In 1912, after years of failed attempts to join the official league,[vague] they merged with the gymnastic club Schalker Turnverein 1877 in order to facilitate their entry.

The following year, the club became the dominant local side, based on a style of play that used short, sharp, man-to-man passing to move the ball.

[6] With the re-organisation of German football in 1933 under Nazi Germany, Schalke were placed in the Gauliga Westfalen, 1 of 16 top-flight divisions established to replace the innumerable regional and local leagues, all claiming top status.

They set a record in a national championship round match with a 20–0 win against SpVgg Herten, but that spoke more to the weakened condition of German football than to the ability of the team.

[8] Schalke continued to play well, having several top four finishes in the years leading up to the 1963 formation of the Bundesliga, West Germany's new federal, professional league.

[9][10] Even though the penalties were later commuted to bans ranging from six months to two years, the scandal had a profound effect on what might have possibly become one of the dominant German teams of the 1970s.

They returned to the Bundesliga in the 1991–92 season and stayed in the top flight until 2021.The club earned their first honours since the DFB-Pokal win of 1972 with a victory in the final of the 1996–97 UEFA Cup over Inter Milan on penalties.

His motto "Die Null muß stehen" (in English, "It has to read nil"), which emphasized his importance on his side not conceding any goals, has found its way into everyday language in Germany.

[citation needed] During the 1990s and early 2000, the club underwent a transformation into a modern, commercial sports organization and established itself as one of the dominant teams of the Bundesliga.

The 2000–01 season finish was heartbreaking[tone] for Schalke's supporters as it took a goal in the fourth minute of injury time by Bayern Munich away to Hamburger SV to snatch the title from Die Königsblauen.

[citation needed] In the 2007–08 season, Schalke progressed past the Champions League group stage for the first time and advanced to the quarter-finals after defeating Porto on penalties in the round of 16.

[12] Within this sponsorship, Schalke 04 and Zenit Saint Petersburg signed a "partnership agreement"; both clubs intended to work closely on improving football-related issues.

On 13 April 2008, the club announced the dismissal of manager Mirko Slomka after a heavy defeat at the hands[tone] of Werder Bremen and elimination from the Champions League.

On 1 July 2009, Felix Magath, who had led VfL Wolfsburg to the top of the table in the Bundesliga, became head coach and general manager of the Königsblauen.

The appointment of Magath as manager coincided with a multimillion-euro spending spree, allowing Schalke to acquire internationally known forwards Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Raúl.

At the end of the 2013–14 season, the club finished in third place in the Bundesliga table to qualify for their third-straight UEFA Champions League appearance, a feat Schalke had never before achieved.

[citation needed] On 7 October 2014, after a 1–2 defeat to 1899 Hoffenheim and after amassing just eight points from seven matches, Keller was sacked and succeeded by Roberto Di Matteo.

[29] Against the backdrop of a worsened financial situation caused by a high level of debt and a decrease in revenue related to restrictions put in place to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the club decided to introduce a player salary cap of €2.5 million per year.

[31] Despite this losing streak, Wagner remained as manager,[32] with Clemens Tönnies stepping down from his role as the chairman of Schalke's supervisory board after 19 years in service instead.

[47] It remained Schalke's only victory under Gross, who was sacked as head coach after just eleven matches on 28 February 2021, following losses against rival Borussia Dortmund (0–4) and VFB Stuttgart (1–5).

[49] Grammozis started with a scoreless draw against Mainz 05, but his team was unable to collect any points in the two following matches, which were lost 5–0 against VfL Wolfsburg and 3–0 against Borussia Mönchengladbach.

[53] On 28 February 2022, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Schalke cancelled their contract with main sponsor Gazprom,[54] further straining the club's financial situation.

In 2014, the police had warned of a similar danger ahead of the derby, after razor blades were found in the stadium hidden behind anti-Schalke stickers.

[101][needs update] In May 2019, Schalke 04 were still ranked by Forbes magazine as the 14th-richest football club in the world,[100] at €683 million, a decrease of 3 per cent from the previous year.

[116][117] On 21 August 2013, Schalke 04 played their first home match of the 2013–14 season, a UEFA Champions League qualifier at the Veltins-Arena against the Greek runners-up PAOK (led by former head coach Huub Stevens), drawing 1–1.

[119] Of those listed by the SFCV, 860 Schalke 04 fan clubs in October 2012 were divided geographically as follows: an estimated 200 were in Ruhr, 360 in the rest of North Rhine-Westphalia and 300 in the other federal states.

[124] Popular unofficial chants are The Revierderby is the rivalry between local clubs Schalke 04 and Borussia Dortmund, both situated in the densely populated Ruhr region, about 30 kilometers from each other.

The term may be used for any match between two football clubs of the Ruhr region (such as VfL Bochum, Rot-Weiss Essen or MSV Duisburg), but it is most commonly associated with the rivalry between Schalke and Dortmund due to the derby's popularity and prestige.

[citation needed] Schalke has been subject of a feature-length film called Fußball ist unser Leben ("Football is our life").

[147] The club also announced former Rot-Weiss Oberhausen and Sportfreunde Siegen midfielder and SK Gaming co-founder Tim Reichert as Head of ESport.