The club was formed, as a gymnastics club, on 18 April 1874, under the name of Turnverein Heslach. In June 1889, the club changed its name to Turnverein Karlsvorstadt.
On 20 June 1896, a separate football club, the Fußballclub Karlsvorstadt, was formed. In 1900, it merged with two other clubs, the ''F.C. Adler'' and the ''F.C. Askania'' to form the Stuttgarter Sportfreunde 1896.
The club was a founding member of the
Südkreis-Liga
The Südkreis-Liga (English: ''Southern district league'') was the highest association football league in the German Empire, German Kingdom of Württemberg, Grand Duchy of Baden, the Province of Hohenzollern and Alsace-Lorraine from 1908 to 1918. ...
in 1908, then the highest level of play in the Baden-Württemberg region. In 1909 the club participated in the
Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy
The Sir Thomas Lipton Trophy was an association football competition that took place twice, in Turin, Italy, in 1909 and 1911. It is regarded as an early European trophy.Eugen Kipp in its ranks, who played 18 times for Germany between 1908 and 1913, 16 of those as a ''Sportfreunde'' player.
After the First World War, on 2 August 1919, Turnverein Karlsvorstadt and Stuttgarter Sportfreunde 1896 merged to form the current club, Stuttgarter Sportfreunde 1896. The team made a return to the highest league in the region, which was now the
Kreisliga Württemberg
The Kreisliga Württemberg (English: ''District league Württemberg'') was the highest association football league in the German state of Württemberg from 1919 to 1923. The league was disbanded with the introduction of the Bezirksliga Württember ...
and came third in 1919–20.
''Sportfreundes'' most successful season came in 1921–22. It took out the title in its local division, the Kreisliga Württemberg having been split into two regional divisions. In the Württemberg-final, it managed to defeat
Stuttgarter Kickers
Stuttgarter Kickers is a German association football club that plays in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, founded on 21 September 1899 as FC Stuttgarter Cickers.
History
In its early years the club had a decent local squad that played in the Südk ...
1–0 and 3–2. From there, it advanced to the Württemberg-Baden championship, where it overcame
Karlsruher FV
Karlsruher FV is a German association football club that plays in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg. Established on 17 November 1891, KFV was a founding member of the German Football Association (Deutscher Fussball-Bund) in 1900 and is the oldest ...
1–0 and 1–1. Advancing to the
Southern German championship
The Southern German football championship (German: ''Süddeutsche Meisterschaft'') was the highest association football competition in the southern Germany, established in 1898. The competition was disbanded in 1933 with the rise of the Nazis to p ...
, it lost 0–1 to
Borussia Neunkirchen
Borussia VfB Neunkirchen is a German association football club based in Neunkirchen, Saarland. The club ''SC Borussia Neunkirchen'' was founded out of the 1907 merger of ''FC 1905 Borussia'' and ''SC Neunkirchen''.
History
From 1912 through t ...
in the semi-finals.
The next season saw the club missing out on qualification for the new
Bezirksliga Württemberg-Baden
The Bezirksliga Württemberg-Baden was the highest association football league in the German states of Württemberg and Baden and the Prussian Province of Hohenzollern from 1923 to 1933. The league was disbanded with the rise of the Nazis to powe ...
and ''Sportfreunde'' was relegated to the second tier, where it stayed until 1926, when it earned promotion. The club managed to survive for four seasons in the Bezirksliga but was relegated once more in 1930. A fifth place in 1927–28 was its best result.
The club recovered from its temporary decline and, in 1933, it qualified for the Gauliga Württemberg, the new highest level of play in the region. It belonged to this league for the duration of its existence, until 1945. It this time, the club produced good results and finished runners-up in the league three times, never quite making it to the German championship finals.
1945 to 2013
With the resumption of football in Germany after the Second World War, ''Sportfreunde'' was grouped in the tier-two
Landesliga Württemberg
The Landesliga Württemberg (consisting of four divisions) is the second highest league of the Württemberg Football Association and the seventh highest league in the German football league system. It was first carried out between 1945 and 1950. ...
, which it won in 1946–47. This earned the club promotion to the Oberliga Süd, where it played for one last season in the top flight. The club came a distant last in the league in 1947–48, conceding 100 goals and being relegated back to the Landesliga. ''Sportfreunde'' became a mid-table side in this league, failing to qualify for the new 2nd Oberliga Süd in 1950 and thereby dropping another level to what was now the tier-three
Amateurliga Württemberg
The Amateurliga Württemberg was the highest football league in the region of the Württemberg Football Association and the third tier of the German football league system from its inception in 1945 until the formation of the Oberliga Baden-Württ ...
.
The team continued to struggle against relegation but in 1954, it dropped down another level. The club made a brief recovery, earning promotion to the Amateurliga Nordwürttemberg in 1961 but being relegated again in 1964. After this, ''Sportfreunde'' never reached the higher levels of Württemberg football again, descending to the lower amateur leagues instead, to the extent that the new millennium saw it playing tier-eight football.
On 9 April 1987, the club changed its name to Sportfreunde Stuttgart 1874. The club suffered relegation from the Kreisliga A Stuttgart-Group 3 (IX) in 2008–09, finishing second-last. After two seasons in the Kreisliga B, the club returned to the Kreisliga A again in 2011. Since then the club has been achieving good results in the league, finishing runners-up in 2012 and 2013. It won promotion for a season to the Bezirksliga but was immediately relegated to the Kreisliga A in 2014 and the Kreisliga B in 2015.
Honours
The club's honours:
*
Kreisliga Württemberg
The Kreisliga Württemberg (English: ''District league Württemberg'') was the highest association football league in the German state of Württemberg from 1919 to 1923. The league was disbanded with the introduction of the Bezirksliga Württember ...
Landesliga Württemberg
The Landesliga Württemberg (consisting of four divisions) is the second highest league of the Württemberg Football Association and the seventh highest league in the German football league system. It was first carried out between 1945 and 1950. ...
(II)
** Champions: 1947
Recent seasons
The recent season-by-season performance of the club:Fussball.de – Ergebnisse Tables and results of all German football leagues
* With the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 and the
3. Liga
The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga.
The modern 3. Liga was formed for th ...
in 2008 as the new third tier, below the
2. Bundesliga
The 2. Bundesliga ( ) is the second division of professional football in Germany. It was implemented 11 years after the founding of the Fußball-Bundesliga as the new second division for professional football. The 2. Bundesliga is ranked below ...