It is best known for its men's football team, who currently compete in the 2. Founded in , the club initially competed in the Southern German championship , winning their first title in Their first German championship was won in Before the inauguration of the Bundesliga in , 1.
Since , the club has played their home games at the Max-Morlock-Stadion in Nuremberg. Today's club has sections for boxing, handball, hockey inline skater hockey and ice hockey , rollerblading and ice skating, swimming, skiing, and tennis. By , the team was playing well enough to win the South German championship. In the period from July to February , the team would go unbeaten in official matches. As early as , they came to be referred to simply as " Der Club " in recognition of their skill and of their style on and off the field and would go on to become one of the nation's most widely recognized and popular teams.
That would be the first of five titles Der Club would win over the course of eight years. In each of those victories, they would shutout their opponents. The match was called on account of darkness after three hours and ten minutes of play, drawn at 2—2. The German Football Association DFB awarded the win to Hamburger SV under the condition that they renounce the title in the name of "good sportsmanship", and ultimately the Viktoria trophy was not officially awarded that year.
FCN's dominance was already beginning to fade when they captured their final trophy of the era in as the game began to evolve into a more quickly paced contest which did not suit their slower, more deliberate approach. In , they lost in the final to Schalke 04 , a club that would go on to become the strongest side in the era of football in Nazi Germany.
In , 1. FCN captured their eighth national title and appeared in a losing effort in the following year's final.
