Plymouth Argyle Wotton was born in
Plymouth, Devon, and started his playing career with his hometown club. His first season for Plymouth Argyle was also his first as a professional, under
Steve McCall in 1994–95. After Argyle were relegated from the Second Division at the end of the 1997–98 season following defeat at
Burnley he famously vowed that he would be part of the side that won promotion, and captained the side to the title with a record 102 points in 2001–02 whilst being named in the PFA Division Three team of the year. Two seasons later he again lifted some silverware, this time the Division Two championship. He was named the player of the season for Argyle for the following 2004–05 season, in which the team finished 17th. He appeared in the famous
Jimmy Glass game against Carlisle, in which the goalkeeper scored in the 94th minute to keep
Carlisle United in the
Football League. Wotton could be described as a solid and mature defender with a ferocious shot taking ability that resulted in him taking the majority of free-kicks and penalties during his first spell at Argyle. Playing at centre back during Argyle's Third and Second Division championship winning seasons, his slight lack of pace meant that in the Championship he usually played holding midfield role in front of the defence. He was the top-scorer in 2004–05 with 12 league goals, an excellent return for a non-striker, and again in 2005–06 with 8 goals. In the summer of 2006, he was involved in an incident with young striker
Chris Zebroski during a pre-season tour of
Austria, which required Wotton to have more than a hundred stitches in his head. Zebroski was sacked less than a month later, having been found guilty of gross misconduct. In the Championship match against
Hull City on 9 December 2006 he damaged his cruciate and medial ligaments to his left knee and missed the rest of the 2006–07 Championship season. He returned from injury in time for Paul Sturrock's return to the club as manager, and after making a handful of substitute appearances he returned to the side for his first start in 15 months in the 2–1 win at
Bristol City on 15 March 2008. He later went on to score a penalty in his final ever game for Plymouth against Preston North End, shortly before being released. His autobiography,
My Journey: The First Ten Years, was published in 2004.
Southampton at
Wembley Stadium In June 2008, Wotton was released by Plymouth. On 18 June he joined
Southampton. In his first start he came up against former club Plymouth's archrivals,
Exeter City, in the first round of a
League Cup match that Southampton comfortably won 3–1. In March of the
2009-10 season, Wotton got his first taste of silverware away from Argyle, when he played in central midfield for 85 minutes of the
2010 Football League Trophy Final, winning 4–1 against
Carlisle United. On 8 November 2010, he joined Oxford United until the end of December on an emergency loan. On 31 December 2010, Wotton joined
Yeovil Town on a one-month loan.
Yeovil Town On 1 January 2011, Wotton made his debut for Yeovil away in a 0–0 draw to his old side Plymouth, for whom he played for 13 years clocking up nearly 400 appearances, and he received a standing ovation from the Argyle fans when his name was called out on the PA system. He played the full 90 minutes as the two sides played out a 0–0 draw. On 28 January 2011, Wotton's contract with Southampton was terminated "by mutual consent", and he made a permanent move to
Huish Park on an 18-month contract. He scored his first Yeovil goal in the 2–1 win away to Brentford; a characteristic free kick from 25 yards out. On 12 January 2012, his contract was cancelled by mutual consent.
Return to Argyle Wotton rejoined Plymouth Argyle later that day, three and a half years after being released when the club were in the
Championship. He signed an 18-month contract. "Paul has got a lot of experience, has a good knowledge of the game, he's determined and has a real will to win. We are pleased to have him on board," said manager
Carl Fletcher. "When I spoke to Paul about coming back he made it clear he would have walked here on broken glass." Wotton made a winning return to the Argyle side as they defeated
Burton Albion 2–1 at Home Park on 14 January. At the end of the 2013–14 season, Wotton signed a new one-year contract to become a player-coach at
Home Park replacing
Gary Owers who had left the club. Wotton at this point was Argyle's second highest appearance maker on 491 games, but still some way behind
Kevin Hodges. Wotton formally retired from playing on 15 May 2015, having not played for the entirety of the
2014–15 season. Wotton's last competitive game for the club was in a 3–3 draw with
Portsmouth, on the final day of the
2013–14 season. ==Coaching career==