Johnny Paton

Celtic Born in Glasgow, Paton joined Celtic (the club he supported as a boy) during the Second World War in May 1942. An outside left, he made his debut in a 2–0 Southern League win over St Mirren on 16 January 1943. making four appearances. He also guested for Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Millwall and Manchester City during the conflict. He made 77 appearances and scored 16 goals before a dispute with the club's management over wages led to his departure from Celtic Park in September 1949. Brentford Paton signed for Second Division club Brentford in September 1949 for a £5,000 fee. A knock suffered in a match versus Southampton on 29 October 1949 hampered his progress, with Paton ruing that he had a "gammy leg" for two years, from which he finally recovered after a successful operation at Brentford hospital. He played on at Griffin Park until the end of the 1951–52 season, by which time he had made 94 appearances and scored 16 goals. ==International and representative career==

Paton made appearances for Scotland at international level as a schoolboy and a junior. He played for the RAF representative team during the Second World War and appeared alongside Stanley Matthews in the team. ==Coaching and scouting career==

Paton lamented the standard of football coaching in England in the early 1950s and said "many managers deliberately starved their players of the ball during the week, believing it made them more hungry for it out on the pitch on a Saturday". Paton and Brentford teammates Ron Greenwood and Jimmy Hill enrolled on the first ever FA coaching course at Lilleshall in the early 1950s. One of the instructors was Brentford goalkeeper Ted Gaskell and Paton roomed with Greenwood, Hill and Malcolm Allison. Paton also led the Hertfordshire FA's youth coaching scheme during the 1954–55 season. In the early 1960s, Paton worked as a scout for Rotherham United, focusing on Glasgow and Scotland. In 1961, Tommy Docherty offered Paton a scouting role and the position of 'A' team manager at First Division club Arsenal. Paton later found out that Ron Greenwood recommended him for the role. He won the 1961–62 Metropolitan League Cup and the 1962–63 Metropolitan League title with the 'A' team. He left the club in 1965. ==Managerial career==

After serving Watford as its first-ever player-coach, ==Personal life==

Paton was born into a family of Celtic supporters, with his grandfather holding a season ticket at Celtic Park and his father spending time on the club's books as a player. During the Second World War, he served as a navigator in the RAF. == Career statistics ==

As a player ;Celtic • Victory in Europe Cup: 1945 • Glasgow Cup: 1948–49 As a manager ;Arsenal 'A' • Metropolitan League: 1962–63 • Metropolitan League Cup: 1961–62 ==References==