In the early days of Professional Football in Holland in 1954 there were two teams playing in what is known as the western coalmining area of Holland. One was Fortuna '54, based in Geelen, and the other was Sittardia, based in the town of Sittard. At the time Fortuna '54 was by far the stronger of the two teams with players such as Frans de Munck, Cor de Hart and Jan Notermans. They were so popular that they received many invitations to play abroad and their performance at home suffered somewhat as a result. 1956/57 was their most successful season - they ended up in 2nd place below Ajax in the league and beat Feyenoord at the Kuip stadium in Rotterdam to win the Dutch FA Cup (KNVB Trophy). They won the cup again in 1964 when they beat ADO in extra time. Their entry into European football the following season was shortlived - they were knocked out by Torino in the 2nd round.

Sittardia were less consistent and played mostly in the First Division, any visits they paid to the Premier Division didn't last more than a season. It wasn't until the 1966/67 season that they saw any success at the top when they reached 7th position in the Premier Division - helped by their star player Willy Dullens, whose career was ended prematurely by a recurring knee injury.

At the end of the 1960's both clubs experienced serious financial problems. On the 11th of June 1968 the clubs decided on a merger and on the 1st of July Fortuna Sittard Combination (FSC) came into being. During the first two seasons home matches were played alternate weeks in Sittard and Geelen. It was finally decided that the Baandert Stadium would become the permanent home for FSC. Meanwhile, the new club had suffered demotion to the First Division where they stayed for the next 13 seasons.

After almost gaining promotion in 1978/79 (they missed by one point after a goalless draw against Groningen in the last match of the playoffs)  the club's fans had to postpone the celebrations until  May 16th 1982  when  the "Green and Yellows" beat SC Heracles 3 - 1. They ended in 8th place  that  first season  and drew regular crowds of 10,000 for  their home matches in the Baandert Stadium. They were less successful in the league in their second season  but they did reach the final of the Dutch FA Cup - losing to Feyenoord due to a lucky goal by Peter Houtman.  That same season Feyenoord were League Champions  which meant that Fortuna could look forward to some European football. They did well to reach the quarter finals (after knocking out KB Kagen and Wisla Krakow) but were beaten 3 - 0 by Everton in England thanks to Andy Gray's hat trick and  "The Toffees" beat them at home where they lost 0 - 2 in front of 20,000 supporters.

In the Summer of 1985 the  Englishman John Linford arrived at the club and proceeded to score 20 goals (a feat which brings back sweet memories for many a fan). Another outstanding player at the time was Frans Thijssen whose excellent technique  was a joy to behold. Sadly the club said goodbye to Wilbert Suvrijn who went to Roda JC for 700,00 guilders. At the end of  the 1980's  Fortuna always managed to do well in the first half of the season, with a position in the top half of the table, but in the second half of the season would slip back down the table. A memorable match of the time was on 26th November 1998 when they played PSV at home. Clayton put them ahead early in the match and, thanks to some miraculous saves by goalie  Ruud Hesp, they held on to win the match. This result put them in 2nd place where they stayed for several weeks. Likewise, Ajax and Feyenoord were treated to defeats in the "Baandert" that season. Under trainer Han Berger they won a record 38 points in the 1988/89 season  when they ended  in 7th place. The English player  Mark Farrington made a name for himself  when he scored 3 goals against PSV and 4 against FC Volendam in the last two games of that season.

From then on it was a steady drop down the tables - Georg Kessler just managing to save them from demotion in 1991/92. The following season, under Chris Dekker, they went down to the first division. They needed a draw in  their last match of the end of season playoffs with SC Heerenveen but lost 2 - 0. This was followed by a disastrous year when attendances dropped to a few hundred. Their  fans were rewarded the following year by a revival. In the last two games of  the season they drew at home to De Graafschap in front of 14,000 spectators ( victory would have given them the championship but  Fuat Usta missed a penalty) and thousands of fans travelled to Velsen to see them beat Telstar 0 - 2. The celebrations could begin.

Their first season was one of survival - it wasn't until the end of the season that they were certain of holding onto a place in the Premier Division. The year after they were keeping up with the best at  the top  - drawing with  Ajax in the Arena 2 - 2,  PSV 1 - 1 at home and Feyenoord 4 - 4 in the Kuip. Things began the wrong way again in the next season when defeats by Ajax, Twente and RKC led to the end of Pim Verbeek's time as trainer. He remained with the club as Technical Director while Bert van Maarwijk was brought in from SV Meersen as new trainer. Within several months they had climbed half way up the table and just missed out on a chance of European football, ending in 7th place. This was good enough for them to take part in the Intertoto Tournament. The Ukrainian team Poltava were eliminated  3 - 0 and 2 - 2. In the semi-final the Austrian side Wustenrot Salzburg were just that bit stronger - a 2 - 1 win at home wiped out by a dubious penalty goal for the Austrians away.

At home in the league they were doing less well - it took five matches before they got a win over Ajax of all teams. Things turned for the better just before the Winter break when what looked like being a 0 - 2 defeat by RKC was turned into a 3 - 2 win. It wasn't until April that they suffered another defeat - against Willem II (1 - 2). To end the season they treated themselves to a 6 - 4 win over PSV at home and victory over Ajax in the Arena 1 - 3. In the Dutch FA Cup the Green and Yellows surprised everyone by beating Twente 2 - 5, Emmen     3 - 1, and PSV 1 - 3. 15 years after their defeat in the final by Feyenoord they came out to face Ajax in the Kuip where they didn't have what it took to beat the Amsterdammers, losing     2 - 0.