At the age of 17, he moved to Nairn County, and would later go on to play in the Premier League with Bolton Wanderers and eventually represent Scotland.

[4][5] The club was unable to build upon their relatively competitive start to life in the Highland League, and gradually, season-by-season, began to struggle to the point where they had finished bottom in 14 of the 18 seasons between 1996–97 and 2013–14.

[7][8] During the 2008–09 season, an exciting future appeared forthcoming, when television producer and former Lochaber resident, Paul MacDonald, unveiled his vision for the football team.

In conjunction with his American Entertainment company, PMAC Tonight, he planned to create a reality TV series based around the toiling team.

The premise was to import some of the best young American talent from college campuses across the USA, in an attempt to take Fort William "From Worst to First", in what was envisaged to be the ultimate underdog story.

[20] On 31 July 2019, Fort William won their first competitive match in 707 days when they defeated Nairn County 5–2 in a North of Scotland Cup tie, ending a 69-game run without a victory.

— Strathspey Herald[23] (January 2023)In November 2024, it was announced that the SFA had rejected Fort William's re-application for an entry level SFA Licence, leaving the club ineligible for promotion back into the Highland League and ineligible to compete in the Scottish Cup unless they win the North Caledonian League.

Often during the autumn and winter months, many home matches are postponed (usually due to a waterlogged pitch) – a consequence of the heavy rainfall the town experiences.