The association was founded in 1921. Between 1936 and 1947 the club was affiliated with the Meinerzhagen gymnastics club . In the 1950s, the RSV briefly belonged to the district class several times before the sporting boom began towards the end of the decade. In 1959 the team became district champions of Altena and returned to the district class. After a runner-up in 1961 behind SpVgg Nachrodt , the RSV became champions a year later and rose to the state league . There the Meinerzhagenern managed to march through to the then third-class Association League Westphalia , which was the highest amateur league at the time. The RSV also played a good role in the Westphalian House of Lords and took fourth place in the 1964/65 season . A year later the club reached its sporting climax.
One point behind SSV Hagen , the RSV runner-up in Group 2, trained by Erich Schanko , then had to determine the Westphalian participant in the German Amateur Championship with the runner-up in Group 1, SpVgg Erkenschwick . In front of about 2000 spectators in the neutral Hombruch , the Erkenschwicker prevailed 2-0. As early as 1968, the RSV rose again from the association league, but managed to rise again immediately. After two years of mediocrity, the team struggled again against relegation and in 1973 said goodbye to the league as a knocked-down bottom. In the following national league season 1973/74 the RSV was passed through as bottom of the table in the district class and did not return to the national league until 1977. The team stayed there for only two years and only returned to the national league between 1989 and 1996. In 2003 the RSV returned to the regional league before financial problems led to a crash in the district league A four years later. In 2011 he was promoted to the district league again.
The former youth player and Turkish national player Nuri Şahin has been working for the club since 2015 with the aim of leading the RSV into the Westphalia League . According to his own statement, Şahin supports the association with donations and does not see himself as a patron . In the 2016/17 season they were promoted to the state league, before the Meinerzhagener marched through to the Westphalia league in the following season 2017/18. With the third promotion in a row, the club reached the fifth-class Oberliga Westfalen in 2019 . In August 2020 the RSV won the Westphalia Cup with a 2-0 win against SV Schermbeck and thus reached the first main round of the DFB Cup, in which SpVgg Greuther Fürth will be the opponent.
Stadion
The RSV Meinerzhagen plays its home games in the stadium on Oststraße, which offers space for 3,000 spectators. The stadium has been under renovation for 500,000 euros since April 2020. Most of the money comes from donations, with no city subsidies. The grandstand will be 48 meters wide on the south side of the facility, where the clubhouse is located. The new grandstand will also have some seats and a small press area. An extension will almost double the area and the interior will be extensively modernized. Dispenser, VIP area and a new snack kitchen included.
