John Syme was born in Scotland in 1924. He started his career in junior soccer in Carron. After a short spell with Scottish League club Falkirk he returned to junior soccer and joined Forth Rangers.
In December 1945 Johnny was signed by Stenhousemuir. Located in central Scotland the club were members of the Scottish League “B” Division. During his time with Stenhousemuir Johnny developed into a great centre half back. He was described as a player who could handle the best of players in Scottish soccer.
Together with his brother Robert he came to Canada in June 1949. In August 1949 his wife May and their first-born son David joined him in Toronto. He later became a father of five more sons; namely William, John, Gordon, Stephen and Russell.
In Toronto John and Robert joined East End Canadians. In November 1949 Johnny was picked to represent a picked eleven from Eastern Canada, representing Toronto, Hamilton and Montreal, against an American Soccer League All-Star. The two picked teams played to a 2-2 tie in the annual series for the Triner Cup.
The six-footer helped East End Canadians win the 1949 National Soccer League Championship and the Lord Atholstan Cup.
Johnny played on numerous all-star teams during his career in Canada. It was said that no Canadian international representative side could be called complete if it did not include Johnny.
On May 21, 1955 Johnny played for the Ontario All-Stars against touring English team Huddersfield Town. Huddersfield Town won 3-1 in front of 5,600 fans at Varsity Stadium.
While in Toronto John worked at the Dow Brewery. In 1967 he moved together with his family to Lethbridge, Alberta. Johnny worked with Sick’s Brewery in Lethbridge until his retirement.
John passed away at the age of 59 on August 11, 1984, in Edmonton, Alberta.
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