Olympia, Frankfort, Dublin United and YMCA. In the opening 1921–22 Season, Shelbourne finished 3rd place behind winners St James's Gate and Bohemians. Shelbourne finished runners-up the following two seasons and won the 1924 Leinster Senior Cup, the reds finished third in the league again in the 1924–25 season before winning the league for their first time the following season in 1925–26. They finished runners-up the following two years before winning the 1928–29 Championship. Thirties: 1930–1939 Additional reading: Reds United Having failed to retain the title in 1930, Shels won their third league title in 1931 and were Leinster Senior Cup winners. In 1934 the club got into a dispute with the Free State F.A. when they looked for compensation when the FAIFS arranged a match for the same day as Shelbourne had a match scheduled. In the row that followed, Shels resigned from the League and were then suspended from football for a year by the FAI. The club played no football during the 1934–35 season and spent the 1935–36 season in the Athletic Union League before being re-admitted to the League of Ireland for the start of the 1936–37 season. During the 1935–36 season a team called Reds United, made up of a number of Shels players and backed by Shels personnel, competed in the League of Ireland and finished a respectable fourth. At the end of the season, they resigned from the League to make way for Shels return. The decade had a happy ending though as success in the FAI Cup finally arrived (many fans had started to believe the club was suffering from a curse). It was in the 1939 cup final that the supposed curse was broken. Sligo Rovers who boasted Dixie Dean, the goalscoring legend of the Football League, were eventually beaten after a replay thanks to a long-range goal from 'Sacky' Glen. After so many attempts, the blue ribbon of Irish football made its way to Shelbourne Park for the first time. Official figures put the attendances at 30,000 and 25,000 for the first final and the replay respectively. Forties: 1940–1949 As the euphoria of the first FAI Cup success wore off, the forties started slowly enough for the Reds, and it wasn't until 1944 that the league championship was won again-for a fourth time, along with the Shield. The title was clinched after an epic 5–3 win over local rivals Shamrock Rovers.