GOOD..... BETTER...... BUNDESLIGA

The 2012/2013 season marks the 50^th Anniversary of the German Bundesliga, a League which in recent time has becom a force to be reckon with especially in European competiotions with all the teams in this season champions league on the verge of qualifying for the next round and the quality of talent produced in the league with Toni Kross, Muller, Robert Lewandowski, Marco Reus,Kagawa who is now in Manchester United in England, Mario Gómez and Bastian Schweinsteiger just to mention a few.

 

The Fußball-Bundesliga (commonly the Bundesliga, German pronunciation: [ˈbʊndəsˌliːɡa], Federal League) is a professional association football league in Germany. Unlike other countries, in Germany a unified national football league structure was quite late in developing. The Bundesliga was not formed until 1963 and the structure and organisation of the nation's football leagues have undergone frequent changes right up to the present day. The league was originally founded by the German Football Association, but is now operated by the Deutsche Fußball Liga.

The Bundesliga is composed of two divisions: the 1. Bundesliga (although it is rarely referred to with the First prefix), and, below that, the 2. Bundesliga (Second Bundesliga), which has been the second tier of German football since 1974. The Bundesligen (plural) are professional leagues. Since 2008, the 3. Liga (3rd League) in Germany is also a professional league, but may not be called Bundesliga because the league is run by the German Football Association (DFB) and not, as are the two Bundesligen, by the German Football League (Deutsche Fußball-Liga or DFL).  Prior to the formation of the Bundesliga, German football was played at an amateur level in a large number of sub-regional leagues until, in 1949, part-time (semi-) professionalism was introduced and only five regional Oberligen (Premier Leagues) remained. Regional champions and runners-up played a series of playoff matches for the right to compete in a final game for the national championship. On 28 January 1900, a national association, the Deutscher Fußball Bund (DFB) had been 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 at Altona on 31 May 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 semi-professional 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 renamed 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.  The defeat of the national team by Yugoslavia (0–1) in a 1962 World Cup quarter-final game in Chile was one impetus (of many) to the formation of a national league. Under new DFB president Hermann Gösmann (elected that very day) the Bundesliga was created in Dortmund on 28 July 1962 to begin play starting with the 1963–64 season.

At the time, there were five Oberligen (Premier Leagues) in place representing West Germany's North, South, West, Southwest, and Berlin. East Germany, behind the Iron Curtain, maintained its separate league structure. 46 clubs applied for admission to the new league. 16 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, 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

The first Bundesliga games were played on 24 August 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).

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 two points, with one point for a draw and none for a loss. Since the 1995–96 season, a victory has been worth three 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 German champions. Currently, the top three clubs in the table qualify automatically for the group phase of the UEFA Champions League, while the fourth-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 16th-placed team (third-last), and the third-placed 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, tie-breakers are applied in the following order:

 1.Goal difference for the entire season

 2.Total goals scored for the entire season

 3.Head-to-head results (total points)

 4.Head-to-head goals scored

 5.Head-to-head away goals scored

 6.Total away goals scored for the entire season

If two clubs are still tied after all of these tie-breakers 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.

The German Bundesliga has under gone a number of structural changes down the years, which include:

• Number of teams:
• 1963–64 to 1964–65: 16
• 1965–66 to 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 to 1973–74: 2
• 1974–75 to 1980–81: 3
• 1981–82 to 1990–91: 2 automatic plus the 16th-place team in the First Bundesliga played a two-leg relegation match against the third-place team of the Second Bundesliga for the final spot in the First Bundesliga
• 1991–92: 4
• 1992–93 to 2007–08: 3
• Since 2008–09: 2 automatic plus the 16th-place team in the First Bundesliga playing a two-leg relegation match against the third-place team of the Second Bundesliga for the final spot in the First Bundesliga

A total of 51 clubs have competed in the Bundesliga since its founding. FC Bayern Munich has won the Bundesliga the most, winning the title 21 times. However, the Bundesliga has seen other champions with Borussia Dortmund, Hamburger SV, Werder Bremen, Borussia Mönchengladbach and VfB Stuttgart most prominent among them. The Bundesliga is one of the top national leagues, currently ranked 3rd in Europe according to UEFA's league coefficient ranking, based on recent European performances. The Bundesliga is the number one football league in the world in terms of average attendance; out of all sports, its average of 45,134 fans per game during the 2011–12 season was the second highest of any sports league in the world.

