[7][8] Established in 1946 as Nethaji Sports Club, Chennai City spent its grand majority of history by competing in state leagues and knock-out tournaments until entering the national stage in 2016.

[21][22] With the support from TNFA, Nethaji simultaneously organized a Champions Trophy named 'Universal Cup' after the end of regular league season.

[26][27][28] Nethaji clinched their first CFA Premier/Senior Division League title in 2009, led by then coach D. Sekaran, in which club's Ivorian striker Dombia Mamadou became top scorer.

[36][37][38] Chennai City made it to the Federation Cup by finishing eighth in the I-League table and did it with a game remaining in the league.

[39] Their potential was highlighted when they managed to hold off Mohun Bagan for a very long time and even got wins against Aizawl and East Bengal.

[62][63] They played a single game in Group E of the AFC Cup at their home ground before the competition being abandoned due to the Covid-19 pandemic, in which Chennai City drew 2–2 with Maldivian club Maziya S&RC on 11 March 2020.

[67] They later went on to participate in 2019 edition of Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup in Bangladesh, but failed to advance to the knock-out stages.

[68][69][70] Chennai City also participated in the Hero Super Cup during March–April 2019,[71][72] and lost in the semi-finals to eventual champions FC Goa.

On 3 March 2023, the club owner Rohit Ramesh officially announced that the sporting license of Chennai City FC has been transferred.

Upon transfer of the license to the new licensee, the club announced that they will restart footballing activities from the lower divisions of the state league.

[81] Since 2016 until 2023, the club was owned by SkaSports Investments Private Limited, the holding company later in August 2023 – bought majority stakes in Cambodian Premier League side Angkor Tiger.