Then a Dundee player took over as linesman!
We never seem to be far away from a refereeing controversy in Scottish football.
Already this season there have been a series of incidents where officials have come under fire.
Can you imagine the reaction if decisions were being made by one of the players?
It sounds crazy, but it’s exactly what happened on this weekend in 1966.
A Dundee player had a short spell as linesman during a match against Celtic at Dens Park.
Almost 28,000 fans were there to watch the Dark Blues take on the reigning champions.
The game was perfectly balanced at 1-1 when a linesman advised the referee that he was ill and would have to leave the stadium.
This was long before the days when a fourth official was on duty, so no obvious replacement was readily available.
The referee decided he would ask Dundee substitute Alex Kinninmonth to run the line.
Alex recalled: “Before I knew what was happening, I had the flag in my hand.
“Celtic manager Jock Stein wasn’t too pleased at first and raised an objection.
“But he then seemed to quickly change his mind and agreed that I should do the job.
“I ran across the pitch to take up my position and Bertie Auld shouted: ‘Remember there are two teams on the park’.
“I just replied: ‘Are there?’” Bertie shouldn’t have been too worried. Alex went on: “The referee told me just to watch the line and flag if the ball went out.
“He said he would take care of the rest, including offside decisions.
“My only previous experience of refereeing came when I helped with running youth clubs. But, like most players, it wasn’t a big problem to take over.
“It was very unusual, though, and I always remember that afternoon.”
Alex’s stint as an official didn’t last for long – the main reason being that he was needed on the field.
He said: “Bobby Wilson got injured and I was called back to the dugout by the manager so that I could replace him.”
Alex now appeared on the field in his more usual role as a player.
He was briefly replaced as linesman by a mystery man in a lounge suit before Grade Two referee Bob Dearie appeared and completed the game.
It was quite an afternoon for the Dundee substitute and he nearly made it an extra special one.
He said: “I nearly scored near the end of the game, but my shot was cleared off the line.
“I thought that would have been a real claim to fame – to have been a substitute, a linesman and goalscorer in the same match.
“You want to be remembered for scoring goals and good performances but I’m sure everyone who was there remembers me acting as linesman.”
Sadly for Alex and his team-mates, Celtic’s Stevie Chalmers scored to give the visitor’s a 2-1 victory.
It was a morale-boosting win ahead of the Hoops playing the first game of their European Cup campaign against FC Zurich.
They won that match 2-0 and went on to win the trophy.
Alex, now 74, spent eight years with Dundee and four at Dunfermline before joining Forfar in 1976.
His last job in football was as part of the coaching staff at Raith Rovers.
He said: “Dundee manager Bob Shankly insisted I finish my apprenticeship as a painter and decorator and I was able to go back to that when I hung up my boots.
“Football was a really enjoyable break in my working life.”