[3][4] After 198 appearances and 28 goals for the Canaries, Paddon joined West Ham United, also of the First Division, for £170,000 in December 1973 in a deal which saw Ted MacDougall move the other way.

[5] Joining a team that included Billy Bonds and Trevor Brooking and was managed by Ron Greenwood, he made 26 appearances for the east London club during the 1973–74 season.

He featured all of the games in the successful 1974–75 FA Cup run, with the second goal of the 2–0 victory in the Final against Fulham scored by Alan Taylor after 'keeper Peter Mellor failed to deal with a shot by Paddon.

[3][7] Paddon rejoined Norwich, who by that point had returned to the top tier, for £110,000 in November 1976, but suffered a broken leg in only his third game back with the Norfolk club.

[3] He spent time in the United States with the Tampa Bay Rowdies in 1978,[9] and scored a goal against Norwich in an indoor friendly between the two sides on 3 May 1978 in St. Petersburg, Florida.

[4] He finished his career in Hong Kong with Eastern AA and then with Northern Counties East club Alfreton Town, where he made 29 appearances.

[12] West Ham goalkeeper Mervyn Day noted after his death that "I'll remember his dynamism, the balance he brought to the side but, above all else, the ferocity of his left foot in shooting practice".

In March 1995, the pair were sacked and Paddon later worked as a scout for Derby County, again under Jim Smith, as well as at Liverpool and Leicester City.