Search: 'Oberliga'

With the Berlin Wall coming down in October 1990, Paul Joyce recalls the first Bundesliga season where West Germany's teams met those from East Germany

The long-term significance
After reunification in October 1990, this was the first season in which teams from the former GDR joined the West German football pyramid. Only two East German sides (Oberliga champions Hansa Rostock and runners-up Dynamo Dresden) were allowed into the Bundesliga, which was expanded to 20 clubs. A further six GDR clubs entered a regionalised second division.

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Now definitively part of Germany, for a while the Saar’s status was in flux. And, for a fleeting moment in history, the region was also an unlikely centre of footballing attention, explains Paul Joyce

The golden age of football in the Saar – today a region of Germany that borders Luxembourg and France – was a by-product of the tug-of-war over its political status.

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The fall of the Berlin Wall spelled the end of the Oberliga. By Paul Joyce

The long-term significance
The opening of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, meant free movement for players and fans – and the end of the Oberliga. As reunification gathered pace, the collapse of state organisations that sponsored GDR clubs plunged football in eastern Germany into a financial crisis from which it has yet to recover.

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The financial muscle of Bundesliga clubs is hurting Germany’s lesser lights in unexpected ways. As Paul Joyce explains, ill‑regarded but well funded B teams are squeezing out lower-league sides

In December, José Mourinho dismissed English reserve competitions as “not good enough” for his starlets. “This country should look to other countries, to France and Spain,” where second teams compete in the professional leagues, he declared. He would “love to see” a Chelsea B side play in the Championship. If Mourinho looked to Germany, however, he would see that such an integration of reserve sides has proved deeply unpopular.

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Lokomotive Leipzig used to play in European finals; now they are dominating the equivalent of a pub league. Julius Bergmann reports on a remarkable renaissance

When at the beginning of October FC Lokomotive Leipzig overcame Eintracht Grossdeuben re­serves at the city’s new Central Stadium, it wasn’t just the world record crowd for an 11th division match of 12,421 that made the game special; it was also the simple fact that Lok were playing.

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