Thetownend.com

Sadly I have to report the passing of Dave Syrett.

Dave had been battling Cancer for a while, he was just 60 years old.

I was his neighbour when I lived in Warminster. Lovely bloke, with a lovely family.

Banged in a few for the Town and was also a bit of a legend at Mansfield.

RIP Dave...

http://www.swindon-town-fc.co.uk/Person.asp?PersonID=SYRETTDA


Here's Dave piddling on the Palace fireworks in the 70s.

https://youtu.be/Ea8gG8AVIwA

Oh shit thats awful, so sorry to hear that RIP.

That's very sad news.  i remember seeing him break into the team and score some cracking goals.  The arrival of Peter Eastoe pretty much ended his Swindon career.

RIP

So sorry to hear that, condolences to his family and friends

Bollocks. Awful news.

Before my time playing wise but stood with him (and probably introduced by you Flash) on the terrace at Yeovil a few years back. Perfect gent. RIP Dave.

Thoughts with his family, RIP Dave.

He also scored a hattrick at palace when venerable so was the new up and coming.

He had a video of it.

Will try and get it posted.

RIP Dave

Saw him score in my first game at the County Ground in 76

2 goals mate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ea8gG8AVIwA

Different game JJ....I will do some digging...

Blimey flash thats awful.i played in the same dorset schoolboys squad,he went to gillingham school i was at shaftesbury.brother pete played for salisbury i believe.

Ah sorry :)

RIP Dave, the curliest locks to grace the CG, and grace it you did.

Friendly face of a talented forward line, my personal highlight was a "Syrett turn" taking out two or three Sheff Wednesday players and a cool finish after a long, clear run on goal.

Great memories.  RIP

Very sad indeed.  Was a regular in my first season watching at the CG.  RIP.

Very sad indeed. I was lucky enough to play with Dave for a season in the Supporters' Club cricket team. As said, a really nice bloke.
R.I.P. Dave

Very sad to hear this - he was my favourite player at one time. RIP Dave.

Yes very sad.  No age at all to be dead.  He had a deceptively shambling style, rather like Dave Bamber, which made it look like he was going nowhere but in fact was difficult to dispossess.

Real shame.

Dave Syrett was part of my introduction to football at Swindon .He worked his bollocks off for the team something now even the likes of mourinho loves.He was deceptively quick and played football with a huge smile on his face .An amazing night at home to Fulham (Moore best and marsh )nights with atmosphere the likes of lots of posters on here could only dream of (personal opinion only sorry if that upsets you theakston 2k not)

Some nice memories posted on the Tony Kempster Non-League Forum from Mansfield fans. (Sorry, can't seem to get the shortcut link to copy over.)

Quite rightly regarded as a legend by Stags fans of a certain age.

Re: [John Treleven] Dave Syrett (Swindon, Mansfield, Walsall, Peterborough, Northampton Town)

Tributes from Mansfield Town fans


Tributes and memories poured in from Mansfield Town fans after the announcement that ex-Stags striker Dave Syrett had passed away aged just 60.

Leading the way were Stags fans and writers Tim Morriss, Gordon Foster and Martin Shaw.


“Like all other Mansfield Town supporters of a certain generation I will have two abiding memories of the great goalscorer who was Dave Syrett,” said Tim Morriss.

“The first came on the opening day of our only season in the second tier of English football.

“Like so many others I - then a young teenager - was packed into the old North Stand marvelling at the great Peter Shilton in front of us when Dave showed a flash of his brilliant clinical finishing to give us the lead.

“We were in dreamland, despite having to run for our lives before and after the match from Stoke’s hooligan element. Dave could sniff out a goal from nothing and that day he put us on the road to a famous 2-1 win.

“He might have been slightly built, but his anticipation to latch on to a loose ball and ability to keep calm and avoided tackles and lunging goalkeepers inside the penalty area was second to none.

