Johnny Paton

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Johnny Paton
Personal information
Full name John Aloysius Paton[1]
Date of birth (1923-04-02)2 April 1923
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Date of death 2 October 2015(2015-10-02) (aged 92)[1]
Place of death Stanmore, England
Position(s)
Outside left
Youth career
St. Mungo's Academy
St. Mary's Calton
Dennistoun Waverley
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1942–1949 Celtic 52 (12)
New York Americans (guest)
1945Leeds United (guest) 4 (0)
1946–1947Chelsea (loan) 18 (3)
1949–1952 Brentford 90 (14)
1952–1955 Watford 84 (17)
International career
Scotland Schoolboys
1940 Scotland Juniors 1 (0)
Managerial career
1955–1956 Watford
1961–1965
Arsenal 'A'
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

John Aloysius Paton (2 April 1923 – 2 October 2015) was a Scottish professional

Arsenal 'A'
.

Club career

Celtic

Born in

outside left, he made his debut in a 2–0 Southern League win over St Mirren on 16 January 1943.[2]

During the war, Paton spent a period as a guest at

American Soccer League club New York Americans while stationed in the United States and later guested for Leeds United in 1945 in England,[3] making four appearances.[4] He also guested for Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Millwall and Manchester City during the conflict.[2] Paton scored for Celtic in the Victory in Europe Cup triumph over Queens Park on 9 May 1945.[2]

Due to the

1947–48 season.[5] He made 77 appearances and scored 16 goals before a dispute with the club's management over wages led to his departure from Celtic Park in September 1949.[5] His last competitive game was the 3–1 1949 Glasgow Cup Final victory over Third Lanark.[2] During the three post-war seasons with Celtic, Paton made 77 appearances and scored 16 goals.[2]

Chelsea (loan)

Paton joined English First Division club Chelsea on loan in November 1946.[2] He made 23 appearances and scored three goals before returning to Celtic in May 1947.[6]

Brentford

Paton signed for

Bradford Park Avenue and scoring again against Blackburn Rovers in the following game.[7]

A knock suffered in a match versus Southampton on 29 October 1949 hampered his progress, with Paton ruing that he had a "gammy leg" for two years, from which he finally recovered after a successful operation at Brentford hospital.[8] He played on at Griffin Park until the end of the 1951–52 season, by which time he had made 94 appearances and scored 16 goals.[3]

Watford

Paton and Brentford teammate

Jimmy Bowie joined Third Division South club Watford in July 1952,[2] to help finance the transfer which had seen Tommy Lawton move to the Bees the previous year.[8] He made 91 appearances and scored 17 goals before playing his final match in 1955.[9]

International and representative career

Paton made appearances for Scotland at international level as a schoolboy and a junior.[2][10] He played for the RAF representative team during the Second World War and appeared alongside Stanley Matthews in the team.[11]

Coaching and scouting career

Paton lamented the standard of football coaching in England in the early 1950s and said "many managers deliberately starved their players of the ball during the week, believing it made them more hungry for it out on the pitch on a Saturday".

Hertfordshire FA's youth coaching scheme during the 1954–55 season.[9]

In the early 1960s, Paton worked as a

'A' team manager at First Division club Arsenal.[8] Paton later found out that Ron Greenwood recommended him for the role. He won the 1961–62 Metropolitan League Cup and the 1962–63 Metropolitan League title with the 'A' team.[8] He left the club in 1965.[9]

Managerial career

After serving Watford as its first-ever player-coach,[9] Paton succeeded Len Goulden as manager in October 1955.[8] He had a good start to his reign, but after entering hospital for a cartilage operation on both knees, the team's form drained away in his absence.[8] Paton was relieved of his duties only four months into his reign, after just two wins from 15 Third Division South matches.[12]

Personal life

Paton was born into a family of Celtic supporters, with his grandfather holding a

sales rep,[13] selling chocolate biscuits.[8] Paton died in October 2015, aged 92.[14]

Career statistics

Player

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Celtic
1946–47[5]
Scottish First Division
0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 4 0
1947–48[5]
28 6 4 2 5 2 2[a] 0 39 10
1948–49[5]
24 6 1 0 6 0 3[a] 0 34 6
Total 52 12 5 2 15 2 5 0 77 16
Chelsea (loan)
1946–47[6]
First Division 18 3 5 0 23 3
Brentford 1949–50[7] Second Division 23 5 0 0 23 5
1950–51[7] 31 4 1 1 32 5
1951–52[7] 36 5 3 1 39 6
Total 90 14 4 2 94 16
Watford
1952–53[15]
Third Division South 33 2 3 0 36 2
1953–54[15]
37 11 1 0 38 11
1954–55[15]
14 4 3 0 17 4
Total 84 17 7 0 91 17
Career total 244 46 21 4 15 2 5 0 285 52
  1. ^ a b Appearances in Glasgow Cup

Manager

Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref
P W D L Win %
Watford October 1955 February 1956 17 3 6 8 017.6 [15]
Total 17 3 6 8 017.6

Honours

As a player

Celtic

As a manager

Arsenal 'A'

References

  1. ^ a b "Johnny Paton". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Paton: John Aloysius (Johnny)". Leeds United F.C. History. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  3. ^ .
  4. ^ "Leeds United Season 1944 – 1945: Football League (Northern Section)". www.leeds-fans.org.uk. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Celtic Player Johnny Paton Details". www.fitbastats.com. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  6. ^ a b "John A Paton | Chelsea Player Profile". Stamford-Bridge.com The History of Chelsea FC. 7 December 1946. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  7. ^ .
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Griffin Gazette versus Oxford United. Poole: Quay Design Limited. 31 December 1994. p. 33.
  9. ^ a b c d "Players – Pate to Pretty" (PDF). Watford Football Club archive 1881–2016. p. 4. Retrieved 26 October 2016.
  10. ^ "Scotland Junior Internationals". Scottish Football Historical Archive. Archived from the original on 5 May 2019. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  11. ^ a b "Obituary: John (Johnny) Paton, former footballer". www.scotsman.com. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  12. ^ Jones p. 272
  13. ^ a b "Johnny Paton: Energetic left-winger for Chelsea". The Independent. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  14. ^ "Johnny Paton 1923–2015". chelseafc.com. Chelsea FC. 2 October 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  15. ^ a b c d "Seasons – 1950/51 to 1959/60" (PDF). Watford Football Club archive 1881–2016. pp. 3–6. Retrieved 12 April 2018.
  16. ^ "Johnny Paton". Herald Scotland. 28 November 2015. Retrieved 26 October 2016.

Sources

  • Jones, Trefor (1996). The Watford Football Club Illustrated Who's Who. T.G. Jones. .

External links