	9	9	12	58	55	+3	27
10	Holstein Kiel	30	8	11	11	52	64	−12	27
11	VfB Oldenburg	30	9	7	14	33	56	−23	25
12	Arminia Hannover	30	9	6	15	50	60	−10	24
13	Göttingen 05	30	6	12	12	35	49	−14	24
14	VfL Wolfsburg	30	7	10	13	34	53	−19	24
15	Bremer SV (R)	30	9	5	16	35	56	−21	23	Relegation to Amateurliga
16	Harburger TB (R)	30	3	10	17	35	76	−41	16

Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points;
(R) Relegated.

Oberliga Berlin

The 1954–55 season saw two new clubs in the league, Hertha BSC Berlin and BFC Südring, both promoted from the Amateurliga Berlin. The league's top scorer was Werner Nocht of Viktoria 89 Berlin with 18 goals.[1]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Viktoria 89 Berlin	22	15	4	3	53	20	+33	34	Qualification to German championship
2	Tennis Borussia Berlin	22	14	2	6	52	33	+19	30
3	Berliner SV 92	22	12	4	6	38	26	+12	28
4	Minerva 93 Berlin	22	13	2	7	42	29	+13	28
5	Union 06 Berlin	22	11	3	8	42	37	+5	25
6	Spandauer SV	22	8	5	9	41	34	+7	21
7	Hertha BSC Berlin	22	10	1	11	37	44	−7	21
8	Wacker 04 Berlin	22	4	10	8	30	40	−10	18
9	Alemannia 90 Berlin	22	7	3	12	29	38	−9	17
10	Blau-Weiß 90 Berlin	22	6	5	11	24	45	−21	17
11	BFC Südring (R)	22	6	3	13	32	46	−14	15	Relegation to Amateurliga Berlin
12	BFC Nordstern (R)	22	2	6	14	34	62	−28	10

Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points;
(R) Relegated.

Oberliga West

The 1954–55 season saw two new clubs in the league, Westfalia Herne and Duisburger SV, both promoted from the 2. Oberliga West. The league's top scorer was Heinz Lorenz of Preußen Dellbrück with 23 goals.[1]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Rot-Weiss Essen (C)	30	20	5	5	64	38	+26	45	Qualification to German championship
2	SV Sodingen	30	17	5	8	54	40	+14	39
3	Bayer Leverkusen	30	13	10	7	54	42	+12	36
4	Borussia Dortmund	30	12	6	12	63	57	+6	30
5	FC Schalke 04	30	11	8	11	51	49	+2	30
6	Fortuna Düsseldorf	30	13	4	13	66	65	+1	30
7	1. FC Köln	30	13	3	14	60	55	+5	29
8	Duisburger SV	30	12	5	13	48	52	−4	29
9	Preußen Münster	30	12	4	14	70	60	+10	28
10	Preußen Dellbrück	30	12	4	14	51	58	−7	28
11	Alemannia Aachen	30	11	6	13	56	64	−8	28
12	Schwarz-Weiß Essen	30	11	5	14	52	55	−3	27
13	Westfalia Herne	30	10	6	14	57	63	−6	26
14	Borussia München-Gladbach	30	9	8	13	48	65	−17	26
15	Meidericher SV (R)	30	10	6	14	39	60	−21	26	Relegation to 2. Oberliga West
16	VfL Bochum (R)	30	6	11	13	36	46	−10	23

Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points;
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.

Oberliga Südwest

The 1954–55 season saw two new clubs in the league, Eintracht Bad Kreuznach and Sportfreunde Saarbrücken, both promoted from the 2. Oberliga Südwest. The league's top scorer was Herbert Martin of 1. FC Saarbrücken with 27 goals.[1]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	1. FC Kaiserslautern	30	23	4	3	96	42	+54	50	Qualification to German championship
2	Wormatia Worms	30	16	9	5	80	38	+42	41
3	1. FC Saarbrücken	30	18	5	7	82	52	+30	41
4	TuS Neuendorf	30	17	6	7	79	38	+41	40
5	FK Pirmasens	30	18	3	9	70	45	+25	39
6	Phönix Ludwigshafen	30	15	9	6	60	39	+21	39
7	TuRa Ludwigshafen	30	14	6	10	57	52	+5	34
8	VfR Frankenthal	30	13	3	14	47	66	−19	29
9	Saar 05 Saarbrücken	30	6	13	11	43	56	−13	25
10	Borussia Neunkirchen	30	8	9	13	37	50	−13	25
11	Eintracht Trier	30	10	4	16	45	59	−14	24
12	VfR Kaiserslautern	30	8	6	16	47	76	−29	22
13	Eintracht Kreuznach	30	7	7	16	43	75	−32	21
14	FSV Mainz 05	30	8	4	18	51	64	−13	20
15	FV Speyer (R)	30	6	5	19	45	70	−25	17	Relegation to 2. Oberliga Südwest
16	Sportfreunde Saarbrücken (R)	30	4	5	21	31	92	−61	13

Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points;
(R) Relegated.

