Paul Paton

Paul Raymond Paton (born 18 April 1987) is a professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder. He has previously played for Queen's Park, Partick Thistle, Dundee United, St Johnstone, Plymouth Argyle, Falkirk and Dunfermline Athletic. Born in Scotland, Paton has represented Northern Ireland at international level.

Paul Paton
Paton playing for Partick Thistle in 2013
Personal information
Full name Paul Raymond Paton
Date of birth (1987-04-18) 18 April 1987
Place of birth Paisley, Scotland
Height 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Playing position(s) Defensive Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2008 Queen's Park 88 (1)
2008–2013 Partick Thistle 147 (5)
2013–2016 Dundee United 75 (6)
2016–2018 St Johnstone 45 (1)
2018 Plymouth Argyle 3 (0)
2018–2019 Falkirk 29 (1)
2019–2020 Dunfermline Athletic 24 (0)
National team
2014– Northern Ireland 4 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 10:28, 24 May 2020 (UTC)

Club career

Early career

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 Partick Thistle in May 2008, on a three-year contract.[1] 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, along with Thistle teammate Chris Erskine, to join Dundee United for the start of the 2013–14 season.[2] Paton scored his first goal for the club in a 4–0 win against Motherwell. 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.[3] In the 2014–15 season Paton was named as SPFL Player of the Month for September 2014.[4]

On 18 December 2014, Paton was found guilty by an SFA Disciplinary Tribunal of spitting at Aberdeen player Jonny Hayes 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 the most of the 2015–16 season. He made his return for United in the latter stages of a Scottish Cup fourth round match against Airdrieonians 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 at the end of the season. In June 2016, he left United by mutual agreement with the club.[5]

St Johnstone

After leaving Dundee United, Paton signed a two-year contract with St Johnstone.[5] Paton was released from his contract with St Johnstone on 31 January 2018.[6]

Plymouth Argyle

Paton signed for English EFL League One club Plymouth Argyle in March 2018.[7]

Falkirk

Paton signed a two-year contract with Scottish Championship club Falkirk in June 2018.[8]

Dunfermline Athletic

After one season with Falkirk, Paton signed for rivals Dunfermline Athletic on 14 June 2019.[9] Paton, who was appointed captain of the club,[10] was released in May 2020 at the end of his contract.[11]

International career

On 1 March 2014, Paton was called up to the full Northern Ireland squad for their friendly international against Cyprus. He qualifies to play for Northern Ireland through his father, who was born in Larne.[12]

Career statistics
As of 8 March 2020[13]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Scottish Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Queen's Park 2005–06[14] Scottish Third Division 230200000250
2006–07[15] 31120306[lower-alpha 1][lower-roman 1]2423
2007–08[16] Scottish Second Division 34020202[lower-alpha 2]0400
Total 8816050821073
Partick Thistle 2008–09[17] Scottish First Division 35320204[lower-alpha 2][lower-roman 2] 0433
2009–10[18] 29110203[lower-alpha 2]0351
2010–11[19] 26140204[lower-alpha 2]0361
2011–12[20] 33030102[lower-alpha 2]0390
2012–13[21] 24010104[lower-alpha 2]0300
Total 1475110801701835
Dundee United 2013–14[22] Scottish Premiership 3725030—452
2014–15[23] 2424040—322
2015–16[24] 1424000—182
Total 7561307000956
St Johnstone 2016–17[25] Scottish Premiership 2810060—341
2017–18[26] 17010001[lower-alpha 3]0190
Total 451106010531
Plymouth Argyle 2017–18[26] EFL League One 3000000030
Falkirk 2018–19[27] Scottish Championship 29111302[lower-alpha 2]0352
Dunfermline Athletic 2019–20[28] 24010501[lower-alpha 2]0310
Career total 4111433134029250717
  1. Two appearances and a goal in the Scottish Challenge Cup; four appearances and a goal in the Second Division play-offs
  2. Appearances in the Scottish Challenge Cup
  3. Appearance in the Europa League
  1. Includes 1 play-off match not recorded on Soccerbase "Queen's Park 4–2 East Fife". BBC Sport. 9 May 2007. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  2. Includes 3 Scottish Challenge Cup matches not recorded on Soccerbase. "Partick Thistle 2–1 Queen's Park". BBC Sport. 26 July 2008. Retrieved 17 December 2016., "Partick Thistle 4–2 Peterhead". BBC Sport. 12 August 2008. Retrieved 17 December 2016. & "Livingston 0–2 Partick Thistle". BBC Sport. 7 September 2008. Retrieved 17 December 2016.

Personal life

In October 2014, Paton was arrested in connection with an alleged assault on Celtic goalkeeper Lukasz Zaluska along with former Stenhousemuir goalkeeper Chris McCluskey.[29] Two Dundee United players, Paton and Mark Wilson, had been dropped from the team pending a club investigation.[30] Paton was subsequently charged with assaulting Zaluska.[31] He later pleaded guilty on one charge of assault and was fined £500.[32]

References
  1. "Paton confirms switch to Firhill". BBC Sport. BBC. 9 May 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  2. "Partick Thistle's Chris Erskine and Paul Paton to join Dundee United". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 April 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
  3. "Dundee United: Deals for Paton, Connolly and Lochhead". BBC Sport. BBC. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
  4. "Dundee United's Paul Paton wins SPFL September award". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 October 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
  5. "St Johnstone sign Paul Paton following his exit from Dundee Utd". BBC Sport. BBC. 7 June 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  6. "Completed Transfers - Deadline Day January 2018". Scottish FA. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  7. "Paul Paton: Plymouth Argyle sign former St Johnstone midfielder". BBC Sport. 13 March 2018. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  8. "PAUL PATON SIGNS TWO YEAR DEAL". Falkirk FC. 23 June 2018. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  9. "Paul Paton is a Par". Dunfermline Athletic FC. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  10. "Club captain appointed". Dunfermline Athletic FC. 18 July 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  11. "Dunfermline release 17 players to 'protect future of club'". BBC Sport. BBC. 22 May 2020. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  12. "Sammy Clingan out of N Ireland's Cyprus game because of injury". BBC Sport. 2 March 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  13. Paul Paton at Soccerway. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  14. "Games played by Paul Paton in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  15. "Games played by Paul Paton in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  16. "Games played by Paul Paton in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  17. "Games played by Paul Paton in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  18. "Games played by Paul Paton in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  19. "Games played by Paul Paton in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  20. "Games played by Paul Paton in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  21. "Games played by Paul Paton in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  22. "Games played by Paul Paton in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  23. "Games played by Paul Paton in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  24. "Games played by Paul Paton in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  25. "Games played by Paul Paton in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  26. "Games played by Paul Paton in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  27. "Games played by Paul Paton in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  28. "Games played by Paul Paton in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  29. Braiden, Gerry (26 October 2014). "Scottish top flight footballer is one of two men arrested in connection with an alleged assault on Celtic player". The Herald. Herald & Times Group. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  30. "Dundee United: Paton and Wilson not available due to inquiry". BBC Sport. BBC. 23 October 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  31. "Dundee United footballer in court on assault charge". BBC News. BBC. 29 September 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  32. "Dundee United's Paul Paton admits assault on Celtic goalkeeper Lukasz Zaluska". BBC News. BBC. 27 October 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
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