The club was founded in 1896 by students of the
local school of engineering and following a fusion with two local teams, it was called
Vereinigte Fussballclubs Winterthur between 1929 and 1946. They enjoyed their best success in the early part of the 20th century winning the
Swiss Championship three times (in
1906,
1908 and
1917), before consecutive relegations in 1931 and 1934. They played in the lower leagues until regaining promotion to the
Nationalliga B in 1950. They have since stayed in the second division for most of their history, except for several appearances in the
Nationalliga A, from where they were most recently relegated in 1978 following a promotion ten years prior. They're replaced by
Bruno Berner and Aurélien Mioch. Due to the expansion of the Super League for the
2023–24 season, there would be no direct relegation in Winterthur's first season back in the top flight, as the last placed team would advance to the relegation playoff. The goal for the season therefore was clear: avoid the relegation and secure a spot in the Super League for the next year. This still proved to be a difficult task, as they initially struggled with the higher pace and efficient exploitation of weaknesses in the top flight, most exemplified by their 0–6 home loss to
FC Luzern in the eight round. Winterthur still managed to secure a spot in the Super League for the next season, as they narrowly avoided the relegation play-off, ending the season one point above
FC Sion. Despite this success and one year left on his contract, coach Berner departed to club following the conclusion of the season, to return to his boyhood club and cantonal rivals
Grasshopper Club Zürich. Former
FC Basel and
Switzerland U21 coach
Patrick Rahmen was announced as his replacement on 14 June 2023. ==Players==