 British Rail took over the works in 1949 and this saw the club's name amended to BR Eastleigh Athletic, and after several steady seasons their fortunes gradually improved.In 1956–57 they won promotion as Division 3 runners-up and remained a steady Division 2 side for a number of years until 1961 when they had to leave the competition.A year later they returned, and were placed in Division 3, but after several seasons of struggle they finished bottom in 1964–65 and were consequently relegated back to the Southampton League.