Meadowbank Thistle and Livingston Douglas was born in
Lanark. He began his professional career in 1993 when he signed for
Scottish Second Division side
Meadowbank Thistle. Meadowbank Thistle were relegated to the
Third Division at the end of 1993–94, and in 1995 relocated to Livingston and changed their name accordingly. Dundee also had a good run in the
1997–98 Scottish Cup, and Douglas kept a clean sheet in the quarter-final tie at Ibrox as Dundee held Rangers to a 0–0 draw. In November 1999 he saved a
Jörg Albertz penalty as Dundee won 2–1 against
Rangers at
Ibrox. He continued as Dundee's first-choice goalkeeper into season 2000–01. The following season saw Douglas win a second SPL title. Douglas' form was generally good at Celtic, but he had the misfortune of conceding 'soft' goals in high-profile games, notably in the 3–3 draw against Rangers in October 2002 where he was badly at fault for Rangers first goal and considered to be at fault for their third also. During the 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons he faced stiff competition from Swedish international
Magnus Hedman and youngster
David Marshall. He missed the
2004 Scottish Cup Final through injury. Another high-profile blunder against Rangers in 2005 led to increased speculation about his future. At the end of the season, Douglas was told by manager
Martin O'Neill that he would not be first choice for next season. Douglas decided that he wanted to test himself in England, rather than sit on the bench, and joined
Leicester City on a
free transfer.
Leicester City His future at the Walkers Stadium was under threat after being replaced late in the 2005–06 season by
Paul Henderson and promising performances by former youth academy goalkeeper
Conrad Logan. Therefore, on 7 June 2007, Douglas was placed on the transfer list alongside
Mark de Vries and
Alan Maybury. Douglas was linked with newly promoted Scottish Premier League side
Gretna before handed a trial spell at
Motherwell (his boyhood club) on 21 August, but was unable to agree a deal with the club. The move was soon closed, but failed to do so on the last day of the transfer window. On 14 September 2007, Douglas joined
Millwall on an emergency four-week loan, making his debut in a 2–1 defeat to
Walsall on 15 September. On 23 October, he joined
Wycombe Wanderers on a three-month loan deal, making three appearances. At the first, the loan spell was for three months, before it's changed to the end of the season. Having made two appearances, Douglas loan spell ended over personal reasons on 12 December 2007. On 14 March 2008, Douglas joined
Plymouth Argyle on a week's emergency loan as cover for the suspended
Luke McCormick, making his only appearance in a 2–1 away win over
Bristol City on 15 March 2008. On 15 May, he was released by Leicester as his contract was close to expiring and later joined former club Dundee on a free transfer.
Dundee Douglas joined Dundee, for the second time of his career, in 2008. He played against his former club, Celtic, in the fourth round of the
2008–09 Scottish Cup. The match finished with Dundee losing 2–1. A week later, Douglas signed a two-year contract extension. In his first season, Douglas started every single game of the 2008/09 season and played the full 90 minutes of every game, except from the last game of season when
Ludovic Roy came on as a farewell substitution. At the start of 2009–10 season, Douglas was linked a move back to England under compatriot and former teammate,
Paul Lambert, now manager of
Colchester United. This led to manager
Jocky Scott giving a warning to Lambert that he was not for sale. During the season Douglas made sixteen appearances, mainly due to injuries, like calf and knee complaints. Despite the injuries, the club would win the final of the
Scottish Challenge Cup against
Inverness Caledonian Thistle, with Douglas in goal for the final. In the 2010–11 season, Douglas made 34 appearances. During the season, the club entered administration and Douglas, along with
Matt Lockwood, would help-out new manager
Barry Smith. During the club's administration, Douglas helped the club to a 23 match undefeated streak beating the previous record set by the team and not only escaping relegation, but also exit administration at the end of the season. Following this, Douglas signed a one-year deal with the club. Douglas started every single game of the 2011–12 season and with the exception of a sending off against
Partick Thistle, in a 1–0 loss on 29 October 2011 he played the full 90 minutes of all the games. His sending off was incorrect after referee Steven McLean judged Douglas to have swiped
Chris Erskine's feet, though he claims that Lockwood shoved him to the ground. The club appealed against his sending-off and the SFA overturned the suspension, claiming the referee harshly treated Douglas. The club would finish in second place that season, but advanced to the Scottish Premier League to replace Rangers. Douglas played his first SPL match, in over seven years, in a 0–0 draw against
Kilmarnock on the opening game of the season. Despite back to back losses, Manager Smith would praised his performance for his saves, including a penalty save, in a 1–0 victory against
Heart of Midlothian, which would give Dundee their first win of the season and against his former club, despite losing 2–0. Douglas made thirty appearances until in mid-March and his future at Dens Park was under threat after being replaced late in the 2012–13 season by
Steve Simonsen and a fall out with new manager
John Brown, though Brown claimed that injuries were the main factor in why Douglas was dropped. This led to speculation that Douglas' time at Dens Park was on the verge of ending. On 8 May 2013, with the club now relegated to the First Division, it was announced that Douglas would not be offered a new contract. On 13 May 2013, at half-time in a match between Dundee and Kilmarnock, Douglas was given standing ovation from the fans during an emotional lap of honour. Following his departure, Douglas' feud with Brown continued when his former manager urged other club's not to sign him, claiming he was a "disrespectful liar". This led Douglas threaten a legal action against Brown.
