Ian Forsyth was born on 4 July 1946 in Edinburgh, Scotland.[1] He was educated at Daniel Stewart's College and played for the school XV from 1962 to 1964, captaining the 1st XV in his last year.[2]
Forsyth made 376 appearances for Stewart's College FP and Stewart's Melville FP 1st XV, scoring 537 points including 123 tries.[2]
He played for Edinburgh District 37 times from 1970 to 1980, scoring 14 tries and also represented the Combined Edinburgh & Glasgow Cities XV against the touring Argentinians and New Zealand All Blacks. He also played for the Co-optimists and the Barbarians[2]
Forsyth's debut for Scotland was against New Zealand at Murrayfield in Edinburgh on 16 December 1972.[3] He played all four matches in the 1973 Five Nations Championship. He scored a try in Scotland's home victory against Ireland.[4]
His last appearance for Scotland was against the President's XV at Murrayfield on 31 March 1973.[5]
He was also an accomplished sevens player[6] and by 1980 had winners medals from all the tournaments held in the Borders including of course the prestigious Melrose tournament.[2] He also played for the Co-optimists (Scotland's representatives) at the Hong Kong sevens in 1981.
He was Secretary of Stewart's Melville FP RFC from 1983 - 1988 and President in Seasons 1990/91 and 1991/92. He briefly served as a selector for the Edinburgh XV before becoming a selector for the Scotland "A" XV from 1996 to 2003.