insertion of metal plates into his face). With no substitute goalkeeper available, forward Robbie Winters took over in goal and Aberdeen lost 4–0. Leighton's final league appearance that season meant that he set the record for the oldest player in the Scottish Premier League at 41 years and 302 days (since broken by Andy Millen in 2007). In July 2000 he was given a testimonial against Middlesbrough, the same opponent as in his first appearance for Aberdeen in a 1978 friendly; however he could not actually play in the match due to recovering from his cup final injury. He released his autobiography the same year. In 2004 he was inducted into the club's Hall of Fame. International career Leighton's international career lasted for 16 years, from 1982 to 1998. He was an uncapped squad member for the 1982 World Cup, before making his debut against East Germany on 13 October 1982. Within two years he was his country's No. 1, and he played in all of his country's matches at the 1986 and 1990 World Cups. After Leighton fell out of favour at club level, Andy Goram became Scotland first choice goalkeeper and played at Euro 92 and Euro 96. Leighton regained the position after a man of the match performance in a 1-0 home win versus Sweden in November 1996 during qualification for the 1998 World Cup. Leighton played all three Scotland matches at the tournament finals and became the last football player born in the 1950s to play in a FIFA World Cup game. He retired from international football on 10 October 1998. His last match was a European Championship qualifier against Estonia when aged 40 years and 78 days. This set a new record as the oldest player to play for Scotland, since broken by David Weir in September 2010. Leighton is a member of the Scotland Football Hall of Fame, having won his 50th cap in 1989. Leighton played 91 times for Scotland, second only to Kenny Dalglish's 102 appearances. Coaching career Leighton became Aberdeen's goalkeeping coach after retiring as a player. He parted company with the club in August 2009 when manager Mark McGhee (his former teammate, who had also brought him to Reading years earlier) chose to replace him with Colin Meldrum. In February 2010 he was appointed as goalkeeping coach for Huntly in the Highland League. Leighton was reappointed as the goalkeeping coach