The club formed on 5 May 1912 as Sportvereinigung Ried, and played in the regional leagues of Upper Austria until 1991, when they ascended to the national leagues for the first time. SV Ried first achieved promotion to the highest level of Austrian football in 1995.
SV Ried gained their first major honour in 1998 when they won the Austrian Cup, beating Sturm Graz 3–1 in the final. In 2003, Ried were relegated, ending an eight-year spell in the top division. Two seasons later, Ried regained Bundesliga status, becoming champions of the Erste Liga on 23 May 2005 following a 3–2 victory over Kapfenberg. In the following season (2005–06) Ried achieved their highest league finish so far, fourth, in the Bundesliga. The year after they managed to improve once more finishing second and becoming vice-champion. After the first third of the season, the team seemed to battle against relegation and was stuck in the last place for five game weeks. The club management however kept trusting in Helmut Kraft's coaching abilities, which would turn out to be the right decision after all. Twelve matches without a loss in the second third of the season and five wins out of the last five matches from match weeks 32–36 guaranteed the club's highest league finish of second place and a spot in the first qualifying round of the UEFA Cup.
In the 2022–23 season, SV Ried finished in last place, leading to their relegation from the Austrian Bundesliga to the Austrian Second League for the 2023–24. This marked their descent after three consecutive seasons in the top tier.
Sanel Kuljić, striker (2003–06)
Gerhard Schweitzer
Klaus Roitinger (1 July 1988 – 31 May 1999)
Petar Segrt (1 July 2003 – 31 Dec 2003)
Andrzej Lesiak (1 Jan 2004 – 30 June 2004)
Helgi Kolviðsson (1 June 2015 – 16 August 2015)
Christian Benbennek (1 July 2016 –28 February 2017)
Miron Muslic (12 November 2018 –25 November 2018)
