Almere City FC traces its roots to 1959, when disgruntled supporters in Amsterdam founded a club called De Zwarte Schapen — Dutch for 'The Black Sheep' — after a prior club merged into DWS. Through a series of mergers and name changes over the following decades, the club eventually relocated from Amsterdam to the newly developed city of Almere in Flevoland, central Netherlands, in the mid-1990s.
The modern era began in earnest in 2000, when the club was rebranded as FC Omniworld as part of a broader civic initiative to bring professional sport to Almere. After overcoming financial hurdles and gaining KNVB approval, the club entered professional football in the Eerste Divisie in 2005. The organisation was renamed Almere City FC in 2010, the identity it carries today.
The club's defining chapter came through a publicly stated 'five-year plan' launched in 2019, which set an explicit goal of reaching the Eredivisie. After coming agonisingly close on several occasions — including a dramatic play-off final defeat in 2018 when a late penalty cost them a winner-takes-all tie — Almere City finally achieved promotion to the top flight in June 2023, defeating FC Emmen in the play-offs. They held their own in the Eredivisie in 2023–24 before being relegated at the end of the 2024–25 season.
Almere City hold no major domestic or continental titles, but the club's identity is built around community ambition, a close partnership with AFC Ajax, and the role of nurturing emerging Dutch talent. In 2025, Japanese industrial manufacturer Yanmar completed a takeover of the club.