Kreisliga Südmain

The Kreisliga Südmain was the highest association football league in parts of the German state of Hesse from 1919 to 1923. The league was disbanded with the introduction of the Bezirksliga Main in 1923.
The league is named after the river Main, which flows through Frankfurt am Main and reaches the Rhine near Mainz. The league was formed from clubs from the southern side of the river, around the Offenbach am Main area. With two clubs from Aschaffenburg, it also included teams from the Bavaria.

Overview

Predecessor

From 1907, four regional leagues were formed within the structure of the German football championship, in a move to improve the organisation of football in Southern Germany, these being:Ostkreis-Liga, covering BavariaNordkreis-Liga, covering HesseSüdkreis-Liga, covering Württemberg, Baden and AlsaceWestkreis-Liga, covering the Palatinate, Lorraine and the southern Rhine Province
In 1908, a first Nordkreis-Liga was established, consisting of ten clubs and playing a home-and-away season. With the outbreak of the First World War, league football came to a halt and, during the war, games were only played on a limited level.

Post-First World War

With the collapse of the German Empire in 1918, no Nordkreis championship was played in 1918-19 but football returned to a more organised system in 1919.
Southern Germany, now without the Alsace region, which had to be returned to France, was sub-divided into ten Kreisligas, these being:

The clubs of the former Nordkreis-Liga were split into three regional competitions, Nordmain, Südmain and Hessen, each with ten clubs. The three league winners advanced to the Southern championship. This system applied for the 1919-20 and 1920-21 season.
In 1921-22, the Kreisliga Südmain was split into two groups of eight, increasing the number of tier-one clubs in the region to 16. The two league winners then played a final to determine the Südmain champion, which in turn advanced to a Main championship final against the Nordmain champion. The Hessen champion was not part of this series but rather played a Rhinehesse/Saar championship. This "watering down" of football in the region lasted for only one season, in 1922-23, the number of top clubs was reduced to eight clubs in a single division, with a Main final against the Nordmain champion once more.
In 1923, a league reform which was decided upon in Darmstadt, Hesse, established the Southern German Bezirksligas which were to replace the Kreisligas. The best four teams each from the Südmain and Nordmain were admitted to the new Bezirksliga Main. The four clubs from Südmain were:

Kickers Offenbach
SC Bürgel
Viktoria Aschaffenburg
SpVgg Offenbach

National success

The clubs from the Kreisliga Südmain were not particularly successful in this era and none managed to qualify for the German championship.

Main championship

Played in 1922 and 1923, these were the finals:1922:

* Südmain final: VfL Neu-Isenburg - Union Niederrad 3-0 / 4-1
* Main final: Germania 94 Frankfurt - VfL Neu-Isenburg 1-0 / 0-3 / 4-21923:
* Main final: FSV Frankfurt - Kickers Offenbach 0-1 / 7-2 / 2-1

Southern German championship

Qualified teams and their success:1920:

* Kickers Offenbach, Group stage1921:
* Kickers Offenbach, Group stage1922:
* VfL Neu-Isenburg, not qualified1923:
* Kickers Offenbach, ''not qualified''

Placings in the Kreisliga Südmain 1919-23

¹ Withdrew before or during the season.² FV and Viktoria merged in 1921 to form VfL Neu-Isenburg.³ Viktoria moved from the Kreisliga Odenwald to the Kreisliga Nordmain in 1920 and then to the Kreisliga Südmain in 1921.