The football team plays its home games at the MHPArena, in the Neckarpark which is located near the Cannstatter Wasen, where the city's fall beer festival takes place.

The team drew players primarily from local schools, under the direction of teacher Carl Kaufmann, and quickly achieved its first success; in 1909, they were runners-up to FSV 1897 Hannover in the national rugby final, losing 6–3.

Following the 1912 merger of these two clubs, the combined side played at first in the Kreisliga Württemberg and then in the Bezirksliga Württemberg-Baden, earning a number of[quantify] top three finishes and claiming a title there in 1927.

VfB's Gauliga titles earned the team entry to the national playoff rounds, with their best result coming in 1935 when they advanced to the final where they lost 4–6 to defending champions Schalke 04, the dominant side of the era.

They made regular appearances in the German championship rounds, emerging as national champions in 1950 and 1952, finishing as runner-up in 1953, and winning two DFB-Pokal titles in 1954 and 1958.

As an amateur organisation, and due to proverbial Swabian austerity, the club hesitated to spend money, and some players continued to work in an everyday job.

Towards the end of the 1974–75 season, with the team in imminent danger of being relegated to Second Bundesliga, local politician Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder was elected as new president.

With new coach Jürgen Sundermann and new talents[tone] like Karlheinz Förster and Hansi Müller (1975/76-1981/82), the team built around Ottmar Hitzfeld scored one hundred goals in 1976–77 and thus returned to the top-flight after just two seasons.

In 1991–92, Stuttgart clinched[tone] its fourth title, in one of the closest races in Bundesliga history, finishing ahead of Borussia Dortmund on goal difference.

[citation needed] Stuttgart's performance, however, fell off after this as the club earned just mid-table results over the next two seasons despite spending money on the transfer market and having veterans like Balakov.

Due to high debts and the lack of results, Gerhard Mayer-Vorfelder finally resigned from VfB in 2000 to take over offices at the DFB, UEFA, and FIFA.

With players like Andreas Hinkel, Kevin Kurányi, Timo Hildebrand, and Alexander Hleb earning themselves the nickname "the young and wild" [citation needed], the club soon re-bounded and finished as Bundesliga runners-up in the 2002–03 season.

Stuttgart continued to play as one of the top teams in the country, earning fourth and fifth place Bundesliga finishes in 2003–04 and 2004–05 respectively, and again taking part in the UEFA Cup, but without great success.

In addition, coach Magath and several players left for another clubs: Kevin Kurányi for Schalke 04, Philipp Lahm for Bayern Munich and Alexander Hleb for Arsenal.

FC Nürnberg, Veh managed to[tone] turn the collection of new players like Mexicans Pável Pardo, and Ricardo Osorio, Brazilian Antônio da Silva and fresh local talents,[tone] including Mario Gómez, Serdar Tasci, and Sami Khedira, into a strong contender that led the league on 12 November 2006 for the first time in two years.

In the penultimate week on 12 May 2007, Stuttgart beat VfL Bochum 3–2 away from home, taking the Bundesliga lead from Schalke 04 and at minimum securing a spot in the 2007–08 Champions League.

After trailing 0–1 in the final match of the season against Energie Cottbus, Stuttgart came back to win 2–1 and claim their first Bundesliga title in 15 years.

The victory celebrations in Stuttgart, totalling 250,000 people, even topped those of Germany's third place win over Portugal in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

In addition, VfB had their first ever chance to win the double as they also reached the final of the German Cup for the first time since their victory there ten years former.

[citation needed] Nürnberg gained a 2–1 lead early in the second half, but the ten men of VfB managed to fight back and equalize.

[citation needed] After exiting the German Cup after a 1–5 thrashing[tone] from Bayern Munich in January, prospects improved considerably[according to whom?]

Stuttgart went into the 2009–10 season with Mario Gómez leaving for Bayern Munich, just as Pavel Pogrebnyak arrived from Zenit Saint Petersburg and Alexander Hleb returning on loan from Barcelona.

[vague] On the European level, Stuttgart started the season with a huge success[tone] by qualifying for the group stage of the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League.

Stuttgart entered that competition for the third time in six years (after 2003 and 2007) by defeating Romanian side Politehnica Timișoara in the Champions League play-off round on 18 and 26 August 2009.

With two wins (one each against Rangers and Unirea), three draws (one each against all opponents) and a loss (to Sevilla) they managed second spot in the group, thus qualifying for the round of the last 16, where they had to face title holders Barcelona in late winter.

As a consequence of slipping to[tone] 16th spot in December, young coach Markus Babbel was fired after matchday 15 and replaced by the more experienced Swiss Christian Gross.

Key players during that season were Martin Harnik, who scored 17 goals, as well as winger Gōtoku Sakai and forward Vedad Ibišević, who both came to Stuttgart in January 2012.

[clarification needed][13] Following matchday 13, a home match against FC Augsburg and their second consecutive 4–0 loss, Stuttgart decided to terminate Alexander Zorniger's contract and appointed Jürgen Kramny as their manager for an indefinite period.

In 2005, a cooperation treaty between VfB and Swiss Super League side St. Gallen was signed, with particular emphasis on the youth sectors of both clubs.

In the year 2012, for the 100th anniversary of the merger of FV Stuttgart and Kronen-Klub Cannstatt, the supporters voted for Jahrhundert-Elf, the "Centenary Eleven":[28] Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.