Aberdeen Football Club is deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Jim Forrest.

Jim played 186 times for the club, scoring 62 goals and was part of the side that won the Scottish Cup in 1970.

The thoughts of everyone at Pittodrie are with Jim’s family and friends at this sad time.

Born in Springburn in 1944, as a youngster Forrest joined Rangers and he replaced Jimmy Millar in the Rangers first team. In 1963 his first full season, he scored 39 goals which was followed by an incredible 57 goals in 1964/65. That form ended with Jim gaining his first Scotland caps against Wales and Italy in 1965. Two years later his career at Ibrox came to a sudden end in the wake of Rangers Scottish Cup defeat at the hands of Berwick Rangers. He was transferred to Preston North End.

During the summer of 1968 as Aberdeen manager Eddie Turnbull was once again changing his squad and he persuaded Preston to part with the Scotland striker for a fee of £25,000 which at the time was a club record. Forrest settled at Pittodrie immediately and became the Dons main striker. It was when Aberdeen bought Joe Harper from Morton in October 1969 that saw Turnbull change his formation.

Forrest went on to lead the line in the 1970 Scottish Cup Final as Aberdeen defeated Celtic 3-1 at Hampden. It was when Harper reverted to his central role in season 1970/71 and Forrest went on the right wing that the Dons got the best out of him.

Forrest also played his part in the Dons early European adventures with a vital goal against Zaragoza in the 1968 Inter City Fairs Cup. Arguably his most important came against Celta Vigo in Spain in what was the first ever UEFA Cup competition.

Forrest was called up to the Scotland team in February 1971 to face Belgium in Brussels. Two more caps followed, against Denmark and the USSR. Scotland struggled in both matches with narrow defeats and that ended Forrest as an international player. An injury sustained in 1972 effectively ended his Pittodrie career, his last appearances coming at the end of the 1972/73 season.

In 1973 Jim Forrest left the Dons and joined Hong Kong Rangers after a brief spell in South Africa where he settled for some years after retiring from playing.

Jim was back in Aberdeen in 2005 when the club arranged a reunion of the 1970 Scottish Cup winning squad.