By Kris Smith
Forsyth signed for the Stars in 2009 after spending the past four seasons down south playing in the English leagues.
Euan, who came through the youth system at Fife, ended up playing 198 games for Dundee before departing in 2013 to return to his hometown team in Kirkcaldy.
Firstly, Forsyth began by discussing what he did after leaving the Stars and he began: “After leaving Dundee Stars in 2013, I went back to finish my career playing for the Fife Flyers before retiring in 2015, due to work commitments and falling out of love with the game.
“Now I am living and working in Edinburgh, whilst also completing a master’s degree.”
The former blueliner made many memories during his time in Dundee and the experiences he had playing at the Dundee Ice Arena have really stuck with the Fifer.
Euan explained: “I have a lot of good memories playing for the Stars.
“I always remember the excitement of stepping up to the Elite League and the buzz it created around the city.
“I’ll always remember the first game and the expectations around it before being well and truly humbled by the Sheffield Steelers and having the realisation of the task at hand to make the step up and for the new team to gel.
“It’s tough to pick a favourite moment, obviously I wasn’t a goal scorer, so it rules out scoring any big goals for the team.
“But we had a lot of characters in the team over the few seasons I was there, including guys like John Dolan, A.J. MacLean and Brent Hughes and far too many others to mention them all.
“The bond you have with your teammates and the stories are something that you can’t recreate.
“There are lots of funny stories from throughout my time with the Stars but many can’t be shared in public.
“Although, there was never a dull moment travelling to Dundee from Fife with Gary Wishart, a few good nights out after a tough weekend of games in Underground followed by the casino and just being around a good group of guys, which is something I miss now that I am retired.
“There was always good interaction with the fans and events to welcome the start of the season and award dinners will always bring back fond memories.”
The former GB Under 20 international was also one of the players to play in the British National League before its collapse and then make the jump up to the Elite League.
“I was fortunate enough to get a chance to play in the English Premier League (EPL) after the collapse of the BNL”, said Forsyth.
He continued: “Without doubt this experience living down south with team mates and playing in a good league made me a better player and helped me mature as a person off the ice.
“After 4 years in the EPL, moving back to Scotland and playing in the SNL was difficult, juggling a full time job with training at nights.
“The jump to the Elite League is huge and I don’t think people realise the step up from juniors or SNL to Elite league level, which is why it’s so difficult nowadays for juniors to make the step up immediately without a league like the EPL in Scotland to bridge the gap.
“It took time to adjust to the pace and physicality of the Elite League and the team struggled at the start but eventually we managed to turn it around and had a good run to make the play offs and start building the clubs stature back.”
After spending three seasons with the Flyers in the BNL, Euan then made the move south to England to play with Slough Jets, Chelmsford Chieftains and Swindon Wildcats.
Then, he returned to Scotland to play in Dundee but his next move took him back across the River Tay to Fife.
Speaking about playing on both sides of the fiery Tayside rivalry, Euan said: “I got a bit of stick from Dundee fans when I first arrived back in Fife, even though they call roundabouts circles…
“But it was all good fun and in return a lot of “friendly” abuse from Fife fans for playing for the Stars.
“The rivalry started to get a bit stale during the SNL years with so many games against each other, but it soon picked up again in the Elite League including a pre-Christmas bench clearance, which brought the rivalry right back to what it was in the past!”
Finally, Euan shared a message for all the Stars fans and he said: “I hope all the Stars fans are keeping safe and well during these strange times.
“I am sure the owners and the coach are working hard behind the scenes to make sure the team is ready for the start of the season and I really hope all the fans can attend and support the team as they have been for the last 20 years.
“I loved my time at the Stars and I am truly gutted that work commitments affected me potentially staying with the team for longer.
“The organisation always treated players well and it was a pleasure to represent the Dundee Stars for four seasons.
“Hopefully I can catch a game or two next season.
“Thanks, Euan.”
That concludes our series of ‘Look Back’ articles on the ninth Dundee Stars season but there is plenty more still to come, as next week we take you back to the 2010-2011 season.
If you want to be a part of the historic 20th Dundee Stars season then you can buy your season tickets by contacting [email protected]
