the removal of the troops who were stationed there. A new manager, Billy Reid, was appointed on 1 May but only lasted until late October, resigning after citing he could not devote enough time to the job and control of team affairs went back to committee. United made their comeback on 17 August 1946 with a 2–1 home victory in the Gold Cup against Distillery. The Braidmen joined the Irish Regional League in its final season before the return of the Irish League the following season and finished a respectable sixth in what was a topsy-turvy season which included a semi-final appearance in the Irish Cup. The Sky Blues did suffer their heaviest ever defeat during the Regional League campaign, losing 10–1 to Belfast Celtic. Ballymena United began the 1947–48 season with a new manager, Bob McKay, who was promoted from his role last season as chief scout and had previously had been in charge of Dundee United. McKay guided Ballymena United to an impressive third place in the Irish League. Despite a first round exit to Linfield in the Irish Cup, the game attracted a record crowd of 9,067 and was a real end-to-end affair which afterwards saw the transfer of Frankie Houghton to Newcastle United for £6,000 – which was quite a considerable sum back then. April 1948 saw United play their first competitive game outside Northern Ireland when they travelled to Dublin to play Shelbourne in the Inter-City Cup, a game which Ballymena lost 1–0 but progressed to the quarter-finals after winning the first leg 4–1 – this set up a clash with Shamrock Rovers who won the tie 8–3 on aggregate. The season did not end trophyless as a 2–1 victory over Linfield in May 1948 brought the County Antrim Shield to the Ballymena Showgrounds for the first time in the club's history – that game saw the competitive debut of Eric Trevorrow, a 20-year-old signing from Glasgow junior club, Parkhead Juniors. The following season began with much optimism after the success of the previous campaign, this optimism did not last long as Ballymena finished a disappointing tenth in the Irish League and failed to make any headway in any of the cup competitions. This ultimately cost Bob McKay his job in May 1949 during a stormy AGM, as McKay berated the board for interference with his team selections. Norman Kernaghan took over as player-manager and