Brought to the country by English expatriates, the sport had taken root in the cities of Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart, and Leipzig in the 1890s,[1] leading to the growth of city, regional, and academic leagues, each with their own championships. Following the establishment of the German Football Association (Deutscher Fußball Bund) in 1900,[2] the first recognized national championship final was hosted by Hamburg club Altona 93 in 1903 in which VfB Leipzig defeated DFC Prag 7–2.[3] Before the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963, the championship format was based on a knockout competition, contested between the winners of each of the country's top regional leagues.