In the latest edition of our Chaplain's interviews, Grant Hamilton sits down for a chat with Michael Paton.
I always start with a general ice-breaker but today you have your own special personal one about footballers from Greenock - Joe Harper, our own Nicky Lowe and Michael Paton are all Greenock boys who played for part of their careers in Aberdeen. Can you talk me through the process of how a youngster from Greenock gets discovered by a team like Aberdeen and ends up playing up there?
“Yes, I can tell you how it happened to me. I joined a local boy’s club called East End United and after I’d played a few games for them there were scouts came to look at me. I was 9 or 10 years old at the time and my manager contacted me to tell me that a scout from Aberdeen had seen me play and was interested in me. He wanted to speak to my mum and dad. A few months later my family were visited by a guy called Peter Brain who asked if I’d be willing to travel to here (Hamilton Palace, where Queens currently train). I actually started my career here with John Ward and John McMaster. We trained on Tuesdays and Thursdays and played matches on Sundays and each year, if you were good enough, you progressed to the next year group.
Once you got to 15 or 16 the group was smaller and would meet up with Aberdeen based boys every Sunday to play matches against the likes of Celtic and Rangers. After that it was crunch time as everyone was trying to get into the under 19 team which was managed by Neale Cooper at the time. He would make an assessment of whether you were good enough to step up to the next level and at age 16 you would be offered a full-time contract or you would be released. In my group I think there were only myself and Chris McGuire who got a contract”.
Did you then have to move to Aberdeen?
“Yes. I moved up there when I was 16”.
Part of the focus of these interviews is to look at some of the challenges of being a footballer. With that in mind, what are the stresses and strains on a 16 year old who moves from one end of the country to another to follow their dream?
“To begin with, there is a lot of excitement but it was the first time I’d ever been away from my family for any length of time. Once the excitement dies down you realise that you don’t have your mum and dad to turn too. Yes, they’re on the other end of the phone but that’s a bit different to being able to see them. I did feel a bit homesick at times but the club were very good with me”.
What kind of support system did you have in place at that time?
“Jimmy Calderwood was the manager at the time and he would say that if anyone ever felt homesick they could have a couple of days or however long they needed to go home and recharge the batteries. He had been through a similar thing himself so he was very understanding. The club would also pay for you to get home and then they would keep in touch while you were there and did what you needed to do. In that sense it was really good”.
A lot of fans will remember you from your first spell at Queens. My understanding, and you can correct me if I’m wrong, is that when you came to Queens first time around your career maybe wasn’t going how you might have hoped or planned? You’d had a few months out of the game at that point so I’m interested in whether anyone looked after you during that time or whether you were left alone to deal with things.
“The background is that I had left Aberdeen to go to Southend. I wouldn’t have left Aberdeen with no back up plan. I went for my medical and somehow ended up training before I had the medical. While I was training I went over on my ankle, damaged ligaments and was then injured for 6 months. Southend were actually great with me. They asked me to stay in Southend and offered to treat me for the 6 months I would need for rehabilitation. The contract offer would then possibly be back on the table once I got fit again.
I decided I’d prefer to go home but the reality of that decision was that I ended up sitting around for 2 or 3 months with no physiotherapy. At that point one of my best mates, Nick (Nicky Clark) said that he had spoken to his dad, Sandy, who was the Queen’s Assistant Manager at the time, and he had agreed that I could come in and see the Queen’s physio, Crawford Quinn. He looked after me and I did get fit eventually. The manager then came to me and said that he had noticed how well I was doing. He said that if I carried on progressing, he would be interested in offering me a contract with Queens.
That was basically how it all came about. I had a good friendship with Nicky, he and Sandy introduced me to Crawford, and the gaffer liked what he saw when I got fit”. (And we got the benefit.) Both laugh!
What do Queens mean to you?
“A great deal. Queens helped me resurrect my career and get back on track when I was just sitting about the house. I really didn’t know what to do or what to think then; I was such a young age and didn’t realise that being out of the game so long would have such an impact. Initially I was thinking that I’ll just get healed and get back to business as usual. It didn’t work like that so I am grateful to Queens for giving me the chance to heal properly and then offering me a contract. It meant a lot to me and I went on to help Queens win the league and the Ramsden’s cup”.
