The club played quietly as a local side until briefly coming to notice in the war-ravaged Gauliga Westfalen, then a division of top flight German football, in the abbreviated 1944-45 season.
In 1958 Wattenscheid joined the Verbandsliga Westfalen (III) and a title there in 1969 saw the club promoted to the Regionalliga West (II). Despite a Regionalliga title in 1974 they did not move up due the restructuring of the German competition, but instead continued to play second division football in the newly formed 2. Bundesliga Nord. Through a period from the late 70s on to the late 80s the team struggled somewhat, earning uneven results and having several close brushes with relegation. They played well enough to earn a 10th place finish in 1981 and stay up when the 2. Bundesliga Nord and 2. Bundesliga Süd were combined into a single division, but the next year they escaped being sent down in the bottom four only because 1860 Munich was denied a license and was instead forced down to tier III play.
From that point the club slowly turned itself around and in 1990 earned promotion to the top-flight by way of a second place result in their division. However, their Bundesliga stay was a brief four years with their best result being an 11th place finish in their debut season. The most memorable matches in this period are the victory in the derby against VfL Bochum in 1992 (2-0) and the two victories against German record champion Bayern Munich in 1991 (3-2) and 1993 (2-0). After relegation in 1994 Wattenscheid spent five campaigns in the 2. Bundesliga, before slipping to Regionalliga in 1999 and Oberliga in 2004. One year later, in 2005, they could advance to the Regionalliga again. Two consecutive relegations brought them to the Verbandsliga Westfalen in 2007, where they played for one season before qualifying for the new Oberliga Nordrhein-Westfalen.
After winning the regional Westfalenpokal in 1996 Wattenscheid qualified for the first round of German Cup 1996-97 where they faced Borussia Dortmund, at that day current German Champion. Although the match could be won with 4-3 (after extra time) Wattenscheid was eliminated by Karlsruher SC Reserve in the following round with 4-2 (after penalty).
Honours
Regionalliga West (II) champions: 1974
Amateurliga Westfalen (III) champions: 1969
Regionalliga West/Südwest (III) champions: 1997
Westfalenpokal (Westphalia Cup) winners: 1996
Oberliga Westfalen (IV) champions: 2005
Verbandsliga Westfalen II (V) champions: 2007
German Under 17 champions: 1982
