VfL Bochum, commonly known as "Bochum", was founded in 1848 and is a professional football club located in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
The team was forced to merge during the Nazi era and formed a joint team with Preußen Bochum to compete during the war, often finishing as runners-up but never surpassing Schalke. After the war, Bochum gradually rose, being promoted to the Western Regionalliga in 1965 and achieving its first promotion to the Bundesliga in 1971. Although the team managed to stay in the Bundesliga for twenty years at one point, it consistently hovered in the lower mid-table, finishing as runners-up in the DFB-Pokal twice. Since its first relegation in 1993, Bochum has been a "yo-yo club" between the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga, but it also achieved fifth place in the Bundesliga in 1997 and 2004, and qualified for the UEFA Cup twice.
VfL Bochum won the 2. Bundesliga championship in the 2020-21 season, returning to the Bundesliga. The club's home ground, Ruhrstadion, was built in 1979 and has a capacity of 27,599 spectators, having hosted numerous European matches.