Forfar Athletic have led tributes to the club’s oldest regular fan, former Loons director Ally Smart, following his death at the age of 97.
Locally-born Mr Smart enjoyed a lifetime love of the game and was a talented player in his younger dayS and a Station Park season ticket holder up until the end of last season.
During the war he played with several sides whilst stationed at various locations with the Ordnance Corps, including Bath, and with Wolves reserves alongside Billy Wright, who became a club legend and the first footballer in the world to earn 100 international caps.
He spent a spell in Wick as an insurance salesman, playing for Elgin City in the Highland league.
He and his late wife, Cathy, returned to the Angus town where Ally was a committee member and treasurer for many years with Forfar Celtic juniors, who shares Station Park at the time with Forfar Athletic.
In the 1970s Ally became a board member during one of the most successful spells in the Angus outfit’s history.
He was a well-known figure at the Station Park turnstiles on match days, alongside the many behind-the-scenes roles he took in the running of the club.
Mr Smart stepped down as a director in 1986 but remained a loyal fan and a regular in the stands, despite failing eyesight in recent years.
In 2017, Ally was reunited with former Loons manager Archie Knox when he celebrated his 95th birthday as the ex-boss returned to Station Park on one of his regular boardroom visits.
Predeceased by his wife, Mr Smart is survived by his son, Gordon, two grandsons and three great-granddaughters.
Forfar Athletic said: “He will be sadly missed by many, most notably his immediate family to whom the sympathy of all at Station Park is accorded at this time.
“His passing will be marked in the appropriate manner prior to kick-off at the next home fixture against Clyde on Saturday week.”
