The club was founded on February 7, 1903. VVV were a minor amateur club for a long time, but when professional football was introduced in the Netherlands in 1954, VVV merged with local club SC Venlo to Sportclub VVV'03. That same year, VVV won the most important Dutch cup tournament at the time, the 'Zilveren Bal' (Silver Ball), a tournament organized by Sparta. In the finals of that tournament, VVV beat Xerxes by 3-1. In 1959, VVV won the KNVB Cup by beating ADO 4-1 in the final. In 1961, VVV reached the third place in the Dutch Eredivisie, but a year later, VVV were relegated to the Eerste Divisie (first division). In 1966, VVV were further relegated to the Tweede Divisie (second division), but after only a year, VVV were promoted to the Eerste Divisie again. In 1968, VVV were relegated again, but in 1971, the club was promoted back to the Eerste Divisie. Between 1976 and 1994, VVV hovered between Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie, regularly promoting and relegating. Since 1994, VVV played in the Eerste Divisie. In 2007 VVV were promoted back to the Eredivisie by winning the play-offs, however one year later the club was relegated back to the Eerste Divisie after being defeated in the play-offs by ADO Den Haag.