Football started in Austria around 1890. In 1924 a professional league started and the champion was called "Austrian Champion", although only teams of the metropolitan area of Vienna played here. It was the first professional league outside of the United Kingdom. An amateur league was founded in 1928. From 1938 till 1945 Austria was occupied by Nazi Germany and there was no Austrian league. After the Second World War an Austria-wide league was founded in 1948. The league had different numbers of members (10 to 18) and names (Nationalliga, Bundesliga...).