Barry Douglas

For the pianist and conductor, see Barry Douglas (pianist).

Barry James Douglas (born 4 September 1989) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Scottish Premiership club St Johnstone.

Barry Douglas

Douglas with Lech Poznań in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Barry James Douglas[1]
Date of birth	(1989-09-04) 4 September 1989 (age 35)
Place of birth	Glasgow, Scotland
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.76 m)[2]
Position(s)	Left-back, left wing-back
Team information
Current team	St Johnstone
Number	30[3]
Youth career
0000–2006	Livingston
2007–2008	Queen's Park
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2008–2010	Queen's Park	65	(10)
2010–2013	Dundee United	60	(4)
2013–2016	Lech Poznań	58	(3)
2014–2015	Lech Poznań II	1	(0)
2016–2017	Konyaspor	34	(0)
2017–2018	Wolverhampton Wanderers	39	(5)
2018–2021	Leeds United	42	(0)
2020–2021	→ Blackburn Rovers (loan)	30	(0)
2021–2024	Lech Poznań	46	(1)
2022–2023	Lech Poznań II	2	(0)
2024–	St Johnstone	0	(0)
International career
2018	Scotland	1	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11:30, 23 May 2024 (UTC)

After playing for Queen's Park and Dundee United in Scotland, he joined Polish club Lech Poznań in 2013, where he won the 2014–15 Ekstraklasa title. He signed for Konyaspor in Turkey in 2016, after which he joined Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2017. Douglas enjoyed a successful season with Wolves, winning the 2017–18 EFL Championship and making his full international debut. He joined Leeds United in July 2018, where he won the 2019–20 EFL Championship under Manager Marcelo Bielsa.

Club career

Queens Park

Douglas was born in Glasgow and raised in the city's Pollok district.Douglas was educated at Mosspark Primary School and Rosshall Academy where he met future Dundee United teammate Scott Allan^[4][5] He played for Livingston's youth teams, but was released at the age of sixteen because he was considered "too small".^[6] He then spent a year out of football before joining Queen's Park, becoming part of their first team squad in 2008. He made his senior debut in August 2008 in a Scottish Second Division match against Stranraer, and went on to become a first team regular for Queen's Park, playing for the amateur club part-time while also working as a refrigeration engineer and serving an apprenticeship in the trade.^[6][7][4] His performances saw him linked with a number of professional clubs, despite Queen's Park being relegated to the Third Division in 2009.^[6] Douglas continued to impress at the lower level, scoring nine goals from his full-back position during the 2009–10 season. He finished the season as Queen's Park's top scorer.

Dundee United

On 20 June 2010, he signed professionally with Scottish Premier League club Dundee United.^[8] His debut for his new club came in August of that year, as a substitute against Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the SPL. He spent three seasons at Tannadice; the player signed by United to replace him in the position, Andrew Robertson, also moved from Queen's Park, leading to disputes between the clubs as Dundee United had used the amateur status of Queen's Park and Douglas to avoid paying a transfer fee, and attempted to do the same with Robertson.^[9]

Lech Poznań

On 28 May 2013, Douglas signed a two-year deal with Polish club Lech Poznań.^[10][11] He made his debut against Widzew Łódź in a 1–0 win on 29 September 2013.^[12] His first goal for the club came on 3 August 2014, from a freekick in a 3–2 defeat against Wisła Kraków.^[13] He scored a freekick on 6 March 2015 against Jagiellonia Białystok in a 2–0 victory, before scoring another on 22 March in a 2–1 win over Wisła Kraków.^[13]

He played 27 times as Lech won the Polish league championship in 2014–15, and the subsequent Super Cup.^[14] He scored from another freekick for Poznań in the UEFA Champions League qualification phase against FK Sarajevo on 22 July 2015.^[15] He made 75 appearances in all competitions for the club, scoring 5 goals.

Konyaspor

Douglas signed for Turkish Süper Lig team Konyaspor in January 2016.^[5] He played his first league match against Galatasaray on 6 February 2016.^[16] With Konyaspor, Douglas reached the 2016–17 Turkish Cup final and played the full game as they defeated İstanbul Başakşehir on penalties.^[17] He played 45 times in all competitions during his spell, including four games in the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League.^[18]

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 1 July 2017, he was signed by manager Nuno Espírito Santo for English Championship club Wolverhampton Wanderers for an undisclosed fee on a two-year deal with a year's option in the club's favour.^[19] He made his debut for the club on 5 August 2017 in a 1–0 win against Middlesbrough at Molineux.^[20] He scored his first goal a week later, in a 2–0 win away against Derby County.^[21] On 22 November 2017, Douglas scored a long range freekick in a 4–1 win against Leeds United.^[22] He was nominated for the EFL Championship Player of The Month award for November 2017.^[23]