“I am sure he was top scorer that season and a shining light in a relegation team that would have defied the odds and stayed up if they had been more clinical from the penalty spot.

“Dave was a great striking foil to another club legend, Ernie Moss, at the start of that season I recall. In fact, many of us believe that if Ermie had not been injured just before Christmas we would have stayed up.

“Sadly, for most of the season Dave was a lone striker at times after the New Year, but he still managed 16 goals.

“The most famous, even more than being the first to score for the Stags in the old Second Division, was against the mighty Spurs - one of those occasions when I was proud to say ‘I know because I was there’.”

Morriss continued: “That second abiding memory was him scoring a hat-trick against the likes of Glen Hoddle and Steve Perryman in a thrilling 3-3 draw at Field Mill with Spurs.

“Syrett twice put the Stags in front with poacher’s finishes before, in pouring rain and on a mudbath of a pitch, he anticipated a goalkeeper’s mistake, raced on to a loose ball and rolled it through the mud and into an empty net.

“He then turned away and wheeled his right arm in the air - an iconic sight and one to be remembered for all time

“Sadly Spurs equalised through the great Hoddle late on and the Stags dropped a crucial point because of yet another missed penalty.

But the sight of Dave and his grinning face in the mud after claiming his hat-trick in front of the North Stand will live me forever.

“For anyone who has never seen the match, go to YouTube. It featured on ITV’s Sunday afternoon highlights show in the 70s and has memory-jerking commentary from Hugh Johns too

Martin Shaw said: “Dave Syrett was a Stags legend for the part he played in Mansfield Town’s only season in the second tier of English Football, in 1977/78.

“The Stags were relegated that season, but Syrett scored an impressive 16 goals and was Player of the Season.

“There were some huge highlights along the way, most notably a win over Stoke City on the opening day of the season, with Syrett scoring the first goal on his debut, firing under England goalkeeper Peter Shilton after a poor back-pass.

“Sadly there were no TV cameras there to capture the moment. But there were TV cameras to capture an incredible game against Tottenham Hotspur at Field Mill, which ended 3-3, with Syrett scoring a hat-trick.

“The game was played on a mud-bath and was the best Stags game I have ever seen.

“Syrett’s third goal, to make it 3-2, came after Gordon Hodgson intercepted a stray pass from Steve Perryman, and played a ball over the top.

“Spurs keeper Barry Daines came out to clear and sliced his kick, allowing Syrett to roll the ball into the empty net. Yet still the ball nearly got stuck in the mud and only just crossed the line.

“I remember so clearly watching on as a 13-year-old from the Bishop Street Stand, elated, only to then see Glenn Hoddle equalise in the last minute with a free kick from outside the box.

“I have wonderful memories of Dave Syrett - RIP and sincere condolences to his family.”

Gordon Foster recalls: “Although I didn’t get to as many Stags games in Dave Syrett’s day as I would have liked due to family commitments, I would say that his match stats don’t do justice to his contribution, especially that one season in Division Two.

“The big problem as I recall is that the board at the time still tried to live like a Division Three club, so they couldn’t really compete.

“It meant that when Ernie Moss got injured he wasn’t adequately replaced and Syrett was too often left to plough a lone furrow up front.

“But the fact that he got 16 goals largely under those circumstances for a losing side earned him the right to a mention in the same breath as the likes of Moss, Ray Clarke, Terry Eccles etc, though not quite with Waggy and Roy Chapman.

“His hat-trick against Spurs is what most Stags fans would remember him for.

“Unfortunately the goals dried up for him in his second season before he moved on to Walsall.”

Thanks for an interesting addition to the thread (it wasn't really an option to keep in touch with an ex-player's post STFC progress in those days).  Unsurprisingly Dave Syrett inspired a deal of affection as well as admiration

Funeral: Minster Church Friday 29th 11:30am.

Sorry.... Warminster

Fucking hell....I will get it right..

This Friday August 5th