Rab Douglas has played in a UEFA Cup final, won leagues and cups with Celtic and kept goal for Scotland all over the world.
However, should Dundee beat both the odds and the Scottish Football League’s 25-point penalty and stay in the first division at the end of the season, then the big goalkeeper will place that achievement alongside the rest.
Given his many career highs, that is some claim.
However, such was the pride and passion with which Douglas spoke after the 10-man Dark Blues had secured a goalless draw against Dunfermline, it is one that is undoubtedly heartfelt.
The Dundee players are thriving in adversity, shrugging off the latest rejection of their appeal against the points sentence, this time by the SFA, to hold the Pars to a draw at East End Park.
They had to play nearly all of the second half with only 10 men following Sean Higgins’ sending-off but, when the dust settled on the day, they had edged a point closer to second-bottom side Stirling Albion.
They are now four adrift but, having gone unbeaten since entering administration in October, have given themselves a wonderful chance of a great escape.
Should that happen, then it will take its place among Douglas’s highlights.
“With the squad of boys we have been left with, to keep Dundee in division one, it would rank up there as one of the biggest and best achievements of my life,” said the Dens number one.
“The older you get the more you enjoy football and I am enjoying it now, and it is sad to say that when you have watched guys being sacked.
“But I live in Dundee and I enjoy being around the clubit means so much to me.
“The boys will never give up now. The bit is between our teeth.
“There are so few of us left now but we did things like give up our Christmas party in Belfast without a complaint, went to play Cowdenbeath that midweek and won.
“We had a night out in Edinburgh the following week and every player was there and the get-together that day created a strong bond.
“We are now in the fight of our lives and it is not just a fight for us as players, we know we are fighting for the people who work at the club as well.
“It is going to be hard to keep it going but we will do our best, I promise you.”
Not only have the Dundee players grown closer during this testing time, Douglas believes the supporters have been brought into the equation as well.’Galling'”There is a bond between the players and the fans which I have never seen before,” he said.
“So much credit has to go to the supporters.
“There are no big-shot millionaires there now, they are all working guys and they come, put money into buckets to keep the club going and give us incredible support.
“If they see us giving 100% then they will be there every week shouting and supporting you. That means so much to the players.”
Douglas stressed the defiance at Dens has been strengthened by a feeling that while the current players have been punished by the points deduction, the architects of the club’s woes have not.
“We paid our tax,” he declared.
“On our wage slips the tax had been deducted so what happened behind the scenes is not our fault but the players, staff and fans are the ones being punished here.
“We got our slips and the pay had been deducted so we thought everything was rosy in the garden.
“They (the previous regime of directors) were still trying to bring players in so we didn’t know what was really going on.
“The people who really got the club into this mess have walked away without any punishment and, to a degree, I find that galling.
“What happens if they go to another club, to the Highland League, for example, is there anything to stop them starting again?
“The wrong people have been punished.”
Douglas revealed the Dark Blues have been boosted by good-luck messages from former team-mates who feel their ex-colleagues have been unfairly treated.
“I have spoken to most of the guys who were let goI spoke to Eric Paton just on Fridayand every single one of them has been encouraging,” he said.
“Eric is injured and Brian Kerr hasn’t got a club but they are texting the lads before games to wish us all the best.
“Your heart goes out to these boys and there is no animosity from them.
“They think the penalty is harsh because it is the players and the staff who are being left to carry the can.
“I don’t know how it works once we get out of administration, can we bring some of the boys back?
“Personally, I would like to see that. Some of them have got clubs, and that is great for them, but there are ones who don’t.
“There are a few who are not working and it would be great to give them something.”‘Brilliant result’Whatever the rights and wrongs of Dundee’s predicament, there is one incontrovertible truth that cannot be denied.
From day one of administration, the players who escaped the sack at Dens Park have been a credit to themselves and the club.
While others involved in this sorry saga deserve to hang their heads in shame for leading the Dark Blues to the edge of the financial abyss, the men wearing the jerseys have played a blinder.
Let’s just take stock of the situation they found themselves in at East End Park.
The previous evening had brought confirmation that the 25-point penalty imposed on them by the Scottish Football League would stand, the latest appealthis time to the governing body, the SFAhaving been rejected.
Thus they kicked off against the Pars as the division’s bottom club, five points adrift of nearest rivals Stirling Albion.
Down in the English Midlands trying to tie up a move to Wolves was star striker Leigh Griffiths, albeit he wouldn’t have played against Dunfermline anyway due to suspension.
Down to the bare bones as far as selection goes, manager Barry Smith suffered a late blow when experienced defender Matt Lockwood fell ill during the warm-up and had to be replaced by young Kyle Benedictus, forcing a change in the formation to a three-man central defence.
Benedictus himself was later to hobble off suffering from cramp.
Up front, the transfer embargo had also forced Smith to go down the trialist route, with former Clyde and St Mirren man Tom Brighton donning the number nine jersey.
Staring at them from across the halfway line were the Pars players, boasting a tremendous home record from the lofty position at the top of the first division table.
Then, once the action had got under way, they lost their only signed and available striker, Higgins, to a red card issued less than a minute into the second half.
Instead of feeling sorry for themselves, though, the Dark Blues dug in brilliantly and the players deserved to celebrate this goalless draw as they did at full-time, with hugs and pats on the back more in keeping with a thumping win.
“It was a brilliant result,” said manager Smith.
“After everything that has happened…it is incredible how the boys are going about their business and I can’t praise them enough just now.
“Performances like that will help us get to where we want to be.
“It is a credit to the boys, the way they fought their corner.
“Everyone is in this togetherthe fans, the players and the staff.
“It seems everything that can go against us is going against us.
“However, each barrier that is put up is being broken by my players,” he said.