Neill Wilson

Forfar Athletic officials received the sad and devastating news on Saturday evening of the death of former player, lifelong fan, Director, Chairman and latterly Honorary Vice President Neill Wilson following a fairly lengthy battle with cancer.

His passing comes only four weeks after Neill and his family suffered the loss of his devoted wife of over fifty years Gill who had also immersed herself in different facets of the club over a lengthy period.

Neil a Forfarian through and through was no mean footballer himself in his younger day playing at centre half in a Forfar East End side that reached the quarter-final of the Scottish Junior Cup before succumbing to Vale of Leven.
Performances for the Guthrie Park outfit brought Neill to the notice of the then ‘Loons’ manager Jake Young who brought him to Station Park for what turned out to be an 18 month stay.
He became part of one of the most successful post-war Station Park squads of the time playing alongside the manager, captain Ally Carrie, Ian Stewart, and local schoolteacher John May to name but a few not forgetting Archie Knox with whom Neill remained firm friends.

In fact Archie attended Gills’ funeral service in the Lowson Kirk only ten days ago.

To be fair Neill often joked that his biggest achievement in a Forfar shirt was being an unused substitute when only one was allowed in a 4-0 demolition of top-of-the-table Arbroath at Gayfield on New Year's Day 1968.
Neill then returned to the junior scene for a short spell, before concentrating on his business interests, his passion for his other sport golf, following the Athies from the terraces as well as the national side, but most importantly to marriage and with it family life.
On the Station Park front, Neill was to make a return at the ‘coal face’ as they say in the mid-nineties being instrumental in running the first Sportsman’s Dinner alongside Board Members and others.

In late 1996 he finally accepted an invitation to become a Director of the club and within a year when David McGregor stepped up to the Chairman’s role, Neil assumed the position of Vice Chairman.

Over the next ten years in that role he fronted many ground improvements at Station Park and was heavily involved in fundraising ventures, but in general, being a great support to the Chair and all his fellow Directors.
He also oversaw the installation and renovation at the park of a second-hand ‘cabin’ procured from the remnants of Forfar Infirmary as the club’s ‘new’ hospitality unit at the time, a building probably due to its slightly ‘tumbledown’ nature still fondly remembered by many to this day.
When David relinquished the Chairmanship in 2007, Neill stepped up the ‘plate’ for a five-year spell in the role.

During that period in fact at the end of his first season in the post, he was instrumental in convincing Dick Campbell to take up the manager’s position at Station Park and all supporters know what a successful and in many ways fun-filled period followed.
Ill health did strike Neil for the first time during that period and that scenario plus the fact that he always said that away back in 1996 he had only agreed to serve for one year on the board in the first place saw him step aside as both Chairman and a Director in May of 2012.

He was appointed an Honorary Vice President of the club in recognition of his services a role he took very seriously indeed.

Within a couple of months of his ‘retiral’ he oversaw the replacement of the Station Park’s green, green grass with at the time the top of the range 3G surface, a mammoth responsibility.
He was then the Clerk of Works a year later behind the purchase and installation of the Hospitality Complex and 1984 Lounge which has become such a feature of a Station Park match day for many.

His involvement in this project even included a trip to the manufacturers on Humberside to check on the progress.
From then on Neill continued as a regular at nearly all home games, still travelling to away fixtures when time permitted where he was always a welcome guest in opposition boardrooms.

Sadly from around halfway through this season, his visits to Station Park were a little less frequent but by the end of the season, he had returned and was in great form in the Boardroom on the final day of the season when East Fife were the visitors.

Thankfully a win was recorded on what was as it has turned out the last time he was to see his beloved ‘Loons’ in action.

Away from football, Neill built up a successful Quantity Surveying business in the town and was a ‘weel kent’ and popular figure within the community as a whole.
Both Neill and Gill were proud and devoted parents to Ewan and Stuart, welcoming Laura and Lesley and three grandchildren into their extended family.

Both were legendary hosts and an invite to a party in Academy Street was to be treasured and most certainly enjoyed.

Of course, Neill a keen player himself and a winner of the prestigious Dunnichen Medal at Forfar Golf Club in 1974, how he liked to tell that story, was so delighted in later life by the achievements both locally and further afield of his sons on the golf course.
Sadly neither Neill nor Gill will now have the thrill of seeing Stuart captain the Great Britain and Ireland team in the Walker Cup against the might of the USA at the Old Course in September but I am sure they will be looking down with great pride.

Recently retired Forfar Athletic Director David McGregor a great friend of Neill for well over thirty years and more paid tribute to Neill on the club’s behalf.

‘Neill’s contribution to the ‘Loons’ over the past three decades has been immense, particularly during his spells as Vice Chairman and Chairman.
He was a particularly welcoming host in the Boardroom and his stories told to hospitality guests and others over time will be well remembered well after he is laid to rest.
On away trips the length and breadth of the land we were both as were all Athies officials made so welcome by opposition Directors, although I think a few were glad to see the back of the pair of us as well, only joking!
Simply put though Neill most certainly had a businesslike and serious nature when required, many a time it was just great fun to be in his company and I personally will treasure so many wonderful memories.’

Forfar Athletic will pay tribute to Neill and Gill prior to kick-off at their home Viaplay Cup tie against Arbroath on Tuesday night.

In the meantime, the sympathy, thoughts and prayers we are sure of all with a Forfar Athletic persuasion and many others will be with the family in particular at this so sad time.

Funeral arrangements will be posted by the club when they come to hand.