After St Francis withdrew from the First Division just two weeks before the start of the 2001–02 season, the League of Ireland began to look for a replacement club for 2002–03.

Members of Newbridge Town subsequently decided to form Kildare County as a separate legal entity and applied to join the First Division.

In February 2002 it was announced that Kildare County would be offered the First Division place ahead of Mullingar Town.

[7][8] On 6 July 2002 Kildare County made their competitive debut against Limerick at Station Road in a First Division Cup game.

In July 2003, midway through the 2003 season, Keely resigned as County manager in order to take charge of Derry City.

[15][16] In the 2002–03 First Division Cup they won their regional group and finished as overall runners up, losing 4–0 on aggregate in the final to Finn Harps.

In 2008 Kildare County finished bottom of the table and were initially relegated to the A Championship after losing the promotion/relegation play-off to Mervue United.