Tom Syme

Tom Syme, known as “Tuck”, and his older brother James (“Tiny”), both went down the local Blairhall coalmine at the age of 14. Both then went on to become top class ice hockey defencemen, but it was at football that the Syme family had a fine tradition. The sibling’s father Jock played for Raith Rovers, while Jock’s brother Robert played for Manchester City, Burnley and Dunfermline Athletic, and a cousin, Charlie Fleming, played for East Fife, Sunderland and Scotland.

Having taken up ice hockey at the same time that he started work, Tuck was invited to join the Dunfermline Royals in 1945, when he was 16, and the following year, they won the Scottish Junior title. He broke into senior hockey with the Dunfermline Vikings in 1947 and the following year was playing in the Olympic Games at the age of 19. Upon selection for the Olympic Games, his employers, the National Coal Board, made a short promotional film about him.

In the 1948/49 season Tuck played in Canada with the Guelph Baltimores but, feeling homesick, returned to Scotland and the Vikings, and helped them win the Canada Cup in the 1950/51 season, and Autumn Cup in 1952/53.

Both Tuck and Tiny played for Great Britain at the 1950 World Champs when Britain finished fourth. After the Vikings folded, Tuck and Tiny joined the Paisley Pirates and Tuck was made team captain. It was rare for a non-Canadian to get such an honour in those days. The siblings helped Paisley to the League title, Autumn Cup and Canada Cup in their first season with them, 1953-54. His 8-season senior ice hockey career in Scotland, saw him play 380 games and score 133 points (46 goals and 87 assists).

In 1954 Syme had another crack at playing in Canada, spending one season with the Val d’Or Miners, where his wages of $50 per week entailed playing hockey and working underground in a goldmine. He ended his playing days shortly afterwards, but stayed in Canada and got a job as a policeman on the Canadian Pacific Railroad. In 1960 he moved to California, where he died in 2011. He was inducted into the Scottish Ice Hockey Hall of Fame in 2005.