were placed into groups to play against the relegation teams from the Bundesliga. With the transition from the former Oberliga to the newly created Bundesliga and Regionalliga, however, it became clear that the substructure of the Bundesliga was both sportingly and economically problematic and that relegation from the Bundesliga could easily ruin a club economically. This situation was partly responsible for the Bundesliga scandal in 1971, in which, due to manipulations in point games in the relegation battle, Rot-Weiß Oberhausen and Arminia Bielefeld managed to remain in the Bundesliga. As a consequence of the scandal, the DFB-Bundestag in Frankfurt decided on 30 June 1973 to introduce a 2. Bundesliga, divided into a north and a south season, for the 1974/75 season, which should close the gap between professional and amateur areas. According to an elaborate point system, the clubs should be able to qualify for the new divisions. Not only the placements of the previous five seasons were decisive, but also economic and structural requirements. There was also a five-year evaluation, with the first two years being single, the next two years double and the last year triple. In the event of a tie, the last year should apply. With this regulation, however, the DFB had overlooked that the ten regional leagues participating in the annual promotion round to the Bundesliga had not qualified for the new 2. Bundesliga from the outset due to their placement in the 1973/74 season. In the case of 1. FC Saarbrücken, this meant that the club was accepted into the 2 Bundesliga South after failing in the promotion round and took the place of SV Alsenborn, which also came from the Regionalliga Südwest. SV Alsenborn, a "village club" sponsored by Fritz Walter, had failed three times in the Bundesliga promotion round in 1968, 1969 and 1970 and had clearly qualified for the new division. The DFB found that there were no conditions suitable for the second division in Alsenborn and that they could not be achieved in the foreseeable future and downgraded SV Alsenborn to the then third-class amateur league Southwest, although the club had a successful participation in one of the three rounds of promotion to the Bundesliga Special permission would have been allowed to play even in the top division (of course not in Alsenborn, but in Kaiserslautern or Ludwigshafen). Formation The decision to establish the 2. Bundesliga as a fully professional