# 2. Amateurliga Bayern

The 2. Amateurliga Bayern was a set of eleven regional leagues in Bavaria existing from 1951 to 1963 as the fourth tier of football in the state.
The leagues were disbanded in 1963, when the German football league system was reorganised with the introduction of the Bundesliga and replaced by the Landesligas.

## Overview

The 2. Amateurligas were introduced in Bavaria in 1951 to replace the previously existing Kreisligas at this level. This step was taken after the introduction of the 2nd Oberliga Süd as the new second division in southern Germany in 1950 and the renaming of the Landesliga Bayern to Amateurliga Bayern in 1951. The Landesliga had, until 1950, been functioning as one of the regional second divisions below the Oberliga Süd, alongside the Landesliga Nordbaden, the Landesliga Hessen and the Landesliga Württemberg.
The 2. Amateurliga, as the fourth tier of the German league system, below the Amateurliga Bayern as the third, was sub-divided into seven regions, along the boundaries of the seven Regierungsbezirke, those regions being:
* Upper Bavaria - Oberbayern
* Lower Bavaria - Niederbayern
* Swabia - Schwaben
* Upper Palatinate - Oberpfalz
* Middle Franconia - Mittelfranken
* Lower Franconia - Unterfranken
* Upper Franconia - Oberfranken
Some of the seven regions of the 2. Amateurliga were in turn sub-divided into regional leagues, resulting in the existence of eleven leagues at this level:
* 2. Amateurliga Oberbayern A
* 2. Amateurliga Oberbayern B
* 2. Amateurliga Niederbayern
* 2. Amateurliga Schwaben
* 2. Amateurliga Oberpfalz
* 2. Amateurliga Mittelfranken Nord
* 2. Amateurliga Mittelfranken Süd
* 2. Amateurliga Unterfranken West
* 2. Amateurliga Unterfranken Ost
* 2. Amateurliga Oberfranken West
* 2. Amateurliga Oberfranken Ost
Within the four Regierungsbezirke who had two leagues, a championship was played to determine the local champions, but no overall 2. Amateurliga championship was held. Instead, the regional champions would play promotion rounds to determine the teams that would move up to the Amateurliga. The promotion rounds where sub-divided into northern and southern Bavaria. The champions of the three Franconian Regierungsbezirke would play in the northern group while the other four Regierungsbezirke would play in the southern one. Swabia had a special status within this system, being allowed to send both champions and runners-up to the promotion round. Originally, until 1957, the promotion rounds were held in two groups of six teams, playing a home-and-away round, with the top-two teams from each being promoted.
In 1953, the Amateurliga Bayern was split in itself in two regional divisions, north and south, resulting in two new leagues:
* Amateurliga Nordbayern - Northern Bavaria
* Amateurliga Südbayern - Southern Bavaria
This decision was made rather late, on 7 July 1953, after the promotion rounds had already been played, resulting in all twelve teams that had taken part being promoted.
The promotion system remained unchanged after this, two groups of six with the first two in each group still promoted. In 1955, three teams were promoted from the north because VfB Helmbrechts had been promoted to the 2nd Oberliga Süd, thereby providing an additional spot in the Amateurliga Nordbayern. An expansion of the Amateurliga Südbayern from 14 to 16 clubs in 1957 allowed four teams to be promoted from the south.
From 1957-58 onwards, the promotion system was changed. In the north, the three Regierungsbezirk champions were now directly promoted. In the south, the Oberbayern and Schwaben champions were directly promoted while the champions of Niederbayern and Oberpfalz played a decider for one more promotion spot.
In 1958, an additional spot was available because 1. FC Bamberg had been promoted to the second division, this was played out between the three runners-up. The same happened in 1959, when SpVgg Bayreuth moved up to the second division. In 1960, when Schwaben Augsburg was promoted to the 2nd Oberliga, the losing team of the Niederbayern versus Oberpfalz encounter was also promoted.

## Disbanding of the 2. Amateurligas

In 1963, the German league system was changed drastically. The Fußball-Bundesliga replaced the previously existing five Oberligas as the highest league in the country. Below it, five Regionalligas were created as the new second divisions.
On 27 April 1963, it was decided to reorganise the Bavarian league system, too. The two Amateurligas in Bavaria were reduced to a single division again, like until 1953. The 2nd Amateurligas were completely disbanded and replaced by three Landesligas as the new fourth tier, those being:
* Landesliga Bayern-Süd - covering Swabia and Upper Bavaria
* Landesliga Bayern-Mitte - covering Middle Franconia, Lower Bavaria and Upper Palatinate
* Landesliga Bayern-Nord - covering Lower and Upper Franconia
Apart from the ten clubs each that came from the two Amateurligas to the new Landesligas, the top-teams of the 2. Amateurligas in 1962-63 were also allowed to join the new leagues:
All other clubs from the former 2. Amateurligas went to the Bezirksligas, which had existed since 1957, the fifth tier of league football.

