Born in Swinton, Lanarkshire, he played for Partick Thistle, Manchester United, Rangers, Motherwell, Hamilton Academical, Queen of the South and Blantyre Victoria.

He then played in a further eight consecutive matches – including a 1–0 away defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the third round of the FA Cup – before losing his place to Steve James following a 3–1 loss to Birmingham City on 10 March.

[8] Forsyth made only sporadic appearances in the first half of the 1973–74 season, but became a regular in the team from the middle of January 1974, mostly playing at right-back.

[10] The emergence of Jimmy Nicholl at right-back in 1975–76 meant that Forsyth missed all of September, October and November 1975, but he regained his place in the team from December onwards, playing in every game until the end of the season, including Manchester United's run to the 1976 FA Cup Final.

[2] He later played for Motherwell, Hamilton Academical and Queen of the South, before ending his career with Scottish Junior Football Association club Blantyre Victoria.