The club was elected to the Football League in 1970 to replace Bradford (Park Avenue), after back-to-back titles in the Southern League. Eight years later they reached the Second Division and peaked at 8th place in 1980, but went back down to the Third Division in 1984 after winning just 4 league games all season. A second successive relegation followed in 1985, and a year later Cambridge finished fourth from bottom in the Fourth Division - this was the last season in which the league's bottom four clubs had to apply for re-election. Luckily, Cambridge and the other three teams retained their league status.