The War itself finally ended in Europe in May 1945 and in the Far East in Japan. It would clearly be some time before everyone was demobilised, so the 1945-46 season was still an unofficial one. Arbitrarily, the Scottish League created two Divisions with no reference at all to the pre-war situation and Forfar were not admitted, being compelled to play their football in what was known as the Eastern League.

This was a blow to Forfarians who, as was rightly pointed out in letters to newspapers, fought in the Desert, Italy and Normandy as well as anyone else. Indeed more than one angry writer compared the Scottish League to "the dictatorship which until recently prevailed over most of Europe". What right did the Scottish League have to decide these things? Sadly, of course, they had every right.

Forfar's problem lay in the fact that James Black was now in his 80's and no longer such a vigorous force to fight on Forfar's behalf.

Worse came with the arrangements for 1946-47, the first official season. Forfar were allocated a place, but in Division "C", and not allowed to take part in the new competition called the League Cup. Division "C" consisted of those not considered good enough for Division "B" plus a few reserve teams. What made matters worse was that Division "B" contained only 14 clubs – and there would have been room for Forfar! But, if Forfar wanted to join Division "B", they would have to do so by gaining promotion.

The heroes who came back from foreign fields found Forfar in a strange situation. The town was poor and had suffered like everywhere else the ravages of war. But there was a new optimism around under the Labour Government who were determined that the days of unemployment, poor health and housing, and educational underachievement had gone for ever. Forfar, traditionally anti-Socialist, nevertheless caught the general mood. Full employment was soon in operation, and a start was made to make the world a better place.

Crowds flocked to football. In April 1946 in an unofficial Victory International the whole Scottish nation had gone mad when Jimmy Delaney scored a late winner at Hampden over England. Crowds of 2,000 at Station Park, even to see "C" Division football, were commonplace. Forfar were of course in good company with derby matches against the likes of Brechin and Montrose, not to mention the visit of Celtic or Rangers reserves. But the team did not perform, suffering from a lack of clear direction. Black really should have retired by now, but he still dominated the "Committee" which did everything – and usually rather badly. What was badly needed was a Manager for the actual team. It would take a long time before Forfar's "Committee" would realise this.

The first post war season saw Forfar grind to a halt during February and March as snow descended and froze. It was the worst winter ever, but perhaps Forfar Athletic had cause to be grateful for it in that the snow covered up, as it were, what was really a very mediocre Forfar season.

1947-48 was little better, although gradually a decent team was being shaped under the balding Jock Massie who was ideal for the job as captain. He had played for Hearts before the war, and although the war had deprived him of his best years, he nevertheless possessed a keen football brain knew a thing or two about man- management.

It was season 1948-49 that saw Forfar triumph in Division "C". An astonishing crowd of 4,700 passed through the turnstiles on Christmas Day 1948 to see Forfar beat Brechin 5-2, and, as there were only 12 teams on the League, this meant that Forfar could win the Division as early as January 29th, if they could beat Montrose at Station Park that day.

On a cold but bright winter day, Forfar proceeded to do just that, beating the Gable Endies by 4-2. The crowd was well over 3,000, and they saw a competent Forfar team return, if not to glory, at least to the Division where many felt they should never have been removed from in the first place. It was a great day for all those associated with the club, and quite a few telegrams were received from teams like Celtic and Rangers welcoming them back to "B" Division.

Forfar were getting used to big gates, for the previous week Hibs had arrived on Scottish Cup business. They were the current League champions, and men like Gordon Smith and Eddie Turnbull were on view. It was, of course, a fairly one sided affair with Hibs winning 4-0 and visibly taking their foot off the pedal late in the game, but it was a memorable occasion nevertheless.

The news was dominated by foreign affairs with the Soviets trying to take over Berlin, a possible war about to happen in Korea and the funny business of Palestine. The Jews had been brought from Europe to live there, but didn't appear to show much gratitude, and the British Government probably made its best ever decision when it made up its mind to pull out.

But for Forfarians, there was the 1949-50 season in Division "B" to look forward to. They started off in the League Cup by winning their section to the delight of their fans, getting the better of Stenhousemuir, Albion Rovers and Hamilton. This set up a Quarter Final two legged tie with East Fife. Here reality set in with an aggregate 8-2 beating from the strong going Fifers who would win the trophy that year. Forfar finished 10th in Division "B" that season, and everyone seemed reasonably satisfied with that.