James Lee Paterson (born 25 September 1979) is a Scottish former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

left midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He was most recently the interim manager of

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Ear ) is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland's first new town on 6 May 1947. The area lies on a rais ...

. He played for

Dundee United Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

Celtic Nation The Celtic nations are a cultural area and collection of geographical regions in Northwestern Europe where the Celtic languages and cultural traits have survived. The term ''nation'' is used in its original sense to mean a people who shar ...

Forfar Athletic Forfar Athletic Football Club are a Scottish semi-professional football club from the town of Forfar, Angus. They are members of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in Scottish League Two. They play their home games a ...

and

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

. He is a former Scotland under-21 internationalist, making nine appearances between 1997 and 2001.

Career

Scotland

Paterson began his career at

. His first start for the club came in a pre-season friendly against

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...

in July 1997, with manager

Tommy McLean Thomas McLean Jr. (born 2 June 1947 in Larkhall) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager. McLean played for Kilmarnock, Rangers and Scotland as a midfielder. He managed Morton, Motherwell, Hearts, Raith Rovers and Dundee ...

selecting him in recognition of "all his work in the reserves". During his time at United he was unfortunate to break his leg twice in as many years. He left Dundee United in June 2004, agreeing to end his contract a year early. On 14 July 2004, Paterson signed for

. He scored his first goal for the club on 24 August 2004, as Motherwell won 3–0 against

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greeno ...

in the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

. On 1 June 2006, Paterson signed a new two-year contract at Motherwell.

England & Ireland

On 31 January 2008, Paterson moved to

on a three and a half-year deal for an undisclosed fee, thought to be around £250,000. He scored his first goal for Pilgrims with an effort from the edge of the box against

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

on 19 February. On 1 February 2010, he signed for

on loan until the end of the 2009–10 season. On 31 March 2010 Paterson returned to Plymouth Argyle as injury ended his season at Aberdeen. On 12 August 2010, it was announced that Paterson had been allowed to travel to Greece to negotiate a deal to join

Kavala Kavala ( el, Καβάλα, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos and on the Egnat ...

who play in the Greek Premier Division. Paterson, although praised for his professionalism by new Argyle manager Peter Reid, was deemed surplus to requirements at Home Park and has been allowed to leave if he can get a deal. This deal fell through, however, and Paterson again returned to Plymouth. Released by Plymouth at the end of the season, Paterson sought out other clubs and went on trial with

Yeovil Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somer ...

in July 2011. On 31 August 2011, Paterson signed for League of Ireland champions Shamrock Rovers. Paterson made his debut on 3 September in a 2–1 away victory against

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

and helped the club win the

2011 League of Ireland The 2011 League of Ireland Premier Division was the 27th season of the League of Ireland Premier Division. The league was also known as the Airtricity League for sponsorship reasons. The division featured 10 teams. Shamrock Rovers were champions ...

championship. He also played in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

group stage for Rovers. Paterson left Rovers at the end of season and went on trial with

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

in January 2012. At the end of January 2012, Paterson signed a short-term contract with

until the end of the season. Having been a regular for Rovers during the season run in, Paterson agreed a new one-year deal, with the option of a further year. On 9 January 2014, Paterson signed for

Northern League Division One The Northern League is a men's football league in north east England. Having been founded in 1889, it is the second-oldest football league in the world still in existence after the English Football League. It contains two divisions; Division O ...

club

on loan until the end of the 2013–14 season. In May 2014, following Bristol Rovers relegation to the

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

, Paterson was one of twelve players released by the club.

Return to Scotland

On 2 September 2014, Paterson signed for

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League One was e ...

club

, signing a contract until January 2015. On 6 January 2015, Paterson signed for

club

Dunfermline Athletic F.C. Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermlin ...

until the end of the season in a role that would also see him coaching ''The Pars'' under 20's team, alongside

Andrew Barrowman Andrew Barrowman (born 27 November 1984) is a Scottish retired professional footballer, who played as a striker. A journeyman, Barrowman played for 15 different sides during his career, including Rangers, Ross County and Dunfermline Athlet ...

. After making six appearances for Dunfermline, Paterson was released by the club at the end of the season. After being a free agent for five months, Paterson signed a short-term contract with

Stenhousemuir Stenhousemuir (; gd, Featha Thaigh nan Clach) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It lies within the Falkirk (council area), Falkirk council area of Scotland. The town is north-northwest of Falkirk and directly adjoins to Larbert in ...

in October 2015, making his first appearance in a league match against

Cowdenbeath Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 18 ...

. After two years with the side, Paterson retired from football at the end of the 2016–17 season.

Career statistics

''As of 1 February 2012''

Honours

Shamrock Rovers *

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Paterson, Jim Living people 1979 births Footballers from Bellshill Men's association football fullbacks Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's under-21 international footballers Dundee United F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Scottish Premier League players English Football League players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players League of Ireland players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Celtic Nation F.C. players Forfar Athletic F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Stenhousemuir F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players