When Gareth Barry runs out for the 633rd time in a Premier League match on Monday night, he will have reached the top of the mountain.
The 36-year-old will break Ryan Giggs’s record, marking yet another milestone in a highly respectable career, which has taken him from Aston Villa to Manchester City, Everton and now West Brom.
There have been so many ups along the way – not least winning the Premier League and FA Cup with City, and 53 caps for England.
But, when he finally hangs up his boots, it is the opposite direction his plans to go in: downhill – and fast.
“Skiing will definitely be the No.1 thing for me to do, once I’m retired,” he said.
“My mates are always going away at February or March time on a skiing trip and I’m like, ‘Ooh, I wouldn’t mind doing that’.
“You can’t exactly ask the gaffer for a week off then, so I’m definitely looking forward to being able to go on a nice family holiday skiing or away with my mates for a few days.
“Not that I’ve ever worried about it one little bit — the life I’ve got, the career I’ve got, I can’t have any complaints about anything.
“It’s a small sacrifice that I can’t ski until my career is over, but that’s definitely what I will do.”
It isn’t just Barry himself who has had to make sacrifices and when he celebrates his achievement, in the company of his mum and dad, wife and children at the Emirates on Monday with a “couple of pints”, they will be as much the toast as he is.
“I try not to bring my family into my public life too much,” he added.
“But they deserve so much credit for what I have achieved.
“I am going home a lot of times focused on my job and being grumpy after a bad result, or I’m not able to go into the garden and play with the kids before a game, little things like that.
“And, as a kid, especially from the ages of 14 to 16 or 17, they’re important years in your life where you can go off and lose sight of what you want to do. There are other things your mates are doing, things you shouldn’t be doing, but my parents, while they didn’t keep me on a leash, they gave me a good balance of what I should and shouldn’t be doing.
“I’m proud to have done what I’ve done – for them, as much as for anyone else.”
The only time in his career when Barry did wonder if he had made the right call was when he left City for Everton in 2014, having spent the previous season on loan at Goodison Park.
He said: “Initially, City were struggling after I left and part of me thought that, if I’d stuck around, I would have got games.
“At the end of the season, I did think, ‘Should I have stayed and won another trophy, been involved?’
“But I thought, ‘No, you’ve done the right thing, you’ve enjoyed a great season, you’d have played more games for Everton’, and not for a minute did I regret leaving City.”
There can’t be any regrets for Barry as he reaches the appearance summit.
And when football is done, there will be plenty more for him to scale – and ski down.
GARETH BARRY Q&A
BEST PREMIER LEAGUE PERFORMANCE?
In terms of goals and assists, at Aston Villa we won 4-2 against Bolton and I scored twice and got two assists. But at Manchester City, we beat Manchester United 1-0 when Vincent Kompany scored the header — that was a pressured game and in terms of a disciplined performance that was the one.
WORST PREMIER LEAGUE PERFORMANCE?
Against Southampton for Manchester City — I scored an own goal, slotted one in with my right foot. That was during a bad run of games. Although it was a great finish, to be fair.
BEST PROFESSIONAL YOU’VE PLAYED WITH?
James Milner. He has that reputation as ‘Boring Milner’ but there’s a lot more to him than that. He looks after himself, gives himself every chance to perform and you can see that in the way he plays. Rarely is he going to let you down. He’s a funny bloke, too, not boring at all.
WORST CHANGING ROOM?
Fulham. It’s tiny. Bradford’s was small as well — there wasn’t even a toilet.
HARDEST MANAGER IN PRE-SEASON?
I’ve not had one with Tony Pulis but apparently his Austria training sessions are through the roof.
FAVOURITE SHIRT EXCHANGED?
I’m not a huge one for swapping shirts but I’ve got Kaka’s shirt from when we played Brazil, the No.10 I think.
FAVOURITE GROUNDS?
I was sad to see White Hart Lane go, I always enjoyed going there. Villa Park is obviously a big ground for me, I played a lot of games there and enjoyed going back with other teams. They’re two traditional grounds and I’ve enjoyed playing at both.