Origin The club was formed officially in June 1879, although no matches were played in that season. George M. Cox, a member of the Cox family which owned
Camperdown Works, gathered enough support and funds totalling £300 to form the first cricket club in Dundee or the surrounding area (as Broughty Ferry was a separate
burgh at the time) which was to have its own ground. Suitable land was leased on the then-outskirts of Broughty Ferry. A pavilion was built for the opening of the new ground and debut match in 1880. Forfarshire took its name from the official name of the county of
Angus at the time. Cox, who played for Marchbanks CC in
Lochee as well as
Perthshire before the creation of the new club, wanted to emulate the success of the
Perth-based team in his home town.
Early years In the first few years of its existence, Forfarshire fielded a poorer team than its neighbours in Perth or
Aberdeen. The early professionals brought to the club were highly-regarded players, but not of the calibre required to drive the team to successfully challenge the other county sides. The arrival of new professional Pat Higgins from Guiseley in
Yorkshire, in 1883 was seen as a step forward. Although he considered his performances poor in his first season at the club, suffering from a bad illness the previous winter and admitting to having underestimated the quality of Scottish cricket, he was offered the opportunity to return as professional for the 1884 season. The Irish-born player's association with the club would last a total of 33 years. In 1885, Dundee-born
W. R. Sharp was appointed captain. His leadership skills, along with his excellent ability as an
all-rounder, allowed the team to flourish under his stewardship. The partnership of Sharp and Higgins over the next quarter of a century became one of the most successful and enduring in the history of Scottish cricket. In the years since cricket was first played competitively in Scotland, no rivalry has been more fierce than that of
Forfarshire and Perthshire. The relatively close proximity of the clubs drew large away crowds to the new fixtures. Perthshire was over 50 years older and had a much more established side but Forfarshire soon became competitive. Of the 22 matches played between 1880 and 1890, both teams had won seven, with eight other matches ending as a draw. The development of the rivalry meant matches between the two clubs became some of the most anticipated ties on the Scottish cricket calendar. Eventually, derby attendances grew, especially at Forthill, to well over 10,000 on a regular basis. In 1898 the original pavilion was replaced by a new construction financed by club captain W. R. Sharp.
Golden era The formation of the
County Championship was fundamental to Forfarshire's expansion in the early 20th century. The prominence of the derby with Perthshire grew to become the most important matches of the year. Crowds of over 20,000 attended Forthill, with extra trains between Broughty Ferry and Perth being scheduled on match days to accommodate the large numbers of away supporters. The winning run or wicket of the inter-county derbies was often followed by pitch invasions; several times Forfarshire players were carried off the pitch to the pavilion on the shoulders of celebrating fans. As was the case at Forthill, large crowds attended derby matches in Perth. In 1903, while playing a derby match against Perthshire at their home ground on the
North Inch, a temporary stand holding nearly 500 spectators
collapsed, injuring more than 150 people. Championship honours were shared with Aberdeen in 1906. W. R. Sharp retired from playing in 1908 and was succeeded as match-day captain by James Kyd; Sharp continued in his role as club captain after retiring. Several high-profile professionals played for the club in the interwar period, including
Gordon Hodgson for the 1935-36 seasons, who previously played for
Lancashire and was also an
England international footballer who played for
Liverpool at the time. The club won the county championship again in 1928, 1930 and 1932.
Post-war Following the
Second World War, the club were without a professional for one year. In 1947, former
Middlesex player
Bill Etherington was signed. In May, the decision was made to trial a 'Talent Money' system which saw Etherington awarded a bonus for more than five wickets taken, as well as for scoring 50 or 100 runs in a match. Despite the financial incentives presented to him, Etherington never settled in Scotland. After a difficult spell with illness, including
relapsing malaria, he was forced to resign and returned to London in late July. The club was unable to fund a replacement and again went without a professional for a large part of the season. The club went without domestic success for several years after the War, before winning the County Championship in two successive years in 1950 and 1951. Following another barren spell, Forfarshire again won the championship in 1957.
Later county years Despite the draw of cricket not being nearly as strong as it had been in the inter-war period, and the club's status far-diminshed from its golden years in the early part of the 20th century, the average attendance at Forthill was thought to be 5,000 until the early 1960s, after which attendances slumped to all-time lows. Without the financial benefits of paying spectators, the club was forced to make long-term cuts to several areas, including no longer employing a professional each year. The 1960s was as difficult a decade on the pitch as it was in the boardroom, with Forfarshire's rivals Perthshire winning the County Championship in eight out of ten years. Some success was found, however, in the fledgling
Scottish Cup, which was won by the club in 1968. In 1973, Forfarshire stopped Perthshire from winning an eighth consecutive championship, winning the league for the first time in 16 years. The club would then wait another eight years, until 1981, to win the championship. It was in this season that the first professional since
Jack Dyson in 1962 was signed, this time
Australian
Andrew Hilditch. The club's final Championship success was in 1992. Of the three most successful clubs in Scottish county cricket, Forfarshire's victory was the last; neither Perthshire nor Aberdeenshire would win the league again before it was dissolved after the 1995 season, albeit Aberdeenshire were denied the final season after being forced to forfeit a match.
After county cricket Due to poor league finishes in the final three years of the county championship, Forfarshire was placed in the Second Division of the new
SNCL. Over the next seven seasons Forfarshire remained outside the first tier, other than 1998 when the SNCL trialled a different league format. The club was promoted to the Premier Division for the 2003 season. This proved to be a short stay, with Forfarshire relegated back to the second tier in 2004. Another five years would pass before the club was again promoted. In the final season of the SNCL in 2011, Forfarshire achieved its best finish in the tournament, third place out of the 16 teams in the final league format. The SNCL was subsequently disbanded and is now largely seen as a failed experiment which weakened the standing of Scottish domestic cricket.
Present day In recent years, Forfarshire have won several honours, including the
T20 Scottish Cup and the
Eastern Premier League in 2019. Winning the league meant the opportunity to play in the
Cricket Scotland Grand Final against the winner of the Western Premiership. Forfarshire beat their opponents, Uddingston, crowning them 2019 Scottish champions. This was followed by two successive cup doubles, winning the
Scottish Cup and T20 Scottish Cup in 2022 and 2023. By winning the T20 Scottish Cup, Forfarshire gained a place in the
T10 European Cricket League, hosted at the Cártama Oval Cricket Ground in
Spain. The club was first scheduled to compete in the tournament in 2020 after winning the T20 Scottish cup the previous year but the tournament was cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023 the club came second in its group table and was knocked out. Forfarshire's tournament in 2024 was more successful, qualifying from the initial group stage to contest matches in the second group stage. After winning only one game, the club was again eliminated. In 2024 the club finished in third place in the Eastern Premier League. Due to representatives failing to submit captain's reports, Forfarshire was deducted five points in the final table. ==Home ground==