Following the union of the two clubs, VfL took up the place of predecessor SC in the Gauliga Mittelrhein, one of sixteen top flight divisions formed in the re-organization of German football under the Third Reich in 1933.

As World War II progressed it forced German football competition to become more local in character and the Gauliga Mittelrhein was broken up.

The team made appearances in 1939, 1941, and 1942 in early round play for the Tschammerpokal, predecessor to today's DFB-Pokal (German Cup).

The combined side repeated as Gauliga Köln-Aachen champions and were again eliminated in a national quarterfinal, this time by KSG Spielverein/48-99 Duisburg (0–2).

After the formation of the Bundesliga and new second division Regionalliga in 1963, the Amateurliga became a third-tier competition below those leagues, where the VfL continued to earn indifferent results.