What are your best memories of playing for Queens?
“To come into a club where everyone is flying and then be able to just slot in was fantastic. I think I played about 5 games and picked up 2 medals. That’s not bad for a season is it? (both laugh). Yes, Queens mean a lot to me and that’s why I had no hesitation when I got offered the chance to come back”.
Last season I went to a couple of Dumbarton games and saw you play. I really admire the fact that you effectively took a step back to go forward again. Were you always confident you would get back to full time football and what is it that gives you the resilience to keep rising to the challenge?
“First and foremost there is a simple love of the game. That was my first experience of part-time football and I really missed the routine of getting up every day and training every day. Training on Tuesday and Thursday nights didn’t really suit me but it was a decision I had to make. Dumbarton were offering me a job as well as the chance to play football and I was thinking it could be something useful that would set me up long-term. I took the chance and got the job and a chance to gain some qualifications that will always be there after I finish playing.
Football-wise though it was night and day and I really wanted to play full-time football. I made an effort over the summer to get myself as fit as possible and without being arrogant or over-confident, I always believed that I had the ability to play full-time again if I just got myself in the right condition”.
After everything you’ve experienced, what would be a ‘nugget’ that you could offer a young Queens trainee looking for some career advice?
“Don’t be afraid to make mistakes and when you do make them, make sure you react to them in the right way. Don’t let mistakes interfere with your training or your mood or the way you are thinking. From experience, I know that managers, assistants and scouts are always watching a boy’s attitude on the park so even if you make mistakes, you have to demonstrate that you have an appetite and a hunger to do the right thing, win the ball back and improve”.
You’ve had a career that a lot of young players would love to have, but you are a long way away from Mr. Dobbie’s 37 years. What do you still hope to achieve in the next few years before you hang up your boots?
“First and foremost I want to play full-time football for as long as I can. I am happy with the season so far and I’d love to be able to stay for a few seasons more. In the back of mind the thought of what I’m going to do after football is always there but as I said earlier, I have secured a long-term job when I need it and that will always be there”.
This might be of interest to Queens fans. Did Dumbarton help you to find that job as I’ve heard from other players that they have links with the railways?
“That’s right. The stadium is called the C & G Systems stadium and the company I was working for was C & G Systems, who are involved in the rail network. When Stevie Aitken (former Dumbarton manager) called to offer me a playing contract, he told me he could get me a job that I could combine with playing football. I got all the certificates needed to work on the railways and it’s just a matter of updating them every 2 or 3 years to make sure you understand all the current rules and regulations relating to the rail network.
As I said though, my main focus right now is playing football. I love it”.
I was thinking about your good friend ‘Beany’ (Iain Russell) when I thought of this next question. He once tried to sell me a new head of hair (MP laughs) I told him I had plenty and didn’t need to buy any. If you weren’t a footballer and you could have had any other career what would you have been and why?
“This is my dream job but apart from football I love playing golf. If I could pick a 2nd career I’d be a golfer. You get to travel the world, visit all the best places and the financial rewards are pretty good too”!
I’ve been asking some chaplaincy questions to other players but you’ve already covered a lot of things I might have asked so I maybe don’t need to go there.
“Can I just say that when I came into football I’d never heard of a Chaplain being at a club or someone being there for the players. It’s wasn’t available anywhere when I was growing up. Queens were the first club where I had contact with a chaplain and at first when someone said here’s the chaplain, I’m thinking blah, blah, blah and then I realised how important the role is. The dressing room still is a place where boys have a tendency to hide away and not mention things.
I would qualify that by saying that we have a really good dressing room. That is a great bunch of boys out there but even so, you don’t really know what goes on behind closed doors. As you know, Chris Mitchell had his problems and his team mates never knew he did and I think it is massive to have someone like you. If I was a manager at a club the first thing I would do would be make sure there was someone available for the boys to speak too”.
I’m glad you think that. I never brought it up to get that kind of answer.
“That really would be the first thing I would do. I think it’s really important”.
Thanks for spending this time with me Michael and for being so open about everything.