Following the end of the war Rovers began attempts to return to the league. In 1945 the club couldn't raise sufficient funds to facilitate this and the following year improvement works at the Showgrounds delayed the return by another year. In 1947 Rovers applied to rejoin the league but were unsuccessful as the league decided to maintain its structure of eight teams. A year later and the club were this time successful and were readmitted to the league along with Transport for the 1948–49 season. After two quiet seasons Rovers were once again challenging for honours, this time going close to winning the league title. Going into the final game of the season against Transport, Rovers needed a win to finish level on points with Cork Athletic and force a play-off but they could only draw 0–0 and finished second, a point behind Athletic. The Cork side also denied Rovers in the FAI Cup knocking them out 2–0 at the semi-final stage. At the beginning of the next season the club signed Scottish forward Johnny Armstrong who would go on to stay with the club for several years and become the all-time leading goalscorer.