However, like many clubs of the former DDR-Oberliga, VfB Leipzig faced financial difficulties in reunified Germany and a steady decline soon followed.

FC Lokomotive announced a merger with the formally extant but dormant VfB Leipzig in order to be entitled to the forerunner's titles.

[2] Due to the significant breaks and turmoil in the club's history, especially during the post-World War II era, their exact establishment date remains a source of contention.

VfB Sportbrüder 1893 Leipzig was one of the original 86 teams that came together in the city on 28 January 1900 to form the German Football Association (DFB).

VfB Leipzig were immediately successful at their chosen sport and made their way to the first German national championship final held in 1903.

The host, FC 93 Altona Hamburg, provided a new ball, and 11 minutes in, DFC Prag scored the first goal.

At the end of the first half, the score stood at 1–1, but VfB Leipzig then pulled away to emerge as the first winners of the Viktoria Meisterschaftstrophäe ("Victoria Championship Trophy"), representative of German football supremacy, on the strength of a decisive 7–2 victory.

A protest by FV Karlsruhe over their disputed semi-final with Britannia Berlin was never resolved, and the DFB called off the final only hours before its scheduled start.

The following season, VfB Leipzig found themselves unable to cover the expense of travelling to participate in their scheduled first-round playoff match and so were eliminated from that year's competition.

In the period leading up to World War II, VfB Leipzig was unable to repeat its early success.

[3] After the reorganization of German football leagues under the Third Reich in 1933, the club found itself in Gauliga Sachsen, one of the 16 upper-tier divisions.

After playing as BSG Erich Zeigner Probstheida and then BSG Einheit Ost, the club merged with sports club SC Rotation Leipzig in 1954 and played in the DDR-Oberliga, East Germany's top-flight league, but earned only mediocre results.

The club's fortunes improved somewhat[vague] as they almost always finished well up the league table, but they were unable to win the top honour in the DDR-Oberliga, with losing final appearances in 1967, 1986, and 1988.

A poor season led to a seventh-place finish in the transitional league, but an unexpectedly strong playoff propelled[tone] the club into the 2.

Even so, they continued to receive solidly enthusiastic fan support: their match against Eintracht Großdeuben's second team in the Leipzig Zentralstadion on 9 October 2004, broke the world record for lower-league attendance with 12,421 spectators.

The club finished second to Erzgebirge Aue and missed out on direct promotion to the NOFV-Oberliga Süd by two points in the 2007–08 season.

In the return leg, in front of almost 10,000 spectators, the club lost 0–1 but still gained Oberliga promotion via the away goals rule.

[6][7] The club stayed in contention for promotion back up to the Regionalliga during the 2014–15 season, having hired former German international Mario Basler as director of sports in early 2015.

FC Lok Leipzig Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.