Bobby Clark was the only Don to represent Scotland in any of their internationals in 1970, but Aberdeen's sensational Scottish Cup triumph in April of that year ensured the selectors attention. In February, 1971, Jim Forrest became the 22nd Don to win a full international cap when he came on as a substitute for Colin Stein in a European Championship qualifier in Liege.
Forrest was no stranger to the international scene, having been twice capped with Rangers in 1965. But he must have thought his international days were over until he received his recall.
Born in Glasgow in September 1944, Jim Forrest joined Rangers straight from school in 1960 as a schoolboy international of great promise. At Ibrox he developed into the powerfully-built, speedy raider who was equally effective on the right flank or through the middle and during the mid 1960s he became a prolific scorer for the Ibrox side. In late 1965 Forrest was capped by Scotland against Wales and Italy, but in 1967 his career took a nosedive in the wake of the Gers cup humiliation at the hands of Berwick Rangers and he was transferred to Preston North End.
During the summer of 1968 Eddie Turnbull stepped in to take Forrest north to Pittodrie for a bargain fee of £20,000 and Jim quickly showed his old scoring touch had not deserted him. He was an important member of the Don's 1970 Scottish Cup winning side, but it was his move to the right wing at the beginning of the 1970-71 season to accommodate Joe Harper in the middle that brought out the best in the ex-Ranger.
Jim's call-up for the Belgium v Scotland match in February, 1971 was an unhappy experience as the Scots lost 3-0 and suffered severe criticism from the Press. However, he was capped twice more in the summer of 1971, once strangely enough on the left flank against Denmark and then in his more familiar right wing berth against USSR. Alas, Scotland lost both matches 1-0, and manager Bobby Brown under heavy pressure, began looking elsewhere for his salvation. Jim Forrest had played his last game for his country. The end of the 1971-72 season saw Forrest out with an injury and he only recovered his first team spot at Pittodrie for a brief spell at the end of the 1972-73 season following Joe Harper's departure to Everton. During the 1973 close season Jim left Aberdeen and took his talents to Hong Kong Rangers, subsequently spending many years in Hong Kong before his fairly recent return to Scotland.
|
about the trust
