However, he returned in December 1983, signing from Horden Colliery, and went on to play a further 80 league games, in which he scored 24 goals.
Dobson's equaliser meant that Torquay stayed in Fourth Division on goal difference, with Lincoln City the first side to suffer automatic relegation to the Nationwide Conference.
In August 1992 he moved to Darlington, but played only 14 games (10 of which were as a substitute), scoring twice before joining Conference side Gateshead, initially on loan, in February 1993 and signing permanently for a fee of £3,500.
He won the Conference Golden Boot as top-scorer in the 1993–94 and 1994–95 seasons, but after starting the first three games of the following season lost his place and featured only as a substitute until leaving to join Bishop Auckland in November 1995, Gateshead making a profit on the sale.
In May 2001, the Torquay Herald Express reported that Paul, now diagnosed as a diabetic, was living in Newton Aycliffe in County Durham and working as a welder.