He made his name in the Blue Square Premier as a no-nonsense defender with a penchant for scoring spectacular goals (including one at the wrong end that he'd rather forget) but now Wayne Hatswell has announced himself on the European stage.
The amiable 35-year-old, still a firm fans' favourite at the Abbey Stadium, is on the march to the Europa League with Irish side Dundalk and he's already staked a claim to become the tournament's top scorer with a header in the first leg of his side's 5-4 aggregate win over Luxembourg's CS Grevenmacher.
On Thursday Hats and his team-mates face their biggest challenge yet as they travel to eastern Europe to take on 26-times Bulgarian league champions Levski Sofia in the second qualifying round, it's a journey, both physically and metaphorically, he can scarcely believe he's on.
"At my age I never thought anything like this would happen, but it's been great," Dundalk's player-coach tells cambridgeunited.com.
"When I look back on my playing career in years to come - or it could just be months! - I'll be able to say I've played and scored in Europe, and been to places like Levski Sofia.
"We'll be up against it there and I think they underachieved last season so the locals will be restless, but we'll be well prepared and who knows what could happen."
He admits that nerves played a part in making the final winning margin in the first round a little less comfortable than it should have been; Dundalk took the lead in both legs and were 2-0 up in Luxembourg before being forced to settle for a 3-3 draw, but the Swindon-born defender says he was delighted to grab a goal in testing conditions.
"It was a decent six-yard header from a corner and proved to be an important goal, an away one, and it was a great result in the end. I never thought I would score in Europe!" he enthuses.
"The heat was a major factor, the humidity was intense and I think it was at altitude too. It was a tough half-hour at the end but we dug in and got a goal to get the draw and I think we deserved at least that."
Levski Sofia will be an altogether different prospect and Hats knows it, but he's donned the tin hat enough times to realise that a determined defensive display can swing a match in favour of an unfancied underdog.
And a little bit of espionage might just tip the balance a little more, as he explains: "We've got a contact we can speak to and we had that before the last tie but didn't want to look into it until we got through.
"They're in their close season now so that could be an advantage for us, they may not be at full tilt which is hopefully a bit of a godsend. We'll go over there as massive underdogs but we'll be prepared and give it our best shot and hopefully get a result.
"They'll have a lot of the ball and we know that, but we can't just sit back and hope for the best, when we get the ball we'll need to keep hold of it and we know they'll try and work us around the pitch."
The often ramshackle and sparsely populated grounds of non-league's top tier may not have provided him with much in the way of preparation for the kind of reception he might expect to receive in Sofia, but his soft voice disguises a character which is as robust as one of his well-timed tackles and Hats says his side have nothing to fear and should enjoy the experience.
"It'll be a hostile atmosphere there and they've got a big old ground," he says.
"But this is a great chance for all of us and I'm excited about getting to see some countries I've never gone to before; Luxembourg was a beautiful place and now in Bulgaria we'll be up against a quality team and it'll be interesting to see how they play."
Despite visiting far-flung places to take on household names in European competition, Hats hasn't forgotten his spell with Cambridge, which he describes as probably the most enjoyable of his career.
Having signed from Rushden & Diamonds in January 2008 for £20,000 (worth every penny!), he quickly established himself as a regular first-choice, earning a place in the hearts of the Abbey faithful.
In February of that year he gave the Newmarket Road End a first-class view of his ball-striking ability with a memorable 40-yard free-kick against Forest Green, the club where it all began for him.
It was the first of eight goals he scored for the U's in a spell that saw him make 92 appearances in all competitions, including two playoff finals.
And he graciously acknowledges that many Cambridge fans still keep tabs on his progress, confessing the affection is definitely mutual.
"I've got a lot of good memories from the place and I'll always keep an eye out for Cambridge," he reveals.
"I saw the fixtures when they came out and I'll be pencilling a couple of games in my diary, I think the one against Darlington is one I might be able to come to so I'll be requesting a pair of tickets from someone!
"That should be a good game and I'll be there with my Cambridge scarf on, cheering on the team."
At the end of his final match at home to York City, he was given a tremendous ovation that he admits was very emotional and made him realise how appreciated his efforts were.
His new pastures across the Irish channel afforded him extra responsibilities, which initially entailed a great deal more than he imagined.
"I got chucked in at the deep end a bit, I left Cambridge in January and I was taking 20 lads for training the next day," he notes, a touch exasperated.
"The manager was away that week and I felt like the boss for the whole week, I had to pinch myself a bit. I was playing against York on the Saturday and the next moment I was practically in the gaffer's chair.
"I've learnt a hell of a lot in the past six months and hopefully it will stand me in good stead. You've got to deal with stuff that perhaps has nothing to do with football but I'm enjoying it. I'm still playing so I've got to divide my focus and it's been hard at times.
"I'm not getting any younger, so I sit out training sometimes. I've not had many breaks in the past few years with playoffs and so on, and I had an operation after the playoff final and that cut into my holiday so I've not really stopped."
There is respite on the horizon with the Irish league season finishing in October, but Hats has got his eye on one very special date in the calendar - or, should I say, the couple of weeks following that day.
In November he will marry his fiancée but the lure of the honeymoon is what's most appealing to him at present: "It'll definitely be a welcome break," he laughs..
Well, there's one man who is guaranteed to score at least once more this season.
Interview by Russ Greaves
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