Vf R Aalen - History

History

The club was founded on 8 March 1921 out of the football department of the gymnastics club MTV Aalen and has led a largely unremarked existence as a lower division side. In 1939, Aalen was promoted to the first division Gauliga Württemberg, one of sixteen top-flight leagues established through the 1933 re-organization of German football under the Third Reich. They played there until 1945, typically finishing in the lower half of the table.

After the war the club was joined by Boxclub Aalen in 1950. They went on to the third tier Landesliga Württemberg and in 1951 captured the title in what had become the Amateurliga Württemberg (III). After a single season appearance in the 2nd Oberliga Süd in 1951–52 they returned to play in the III and IV divisions over the next two decades. The club slipped to fifth division play in the late 1970s for a couple of seasons before recovering itself. At the turn of the millennium Aalen managed an advance to the third division Regionalliga Süd and played at that level as a mid-table side from 1999 onwards. A fourth place finish in 2007–08 qualified them for the new 3rd Liga. They were immedadiately relegated after just one season, but captured the Regionalliga title in 2011, and returned to third tier play. A second place result in 2011–12 earned the team promotion to the 2. Fußball-Bundesliga.