A footballing career that spanned the best part of three decades brought Tom Forsyth success both on and off the park.
Tom was brought to the club by Bobby Howitt in 1967 from Stonehouse Violet and at that stage of his career played as a wing-half or inside-forward.
The boyhood Motherwell fan made his debut in October 1967 in a 3-1 win over Stirling Albion and would be used sporadically in a season that ended in disappointment as ‘Well were relegated.
The single season in the Second Division however was the perfect place for Forsyth to establish himself in the Motherwell side and he netted a dozen times in his first full season.
Tom would go to make 150 league appearances for Motherwell before joining Rangers in October 1972.
By the time of his transfer to Ibrox, Forsyth had already made his international debut in a European Championship qualifier away to Denmark in 1971. It would be the first of twenty-two caps he would earn for his country. In 1976, Tom captained Scotland to a 1-0 win over Switzerland in a game that saw Motherwell’s Willie Pettigrew net the winning goal.
‘Jaws’, as he would affectionately be known, endeared himself to his new supporters when he scored the winning goal against Celtic in the 1973 Scottish Cup Final.
He become more recognised as an uncompromising defender at Ibrox and when he bid farewell to Rangers in 1982, he had played more than 200 league games securing silverware in treble winning sides.
Turning his attention to management Tom had a brief spell in charge of Dunfermline before being reunited with former Ibrox team-mate Tommy McLean at Morton.
In their first season together in 1983’84 they lead the Cappielow side to the First Division title before repeating the feat with Motherwell the following season.
Over the course of the next decade, the duo would transform Motherwell’s standing in Scottish football – taking the Steelmen on a journey from the First Division in 1984 to a third place finish in 1993’94 with a Scottish Cup win in 1991 and European football along the way.
Sadly, the duo would leave Motherwell in 1994 with arguably their team still to reach its peak. Tom’s last post in football would be as assistant once more to Tommy McLean at Hearts in season 1994’95.