Forfar Athletic On 25 July 2013, Douglas joined
Scottish League One side
Forfar Athletic on a one-year deal. Douglas was on the bench when Forfar Athletic beat
Rangers 2–1 on 3 August 2013, in the first round of the Scottish League Cup, a match that Forfar claimed was arguably the biggest result in their history. On 8 September 2013, Douglas returned for Celtic to play one match as keeper in Celtic's charity match in honour of
Stiliyan Petrov. Douglas took over in goal for the Loons at the start of November after injury ruled usual first choice Darren Hill out for a few weeks. Douglass would go on to be named in the
2014–2015 PFA League 1 Team of the Year. Douglas played a crucial role in Forfar's promotion challenge in the 14/15 season as they made it into the championship play off final defeating Alloa 3–1 in the first leg but eventually crashing out in a 3–0 defeat in the second leg, the second goal of which Douglas gave the ball away to
Liam Buchanan following a miscommunication with
Darren Dods for him to strike into a near enough open net. Following the sacking of manager
Dick Campbell in December 2015, Douglas quit the
Station Park side in protest.
Arbroath After almost a year without a club, Douglas signed for
Scottish League Two side
Arbroath, joining up with once again Dick Campbell who was his manager previously whilst at Forfar Athletic. At the end of his short-term contract, Douglas left the club on 20 January 2017. Douglas subsequently re-signed for Arbroath at the end of March 2017, after on loan goalkeeper Cammy Gill was recalled by his parent club,
Dunfermline Athletic. Douglas left the club for the second time at the end of the 2016–17 season. He rejoined the Lichties soon after however, making his return to football in a victory against
Queen's Park in November 2017, departing the club at the end of the 2017–18 season. After assisting Arbroath in goalkeeper coaching duties during his previous spell, Douglas was hired as the team's goalkeeping coach in 2018. Douglas would assist the
Lichties in winning
League One in
2018–19. In 2020, after numerous injuries and suspensions depleted Arbroath prior to their
League Cup match against
Dunfermline Athletic, the 48-year old Douglas appeared as a substitute for the
Lichties, though did not make an appearance. In January 2023 Douglas, now aged 50, would again be an unused substitute for Arbroath in January 2023 in their
Scottish Cup match against
Motherwell.
International Douglas was a regular for
Scotland during the
UEFA Euro 2004 qualification campaign. After a 6–0 loss to the
Netherlands in Amsterdam in the qualifying playoff, Douglas lost his position as first team goalkeeper. It was a night from which his Scotland career never really recovered and he played just once more under
Berti Vogts, against
Wales, in a 4–0 defeat. Douglas was recalled to the Scotland squad in 2005 by
Walter Smith for a
2006 FIFA World Cup qualifier against
Italy, but he had to be substituted in the 38th minute due to injury. His last appearance for Scotland was a friendly match in August 2005, where he came on as a second-half substitute in a 2–2 draw against
Austria. In all he played 19 times for Scotland. ==Personal life==