FC Bamberg, formed in 1901, made its first division debut in 1910, when it earned promotion to the Ostkreisliga, a statewide football league in Bavaria, where it played against the strongest Bavarian clubs at the time, 1.

FC lasted for two seasons at this level, coming ninth in the league on both occasions and being relegated in 1912.

[5] It was not until the Second World War that the club made a return to top-flight football, when it earned promotion to the northern division of the Gauliga Bayern, which had replaced the Bezirksliga in 1933.

[10] Bamberg won another title in the Landesliga in 1950, now in a single division again, but failed to gain promotion, missing out to Hesse champions SV Darmstadt 98.

[11] Instead, the side, along with four other Bavarian clubs, gained entry to the newly formed second division, the 2nd Oberliga Süd.

[19] Bamberg remained a strong side in the Amateurliga, coming second and fifth in the years after relegation, with a final league title in 1963.

It was unable however to crown the season with the Bavarian championship, missing out to TSV Straubing in three games.

FC qualified to play in the new single division third tier Bayernliga, which was established in 1963, but results from now on were poor.

In 1967, the club suffered relegation to the fourth division the Landesliga Bayern-Nord,[24] and it took until 1975 to make a return to Bavaria's highest league.

[25] In 1997, the side finally made a permanent return to the Landesliga, which it would play in for the next nine seasons, until the merger.

[25] The club's promotion-clinching 2–0 victory against Freier TuS Regensburg in Schwabach on 13 June was to become the side's last competitive game under the old name and identity.