In only 50 years of existence the Bundesliga has produced some intresting records which include;

Ten Players With Most Appearances
Player		Period	Club	Games
1	Karl-Heinz Körbel	1972–1991	Eintracht Frankfurt	602
2	Manfred Kaltz	1971–1991	Hamburger SV	581
3	Oliver Kahn	1987–2008	FC Bayern Munich	557
4	Klaus Fichtel	1965–1988	FC Schalke 04	552
5	Miroslav Votava	1976–1996	SV Werder Bremen	546
6	Klaus Fischer	1968–1988	FC Schalke 04	535
7	Eike Immel	1978–1995	VfB Stuttgart	534
8	Willi Neuberger	1966–1983	Eintracht Frankfurt	520
9	Michael Lameck	1972–1988	VfL Bochum	518
10	Uli Stein	1978–1997	Hamburger SV	512

Top Ten Goalscorers
Player		Period	Club	Goals
1	Gerd Müller	1965–1979	FC Bayern Munich	365
2	Klaus Fischer	1968–1988	FC Schalke 04	268
3	Jupp Heynckes	1965–1978	Borussia Mönchengladbach	220
4	Manfred Burgsmüller	1969–1990	Borussia Dortmund	213
5	Ulf Kirsten	1990–2003	Bayer 04 Leverkusen	181
6	Stefan Kuntz	1983–1999	1. FC Kaiserslautern	179
7	Dieter Müller	1973–1986	1. FC Köln	177
8	Klaus Allofs	1975–1993	1. FC Köln	177
9	Hannes Löhr	1964–1977	1. FC Köln	166
10	Claudio Pizarro	1999–	FC Bayern Munich	165

• The youngest player to play was Nuri Şahin of Borussia Dortmund (16 years and 335 days).
• The youngest player to score was Nuri Şahin of Borussia Dortmund (17 years and 82 days).
• The oldest player was Klaus Fichtel of FC Schalke 04 (43 years old).
• Most own goals scored: 6 by Manfred Kaltz of Hamburger SV, 6 by Nikolče Noveski of Mainz 05.
• Most red cards received: Jens Nowotny (8), Stefan Effenberg, Sergej Barbarez and Torsten Kracht (7 each).
• Most goals scored by a foreign player: 165 by Claudio Pizarro (as of 31 November 2012).
• Most goals scored by penalties: Manfred Kaltz (53 with 7 missed penalties).
• Most goals conceded by a goalkeeper: 829 by Eike Immel (in 534 games).
• Most clean sheets by a goalkeeper: 196 by Oliver Kahn (in 557 games).
• Most championships won as player: 8 by Mehmet Scholl and Oliver Kahn
• Most championships won as coach: 8 by  Udo Lattek.
• Fastest Goal: Ulf Kirsten (Bayer Leverkusen) after 11 seconds (against Kaiserslautern in 2002.)
• The longest period of time as coach, is Volker Finke by over 16 years.
• The longest consecutive scoring streak with a new club :6 goals in 6 games by Mohamed Zidan of Mainz 05 (as of 10 March 2012).

              Bayern Munich is no doubt the succssful club in the League’s History,most positive club records are held by Bayern Munich. The major ones are:

•  Most titles won: 21         
• Most games won in a season: 25 (with Borussia Dortmund)
• Fewest games lost in a season: 1
• Most goals scored in a season: 101
• Fewest goals conceded in a season: 21
• Most consecutive victories: 15 (19 March–20 September 2005)
• Highest amount of points in one season: 81 (Borussia Dortmund in season 2011-2012)

Bayern is not the club with the most seasons in the Bundesliga, though. Hamburg is the only club that has participated in each of the 49 seasons. At the far end Tasmania 1900 Berlin holds an extraordinary list of worst-of records, all achieved in their 1965–66 one-season Bundesliga spell. These records include:

• Most losses in a season: 28
• Fewest games won in a season: 2
• Most goals conceded in a season: 108
• Fewest goals scored in a season: 15
• Lowest number of viewers in a game: 827

This Golden Jubilee will no doubt be marked by an avalanche of books and special programmes, though most of them are being held back for next summer, I suppose, which will see the 50th anniversary of the Bundesliga's very first round of games, played on August 24, 1963.

Good....Better...Bundesliga