Football Club Sūduva is not a new name in the arenas of Europe or Lithuania. Marijampolė is one of seven Lithuanian cities with a population above 45 000. Sūduva is also the name of one of ethnic Lithuanian regions; Marijampolė is the centre of this region.

Football was started playing even in 1921. Then first teams began to cluster. Both the history of Lithuania and football history is divided into three parts: before the Soviet Occupation (1921–1940); during the Occupation (1940–1990); and having re-established the Independence (dating from 1990).

Football Club Sūduva was established in 1968 though some other football clubs with other names developed their activity before that time.

In 1975 Sūduva won bronze in the league. In 1976 they played in the final of the Lithuanian Cup (then named Tiesa Cup).

Decades later, Sūduva started a new winning cycle. In 2001 the Marijampolė club were runners-up in the second division (I lyga) and won promotion to play in Lithuania”s elite division (A lyga) after a ten year break.

In 2002 Sūduva finished sixth A lyga in a division of nine teams. In the same year the reached the final of the Lithuanian Cup. Despite defeat, Sūduva qualifed for an UEFA tournament for the first time in club history.

In the qualifying round of UEFA Cup 2002 a modest Sūduva produced one of the shocks of the stage to defeat Norwegian side SK Brann. Forward Tomas Radzinevičius scored four goals over two legs and helped the Marijampolė club to win 3:2 on both occasions. Radzinevičius went on to become Lithuanian championship player of the year and played in the Lithuanian national team.

Moving forward, Sūduva faced Scottish giants Celtic FC next and were given a footballing lesson by Henrik Larsson & Co, losing 1:10 on aggregate.

In 2003 and 2004 Sūduva finished sixth and seventh in A lyga and was eliminated in the semi final and Round of 16 in the Lithuanian Cup respectively.

The long-awaited step-up came in 2005, when the club won the A lyga bronze in 2005 after a thirty year break.

A second participation in UEFA Cup followed in 2006. The first qualifying round saw Sūduva defeat Rhyl 2:1 on aggregate (in Wales – 0:0; in Marijampolė – 2:1). In the second qualifying round Sūduva were drawn against top Belgian side Club Brugge and had to accept their advantage (in Kaunas – 0:2; in Briuge – 2:5).

The 2006 also was also a historic year because Sūduva won the Lithuanian Cup and again qualified for UEFA Cup. In the Lithuanian Super Cup match Sūduva lost to league champions FBK Kaunas 0:1.

In the 2007 UEFA Cup Sūduva defeated Northern Irish club Dungannon Swifts FC, after an impressive second leg performance (0:1 in Belfast; 4:0 in Marijampolė). In the next stage Sūduva was again drawn with SK Brann. A rainy first leg ended in a 2:1 win for the Norwegians; while in Marijampolė it was raining goals as the visitors won 4:3.

In 2007 Sūduva finished second in A lyga and won another European qualification. The 2008 season was a memorable for the club as construction on a new football complex, the first of such size in Lithuania, was completed.  The city of Marijampolė proudly opened a new stadium (first 4200 seats, later expanded to 6250) and an indoor football arena (2500 seats). The stadium already hosted a few of Lithuania national team qualifying matches, while the indoor arena – only one of the two in the country - is vital to the region as it allows to training and playing over the winter.

The 2008 UEFA Cup saw Sūduva move past the first barrier of the UEFA Cup, defeating TNS FC 2:0 on aggregate, but the draw for the second round was a difficult one with Red Bull Salzburg and their famous Dutch coach Co Adriaanse coming to Marijampolė. Despite scoring first Sūduva fell to a 1:4 defeat at home before winning 1:0 in Austria.

The league season was not the best as Sūduva ended up fourth but next year, in 2009, the club followed with a double by winning the Lithuanian Cup for the second time and the Super Cup for the first time and finishing third in the league. Sūduva debut in the UEFA Europa league saw a narrow second qualifying round defeat to Randers FC (0:1 at home and 1:1 away).

In 2010 Sūduva faced SK Rapid Wien in the UEFA Europa league. After losing 0:2 at home, Sūduva had a 2:1 lead in Austria and only needed one more for a come-back but conceded three late goals to lose 2:4.

A second-place finish in the 2010 A lyga means Sūduva will participate in the UEFA Europa league (including previous UEFA Cup appearances) for the sixth successive season.

The Marijampolė club is also one of the four Lithuanian teams rated in the world rankings teams and has one of the highest attendance averages in Lithuania.