## League champions

The champions of the eleven 2. Amateurligas in Bavaria were:

### Southern Bavaria

| Season | Oberbayern A | Oberbayern B | Niederbayern | Schwaben | Oberpfalz |
| 1951–52 | SC München-Süd | SpVgg Helios München | SpVgg Plattling | FC Kempten | SV Mitterteich |
| 1952–53 | MTV Ingolstadt | FC Penzberg | SpVgg Deggendorf | TSV Kottern | SV Mitterteich |
| 1953–54 | BSC Sendling | TSV Raubling | SV Saal | SpVgg Kaufbeuren | TV Sulzbach-Rosenberg |
| 1954–55 | TSG Pasing | ASV Dachau | SV Saal | FC Memmingen | FC Maxhütte-Haidhof |
| 1955–56 | FC Bayern Munich II | SV Aubing | 1. FC Passau | FC Kempten | 1. FC Schwandorf |
| 1956–57 | TSG Pasing | SC 1906 München | 1. FC Passau | FC Kempten | FC Maxhütte-Haidhof |
| 1957–58 | SpVgg Helios München | SV Aubing | 1. FC Passau | SpVgg Kaufbeuren | SpVgg Vohenstrauß |
| 1958–59 | TSV 1860 Munich II | FSV Pfaffenhofen | SpVgg Deggendorf | FC Memmingen | Turnerschaft Regensburg |
| 1959–60 | TSV 1860 Rosenheim | TSG Pasing | SpVgg Landshut | TSV Kottern | TuS Rosenberg |
| 1960–61 | FC Oberau | ESV Ingolstadt | 1. FC Passau | TSV Königsbrunn | TV Wackersdorf |
| 1961–62 | Wacker Burghausen | FC Wacker München | SV Saal | BC Augsburg II | Jahn Regensburg II |
| 1962–63 | TSV 1860 Rosenheim | FSV Pfaffenhofen | SV Saal | SV Mering | TuS Rosenberg |

### Northern Bavaria

| Season | Mittelfranken Nord | Mittelfranken Süd | Unterfranken West | Unterfranken Ost | Oberfranken West | Oberfranken Ost |
| 1951–52 | Jahn Forchheim | ASV Fürth | Viktoria Kahl | FC Bad Kissingen | VfB Coburg | VfB Bayreuth |
| 1952–53 | ATSV Erlangen | FC Stein | Viktoria Kahl | TSV Gochsheim | FC Michelau | VfB Helmbrechts |
| 1953–54 | SpVgg Erlangen | TSV Südwest Nürnberg | 1. FC Haßfurt | FC Eibelstadt | FC Pressig | SpVgg Bayreuth |
| 1954–55 | SpVgg Erlangen | 1. FC Nuremberg II | VfR Goldbach | Bayern Kitzingen | TSV Küps | SpVgg Hof |
| 1955–56 | ATSV Erlangen | TSV 04 Schwabach | Alemannia Haibach | ASV Rimpar | SC Sylvia Ebersdorf | Wacker Marktredwitz |
| 1956–57 | SpVgg Büchenbach | TSV Südwest Nürnberg | 1. FC Haßfurt | VfR Goldbach | SV Neuses | 1. FC Bayreuth |
| 1957–58 | SpVgg Fürth II | ESV Nürnberg-West | SpVgg Niedernberg | TSV Gochsheim | FC Wallenfels | 1. FC Bayreuth |
| 1958–59 | FC Hersbruck | ASV Nürnberg-Süd | VfR Goldbach | 1. FC Haßfurt | TSV Küps | VfB Rehau |
| 1959–60 | 1. FC Röthenbach | TSV Johannis Nürnberg | TuS Aschaffenburg | FV 04 Würzburg | ASV Gaustadt | ATS Kulmbach |
| 1960–61 | FC Hersbruck | ASV Zirndorf | Alemannia Haibach | ASV Rimpar | Wacker Marktredwitz | SV Neuses |
| 1961–62 | FC Schnaittach | ASV Zirndorf | Frankonia Mechenhard | TSV Gochsheim | 1. FC Bayreuth | SV Neuses |
| 1962–63 | TV Erlangen | 1. FC Nuremberg II | SV Großwallstadt | Bayern Kitzingen | SC Sylvia Ebersdorf | VfB Bayreuth |
* Promoted teams in Bold.
* In 1953, FC Memmingen, runners-up in Schwaben, was also promoted.
* In 1957, TSV Gersthofen, runners-up in Schwaben, was also promoted.