‘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.
“I went over, had a look round the place. It was great, a really nice city. I thought ‘Yeah, I’ll give this a try’. I knew the reputation of British players abroad and I knew a lot of people who’d not lasted. I think a bit of me wanted to show that it could be done.”
Key to proving that point was a simple ethos. “I didn’t go there expecting it to be the same as Glasgow,” explains Douglas, who played 33 times in the titlewinning season. “It sounds obvious, but I think a lot of people fall into that trap.
Different
“Whether it’s moving to the UK or away from it, people have a tendency to compare things to home. But it’s a different country, a different way of life. Why would things be the same?
“If you’re thinking ‘I miss that’ or ‘I wish I had this food’, you’re never going to be happy. You have to just roll with it. If you can’t speak the language or don’t understand how a supermarket works, don’t get too stressed. Just accept it, let yourself learn. It takes time, but you get there.” In Poznan, that meant mastering one of Europe’s most notoriously difficult and unintuitive languages - and toning down his own Pollock accent. “When I first went over, they couldn’t understand a word I said,” he laughs. “I had to slow down, take the edge off. Some of the boys back home give me stick now because I don’t sound as Scottish anymore! “I can actually speak a bit of Polish, though. It is hard. The grammar and the intonation is the biggest challenge because they have sounds in Polish that don’t exist in English. “I had lessons, but the best way to pick up any language is by speaking it every day. To people in shops, to the guys in the dressing room. I definitely learned more on the training ground than I did in the classroom. By the end, I understood almost everything. Mind you, a lot it was swear words!” In Konya, a city of 2.1 million people in the Asian half of Turkey, adaptation was less about language and more about behaviour. “Where we stayed was really religious, really conservative,” he adds. “It’s not like Dubai, where you can’t wear certain clothes. And people were incredibly friendly.
“But you had to respect the culture, the beliefs of people. Just think about things before you accidentally get yourself in a difficult situation. It sounds restrictive but, again, that’s a matter of perception. We just went with the flow and had a fantastic time.”
Douglas wasn’t the only one to benefit from the move abroad. Unwilling to live the life of a WAG, wife Deb used her time in Poland to launch Dolly Royalty, a fashion business that is now her full-time job.
Business
“She started her own clothing boutique,” explains Douglas. “It was always something she was interested in, and going abroad gave her that opportunity.
“To be honest, I think it would have been far more difficult if she’d been bored. The business kept her occupied and it meant we could come home and talk about each other’s day.
“It’s online, so she could take it everywhere she went. It’s been successful for her and she’s got a good business out of it.”
Now, though, the pair are back in Blighty. Signed by Wolves in July, the set-piece specialist has scored four goals in 26 games and formed an indispensable cog in Nuno Espirito Santo’s Championship-conquering machine.
And with 14 overseas players arriving in the summer, Douglas says his own experiences have
come in handy.
“I’ve been the new guy, so I know how it feels,” he explains. “But it isn’t just me helping out. A big part of our success has been the way we’ve welcomed each other. And the guys from abroad have done brilliantly. They’ve embraced coming to England and worked hard to fit in.
“Ruben Neves is a great example. There’s no doubting his ability. Technically, he’s incredible and that’s why he’s commanded such a high fee.
“But what’s really surprised me is how down to earth and how nice a guy Ruben is. He’s one of the boys, and he’s never let the price tag affect him in any way.
“There was a lot of talk that the foreign guys would struggle in the winter months but if you look at them – and I include Ruben in this – they’ve all got that other side. A bit of tenaciousness and the ability to grind. That’s really impressed me.”
This time next year, Douglas is likely to be playing in the Premier League. So are his continent-hopping days at an end?
“You never know,” he says. “I’ve learned never to close any doors. But, right now, I’m focussed on Wolves and getting the job done.”