Oberliga Süd

The 1954–55 season saw two new clubs in the league, SSV Reutlingen and Schwaben Augsburg, both promoted from the 2. Oberliga Süd. The league's top scorer was Ernst-Otto Meyer of VfR Mannheim with 36 goals, a title he would take out twice more, in 1955–56 and 1958–59.[6] Meyer was also the top scorer for all five Oberligas in 1954–55.[1]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Kickers Offenbach	30	17	5	8	67	38	+29	39	Qualification to German championship
2	SSV Reutlingen	30	16	5	9	62	44	+18	37
3	FC Schweinfurt 05	30	14	9	7	52	44	+8	37
4	Eintracht Frankfurt	30	15	6	9	56	36	+20	36
5	Karlsruher SC	30	15	5	10	69	51	+18	35
6	FSV Frankfurt	30	13	7	10	55	49	+6	33
7	BC Augsburg	30	14	4	12	72	60	+12	32
8	Schwaben Augsburg	30	12	8	10	46	45	+1	32
9	1. FC Nürnberg	30	12	5	13	64	51	+13	29
10	VfR Mannheim	30	12	5	13	77	79	−2	29
11	SpVgg Fürth	30	11	7	12	56	67	−11	29
12	Stuttgarter Kickers	30	10	7	13	48	56	−8	27
13	VfB Stuttgart	30	11	4	15	58	60	−2	26
14	Jahn Regensburg	30	11	4	15	47	85	−38	26
15	KSV Hessen Kassel (R)	30	6	6	18	37	67	−30	18	Relegation to 2. Oberliga Süd
16	FC Bayern Munich (R)	30	6	3	21	42	76	−34	15

Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points;
(R) Relegated.

German championship

Main article: 1955 German football championship

The 1955 German football championship was contested by the nine qualified Oberliga teams and won by Rot-Weiss Essen, defeating 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the final. The runners-up of the Oberligas, except Berlin, played pre-qualifying matches to determine which three of the four would go on to the group stage. The remaining eight clubs then played a home-and-away round of matches in two groups of four. The two group winners then advanced to the final.[7]

Qualifying

First round

Team 1	Score	Team 2
SV Sodingen	3–0	SSV Reutlingen

Team 1	Score	Team 2
TuS Bremerhaven 93	3–3 aet	Wormatia Worms

Replay

Team 1	Score	Team 2
TuS Bremerhaven 93	3–2	Wormatia Worms

Second round

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Wormatia Worms	2–1	SSV Reutlingen

Group 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	1. FC Kaiserslautern (Q)	6	3	3	0	20	8	+12	9	Qualified to final
2	Hamburger SV	6	3	2	1	8	5	+3	8
3	SV Sodingen	6	2	3	1	13	9	+4	7
4	Viktoria 89 Berlin	6	0	0	6	4	23	−19	0

Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points;
(Q) Qualified to the phase indicated.

Group 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Rot-Weiss Essen (Q)	6	4	2	0	16	5	+11	10	Qualified to final
2	TuS Bremerhaven 93	6	2	2	2	5	10	−5	6
3	Kickers Offenbach	6	2	0	4	11	12	−1	4
4	Wormatia Worms	6	1	2	3	6	11	−5	4

Source: RSSSF.com
Rules for classification: 1) Points;
(Q) Qualified to the phase indicated.

Final

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Rot-Weiss Essen	4–3	1. FC Kaiserslautern

References

1. Fußball-Torjägerstatistik Deutschland (in German) Goal scorer statistics Germany, author: Walter Grüber, published: 2011, accessed: 21 December 2015
2. (West) Germany -List of champions rsssf.com, accessed: 19 December 2015
3. Rot-Weiss Essen » Steckbrief (in German) Weltfussball.de – Rot-Weiss Essen honours, accessed: 19 December 2015
4. 1955: Königsklasse in Kinderschuhen (in German) Weltfussball.de, published: 4 September 2015, accessed: 20 December 2015
5. East Germany 1946-1990 rsssf.com, accessed: 15 December 2015
6. 100 Jahre Süddeutscher Fußball-Verband, page: 165
7. Das Finale der Deutschen Meisterschaft 1954/1955 (in German) Fussballdaten.de, accessed: 16 December 2015

Sources

• 30 Jahre Bundesliga (in German) 30th anniversary special, publisher: kicker Sportmagazin, published: 1993
• kicker-Almanach 1990 (in German) Yearbook of German football, publisher: kicker Sportmagazin, published: 1989, ISBN 3-7679-0297-4
• DSFS Liga-Chronik seit 1945 (in German) publisher: DSFS, published: 2005
• 100 Jahre Süddeutscher Fußball-Verband (in German) 100 Years of the Southern German Football Federation, publisher: SFV, published: 1997

External links

• The Oberligas on Fussballdaten.de (in German)