They played at that level until 1957 when they were relegated to the Bezirksliga where the VfL footballers remained until 1963 when the club was promoted back to the Landesliga and thereafter advanced to the Verbandsliga Westfalen-2 (III) for the first time in 1964.

Part of the club's success through these years was based on the support of Hans Elbracht, head of the Edelstahlwerke Südwestfalen GmbH steelworks in Geisweid, who made jobs available for the players, a critical contribution in an era of still largely amateur football in Germany.

During this stretch the club made its first German Cup appearances in 1981 and 1982 losing 1:2 to Rot-Weiß Frankfurt and 0:4 to VfB Stuttgart II.

[1] The club plays is home matches in the Hofbachstadion which has a capacity of 10,000 spectators making it the second largest stadium facility in Siegen.

During their Regionalliga season in 1971–72 the team played in the Leimbachstadion which was at the time the home stadium of their largest rival Sportfreunde Siegen.