The 1984–85 season saw the introduction of the League of Ireland First Division to begin the following season with Drogheda United among the four clubs who were relegated from the Premier Division but in this season also Drogheda United entered European Competition for the first time where they were destroyed against Tottenham Hotspur in the UEFA Cup First Round 14–0 on aggregate. They remained in the First Division until the 1988–89 season when they went up as First Division Champions. Their joy was short-lived, however, as the following season they were relegated although this time they achieved promotion at the first time of asking. In the next two seasons Drogheda battled bravely against relegation surviving by one point and on goal difference in the respective seasons.

[40] Their last win of the season came against high fliers Derry City on 24 October. [41] Unfortunately for the Drogs, they finished the season with 3 losses in a row, but it didn't manage to take away from their impressive season, finishing 7th with a respectable 44 points, and making sure of a Premier Division place for 2022 2022 season[edit] Drogheda's impressive 2021 campaign meant their squad was practically torn apart by the bigger clubs in the pre season of 2022. Their manager, Tim Clancy, was signed by St Patrick's Athletic. Shelbourne legend Kevin Doherty, who had been assistant manager to Clancy since 2018, assumed the role of first team manager, and former Longford Town coach Daire Doyle joined his management team.

[47] They secured safety with a 1-0 victory over Bohemians on 7 October, and finished the season in 8th place with 38 points. The Claret & Blue Club[edit] In response to the economic difficulties facing the country, a group of supporters established The Claret & Blue Club in June 2009 with the aim of providing a steady income stream to Drogheda United FC.

Supporters who join the Claret & Blue Club donate at least €5 per week to the club, and in return, they receive a membership card entitling them to discounts of up to 10% in a range of local businesses, including restaurants, tile shops, shoe shops and many more. Each member is also entered in a monthly prize draw, with a top prize every month of a sun holiday courtesy of Panorama Holidays. Other prizes include hotel vouchers, tickets to Irish World Cup qualifier games, betting vouchers etc. Publicity on the Derek Mooney Show on RTÉ Radio one and full-page ads in the Drogheda Independent and Drogheda People resulted in a surge of membership, and after only four weeks of existence, the Claret & Blue Club was in a position to bring in over €35, 000 to the club annually, with membership figures rising daily.

[42] Key players such as Killian Phillips and James Brown secured lucrative moves to the UK. Doherty had a big job on his hands to paper the cracks left in his team, but did well to hang on to a number of key players, as well as recruiting others. Drogheda grabbed their first win of the season on 4 March, beating UCD 4–2 at home. [43] On 18 March, Drogheda beat their Louth rivals Dundalk for the 3rd time in 4 games. [citation needed] On 20 May, 10 man Drogheda came back from a 1–0 deficit to beat Finn Harps at home, with 3 goals in the final 20 minutes. [44] They followed this up with a historic home victory over league champions Shamrock Rovers 3 days later, [45] and a 1–1 draw at Dalymount Park against Bohemians on 27 May. [46] On 9 July, Dean Williams scored one of the fastest goals in League of Ireland history, when his 1st-minute strike gave Drogheda their second derby win of the season at home to Dundalk.

It was hoped that the Claret & Blue Club will take full ownership of the club in 2010 and run the club similar to the way Shamrock Rovers is run by the Shamrock Rovers Members Club. However the target of 500 members was not reached and membership levels settled at just over half that target. [edit] In January 2011, a Claret and Blue Club steering committee announced new plans for a share issue. It was hoped that 200 shares would be sold at €1000 each and that this new revenue would provide stability for 2011–12 and allow the club to finally become a supporter-owned community club.