Callum Thomas Owen Paterson (born 13 October 1994) is a 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, rugb ...

who plays for

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

as a striker and the

Scotland national football team The Scotland national football team gd, Sgioba Ball-coise Nàiseanta na h-Alba sco, Scotland National Fitbaa Team represents Scotland in men's international Association football, football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. ...

. Paterson started his career with Heart of Midlothian, helping them win promotion to the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottis ...

in 2015. He moved to

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

in 2017, and helped them win promotion to the Premier League in 2018. In 2020, he signed for Sheffield Wednesday. Paterson mainly played for Hearts as a

right-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 ...

, but was also sometimes used as a striker. Cardiff mainly used him as a

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 ...

, but he occasionally played higher up the pitch to help aid the attack. He has been praised for his work rate, pace, aerial ability, positioning, and goalscoring prowess. He is also known for his array of goal celebrations.

Early life

Paterson's father is Scottish and his mother is from

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

. His maternal grandfather is South African. Paterson was born in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and moved from there to Scotland when he was three years old. He grew up in

South Queensferry Queensferry, also called South Queensferry or simply "The Ferry", is a town to the west of Edinburgh, Scotland. Traditionally a royal burgh of West Lothian, it is administered by the City of Edinburgh council area. It lies ten miles to the n ...

where he attended Queensferry High School. He is the cousin of fellow footballer Michael Travis.

Club career

Heart of Midlothian

Paterson began his career as a youth player at Tynecastle before joining Heart of Midlothian in 2010. A member of the club's Under-20 side he was promoted to the first team during pre-season in the summer of 2012 and made his first team debut on 14 July, in a friendly against

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leagu ...

where he scored the first goal of the game. Having impressed during these pre-season fixtures, on 4 August he made his

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Football League (SFL). It was abolished in 2013, when t ...

(SPL) debut aged 17, in a 2–0 win over St Johnstone. He made his European debut on 23 August, in a 1–0 defeat to

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

at Tynecastle. On 31 August 2012, Paterson signed a new contract extending his stay with the club until 2015. On 22 September 2012, he scored his first two Career goals in a 3–0 win over Dundee Utd in the SPL. On 22 January 2013, Paterson suffered ligament damage to his foot in training that ruled him out of 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 existe ...

Semi-final against

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histor ...

that weekend. The injury required surgery and ultimately ruled him out for the remainder of the season. During his debut season Paterson made twenty seven appearances, scoring four times In doing so he played as a

and as a striker, with the latter being the position he played in before joining Hearts. On 11 August 2013, Paterson scored his first goal of the 2013–14 campaign, when he headed home the only goal in the

Edinburgh derby The Edinburgh derby is an informal title given to any football match played between Scottish clubs Heart of Midlothian (Hearts) and Hibernian (Hibs), the two oldest professional clubs based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The two clubs have a fierce ...

against Hibernian at Tynecastle. On 27 April 2014, Paterson scored a brace against city rivals Hibernian in a 2–1 win. A week later he scored again in a 5–0 win over

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

and also scored three days later against

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional football club from Glasgow, Scotland. Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not played in Partick since 1908. The club have been m ...

. Hearts were relegated at the end of the season, but immediately won promotion by winning the

2014–15 Scottish Championship The 2014–15 Scottish Championship is the 20th season in the current format of 10 teams in the second tier of Scottish football. Heart of Midlothian won the title on 22 March 2015 and secured their return to the Scottish Premiership with a reco ...

. In their first season back in the top flight, Hearts finished third in the

2015–16 Scottish Premiership The 2015–16 Scottish Premiership (known as the Ladbrokes Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the third season of the Scottish Premiership, the highest division of Scottish football. The season began on 1 August 2015. Celtic were the def ...

and qualified for European competition. During the summer of 2016, Patterson was subject to interest from several

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the E ...

sides, with Hearts rejecting two bids from

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

. Despite the interest, he stayed at the club, managing to score 9 goals in 20 appearances, before suffering a serious knee injury on 27 December, which ruled him out for six to nine months. Despite missing the last few months of the season, Paterson managed to pick up the club's Young Player of the Year Award.

Cardiff City

On 7 June 2017, Paterson agreed a three-year deal with

club

. The knee injury suffered at Hearts kept him out of the first two months of the season, making his playing return for the Under-23 side in a 4–0 win over

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Br ...

, on 18 September. On 21 October, Paterson returned to the first team, making his debut in a 1–0 win over

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the ...

, before scoring his first goal for the club, the winner at

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough ha ...

, a month later. Cardiff manager,

Neil Warnock Neil Warnock (born 1 December 1948) is an English former football manager and player. He is also a television and radio pundit. In a managerial career spanning five decades, Warnock has managed sixteen different clubs from the Premier League to ...

moved Paterson into a central midfield position in the new year, later stating the reasoning behind the move was because he couldn't defend. Following his move to the new position, Paterson scored a brace against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

on 13 January and found the back of the net three times in March. He continued his good form throughout the rest of the season, scoring 10 goals, ending as the club's top goal scorer in the league, as they were promoted to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

. Paterson was also voted Young Player of the Season by the Cardiff fans. Paterson played his first Premier League game against

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the English ...

on the opening day of the season. As Cardiff struggled for goals, Paterson was moved into a central forward role, where he scored his first Premier League goal in a 4–2 win over

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandswor ...

Sheffield Wednesday

On 30 September 2020, he joined

club

for an undisclosed fee. He made his club debut the following weekend against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

and scored his first goal for the club against

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings wh ...

on 21 October 2020. He would win the clubs player of the month for January after scoring goals against

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

and

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

as well as the final game in December against

. On the opening day of the 2021-22 season against

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

, he would suffer a nasty head injury following a collision after Paterson cleared a certain goal.

International career

Paterson earned caps at both under-18 and under-19 level in 2012 before establishing himself as a regular in Scotland under-21 squads. On 10 November 2014, manager

Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Co ...

called Paterson into the senior Scottish squad for the first time after

Phil Bardsley Phillip Anthony Bardsley (born 28 June 1985) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Stockport County. He has played international football for the Scotland national team. Bardsley began his career with Manchester United wher ...

pulled out of the squad injured, ahead of a European qualifier against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. ...

and a friendly against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. He made his senior debut for Scotland on 29 May 2016 in a 1–0 friendly defeat against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Career statistics

Honours

Heart of Midlothian *

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish Champio ...

: 2014–15 Cardiff City *

runner-up: 2017–18 Individual * Heart of Midlothian Young Player of the Year: 2016–17 *

Young Player of the Year: 2017–18

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paterson, Callum 1994 births Living people Scottish footballers Scotland youth international footballers Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Scottish Premier League players Footballers from Greater London Footballers from Edinburgh Association football utility players Scotland under-21 international footballers Scottish Professional Football League players People educated at Queensferry High School Scotland international footballers Scottish people of South African descent Scottish people of Zimbabwean descent European sportspeople of Zimbabwean descent Cardiff City F.C. players English Football League players Association football fullbacks Association football midfielders Association football forwards Premier League players Anglo-Scots Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players