There were words of advice from famous whistler Tom Wharton that David Syme remembered when he walked into the white hot atmosphere of an Old Firm battle. Not that the pep talk was much use to him in the League Cup Final between the Glasgow giants in 1986. Wharton told young referees to not let their hearing be sharper than their eyesight. Perhaps he should have warned them they’d need eyes on the back of their heads. Syme - who died this week aged 76 after a short battle with cancer - was an official when the men in the middle were more like sheriffs in the Wild West. Eye-watering tackles one minute, fans going mad on the terraces the next, it took a special kind of character to cope with the flak and the fury. Syme was one of those characters though, liked and respected - but he needed to have his wits about him at Hampden 34 years ago. The whistler had already sent off Mo Johnston and with Tony Shepherd taking a pop, the Celtic man was warned with a red as well if there was any more lip. Seconds later Syme fell a whack on the back of his head - Shepherd was prime suspect and the card came back out. It wasn’t until the linesman pointed out it was a coin from the terraces rather than a slap from a Celt the decision was famously overturned.
It didn’t stop Hoops boss Davie Hay having a go afterwards but close pal and fellow former ref Brian McGinlay admitted his friend knew it came with the territory. He said: “I always joked to him I had the edge with 21 Old Firm games while he did 19. If you can handle those matches you can handle anything. Davie and myself’s mentor was Tom Wharton and he had great advice for those games. He said, ‘never let your hearing be sharper than your eyesight’. He took that on board but you need eyes on the back of your head. The famous one was the League Cup Final. He sent off Tony Shepherd as he must have thought the Celtic player had clipped him, but the linesman called him over and explained it was a coin that hit him! Davie had to call Shepherd back on to the pitch. It was a pretty chaotic game and I remember Davie Hay wasn’t happy with the penalty decision, but that comes with the territory when you are the referee, and Davie understood that. Most managers and players would have known him to be fair.”
It would be unfair to be remembered for the League Cup Final. Syme has a stellar career that spanned more than a decade and took him all over the world. Dealing with Scottish football’s tearaways was the ideal preparation to handle the best. McGinlay said: “You need to be a strong character to be a referee, but even more so back then. There were a lot of characters in the game and the tackles could be wild at times. He also had a good rapport with the players, there would be the usual back and forth but there was always good banter. Davie gave as good as he got and managed to keep them in check. He was around for a long time and got to know a lot of them. He’d let Willie Miller know in the first five minutes that he was the one refereeing the game.” Syme made his name in Scotland but his fondest memories are further afield. McGinlay said: “We came through the ranks at the same time and we were put on the FIFA list. There was a small group of us who went all over the world together and those were great times. There were a lot of highlights but I remember when we went down to Wembley for England’s game against Argentina in 1980. I was the referee, with Davie and Tommy Muirhead the linesmen, in front of 92,000. It was Diego Maradona’s first appearance in the UK. He was just about 19-year-old at the time and he was sensational. It was a joy for us to see this young talent who would become one of the greatest players ever. Davie went all over the world, he refereed at the Under 20 World Cup Final in Russia, European Championships, big European games, you name it. That said it all about his ability as a referee.”
Syme remained firm friends with the band of refs that included McGinlay, Bob Valentine and Kenny Hope. The last got together was in March before the pandemic and McGinlay added: “There are a dozen of us who meet up once a month in the pub, where we’re right all the world’s wrongs and talk about the good times we all had. Davie was a great guy and he’ll be sadly missed.”
Source: Daily Record