Forfar's jute factories never totally closed down, but some people were laid off. More common was the phenomenon of "short time" working of perhaps two or three days per week. Those who had a job had to work hard to keep it as heartless employers cashed in on the situation, and those who did not have a job hung about the East and West Ports or the Cross with nothing really to do – except talk about the abiding passion of football.

But football itself struggled as men could not afford to go. "Unemployed" gates for half price were in evidence at most grounds. Forfar Athletic had one, but even so attendances dropped. The team continued their way with their still loyal support mystified by their inconsistency. Yet for the inconsistency in their individual results, they usually ended up in the same position in the Second Division, normally slightly lower than half way down the table, although there were honourable exceptions like 1932 when they were sixth.

The decade itself opened in a curious way. New Year's Day 1930 saw a great game at Station Park with Davie McLean scoring an outstanding goal as Forfar beat Arbroath 4-3. The celebrations were long and loud, but it would appear that the players themselves joined in, for they went to King's Park ( a now defunct Stirling team) and lost 12-2 the following day! This remains Forfar's biggest ever hammering and is inexplicable other than in terms of a post New Year hangover!

Davie McLean was also involved in a famous game of cricket that summer at The Hill, Kirriemuir when J.M.Barrie opened the new pavilion on June 7th 1930. Barrie had invited two great Australians Charles Macartney and Arthur Mailey to play for his team, and hundreds walked from Forfar to see them, because they could not afford the train fare!

But Davie's great footballing career was now coming to an end, and a sad feature of the 1930's is that Forfar failed to produce another great player. The teams were hard workers, mainly local lads like Bob Black and Willie Black, "Skip" Soutar, Geordie Preston and Geordie Allardice, but no McLean or Troup appeared.

There were a couple of champagne moments in the early 1930's. One was on September 29th 1930 when Forfar won the Forfarshire Cup by beating Dundee at Dens Park. Davie Kilgour scored twice, McLean at inside left supplied the ammunition and what must poor Alec Troup have felt like? He was playing for Dundee. The other was on January 21st 1933 ( a matter of days before Hitler became Chancellor of Germany) when Forfar went to Easter Road in the Scottish Cup and produced a marvellous result in drawing 2-2, and unlucky not to win, according to some accounts.

The Replay was scheduled for the half-holiday Thursday at Station Park, and a large crowd managed to scrape together the admission fee to see if Forfar could pull off a great result. The pitch was frozen, and in fact the game should not have been played. But Black pressurised the referee into going ahead, given the large crowd and hoping for a freak result. It was indeed a freak result – 7-3 for Hibs who had better footwear with them to cope with the conditions.

As the decade wore on, things slowly improved, at least economically. "Short time" working gradually disappeared, and very soon even "overtime" was being offered, as demand for jute increased. The reason for this was an ominous one, of course. Sandbags would be required in the event of another war, particularly in view of the new and terrifying threat of aerial bombardment. It was now becoming apparent that another war was a possibility. By about 1937 it was a probability, and by 1938 an inevitability.

But Forfar Athletic continued playing manfully. On December 5th 1936, Forfar were on the wrong side of a 7-1 thrashing at Cowdenbeath, but at least could claim with some justification that a Forfar girl was about to be the Queen! She had been Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon of Glamis Castle, she had been confirmed at St.John's Episcopalian Church in East High Street and her father was an unashamed lover of Forfar Athletic, frequently seen at Station Park! (It was also not unknown for him, apparently, to appear in the West End Bar while his coachdriver waited outside!) She had married the Duke of York in 1923, and when his brother Edward VIII was forced to abdicate in December 1936, the Duke of York became King George VI and she became the Queen of the British Empire.

Yet such aristocratic and indeed royal support did little to help the fortunes of the Loons. In 1937 they were 12th and in the next two years 15th. April 1st 1939, the day that Franco's Fascists marched into Madrid having won the Spanish Civil War and some two weeks after Germany had simply ignored the Munich agreement and taken over Czechoslovakia, saw Cowdenbeath at Forfar. It was an appalling 1-8 defeat and contributed to Forfar's season loss of 138 goals. In spite of that, Forfar still finished ahead of Leith Athletic, Edinburgh City and East Stirlingshire.

Season 1939-40 saw Forfar play four games and lose them all. It was a team with no heart playing in an unreal situation. On Saturday September 2nd 1939 Forfar lost 1-4 to Montrose at Links Park. Most unusually, God Save The King was played before the start, and was given a rousing reception. The Polish Army were resisting stoutly that day, the British Parliament was in emergency session talking about an ultimatum … and it would be a very long time indeed before anyone bothered about Forfar Athletic again.