The club's highest finish in 12 seasons lead to optimism that the lean years might be coming to an end, and, to help make the case, a second Leinster Senior Cup was picked up in 1960–61. Then, with trainer Gerry McCourt (a veteran of the 1932–33 League winning side) having to manage a squad split between separate training bases in Dundalk and Dublin, they won their first League title for 30 years in 1962–63 in nerve-shredding fashion. In the final game, away to Bohemians, they had to come from two goals down to score twice in the last five minutes, securing a point. They then had to wait a full week for a fixture backlog to clear, with Shelbourne, Cork Celtic and Drumcondra all in the hunt. All three faltered, confirming Dundalk as Champions. Following that success, they entered European competition for the first time, where they became the first Irish side to win an away leg of a European tie by beating FC Zurich 2–1 (in a 4–2 aggregate defeat) in the 1963–64 European Cup, inspired by forward Jimmy Hasty – who scored one, assisted another and hit the crossbar with a chance to level the tie. Dundalk couldn't manage to retain the title that season, finishing as runners-up to Shamrock Rovers, but did prevent Rovers achieving an unprecedented clean sweep of competitions by winning the season-end Top Four Cup. The two seasons 1964–65 and 1965–66 saw the team fall away again, and by the end of 1965 it was clear that the debts, the condition of Oriel Park, and the need to rebuild the playing squad, were challenges beyond the membership-based ownership model. A new public limited company took the club over in January 1966, after the voluntary liquidation of the old company. The official year of formation of Dundalk Football Club is up for debate. Each of the following has grounds for consideration:  Owing to the lack of contemporary records retained by the club, they themselves have quoted each of 1919, 1922, and 1926 as foundation dates in various programme notes and publications, while the latter date is often used by external sources. Following extensive research by club historian, Jim Murphy, the true year of formation is either 1903 or 1919 - indeed, the Double win in 1979 was celebrated as having taken place in the club's Diamond Jubilee year. The answer depends on whether the G.N.R. club formed in 1919 is considered a new club or a continuation of the old club, despite appearing to have been inactive in the 1907–1913 and 1917–1919 periods.