Jake Young
[Monday, 13 May 2019 19:40]
Many of the old school of Forfar Athletic fans will be sad to hear of the death last week in Haddington of Jake Young a former Player-Manager at Station Park.
Jake was undoubtedly the most successful manager in the club’s history prior to the Knox/Houston eras.
Throughout the 1950s and well into the sixties the club had been in the relative doldrums with a position in the bottom six of the old style Second Division sadly the ‘norm.’
In the summer of 1967, the committee at the time turned to Jake as Player Manager.
Thirty-One years of age he had seen service as a central defender with Dundee, Arbroath, East Fife and St. Mirren prior to arriving at Station Park.
There then followed two of the club’s most successful seasons as the side clinched a seventh-place finish in the nineteen club second tier by the end of the 67/8 campaign.
That was the bettered by a place and five points the following season.
In fact in the calendar year of 1968, the ‘Loons’ of the time had a remarkable league playing record of Played 35 Won 22 Drew 7 Lost 6.
Sadly in the first season, the record in the opening half was not so tidy, a similar scenario in the latter half of the second.
There were many a stand out game for the fans over that period, notably a 5-1 New Years Day thrashing of an Arbroath team heading for promotion at Gayfield in 1968 and a 1-0 home win over Motherwell in September of the same year, one of only two defeats the ‘Steelmen’ suffered that season on the way to the title.
A goal scorer on both occasions and club captain of the time Ally Carrie was a welcome boardroom guest at Station Park only two months back.
Other key players in Jake’s squad included a youthful Archie Knox, George Grimshaw later transferred to Nottingham Forest, striker Jim Young, no relation and Ian Stewart alongside local lad John Fyfe and goalkeeper Dave Philip who still resides in the ‘toonie’ to this day.
Former Club Chairman Neill Wilson was also on the club’s books and still speaks so fondly of those ‘heady’ days. In fact, Neil was an unused sub for that famous Ne’er Day encounter mentioned above.
Sadly Jake moved on, tendering his resignation after a Board Meeting in the autumn of 1969 stating at the time that the committee had refused to back his own ambitions for the club going forward.
Jake was also well known in the Licence trade as a representative for many years for a well-known brand of the national ‘tipple.’
The sympathies of the Directors of Forfar Athletic Football Club at this time are accorded to his widow Marlene and daughters Wendy and Kerris and his extended family.
His funeral is scheduled for 12 noon on Thursday, May 16th at Seafield Crematorium.