Robert Paton (c. 1854 – 17 February 1905) was a Scottish

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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Career

Born in Bonhill, Paton played club football for Vale of Leven, and made two appearances for Scotland in 1879. He was a founder member of Vale of Leven and was part of the team that won the Scottish Cup in

1877 Events January–March * January 1 – Queen Victoria is proclaimed ''Empress of India'' by the ''Royal Titles Act 1876'', introduced by Benjamin Disraeli, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom . * January 8 – Great Sio ...

, scoring the winning goal in the final's second replay. He was still with the club when they retained the trophy in

1878 Events January–March * January 5 – Russo-Turkish War – Battle of Shipka Pass IV: Russian and Bulgarian forces defeat the Ottoman Empire. * January 9 – Umberto I becomes King of Italy. * January 17 – Battle o ...

and

1879 Events January–March * January 1 – The Specie Resumption Act takes effect. The United States Note is valued the same as gold, for the first time since the American Civil War. * January 11 – The Anglo-Zulu War begins. * Janu ...

, but he did not take part in either of those finals. According to historical records of Queen's Park, Paton was the first player ever to score against the Glasgow club in January 1875.Chapter XII.—Three Historic Games
History of the Queen's Park Football Club 1867 - 1917, Richard Robinson (1920), via Electric Scotland

Personal life

Some publications assert that

Daniel Paton Daniel John Ferguson Paton (3 December 1871 – 9 August 1957) was a Scottish footballer who played in the Football League for Aston Villa. He made one appearance for Scotland in 1896 while playing club football for St Bernard's in Edinburgh, ...

, also an international from the same neighbourhood, was his brother, but this was found to be incorrect.

References

1850s births 1905 deaths Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Vale of Leven F.C. players Men's association football forwards Year of birth uncertain People from Bonhill Footballers from West Dunbartonshire {{Scotland-footy-forward-1850s-stub