Douglas picked up a winner's medal during the 2017–18 EFL Championship with Wolves winning the league, contributing five goals and 14 assists from the left back position.^[24] His tally of assists also saw him finish joint-top (with Robert Snodgrass) of the relevant charts in the EFL Championship.^[25]

Leeds United

2018–19

On 28 July 2018, EFL Championship side Leeds United signed Douglas for an undisclosed fee (roughly £3 million) on a three-year contract.^[26] He was given the number 3 shirt for the season.^[26] He made his debut and got an assist in the opening game of the 2018–19 season on 5 August 2018 against Stoke City at Elland Road in a 3–1 win.^[27] Douglas had injury problems in the beginning of 2019, which resulted in him missing several games, which saw Gjanni Alioski slot into his left back position whilst out injured, and on 30 March, Douglas, in obvious distress, played through a ruptured knee ligament, as all three substitutes had been used, in a tightly fought 3–2 win over Millwall.^[28] The injury ruled the Scot out for the remainder of the season, including playoffs.^[29]

During an injury-hit 2018–19 season, Douglas played 27 games in all competitions, making 5 assists. Leeds finished the regular season in third place, dropping out of the automatic promotion places with three games left after a defeat to ten-man Wigan Athletic on 19 April.^[30] With Douglas' season already ended by injury, Leeds lost to Derby County in the playoff semi-finals.^[31]

2019–20

After three months out injured, Douglas returned from injury on 10 July in a pre-season friendly 5–0 win against York City.^[32] He started the season as Leeds' first choice left back, but after a series of injuries, he found himself out of the side behind Gjanni Alioski. After an impressive half time substitute appearance against West Bromwich Albion on 1 January 2020, head coach Marcelo Bielsa said Douglas would start against Premier League side Arsenal in the third round of the F.A. Cup.^[33] Douglas played the full 90 minutes of the cup tie, which Arsenal won 1–0^[34] but was substituted for Alioski during Sheffield Wednesday's late win at Elland Road on 11 January.^[35]

After the English professional football season was paused in March 2020 due to Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on association football, the season was resumed during June, where Douglas earned promotion with Leeds to the Premier League and also become the EFL Championship Champions for the 2019–20 season in July after the successful resumption of the season.^[36]

2020–21

His first start of the 2020–21 season came on 16 September 2020 for Premier League Leeds in a 1–1 draw against Hull City in the EFL Cup (Hull went on to win 9–8 on penalties).^[37]

Douglas was loaned to Championship club Blackburn Rovers on 16 October 2020 until the end of the 2020–21 season.^[38]

In May 2021, he was released by Leeds at the expiry of his contract.^[39]

Return to Lech Poznań

On 2 July 2021, Douglas returned to Poland, signing a two-year contract with Lech Poznań.^[40][41] In his first season back at the club, Douglas made 15 Ekstraklasa appearances and won his second Polish league title.^[42] In May 2023, he extended his deal for another twelve months.^[43] A year later, it was announced Douglas would leave the club upon the expiration of his contract.^[42]

St Johnstone

On 21 October 2024, Douglas returned to Scotland, joining St Johnstone on a contract until the end of the season.^[44]

International career

Douglas was selected for the Scotland national team in March 2018.^[45][4] He made his international debut on 27 March, coming on as a substitute for Andrew Robertson in a 1–0 win against Hungary.

Style of play

Douglas plays either as a left back or a left wing-back.^[4] He is also known for his free-kick and set piece ability.^[46]

