He has previously played for Queen's Park, Partick Thistle, Dundee United, St Johnstone, Plymouth Argyle, Falkirk, Dunfermline Athletic, East Kilbride and Dumbarton, and had a spell on loan to Airdrieonians.

He scored the goal which gave Queen's the lead in the second leg of the playoff final against East Fife at New Bayview.

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.

[citation needed] Dundee United announced they would be appealing the suspension but were told that the SFA's fast-track judicial system did not allow this.

[citation needed] 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.

[18] On 1 March 2014, Paton was called up to the full Northern Ireland squad for their friendly international against Cyprus.

[20] Two Dundee United players, Paton and Mark Wilson, had been dropped from the team pending a club investigation.