prior to the formation of the bundesliga, german football was played at an amateur level in a large number of sub-regional leagues (until 1945) which, in post-war times, had a top layer of semi-professional regional oberligen ("premier leagues"). regional champions and, from 1925 onwards, 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) was founded in leipzig with 86 member clubs. from the start, the dfb was – and still is – a federation of regional associations. the first recognised national championship team was vfb leipzig, who beat dfc prague 7–2 in a game played in altona on 31 may 1903.