He was able to grace the Hibs pitch, as a player, for the final time as a Hibernian XI beat a Manchester United XI in his testimonial game.
Both before, during, and after, Gray received huge applause and praise from the Hibernian FC faithful, in a moment that finally gave him the closure he desired from his playing days.
“I’m so lucky,” he admitted. “I feel so privileged to pull on this fantastic jersey again.
“I’m grateful for the support I’ve had from everyone involved and for the players for travelling from all over to take part. I’m so grateful for the work from the testimonial committee.
“On top of that, the support from this fantastic fanbase has been nothing but first class.
“My last game for this club was against Celtic, here at home, during Covid, and I didn’t know that would be my last game, so to be given the opportunity to pull on the jersey and play in-front of the fans again is a memory that’ll live with me forever. I’m so grateful for everything.”
Not only was the day special for Gray, it was special for his whole family. A real family man, the 35-year-old was able to walk out on to the pitch with his three children.
“It was very overwhelming. I don’t enjoy the spotlight. I feel like I’m quite miserable and unsociable, but I’m so grateful.
“To have that moment with my family at the end was the icing on the cake really.”
And the game itself didn’t disappoint either and rather embodied what Dave was like as a player; it was competitive and there were some big challenges.
One thing he didn’t envisage though, was scoring the winning goal…
“I didn’t think I’d score without having to bribe the referee for a penalty or something, so I’ve probably saved the testimonial committee a few pounds there,” he joked.
“The game had a slower tempo, but neither side wanted to lose, a lot of the players still have that winning mentality and there were a few full-on tackles. We’re delighted we won, and we beat them in the golf yesterday too!”