Reutlingen became a decent regional side in the years after World War II, two second-place finishes in the Oberliga (I) in 1950 and 1955 being the highlight, and earned a place in the second tier Regionalliga Süd in 1963 when Germany's new top flight professional league, the Bundesliga, was formed.

Reutlingen continued to play second division football until the early 1970s when they dropped into the Amateur Oberliga Baden-Württemberg (III), briefly even falling to fourth-tier Verbandsliga Württemberg.

They spent most of the next two-and-a-half decades at the third level before playing their way back to the second tier on the strength of a first-place finish in their division that began with a sixteen-game winning streak to open the season.

After finishing in 14th position in the Regionalliga Süd in the 2009–10 season, the team was denied a licence to continue playing in the fourth division due to financial insolvency.

[1] The club won the 2014–15 edition of the Württemberg Cup, defeating FV Ravensburg in the final, and thereby qualified for the first round of the 2015–16 DFB-Pokal.