was such that when handed the winner's medal by Sealey, he later returned it to his replacement's pocket, and when a medal specifically for Leighton was received by the club due to his appearance in the first match, he declined that too. The two players remained close friends, although Leighton's relationship with Ferguson deteriorated to the point where the two were no longer on speaking terms. Sealey retained the position of first-choice goalkeeper for the 1990–91 season after signing a permanent contract. Although Leighton remained contracted to United for nearly two more years, he played only one more game for the club (against Halifax Town in the Football League Cup on 26 September 1990). He was fourth choice keeper in 1990–91 behind Sealey, Gary Walsh and youngster Mark Bosnich, and was loaned to Arsenal between March and May 1991, a period in which they won the league title, although he did not play. Leighton remained fourth choice United keeper in season 1991–92 behind Peter Schmeichel, Walsh and youngster Ian Wilkinson. He spent a portion of that season on loan with third-tier Reading. Return to Scotland In March 1992 Iain Munro signed him for Dundee for a £200,000 fee. He played in the last dozen league games of the season winning the title in the Scottish second tier and promotion to the top flight. He was out of favour at Dens Park after Simon Stainrod replaced Munro as manager. Leighton had another non-playing loan spell at Sheffield United. His career was revitalised after Alex Miller signed him for Hibernian in summer 1993, Leighton playing over 150 games and missing only one league match in four seasons. He played in the 1993 Scottish League Cup Final defeat to Rangers. He was recalled to the Scottish national team, collecting 23 of his 91 Scotland caps at Hibs. He later said he played the best football of his career in his spell at Easter Road and rated Miller the second-best manager he played under. In 1997 Leighton returned to Aberdeen, where he featured regularly for another three seasons and reached 500 appearances for the club in 1998. He was captain in the 2000 Scottish League Cup Final defeat to Celtic. He retired from playing after the 2000 Scottish Cup Final defeat by Rangers. In that game he was substituted after three minutes, suffering a broken jaw in a challenge from Rod Wallace (requiring the