Ness United were born out of a desire by the teams competing in the Southern league to field a team in the Shetland Football Association competitions in 1952 the year after the southern league was formed, the team was picked by a team of selectors from the Southern League teams and the manager was also appointed by this team.

Ness had their most successful team and year to date in 1966, as England conquered the world in the FIFA world cup, Ness United dominated the domestic scene at home in shetland winning the Mackeson Cup, Whitbread Cup, Madrid Cup, County Shield and the Fraser Cup.

As time went by and for various reasons they have failed to build on this success and until the 1990's when they challenged for the league on a couple of occasions the Senior honours have been scare on the ground.

Whilst the senior scene has been short on glory, Ness have had a lot of success in their Junior ranks with the under 18's in 2006 winning the league and the cova shield, as well as competing at a high level domestically Ness have provided many players to represent the Shetland Junior inter-county squad.

As Ness enter a new era in their history fielding teams in all SFA competitions for the first time in many years, it is hoped that the new impetus will push Ness back to the top of the Footballing tree where they belong.