Bundesliga

History

Origins For more details on this topic, see History of German football
Prior to the formation of the Bundesliga, German football was played at an amateur level in a large number of regional leagues. Regional champions played a series of playoff matches for the right to compete in a final game for the national championship. On January 28, 1900, a national association, the Deutscher Fußball Bund (DFB) was founded in Leipzig with 86 member clubs. The first recognised national championship team was VfB Leipzig, who beat DFC Prague 7-2 in a game played in Hamburg on May 31, 1903.

Through the 1950s, there were continued calls for the formation of a central professional league, especially as professional leagues in other countries began to draw Germany's best players away from the amateur domestic leagues. At the international level the German game began to falter as German teams often fared poorly against professional teams from other countries. A key supporter of the central league concept was national team head coach Sepp Herberger who said, “If we want to remain competitive internationally, we have to raise our expectations at the national level.”

Meanwhile, in East Germany, a separate league was established with the formation of the DS-Oberliga (Deutscher Sportausschuss Oberliga) in 1950. The league was re-named the Football Oberliga DFV in 1958 and was generally referred to simply as the DDR-Liga or DDR-Oberliga. The league fielded 14 teams with two relegation spots.


Establishment
The defeat of the national team by Yugoslavia (0–1) in a 1962 World Cup quarter final game in Chile was the impetus to the formation of a national league. Under DFB president Hermann Neuberger the Bundesliga was created in Dortmund on July 28, 1962 to begin play starting with the 1963–64 season. The new German professional league was modelled on the long-established English league, which had been set up in 1888.

At the time, there were five Oberligen, or upper leagues, in place representing West Germany's North, South, West, Southwest, and Berlin. East Germany, under Soviet occupation, maintained its separate league structure. Forty-six clubs applied for admission to the new league. Sixteen teams were selected based on their success on the field, economic criteria and representation of the various Oberligen.

From Oberliga Nord: Eintracht Braunschweig, Werder Bremen, Hamburger SV
From Oberliga West: Borussia Dortmund, 1. FC Köln, Meidericher SV (now MSV Duisburg), Preußen Münster, FC Schalke 04
From Oberliga Südwest: 1. FC Kaiserslautern, 1. FC Saarbrücken
From Oberliga Süd: Eintracht Frankfurt, Karlsruher SC, 1. FC Nuremberg, TSV 1860 München, VfB Stuttgart
From Oberliga Berlin: Hertha BSC Berlin
The first Bundesliga games were played on August 24, 1963. Early favorite 1. FC Köln was the first Bundesliga champion (with 45:19 points) over second place clubs Meidericher SV and Eintracht Frankfurt (both 39:25).


Structure and competition
The German football champion is decided strictly by play in the Bundesliga. Each club plays every other club once at home and once away. Originally, a victory was worth 2 points, with a draw worth 1 point and a loss no points. Since the 1995/96 season, a victory has been worth 3 points, with no change in the value of a draw or loss. The club with the most points at the end of the season becomes the German champion. Currently, the top two clubs in the table qualify automatically for the group phase of the UEFA Champions League, while the third-place team enters the Champions League at the third qualifying round (see overview). The two teams at the bottom of the table are relegated into the 2nd Bundesliga, while the top two teams in the 2nd Bundesliga are promoted. The sixteenth place team (third last), and the third place team in the 2nd Bundesliga play a two-leg play-off match. The winner of this match plays the next season in the Bundesliga, and the loser in the 2nd Bundesliga.

If teams are level on points, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
Goal difference for the entire season.
Total goals scored for the entire season.
Head-to-head results (total points).
Head-to-head goal difference.
Head-to-head away goals scored.
Total away goals scored for the entire season.
If two clubs are still tied after all of these tiebreakers have been applied, a single match is held at a neutral site to determine the placement. However, this has never been necessary in the history of the Bundesliga.

In terms of team selection, matchday squads must have no more than five non-EU representatives. Seven substitutes are permitted to be selected, from which three can be used in the duration of the game.

Changes in league structure
Number of teams:
1963/64–1964/65: 16
1965/66–1990/91: 18
1991/92: 20, while East and West German leagues were being combined after German reunification
Since 1992/93: 18
Number of teams relegated (automatic relegation except as noted):
1963/64–1973/74: 2
1974/75–1980/81: 3
1981/82–1990/91: 2 automatic plus the 16th-place team in the First Bundesliga played a two-leg test match against the third-place team of the Second Bundesliga for the final spot in the First Bundesliga
1991/92: 4
1992/93-2007/08: 3
From 2008/09 on: 2 automatic plus the 16th-place team in the First Bundesliga playing a two-leg test match against the third-place team of the Second Bundesliga for the final spot in the First Bundesliga

European qualification (as of 2008–09)
1st and 2nd place: Group phase of UEFA Champions League
3rd place: Third qualifying round of Champions League for Non-Champions. Winners at this stage enter the group phase; losers enter the UEFA Cup.
DFB-Pokal (German Cup) winner: Qualifies for 4th qualifiying round of UEFA Cup, regardless of league position.
If the Cup winner has qualified for the Champions League, the losing finalist will enter the UEFA Cup. For example, although the Second Bundesliga side Alemannia Aachen lost to Werder Bremen in the 2004 DFB-Pokal final, Alemannia secured an entry in the 2004/05 UEFA Cup, because Werder qualified for the Champions League as First Bundesliga champions.
If both Cup finalists have qualified for the Champions League, an extra UEFA Cup place is granted on the basis of First Bundesliga position. Since the 2005 DFB-Pokal final pitted champions Bayern Munich against runners-up Schalke 04 (with Bayern winning), sixth-place Bayer Leverkusen received a berth in the 2005/06 UEFA Cup.
4th place: Qualifies for 4th qualifiying round of UEFA Cup.
5th place: Qualifies for 3rd qualifiying round of UEFA Cup.
16th place: Plays a two-leg relegation match (home and away) against the 3rd placed team of the 2nd Bundesliga.
17th and 18th place: Directly relegated to 2nd Bundesliga.
The number of German clubs which may participate in UEFA competitions is determined by UEFA coefficients, which take into account the results of a particular nation's clubs in UEFA competitions over the preceding five years.


History of European qualification
European Cup/Champions League:
Up to and including 1996/97: German champion only
1997–99: Top two teams
1999–present: Top two teams automatically into first group phase (only one group phase starting in 2003/04). Depending on the DFB's UEFA coefficients standing, either one or two other clubs (currently one) enter at the third qualifying round; winners at this level enter the group phase.

UEFA Cup:
Starting with the 1999/2000 season, the DFB-Pokal (German Cup) winner automatically qualifies. Depending on the DFB's UEFA coefficients standing, anywhere from 0 to 3 extra participants can enter. Since the Cup Winners' Cup was folded into the UEFA Cup after 1999, the DFB has always been entitled to enter a minimum of three clubs in the UEFA Cup, and has been able to enter as many as four (the maximum for any European federation). Teams that enter via UEFA's Fair Play mechanism, or those that entered through the now-defunct Intertoto Cup, do not count against the national quota. From 2006 through the final Intertoto Cup in 2008, only one First Bundesliga side was eligible to enter the Intertoto Cup and possibly earn a UEFA Cup berth. For the 2005/06 season, the DFB earned an extra UEFA Cup place via the Fair Play draw; this place went to Mainz 05 as the highest-ranked club in the Fair Play table of the First Bundesliga not already qualified for Europe.
Cup Winners' Cup (abolished after 1999):
DFB-Pokal winner entered the Cup Winners' Cup. Today, that club enters the UEFA Cup.

cradit : wikipedia

Read more!