Throughout the years, Vitesse established itself as a stepping stone for future top class players like Raimond van der Gouw, Phillip Cocu, Roy Makaay, Sander Westerveld, Nikos Machlas, Mahamadou Diarra, Nemanja Matić, Wilfried Bony, Bertrand Traoré, Robin Gosens, Lewis Baker, Dominic Solanke, Martin Ødegaard, Milot Rashica and Mason Mount.

Reluctant to choose a Latin or English name for the club as they felt those languages were too elitist, they picked the French word Vitesse, meaning "speed".

The following year a group of wealthy students resurrected the sports club, this time with the name AVC (Arnhemse Voetbal en Cricketclub) Vitesse.

From the foundation of the Netherlands national football championship in 1898 until 1954, the title was decided by play-offs by a handful of clubs who had previously won their regional league.

During the Battle of Arnhem, the residents of the city were forcibly evicted from their homes, allowing the Germans to turn the north bank of the Rhine into a heavily defended line.

Players such as Roy Makaay, Sander Westerveld, Nikos Machlas, Glenn Helder and Philip Cocu were sold for large sums of money.

Vitesse finished in the top four positions, made profits and showed a solid balance sheet in the final years of Aalbers' presidency.

Nuon, as a public utility company owned by local authorities, had trouble explaining why it invested heavily in Aalbers' ambitious plans.

In a short period of time, Vitesse began to show negative financial results due to poor deals on the transfer market.

[4] The club underwent a successful transformation into a modern, commercial sports organization and established itself as one of the dominant teams of the Eredivisie.

Wilfried Bony ended the season as the Eredivisie's top scorer with 31 goals in 30 matches and was awarded the Golden Shoe for the best player in the Netherlands.

In October 2017, Guram Kashia wore a rainbow-striped captain's armband for Vitesse against Heracles Almelo in support of LGBT rights, leading to a backlash in his own country.

Towards the end of the 2023–24 Eredivisie season, Vitesse was relegated after being deducted eighteen points for failing to comply with the KNVB's license requirements amid continuous financial troubles.

The ambitious chairman had been playing with the idea from as early as the late 1980s, but it took until 1996 and the prospect of the upcoming Euro 2000 championships for construction to finally begin.

Vitesse's training facilities are conducted at National Sports Centre Papendal, located in the outskirts of Arnhem in woodland surroundings.

The complex is situated in large wooded area, where the players can prepare in a peaceful and private environment, whilst not being too far from the hustle and bustle of Arnhem's city centre.

Manager Leen Looijen gave him his professional debut on 13 August 1983 against FC Wageningen; the match ended in a 3–0 victory for Vitesse.

The Gelredome is decorated with Airborne flags, both outside and inside the stadium, and at halftime, 120 members of the Royal British Legion played the bagpipes with some other musical guests.

Originally, Vitesse played in white shirts with a blue sash from inception until 1900, paying hommage to the city's colours.

At the turn of the century, player Reinhard Jan Christiaan baron van Pallandt offered to sponsor the club's shirts in exchange for Vitesse switching to his family colours of black and yellow.

The football has been altered in terms of appearance as a shadow effect is added and (if the context allows it) the year of creation as text EST.

Previous commercial sponsors have been Akai (1982–83), Oad Reizen (1983–85), Spitman (1985–86), Schoenenreus (1987–89), RTL 4 (1990–1991), PTT Telecom (1991–92), BFI (1991–92), Spaarenergie (1992–93), Nuon Energy (1993–01), ATAG Benelux (2000–01), SITA (2002–03), Hubo (2002–03), Bavaria (2002–03), SBS 6 (2002–03), Sunweb Group (2003–04), AFAB (2004–2010), Zuka.nl (2010–2011), Simpel (2011–12), Youfone (2013–14), Truphone (2014–17), SWOOP (2017–18), Droomparken (2018–19), Royal Burgers' Zoo (2019–20), The Netherlands Open Air Museum (2019–20), Waterontharder.com (2020–21) eToro (2021–23) and BetCity (2023–present).

Research showed that about 10,000 season ticket holders from Gelderland, with other significant groups coming from Utrecht, South Holland and North Rhine-Westphalia.

During pre-season, Vitesse also holds an Open Day for people of all ages; the event gives the opportunity for sponsors and new player signings to be presented.

De Graafschap are also a rival of Vitesse, but in terms of tension and rivalry, these matches are not as loaded as the duels with NEC Nijmegen.

Past rivalries include local derbies between Vitesse and clubs such as FC Wageningen, Go Ahead Eagles, Quick 1888, Arnhemse Boys and VV Rheden.

Schouten immediately expressed his intent to sell the club, which opened the window for Merab Jordania to buy Vitesse.

A consortium of five new owners (Dane Murphy, Flint Reilly, Timo Braasch, Leon Müller, and Bryan Mornaghi) acquired Vitesse, assuming its €17 million debt from creditor Coley Parry, who had stepped in after the club's previous Russian owner, Valery Oyf, sought a sale following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Although a club's success is never the work of a single man, nonetheless, the former chairman's part in the sportive and professional growth of Vitesse may be labelled as truly exceptional.

Just Göbel played 22 matches for the Dutch team, being best remembered for his numerous saves during the 2–1 win over England's amateurs and his bronze medal in the football tournament of the 1912 Summer Olympics.