The 2008/09 season saw Fortuna participated in the newly-established 3. Liga which finished second, receiving automatic promotion to the 2. Bundesliga in which it placed fourth in its comeback season 2009-10. This year, Fortuna was the only team to not lose at home in the three most prestigious German (nationwide) competitions.
After a successful 2009-10 season the 2010-11 season kicked off with a sour note for Fortuna. In the initial six games of the season Fortuna was last and had lost every game. Through the first six matches Fortuna was able to score just two goals - one which was an own goal scored from the opposing team. Despite this, Fortuna bounced back and ended the season in seventh position. The 2011-12 season started off very differently. during the first quarter of the season Fortuna was in the top spot in the table , with an impressive performance of winning 12 times, five draws and one loss. In the end, winning the "Herbstmeister" title provided the team and supporters hope that this would be the year that Fortuna was back in the Bundesliga. The second part of the season proved more difficult since Fortuna did not maintain its pace. It lost four times and suffered several draws, and fell to third at the top of the table. It was still enough for them to be able to enter the two-game playoff for relegation against the third-last team within the Bundesliga - Hertha BSC. The first match of the Relegation took place on 10 May 2012 , in Berlin and Fortuna winning 1-1. Fortuna did not win the game, which took place on the 15th of May in Dusseldorf. Hertha supporters, however, fired fireworks on the field and players. A minute before the end of the match Overexcited Fortuna fans swarmed the field.
Promotion to Bundesliga was an incredible personal feat for captain of the team Andreas Lambertz, as he was the first player of German sports history to be promoted three times by this same team, starting from the Fourth-tier Oberliga into the Bundesliga. For the striker Sascha Rosler, this was the fourth occasion in his career when was promoted from the Second Division into the Bundesliga.
In the wake of this recent boost, FC Bayern München set an all-time record for the first time in German sports history. They are the first German club to have been exiled out of Bundesliga Bundesliga down to an inferior league (time period of decline 1997-2002) and then promoted to the Bundesliga following (time interval of uprising from 2004 to 2012).
Fortuna began its 2012-2013 Bundesliga season in a positive way. After five games, the club was fifth in the table, and worries regarding relegation appeared to have gone away. However, Fortuna's victory at home against SpVgg Greuther Furth on the 16th of February proved to the club's ultimate win in the league. The season came to an end in Fortuna taking part at Hannover 96, a game Fortuna lost 3-3. The loss, along together with the FC Augsburg win over Greuther Furth, as well as a strange and unproven victory in 1899 Hoffenheim over second-placed Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Dortmund, led to Fortuna losing two spots. Fortuna was 17th in the league and again sent back into the second. Bundesliga.
Fortuna's demotion was not just the result of the improbable sequence of events on the last game of the year but also of a disappointing end to the season. In the final eight games they did not take home even one. Just one win would have guaranteed its place in the next season's Bundesliga. This performance was a reason for the demotion of director of the team Norbert Meier.
The relegation process to 2. Bundesliga was followed by an overall disappointing performance. Fortuna was a team that played between 2013 to 2017 in the middle in the league, frequently fighting to avoid relegation, but never fighting for promotion back to the Bundesliga. In the years between 2013 and 2017, the club was through a number of coaching changes. Oliver Reck, Frank Kramer as well as former footballer Mike Buskens among others leading the team at different times. But success was never guaranteed.
In March of this year, Friedhelm Funkel - a native of Neuss He was appointed head director at Fortuna Dusseldorf. In his debut game as coach, Funkel was able to lead the team to the victory of 4-3 against 1. FC Kaiserslautern, ending a month-long streak of no wins. Funkel's appointment as coach signaled his first season of more reliability and success for Fortuna.
In the beginning of the 2017-18 campaign, Fortuna's two best players in the previous season namely goalkeeper Michael Rensing and forward Ihlas Bebou and forward Ihlas Bebou, both were ejected to the club due to Rensing having two broken ribs, and Bebou moving to Bundesliga club Hannover 96. Another setback was Funkel's personal assistant Peter Hermann asked to be removed from his contract at Fortuna to allow him to join his coach Jupp Heynckes after the return of FC Bayern. After three defeats and a shaky start to the season, it was clear like the season 2017-18 would be tough for Fortuna. But, the club began very strongly. On April 4 Fortuna was in first spot in the table by drawing and winning three victories. The rest of the season they were not able to fall to third place, enjoying the particularly impressive play by Rensing's replacement for goalie, Raphael Wolf, newly-acquired Belgian forward Benito Raman, striker Rouwen Hennings along with the midfielder Florian Neuhaus. The season ended with a slump that was a factor in Fortuna lose three times at the same time in early April, however Fortuna were victorious in their subsequent two games to secure their place in the Bundesliga. For the last game in the league having already secured promotion, Fortuna beat 1. FC Nurnberg 3:2 on a final-minute goal, thereby securing the first position in the league and then the 2. Division Championship. For the head coach Friedhelm Funkel, it is the sixth time that he has promoted a team, a German record.
Fortuna Dusseldorf's return back to first division football for 2018-19 welcomed with enthusiasm from their fans. The beginning of this season featured a strong but inconsistency in the game. Fortuna did exceptionally well against the top Bundesliga teams, taking one point from Leipzig and sweeping aside Hoffenheim and the first-place Borussia Dortmund. It was particularly encouraging to see an away draw against champions of the present Bayern Munich, when Fortuna was able to come back from a deficit of 3-1 and 2-0 to draw 3-3 in the 93rd minute and Dodi Lukebakio scoring three goals for Fortuna. The draw was not as impressive, however. Fortuna did not play the game with intensity and determination against teams lower on the list, with who they'll be fighting to stay in the top four, losing against Augsburg, Nurnberg and Mainz while only securing to draw with Stuttgart. Fortuna Dusseldorf entered the mid-winter break 14th in the table. They finished the first part of their season by securing three consecutive wins over Freiburg, Dortmund and Hannover. Fortuna Dusseldorf enjoyed a more regular second portion of the season with home victories against Augsburg, Hertha Berlin and one of their most impressive performance in recent years with a rout with a win of 0-4 against Schalke 04. A 4-1 home victory against Werder Bremen and a 3-1 win against Borussia Monchengladbach were highlights at home, and home victories over VfB Stuttgart, Nurnberg and the final day loss to Hannover 96 secured them the team a place in the top 10 within the Bundesliga. Fortuna Dusseldorf achieved their highest league score since the 1989-1990 Bundesliga season, when they placed 9th.