All things being equal, and with the perennial caveat of “if he plays”, Ryan Jack will make his own little bit of Aberdeen history on Wednesday night as he will play his 200th game for the Dons, making him just the 73^rd player in AFC history to achieve the double century.

To have done so at such a young age is a yet more remarkable achievement, leaving the record books wide open to a little bit of rewriting by the skipper over the next few seasons.

It’s a hefty milestone, but just how many of those games does he really remember?

“Sometimes I remember certain things and certain situations from particular games, but when you are running about in the heat of the battle, you don’t really have time to stand and take it all in! Maybe if you are for example a goalkeeper and have the game played out in front of you, it is easier to remember matches but as a midfielder, it is difficult.

“I do remember my debut, 22nd September 2010. It was a midweek League Cup game against Raith Rovers at Pittodrie. We won 3-2. Then the following Saturday I played here against Rangers. We lost that game 3-2 and I came off the bench.

“I’d been on the bench for about 25 games prior to making my debut. That must be some kind of club record! I remember my friend, Nicky Low, was on the bench about twice and he got his debut before me! We were 3-0 up at Tynecastle, the game was won, so the manager threw Nicky on. I was not happy!

“They were frustrating times. When you are young, you think differently about things and the only thing I was concerned about was getting on and thinking about myself, my own game. You don’t see the bigger picture. The only thing that should have mattered that night was that we won the game. I’ve learnt that lesson since!

“The hard thing was that every Saturday I was having to mentally prepare myself for the big moment. By the time I did eventually make my debut, I was thinking, “If I get on, I get on! Just take it as it comes”.

“I think it maybe made me more determined to go and prove myself when I did get the chance. Eventually Mark McGhee gave me that chance, and as I said in my Motherwell programmes notes recently, it is something in which I will always be grateful to him for.

“As well as Nicky there were a lot of good young players coming through at that time. Fraser Fyvie, Peter Pawlett, myself and Nicky were all the in U19 side and all in midfield”.

One game must inevitably stick out above the rest as a favourite. No prizes for guessing which one it is…

“If I had to pick a favourite game, it would have to be the League Cup final. That probably goes without saying. Being able to lift the cup, in front of that many Aberdeen fans, it was a great moment, especially as for a long time it looked like I would miss the game because of injury.

“Another game which is special to me was a midweek match against Inverness in January 2011. We won the game that night 2-0 and I scored my first ever senior goal. It was not a bad goal either! I won the AFC Goal of the Season award that year with that strike.

“There are a few other games that stick in my head for various reasons and not always good ones. One game I remember was when I scored at Parkhead against Celtic in October 2011. Ten minutes later, I was sitting in the changing room after having picked up two yellow cards. I actually scored to bring the game level. It was such a high and I was celebrating with all my team-mates, going nuts and was booked for over-celebrating and for running to the Aberdeen fans. Then the next tackle, I was still on a high and tackled Gary Hooper and before I knew it, I was walking down the tunnel after receiving a red card.

“Back then I was obviously a lot younger. I lost my concentration, I was still buzzing and went flying into a challenge. As I said when you are young, you sometimes don’t think about the situation. When you are sitting in the dressing room all alone, you very quickly learn from your mistakes”.
 
RedMatchday
To read interview in full please by a copy of RedMatchday Magazine on Wednesday night. In this exclusive interview Ryan also talks about how he is developing as a captain, how becoming a father has changed his life as well as his hopes for 2016. You can buy a copy online by clicking here
 
Ryan’s appearances
2010-11 :  31 + 6 (sub) = 37
2011-12 :  36 + 1 (sub) = 37
2012-13 :  19 + 0 (sub) = 19
2013-14 :  41 + 0 (sub) = 41
2014-15 :  40 + 2 (sub) = 42
2015-16 :  21 + 2 (sub) = 23
TOTAL = 199
 
 
The 200 club
Miller, Willie  797
McLeish, Alex  693
Clark, Bobby  595
McKimmie, Stewart  561
Leighton, Jim  535
Anderson, Russell  407
Jarvie, Drew  386
Irvine, Brian  384
Jess, Eoin  379
Cooper, Willie  373
Mackie, Darren  364
Hewitt, John  361
MacLachlan, Bert  361
Hather, Jackie  354
Colman, Donald  347
Robb, Dave  345
Bett, Jim  337
Langfield, Jamie  336
Smith, Jimmy  335
Kennedy, Stuart  333
Grant, Brian  332
McMaster, John  315
Simpson, Neil  310
Hume, Jock  304
Little, Billy  303
Considine, Andrew  326
Harper, Joe  300
Shewan, Ally  300
Graham, Arthur  298
Martin, Fred  296
Strachan, Gordon  292
Snelders, Theo  290
Hamilton, George  279
Hogg, Jimmy  279
Hutton, Jock  279
Rougvie, Doug  278
Yorston, Harry  278
Clark, Chris  277
Foster, Richard  273
Harris, Tony  272
Hermiston, Jim  271
McDermid, Bob  270
Glen, Archie  269
Miller, Joe  265
Connor, Bobby  263
Smith, Steve  259
Lennie, Willie  253
Young, Derek  251
Blackwell, Harry  251
Falloon, Eddie  251
McGhee, Mark  250
Diamond, Alexander  249
Smith, Gary  249
McMillan, Tommy  248
Thomson, George  241
Love, Andy  240
Weir, Peter  238
McGill, Charlie  238
Wishart, Bob  234
Ogston, John  230
Booth, Scott  228
Armstrong, Matt  221
Cooper, Neale  220
Young, Alec  220
Fraser, Bob  215
McLelland, Chic  213
Anderson, George  213
Mills, Willie  211
Petersen, Jens  203
McNaughton, Kevin  202
Jackson, W.K.  202
Soye, Jimmy  200