The Westfalenliga (formerly the Verbandsliga Westfalen) is the second highest amateur football league in the region of Westphalia which is part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the sixth tier of the German football league system.
The league was formed as a tier-three league under the name Verbandsliga Westfalen in two groups of 16 clubs in 1956 to provide a more streamlined top level for the regional football governing body, the Westphalian Football Association.
In earlier years, the Landesliga Westfalen, operated in five groups, was the highest levels of football in the region.
In the early years, the league held a championship series between the two group winners for the title of Westphalian champions at the end of the season.
This championship series was abandoned after the Oberliga Westfalen was introduced in 1978 as a highest league for the region.
With the introduction of the Bundesliga in 1963, the Verbandsliga came a feeder the also new implemented Regionalliga West but remained, unchanged otherwise, as the third tier of the league system.
One of the main reasons for this move was to provide direct promotion for the tier-three champions again.