Michael Paton (born 25 March 1989) is a Scottish professional football player and coach, who plays for Albion Rovers.
Paton has previously played for Aberdeen, Dunfermline Athletic, Dumbarton, Stockport County and Queen of the South over two spells, and was the player-manager of Brechin City.
Born in Greenock,[1] Paton was a product of Aberdeen's youth academy and first played senior football for Scottish Second Division club Brechin City, whom he joined on loan from January to June 2008; he joined up with the Glebe Park club for a short second loan spell in September 2008,[2] but did not make any competitive appearances.
He scored his first brace in a 3–2 defeat to Dundee at Dens Park in the quarter-final of Scottish League Cup, after appearing as a substitute.
He turned down possible loan moves to Greenock Morton and Dundee, insisting he wanted to fight for his first-team place at Aberdeen.
[9] In his first appearance of the season, Paton received a straight red card for the first time in his career for stamping on Jonny Hayes in a 2–0 defeat versus Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
[10] On 30 November 2010, Paton travelled to Austria for a three-day trial with Austrian Bundesliga club Fußballclub Wacker Innsbruck, with the aim of winning a short-term loan deal in the following transfer window but this wasn't concluded.
[24] At the start of the 2013–14 season, Paton began well and scored the winning goal in the opening league match in a 4–3 home victory over recently relegated club Dundee, who had John Brown as their manager.
[31] In his second season with the Dumfries club, Paton scored in the first round of the Scottish Challenge Cup, in a 4–3 defeat versus Livingston.
[33] Paton's return to the first-team was on 12 December 2014, appearing as a substitute for Iain Russell in the last few minutes of the 2–0 home win versus Rangers.
[37] After two years with Queen of the South, Paton's new club was to be Dunfermline Athletic in the close season of 2015, being signed on a one-year deal by Allan Johnston, his former manager at Palmerston.
[38] Paton's debut for the Pars was versus Arbroath in the Scottish Challenge Cup[39] and his first match at East End Park was in a 5–1 win over Fife derby rivals Cowdenbeath.