Once the move had been finalised and agreements had been made to share the 10,000 capacity stadium, the club officially changed their name to Leigh RMI to reflect their new surroundings. RMI lost its first match at Hilton Park in March 1995 to Boston United 4-0, and ended up being relegated from the Northern Premier League at the end of the 1994/1995 season.

The club regained their place in the Northern Premier League after finishing in second place in the Northern Premier League First Division at the end of the 1996/1997 season.

The 1998/1999 season saw Leigh reach the First Round Proper of the FA Cup after defeating Winsford, Worksop, and Droylsden, the last two by the same scoreline, 2- 1, to meet Fulham, then in Division Two, at Craven Cottage. Leigh achieved a 1-1 draw against Fulham in the club's first FA Cup First Round appearance in 16 years, and received attention of the British media. Legendary Leigh goalkeeper David Felgate, a one-time Welsh international and aged 38 at the time, received widespread plaudits for his sparkling performance in the Fulham match, prompting then-Fulham boss Kevin Keegan to declare that Felgate's goalkeeping was "the best I've ever seen at any level."

The RMI-Fulham replay at Hilton Park, which was televised live by Sky Sports, ended with Leigh losing 0-2 in front of a club record crowd of 7,125 spectators.

In 2000, five years after this move, Leigh RMI reached the then-Nationwide Conference, the highest level of non-league football in England after finishing the 1999/2000 season as Northern Premier League champions.

After a few seasons at this level, and despite the fact that things seemed to be going well for the club on the pitch, Leigh RMI faced a placement in the new Conference North division for 2004/05 due to their second from the bottom finish in the 2003/04 season. The club was spared relegation that season due to two factors: that the lack of a promotable Northern Premier League club kept the team finished above in the table them from relegation and that Margate were demoted from the Conference for failing to meet ground standards. Leigh RMI's reprieve only lasted one season, however, as they were relegated after finishing bottom of the Conference table in 2004/2005 with only 18 points from 42 games.

The 2005/2006 season saw the club finish second from bottom in the Conference North, and the club thereby faced relegation to the Northern Premier League, but RMI luckily gained another reprieve from relegation after Canvey Island resigned from the Conference National. In the 2006-07 campaign, RMI avoided relegation on merit, finishing 17th and in the bottom half of Conference North.

The 2007/2008 season saw manager Stuart Humphreys replaced by Steve Bleasdale, and despite his appointment and the arrival of new chairman Dominic Speakman, the club were relegated from the Conference North at the end of the season.