Paul Raymond Paton (born 18 April 1987) is a coach and former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who manages

West of Scotland Football League The West of Scotland Football League (WoSFL) is a senior football league based in the west of Scotland. The league sits at levels 6–10 on the Scottish football league system, acting as a feeder to the Lowland Football League. Founded in 20 ...

club Glenafton Athletic. He played as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for Queen's Park,

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scotland, Scottish professional association football, football club based in the city of Dundee. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1923. United are nickname ...

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently compete in the after winning the 2022–23 Scottish League One title. Dunfermline play at ...

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; ), sometimes referred to as EK, is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland, and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. Historically a small village, it was designated Scotland's first "new town" on 6 Ma ...

and

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

, and had a spell on loan to

Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in the . They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United Football Club ...

. Born in Scotland, Paton represented

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

at international level.

Club career

Queen's Park

Paton played for Queen's Park from 2005 until 2008. His displays at right back were key in Queen's winning promotion to the Second Division. He scored the goal which gave Queen's the lead in the second leg of the playoff final against East Fife at New Bayview.

Partick Thistle

Paton signed for

in May 2008, on a three-year contract. He played a significant role in Thistle winning promotion in the 2012–13 season, during which he was the club captain.

Dundee United

On 16 April 2013 it was announced that Paton would follow former Thistle manager

Jackie McNamara Jackie McNamara (born 24 October 1973) is a Scottish professional Association football, football Sports agent, agent, and former football player, player, Manager (association football), manager and executive. He won 33 international caps playin ...

, along with Thistle teammate Chris Erskine, to join

for the start of the 2013–14 season. Paton scored his first goal for the club in a 4–0 win against

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

. Having established himself as a first team regular, Paton was rewarded with a contract extension at the beginning of the following season to keep him at the club until 2017. In the 2014–15 season Paton was named as SPFL Player of the Month for September 2014. On 18 December 2014, Paton was found guilty by an SFA Disciplinary Tribunal of spitting at

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

player

Jonny Hayes Jonathan Hayes (born 9 July 1987) is an Irish retired professional Association football, footballer. He is a coach for Celtic F.C. B Team and Academy, Celtic B. He began his career in England with Reading F.C., Reading, but did not break thro ...

during the match between Dundee United and Aberdeen five days earlier, and was given a two-match suspension, despite Hayes saying that Paton had not spat at him. Dundee United announced they would be appealing the suspension but were told that the SFA's fast-track judicial system did not allow this. In April 2015, Paton suffered a knee injury which kept him out for the rest of the season and most of the 2015–16 season. He made his return for United in the latter stages of a

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Airdrieonians Airdrieonians Football Club is a Scottish professional football team in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, who are members of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) and play in the . They were formed in 2002 as Airdrie United Football Club ...

where United won 1–0 in January 2016. He scored his first goal of the season in the final minutes of a 2–1 win over Heart of Midlothian to put United into the lead with a 25-yard strike. United were relegated to the

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

at the end of the season. In June 2016, he left United by mutual agreement with the club.

St Johnstone

After leaving Dundee United, Paton signed a two-year contract with

. Paton was released from his contract with St Johnstone on 31 January 2018.

Plymouth Argyle

Paton signed for English

EFL League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

club

in March 2018.

Return to Scotland

Paton signed a two-year contract with

club

in June 2018. After one season with Falkirk, Paton signed for rivals

on 14 June 2019. Paton, who was appointed captain of the club, was released in May 2020 at the end of his contract. On 8 July 2020, Paton joined

Lowland League The Scottish Lowland Football League (SLFL, commonly known as the Lowland League) and the Park’s Motor Group Scottish Lowland League for sponsorship reasons is a senior football league based in central and southern Scotland. The league sits a ...

side

. With the Lowland League season suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Paton joined League One club

on loan in March 2021, until the end of the 2020–21 season. After turning down a new deal at

, Paton joined

in June 2021. His first Sons goal was an injury time equaliser against former club

at a time where Dumbarton had just eight men, in a game they eventually lost 3-2. He left the club at the end of the 2021–22 season following the Sons' relegation to

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association football, foo ...

. In June 2022, Paton signed for Glenafton Athletic of the

International career

On 1 March 2014, Paton was called up to the full Northern Ireland squad for their friendly international against

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. He qualifies to play for Northern Ireland through his father, who was born in

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory)Larne/Latharna
Placenames Database of Ireland. is a to ...

Personal life

In October 2014, Paton was arrested in connection with an alleged assault on

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

goalkeeper Lukasz Zaluska along with former

Stenhousemuir Stenhousemuir (; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies within the Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town is north-northwest of Falkirk and directly adjoins to Larbert in the west, where the nearest rail access is located ...

goalkeeper Chris McCluskey. Two Dundee United players, Paton and Mark Wilson, had been dropped from the team pending a club investigation. Paton was subsequently charged with assaulting Zaluska. He later pleaded guilty on one charge of assault and was fined £500.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paton, Paul 1987 births Living people Scottish people of Irish descent Footballers from Paisley, Renfrewshire Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland Northern Ireland men's international footballers Scottish men's footballers Scottish people of Northern Ireland descent Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Men's association football midfielders Queen's Park F.C. players Partick Thistle F.C. players Dundee United F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players East Kilbride F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Airdrieonians F.C. players English Football League players Lowland Football League players Dumbarton F.C. players Glenafton Athletic F.C. players West of Scotland Football League players 21st-century Scottish sportsmen