Forfar will play in League Two last season after finishing rock bottom in League One, picking up just 11 points from 18 matches all season.
It was a miserable campaign from first to last for the Loons. They were not aided by serious injury to the three players they were expecting to play at centre-back this season, including experienced players Michael Travis and Stuart Anderson, as well Darren Whyte, who is one of their biggest talents.
Unsurprisingly, given how short handed they were in a key area, they conceded at a rate of more than 1.5 goals per game. Even goalkeeper Marc McCallum, who had another strong campaign, was unable to stop the flow of goals.
To make matters worse for Forfar, the defence was supposed to be their area of strength, and once that was taken away from them, their squad looked very frail indeed. There was a surprise in midfield as Mark Hill failed to make an impression at all over the course of the campaign, while even Archie Thomas was ineffective. Meanwhile, there was a sense that Chris Antoniazzi was underused on the wing.
Forfar always looked short offensively, and that would tell as the season progressed. Hopes were pinned on Steven Doris, who proved physically incapable of the task of playing a big role, and also Scott Shepherd, who was simply not good enough. Only when Scott Fenwick was added during the shutdown did they improve, though not dramatically.
Indeed, Forfar did some decent transfer business in January to improve their squad, but it was insufficient to make a big difference.
Ultimately, manager Stuart Malcom was sacked, leaving the club to be steered through the final weeks of the season by Gary Irvine, who was left with an impossible task.
