For Forfar Athletic, the first six seasons were absolute shockers, albeit peppered with the odd pleasant moment and the occasional good player (seldom could it be said that Forfar had a good team), then things improved tremendously under efficient and competent management for two years, until the Forfar Board's old failing of lack of ambition let them down yet again.

In 1960 boys still wore trench coats and school caps on their way to Forfar Academy to encounter the benign Alex Gillespie, the learned Jack McKenzie and the kindly John Grant, as well as the occasionally brutal Ian Henderson and the ferocious lady known locally as "Ma Mull". Station Park was still the Mecca on a Saturday afternoon, but sadly the fare on offer was far from appetising.

It was not until 1966 that bottom spot was actually reached, although Forfar had flirted with it on more than one occasion. Highlights are scarce, but on three successive years, Forfar went out of the Scottish cup to First League opposition. In 1963 Hearts came to Station Park to play on a frostbound pitch and win comfortably, in 1964, Forfar achieved one of their rare successes of that era when they beat Clyde in a replay to set up a tie at Dens Park against Dundee, and in 1965 it was Dundee United who put Forfar to the sword.

In the League Cup in 1964-65, Forfar, with an uncharacteristically good start to the season, won Section 9 and had a couple of play-offs against East Fife. The First Leg was won in the last minute of a thrilling game at Station Park, but sadly Forfar collapsed at Bayview.

League form continued to be abysmal, and there was a sad lack of real talent as a complacent Board of Directors seemed impervious to the criticism heaped upon them. A great deal of this was nothing other than foul-mouthed vitriol, but there was also the genuine belief of sincere supporters that things did not really need to be as bad as all that, and that a little ambition might not go amiss.

After the disastrous season of 1965-66 in which Forfar lost 1-8 to Berwick Rangers on Christmas Day and rock bottom was reached, it was decided to appoint a Manager. This turned out to be Doug Newlands, and in truth the following season was a comparative improvement with the recruitment of a few good players, notably local boy John Fyfe, a commanding centre half. Sadly John broke his leg in January and took a long time to recover, but Forfar had a few good games and were only fifth bottom.

Mysteriously, Newlands resigned in June ( a few weeks after Celtic's European Cup triumph in Lisbon) but then the Board at long last appointed someone who might restore some sort of self respect to the club. This was Jake Young who would be player-manager. He had been around a few clubs without ever having really made it, but he did know the game, and he turned out to be an ideal choice for Forfar.

The improvement was spectacular. In 1968 Forfar were seventh from the top in the Second Division, and in 1969 they collected 43 points in becoming sixth. It was claimed that 1968-9 was their best season to date, although curiously in those two