Career
He has previously played for Queen"s Park and Partick Thistle. He represents Northern Ireland at international level Early Paton played for Queen"s Park from 2005 until 2008.
His displays at right back were key in Queen"s winning promotion to the Second Division.
He scored the goal which gave Queen"s the lead in the second leg of the playoff final against East Fife at New Bayview. Partick Thistle
Paton signed for Partick Thistle in May 2008, on a three-year contract.
He played a significant role in Thistle winning promotion in the 2012-2013 season, during which he was the club captain. Dundee United
On 16 April 2013 it was announced that he would follow former Thistle manager Jackie McNamara, along with Thistle teammate Chris Erskine, to join Dundee United for the start of the 2013–2014 season.
Having established himself as a first team regular, Paton was rewarded with a contract extension at the beginning of the following season to keep him at the club until 2017.
In the 2014-2015 season Paton was named as SPFL Player of the Month for September 2014. On 18 December 2014, Paton was found guilty, by an SFA Disciplinary Tribunal, of spitting at Aberdeen player Jonny Hayes during the match between Dundee United and Aberdeen on 13 December 2014, and was given a two-match suspension, despite Hayes saying that Paton hadn"t spat at him. Dundee United announced they would be appealing the suspension but were told that the SFA"s fast-track judicial system didn"t allow this.
In April 2015, Paton suffered a knee injury which kept him out for the rest of the season and the most of the 2015-2016 season.
On 1 March 2014, he was called up to the full Northern Ireland squad for their friendly international against Cyprus. He qualifies to play for Northern Ireland through his father, who was born in Larne.