The club was a founding member of the Südkreis-Liga in 1908, then the highest level of play in the Baden-Württemberg region.

[2] In 1909 the club participated in the Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy in Italy, which is believed to be the precursor of the World Cup.

In this era, the club had Eugen Kipp in its ranks, who played 18 times for Germany between 1908 and 1913, 16 of those as a Sportfreunde player.

[5] The next season saw the club missing out on qualification for the new Bezirksliga Württemberg-Baden and Sportfreunde was relegated to the second tier, where it stayed until 1926, when it earned promotion.

The club recovered from its temporary decline and, in 1933, it qualified for the Gauliga Württemberg, the new highest level of play in the region.

With the resumption of football in Germany after the Second World War, Sportfreunde was grouped in the tier-two Landesliga Württemberg, which it won in 1946–47.

Sportfreunde became a mid-table side in this league, failing to qualify for the new 2nd Oberliga Süd in 1950 and thereby dropping another level to what was now the tier-three Amateurliga Württemberg.