Of these myriad ancestral clubs the best historical results were earned by SC Bourussia Rheine, founded in 1923, which played in the early rounds of the 1927–28 and 1930–31 national championship playoffs.

FCE has continued to play fourth tier football since then with their best result coming as a third-place finish in 2000–01.

They went on to capture the Westfalenpokal (Westphalia Cup) in 2003 and gain entry to the first round of the German Cup, where they were eliminated 2–0 after extra time in the first round by the second division side VfB Lübeck.

During its stay in the Oberliga the team has generally earned mid-table results.

The club plays in the Auto-Senger-Stadion in Delsen (capacity 7,500), while the second team uses the Volksbank-Stadion in Uhlenhook.