The Northern German Football Association (german: Norddeutscher Fußball-Verband; ''NFV'') is one of the five regional associations of the German Football Association (german: Deutscher Fußball-Bund; ''DFB'') and covers the four German states of Bremen,

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony (german: Niedersachsen ; nds, Neddersassen; stq, Läichsaksen) is a German state (') in northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ...

and

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...

Structure

In 2017, the ''NFV'' had 1,052,406 members, 3,800 member clubs and 27,686 teams playing in all its men, women and junior league systems. Since the 2012–13 season, at the top of the ''NFV'' men's league system sits the

Regionalliga Nord The Regionalliga Nord ( en, Regional League North) is the fourth tier of the German football league system in the states of Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Bremen and Hamburg. It is one of five leagues at this level, together with the Regional ...

, a level four division in the

German football league system The German football league system, or league pyramid, refers to the hierarchically interconnected league system for association football in Germany that in the 2016–17 season consisted of 2,235 leagues in up to 13 levels having 31,645 teams ...

. The ''NFV'' itself is formed by the following state associations: * Bremen Football Association (german: Bremer Fußball-Verband; ''BFV'') * Hamburg Football Association (german: Hamburger Fußball-Verband; ''HFV'') *

Lower Saxony Football Association The Lower Saxony Football Association (german: Niedersächsischer Fussball-Verband), the ''NFV'', is one of 21 state organisations of the German Football Association, the ''DFB'', and covers the state of Lower Saxony.

(german: Niedersächsischer Fußball-Verband; ''NFV'') * Schleswig-Holstein Football Association (german: Schleswig-Holsteinischer Fußball-Verband; ''SHFV'')

History

The ''NFV'' was founded in 1905 as a merger of several local football associations in Northern Germany and used to administer the Northern German football championship for the next decades. In 1933, the association along with all other regional associations was disbanded by the Nazi government, with all German football competitions now organized by the

Reich ''Reich'' (; ) is a German noun whose meaning is analogous to the meaning of the English word "realm"; this is not to be confused with the German adjective "reich" which means "rich". The terms ' (literally the "realm of an emperor") and ' (lit ...

. Soon after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, football competitions in Northern Germany typically restarted on an informal basis, with the ''NFV'' officially reintroduced in 1948. Until 1963, the ''NFV'' had the jurisdiction on the Oberliga Nord, the regional division of the former lop level German Oberliga.nordfv.de: History of the NFV
, accessed: 3 August 2012 After the introduction of the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

in 1963, the ''NFV'' league system became a feeder to the nationwide divisions.

References

External links

German Football Association official website

Northern German Football Association official website

Bremen Football Association official website

Hamburg Football Association official website

Lower Saxony Football Association official website

Schleswig-Holsteinian Football Association official website
{{Authority control Football governing bodies in Germany Football in Bremen (state) Football in Hamburg Football in Lower Saxony Football in Schleswig-Holstein 1905 establishments in Germany 1933 disestablishments in Germany 1948 establishments in Germany