An attempt to form a football side within the association led to the creation of an independent club, Erster Fußballclub Mülheim-Ruhr-Styrum, in July 1923.

They won promotion to the Amateurliga Niederrhein (III) in 1971, capturing the title there that same season.

A successful promotion playoff put the team through to the Regionalliga West (II).

Mülheim's fourth place result was not good enough to qualify the team for the new second division circuit, but they were still able to join the 2.

That was followed by a 17th place finish in the Amateurliga Niederrhein (III) and relegation to lower tier competition.