Trivia

In August 2019, Douglas was one of the main stars of Leeds United documentary 'Take Us Home' on Amazon Prime, featuring in several episodes, the documentary was narrated by Academy Award winning actor and Leeds United fan Russell Crowe.^[47][48][49]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 12 May 2024^[50]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Queen's Park	2008–09[51]	Scottish Second Division	30	2	3	0	1	0	—		2[a]	0	36	2
	2009–10[52]	Scottish Third Division	35	8	0	0	1	1	—		3[b]	0	39	9
	Total		65	10	3	0	2	1	—		5	0	75	11
Dundee United	2010–11[53]	Scottish Premier League	23	2	4	0	1	0	0	0	—		28	2
	2011–12[54]	Scottish Premier League	9	1	1	0	2	0	1[c]	0	—		13	1
	2012–13[55]	Scottish Premier League	28	1	4	0	0	0	2[c]	0	—		34	1
	Total		60	4	9	0	3	0	3	0	—		75	4
Lech Poznań	2013–14[12]	Ekstraklasa	18	0	1	0	—		—		—		19	0
	2014–15[13]	Ekstraklasa	27	3	5	1	—		1[c]	0	—		33	4
	2015–16[56]	Ekstraklasa	13	0	2	0	—		7[d]	1	1[e]	0	23	1
	Total		58	3	8	1	—		8	1	1	0	75	5
Lech Poznań II	2014–15[57]	III liga	1	0	—		—		—		—		1	0
Konyaspor	2015–16[56]	Süper Lig	12	0	2	0	—		—		—		14	0
	2016–17[18]	Süper Lig	22	0	5	0	—		4[c]	0	—		31	0
	Total		34	0	7	0	—		4	0	—		45	0
Wolverhampton Wanderers	2017–18[58]	Championship	39	5	2	0	1	0	—		0	0	42	5
Leeds United	2018–19[59]	Championship	27	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0	27	0
	2019–20[60]	Championship	15	0	1	0	1	0	—		0	0	17	0
	2020–21	Premier League	0	0	0	0	1	0	—		0	0	1	0
	Total		42	0	1	0	2	0	—		0	0	45	0
Blackburn Rovers (loan)	2020–21[61]	Championship	30	0	1	0	0	0	—		0	0	31	0
Lech Poznań	2021–22[62]	Ekstraklasa	15	1	4	3	—		—		—		19	4
	2022–23[63]	Ekstraklasa	16	0	0	0	—		8[f]	0	1[e]	0	25	0
	2023–24[64]	Ekstraklasa	15	0	3	0	—		2[g]	0	—		20	0
	Total		46	1	7	3	—		10	0	1	0	64	4
Lech Poznań II	2022–23[63]	II liga	2	0	—		—		—		—		2	0
St Johnstone	2024–25	Scottish Premier League	0	0	0	0	—		—		—		0	0
Career total			377	23	38	4	8	1	25	1	7	0	455	29

1. Appearances in the Second Division Play-offs
2. Two appearances in the Second Division Play-offs and one in the Challenge Cup
3. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
4. Four appearances in UEFA Champions League and three in UEFA Europa League
5. Appearance in Polish Super Cup
6. One appearance in UEFA Champions League and seven appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
7. Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Scotland	2018	1	0
Total		1	0

Honours

Lech Poznań

• Ekstraklasa: 2014–15,^[65] 2021–22
• Polish Super Cup: 2015^[14]

Konyaspor

• Turkish Cup: 2016–17^[17]

Wolverhampton Wanderers

• EFL Championship: 2017–18^[66]

Leeds United

• EFL Championship: 2019–20^[67]

