Rab Douglas could become the seventh oldest player in the world on Friday as takes his place on the Arbroath bench at the age of 49.
Former Dundee and Celtic star Douglas, a goalkeeping coach at Gayfield, will be among the Red Lichties substitutes as they prepare to host Morton – needing a point to confirm their place in next season’s Championship.
With regular back-up Scott Gallacher forced to leave Arbroath after his contract was cancelled for ‘personal family reasons’, Douglas is the only registered keeper on the books alongside regular No. 1 Derek Gaston.
Douglas celebrated his 49th birthday last Saturday and will become the second oldest keeper in the UK to play a competitive match if Gaston is injured or sent-off.
Former Dark Blues goalkeeping coach Bobby Geddes became the oldest keeper in the UK when he replaced the injured Tony Bullock for the final 63 minutes of Dundee’s 1-0 loss to Raith Rovers in 2010.
Ironically, Geddes was only on the bench that day as Douglas sidelined from the Dundee squad due to injury.
Geddes was 49, eight months and nine days when he made that appearance eleven years ago.
He is behind England legend Sir Stanley Matthews, Uruguay’s Robert Carmona, Japanese veteran striker Kazuyoshi Miura, Israeli Isaak Hayik and Egyptian Ezzeldin Bahader in the world golden oldies’ rankings.
A grandfather of six, Bahader took his place in the Guinness World Records book when he turned out at 74 and 125 days.
“I have absolutely no qualms about putting Rab on the bench,” said Arbroath manager Dick Campbell.
“I had him in goals at Forfar a few years ago and he’s played once for me at Arbroath.
Happy Birthday Robert Douglas!
Everyone at Arbroath FC would like to wish our goalkeeping coach @Robert__Douglas a very Happy Birthday!
The Cat's experience and motivation rubs off on all our players and we are lucky to have him at our club.
Happy Birthday Rab! 🍻 pic.twitter.com/r5NJHcBIWN
— Arbroath FC (@ArbroathFC) April 24, 2021
“Rab is a hugely experience professional who has played at the very highest level and has 19 caps for Scotland.
“He’s also a valued member of my coaching staff who came in when I lost my very close pal John Ritchie.”
“To walk off your national stadium at the age of 45 with a clean sheet, no matter what, nobody can take that away from me.”
Clean sheet
Douglas, a columnist for The Courier and goalkeeping coach at Gayfield, kept a clean sheet the last time he played in Arbroath’s 0-0 draw with Queen’s Park at Hampden – aged 45, six months and 18 days.
“It was amazing to play again but, no disrespect to Queen’s Park, I didn’t have much to do,” said Douglas after that game.
“To walk off your national stadium at the age of 45 with a clean sheet, no matter what, nobody can take that away from me.”
He started his career at Meadowbank Thistle in 1993 before going on to star at Dundee for eight years across two spells and turn out 163 times for Celtic.
Douglas starred for Celtic in their 2003 UEFA Cup Final defeat to FC Porto.
He last played regularly in season 2015-16 where he made 20 appearances for Forfar at the age of 44.
Oldest players
Bahader was 74 and 125 days when he turned out for Egyptian side ‘6th October’ in a third division match against El Ayat last year.
He was a year older than Israel’s Isaak Hayik who played for Israeli side Ironi Or Yehuda in 2019.
Prior to that, the record was held by former Japan international Miura who is still registered to play for Japanese side Yokohama FC having played in a J1 match with Kawasaki Frontale last September at the age of 53, six months and 28 days.
Sir Stanley Matthews
Miura overtook Matthews as the oldest player in world football – a record the former England star had held for 55 years – with that appearance.
Matthews remains the only 50-year-old to play a competitive game of football in the UK. He appeared for Stoke City against Fulham in 1965, in his 699th professional game.
