Football
2. Bundesliga history
How the competition came to look the way it does.
Eighteen clubs, promotion at stake
The division was created to give German football a single national second tier in place of regional competitions.
It has repeatedly held clubs with far larger followings than their league position suggests, which is why its attendances often exceed top divisions elsewhere in Europe.
The playoff between the divisions has existed in several forms and has been both abolished and reinstated.
Season-by-season champions, records and historical tables need a licensed historical data source. Until we have one, this page carries written history only.