References

1. "Barry James Douglas" (in Turkish). Turkish Football Federation. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
2. "Barry Douglas". Ekstraklasa.org (in Polish). Retrieved 22 May 2022.
3. https://www.perthstjohnstonefc.co.uk/squads/first-team/barry-douglas
4. Murray, Ewan (22 March 2018). "Barry Douglas: 'I don't take anything for granted. I' ve experienced the real world'". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
5. McDermott, Scott (6 March 2016). "The big interview: Well-travelled Scots defender Barry Douglas ready to conquer Turkey as football adventure continues". Daily Record. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
6. "Barry Douglas keeps his cool amid raft of plaudits". The Scotsman. 4 February 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
7. Wilson, Fraser (19 May 2010). "Queen's Park star Barry Douglas set for move to full time football". The Glaswegian. Retrieved 29 November 2013.
8. "Barry Douglas joins United". Dundee United F.C. 21 June 2010. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
9. "£300k Robertson boost a cut above for Queen's Park". The Herald. 27 July 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
10. Szymczak, Jakub (28 May 2013). "Barry Douglas zawodnikiem Lecha Poznań" (in Polish). Lech Poznań. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
11. Lindsay, Clive (28 May 2013). "Dundee United: Barry Douglas signs for Lech Poznan". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
12. "Games played by Barry Douglas in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
13. "Games played by Barry Douglas in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
14. "SuperLech". www.90minut.pl (in Polish). 10 August 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
15. "Lech 1-0 Sarajevo". UEFA. 22 July 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
16. Szymandera, Mateusz (21 January 2016). "Douglas opuścił zgrupowanie" (in Polish). Lech Poznań. Retrieved 21 January 2016.
17. "MEDİPOL BAŞAKŞEHİR FK ATİKER KONYASPOR - Maç Detayları TFF". www.tff.org.tr. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
18. "Games played by Barry Douglas in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
19. "Barry Douglas: Wolves sign Konyaspor defender". BBC Sport. 1 July 2017.
20. "Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–0 Middlesbrough". BBC Sport. 5 August 2017.
21. "Derby County 0–2 Wolverhampton Wanderers". BBC Sport. 12 August 2017.
22. "Wolves vs Leeds United Reaction: Douglas, Cavaleiro, Jota and Costa score as Wanderer run riot". Birmingham Mail. 22 November 2017.
23. "EFL Exclusive: Barry Douglas on Wolves, winning, and winter". EFL. 22 December 2017.
24. "Wolves: Championship leaders promoted to Premier League after Fulham draw with Brentford". BBC Sport. 14 April 2018. Retrieved 16 April 2018.
25. "Championship 2017/2018 » Assists". World Football. 25 July 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
26. "BARRY DOUGLAS SIGNS FOR LEEDS UNITED". Leeds United FC. 28 July 2018. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
27. "Leeds Impress To Beat Stoke In Opener". BBC Sport. 5 August 2018.
28. Cusick, Aiden (4 April 2019). "Marcelo Bielsa vows he will not forget Barry Douglas bravery after Leeds United left-back suffers season-ending injury". HITC. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
29. "BARRY DOUGLAS INJURY UPDATE". Leeds United. 2 April 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
30. "Leeds 1 Wigan 2". BBC Sport. 19 April 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
31. "Leeds United 2–4 Derby County (Derby win 4–3 on agg)". BBC Sport. 15 May 2019.
32. "REPORT: YORK CITY 0-5 LEEDS UNITED". www.leedsunited.com. 10 July 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
33. "Marcelo Bielsa reveals four Leeds United changes for Arsenal FA Cup clash and issues Whites injury update". Yorkshire Evening Post. 4 January 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
34. Begley, Emlyn (6 January 2020). "Arsenal 1-0 Leeds United". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
35. "Leeds United 0-2 Sheffield Wednesday". www.bbc.co.uk. 11 January 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
36. "Championship: Leeds United promoted to Premier League after 16-year absence". BBC Sport. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
37. "Leeds 1 Hull City 1". BBC Sport. 25 September 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
38. "Blackburn Rovers: Barry Douglas & Tom Trybull join on loan". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 October 2020. Retrieved 16 October 2020.
39. Leeds retained list
40. "Wielki powrót! Barry Douglas znów w Lechu" [Big comeback! Barry Douglas is back at Lech] (in Polish). Lech Poznań. 2 July 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
41. "Barry Douglas on his life less ordinary and why he made a return to Poland". Daily Record. 1 August 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
42. "Pożegnanie z Douglasem i Sobiechem". Lech Poznań. 23 May 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
43. "#Douglas2024" (in Polish). Lech Poznań. 24 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
44. "Barry Douglas signs for Saints". www.perthstjohnstonefc.co.uk. 21 October 2024. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
45. "Six new faces in Alex McLeish's Scotland squad for March friendlies". BBC Sport. BBC. 12 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
46. Spiers, Tim (31 January 2018). "How Barry Douglas helps Wolves' foreign legion feel at home". Express & Star. Retrieved 28 July 2018.
47. "Take Us Home: What we learned from Leeds documentary". bbc.co.uk. BBC. 16 August 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
48. "Amazon documentary reveals how Manchester United player Daniel James' Leeds United transfer collapsed". Manchester Evening News. 16 August 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
49. "Take Us Home documentary reveals just how close Daniel James was to joining Leeds United". leedslive.co.uk. Leeds Live. 16 August 2019. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
50. Barry Douglas at Soccerway. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
51. "Games played by Barry Douglas in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
52. "Games played by Barry Douglas in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
53. "Games played by Barry Douglas in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
54. "Games played by Barry Douglas in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
55. "Games played by Barry Douglas in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
56. "Games played by Barry Douglas in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
57. "Sezon 2014/15". 90minut. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
58. "Games played by Barry Douglas in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
59. "Games played by Barry Douglas in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
60. "Games played by Barry Douglas in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
61. "Games played by Barry Douglas in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
62. "Sezon 2021/22" (in Polish). 90minut. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
63. "Sezon 2022/23" (in Polish). 90minut. Retrieved 17 July 2021.
64. "Sezon 2023/24" (in Polish). 90minut. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
65. "Barry Douglas: On Leeds exit, wait for Premier League debut and playing for 'world-class' Nuno and Bielsa". The Athletic. 28 May 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
66. Anderson, John, ed. (2018). Football Yearbook 2018–2019. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 386–387. ISBN 978-1-4722-6106-9.
67. "Leeds United are champions!". Leeds United F.C. 18 July 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2020.

External links

• Barry Douglas at 90minut.pl (in Polish)
• Barry Douglas at Soccerbase