Dougray Scott's referee connection

Andy Mitchell and Dougray Scott at the West of Scotland Cricket Ground, venue for the first football international in 1872

I enjoyed taking part in the BBC Scotland documentary 'Bringing Football Home' which was presented by the actor Dougray Scott, who explained how Scotland's football pioneers laid the groundwork for the modern style of the game.
   The narrative follows the story over hundreds of years, starting with the oldest football in the world, through the Foot-Ball Club founded in 1824, the first international in 1872 and the 'Scotch Professors'. It then examined how Scottish football lost its way in the 20th century, while the passing game was exported around the world. 
   You can see the programme on BBC iPlayer and it is an entertaining hour.
   What made it different for me was discovering Dougray Scott's own personal link to football history, which he was unaware of despite being a lifelong football fan.
   He knew his father Allan had played for Queen's Park in the 1940s, although without making the first team. But what he did not know was that three members of the previous generation - his great uncles - were top referees, including one who holds a Scottish record to this day.
  He was given the name Dougray because it was his grandmother's maiden name. And the Dougray family, who hailed from the Barrhead area, had an amazing record as referees in the early years of the 20th century. Three brothers - James, Tom and John - all refereed at the highest level.

Referee Tom Dougray with team captains George Wilson (England) and Jimmy Blair (Scotland) in 1922; and below, the team page from the match programme.

Of the three, Tom Dougray was outstanding. He was on the Scottish League list from 1908 to 1934, in which time he took charge of eight internationals, including four England v Scotland matches from 1920-26. Incredibly he refereed no less than 11 Scottish Cup finals, starting in 1910 with the Dundee v Clyde final and concluding in 1933 when Celtic beat Motherwell. In doing so, he set a record which will almost certainly never be broken.

When he retired in 1934, age 54, Tom Dougray told his story in the Sunday Post.

There is a video of Tom Dougray in action on the Pathe News site. This still from the video shows him meeting the England and Scotland captains at Old Trafford in 1926, and then taking control of the game.
   Tom was following in the footsteps of his elder brother, James, who had just two years as a first division referee (1902-04) but left a lasting impression as one of the founders of Scotland's first Referee Association in 1903.

James Dougray was appointed secretary of the Scottish Referee Association when it was founded. Dundee Evening Post, 10 August 1903 (British Newspaper Archive)

The third referee in the family was John, ten years younger than Tom, who made it onto the Scottish League list for four years in the 1920s. This created the unusual situation of having brothers appointed to referee matches on the same day.

Two Dougrays referee on the same day! Tom at Motherwell, John at Firhill. Dundee Courier, 19 December 1924 (BNA)

And to finish with, I leave you with this anecdote about Tom Dougray being confronted by a razor-wielding fan in Edinburgh. The story was related in a local paper many years later so is hard to verify, but the writer claims to have witnessed the incident. The irony is that his assailant was a Hibs fan, as is Dougray Scott today!

The extraordinary story of Tom Dougray's encounter with an angry Hibs fan in Edinburgh, as told in the Montrose Review, 2 April 1948 (BNA).

The three refereeing brothers:
James Dougray (1877-1952)
Tom Dougray (1879-1964)
John Dougray (1889-1932)

Dougray Scott: Bringing Football Home is available to watch on BBC iPlayer at this link: ​www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001wdny