I've Learned So Much From My Amazing Adventures
The Football League Paper|January 14, 2018

I've Learned So Much From My Amazing Adventures

Chris Dunlavy
I've Learned So Much From My Amazing Adventures

STEVE Archibald at Barcelona. Alan McInally with Bayern Munich. John Collins at Monaco. Until 2015, only three Scots had ever won a title on foreign soil.

Then, with nary a hint of recognition or fanfare, Barry Douglas made it four. When the 28-year-old won the Polish championship with Lech Poznan three years ago, almost 100,000 fans lined the ancient streets outside Ostrow Cathedral to welcome their heroes home.

The mayor gave a speech. National newspapers and state television heralded Poznan’s achievement for weeks on end.

A Polish Super Cup was followed by a move to Konyaspor in Turkey’s Asian hinterland. There, an unprecedented thirdplace finish was capped by the club’s first silverware in 95 years when they won the Turkish Cup after a penalty shoot-out. This time, Douglas was chaired from the pitch by 30,000 flare-wielding fans.

Yet ask the average Brit if they’ve heard of the intrepid Glaswegian and most will shrug their shoulders. Not that he’s bothered.

“I’ve made friends with people I might never have known and seen parts of the world I might never have seen,” says the Wolves full-back. “I won things I never dreamed of winning. If people didn’t notice, I don’t care. I wouldn’t change those times for anything.”

Douglas is that rare breed; a British footballer who not only thrived abroad but embraced the language and culture. Yet his move to Poland in 2013 was, to all intents and purposes, a fluke.

“I was playing for Dundee United at the time and Poznan had sent scouts over to watch Johnny Russell (now Derby),” he recalls. “Luckily, I was in a rich vein of form and they got in touch.

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