HFC was one of a dozen clubs that formed the VMBV (Verbandes Mitteldeutscher Ballspielvereine or Federation of Middle German Football Teams) on 16 December 1900 and was a founding member of the DFB (Deutscher Fußball-Bund) in Leipzig in January 1900.

Play in the division ended with the advance of Allied armies into Germany as World War II drew to a close.

In the aftermath of the war, the Allied occupying authorities banned all organizations in the country, including sports and football clubs.

After German reunification in 1990 the team played in the seventh tier Berziksliga as SV Empor Halle where they won the division championship and earned promotion to the Landesliga Sachsen-Anhalt (VI).

They re-claimed the name VfL Halle the following year and continued to play well, advancing through the Verbandsliga Sachsen-Anhalt (V) and NOFV-Oberliga Süd (IV) on their way to a breakthrough into the Regionalliga Nordost (III) in 1999.