Südkreis-Liga
-de.svg) |
|
| Country |
 German Empire
|
|---|---|
| State | |
| Founded | 1908 |
| Folded | 1918 |
| Replaced by | |
| Level on pyramid | Level 1 |
| Last champions |
Union Stuttgart (1917–18) |
The Südkreis-Liga (English: Southern district league) was the highest association football league in the German Kingdom of Württemberg, Grand Duchy of Baden, the Province of Hohenzollern and Alsace-Lorraine from 1908 to 1918. The league was disbanded with the introduction of the Kreisliga Südwest and Kreisliga Württemberg in 1919.
The league was formed in a move to improve the organisation of football in Southern Germany in the early 1900s. Within the structure of the Southern German football championship, four regional leagues were gradually established from 1908, these being:
Until then, regional leagues had existed which send their champions to the Kreis finals and, from there, the winners went on to the Southern and German championships.
In 1908, the Südkreis-Liga was established, consisting of ten clubs and playing a home-and-away season, these clubs being:
An eleventh club, the FV Straßburg, withdrew before the start of the season. Phönix Karlsruhe, the first league champion, qualified thereby for the Southern German championship, which it won, finishing ahead of 1. FC Nuremberg. From there, the club moved on to the German finals, where BFC Viktoria 89 could be beaten, making the club German champions.
In its second year, the league operated with only nine clubs, with the Karlsruher FV bringing home another Southern and German title to Karlsruhe. In 1909-10, the league played with ten clubs again and Karlsruher FV once more took out the league title as well as the Southern German one. In the national title round, it failed in the semi-finals, being beaten by VfB Leipzig.
In 1911-12, the league played with eleven clubs and KFV continued its dominance, reaching the German final once more but losing 1-0 to Holstein Kiel in that game.
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