Although he’ll forever bare the burden of regret with a tangerine tinge, Paul Paton says his time at Dundee United was the best of his life.
Now turning out for Dumbarton in League One, Paton made 95 appearances and scored six goals for the Terrors from 2013-16.
He captained the club for a spell and earned fans’ favourite status among the United faithful in his three seasons at Tannadice for his battling midfield displays.
The Tangerines still hold a special place in the 34-year-old’s heart and he believes he’ll forever have a bond with the people of the city.
‘They took me in as one of their own’
“It was the best time of my life, never mind my career,” the former Dunfermline and St Johnstone man said.
“It was excellent. My family loved coming to watch me play for United.
“It was probably my most successful time in football and the one I enjoyed the most.
“I think the fans could tell I cared about the club and always gave everything for them.
“I got on with the people in Dundee – they were similar to myself.
“They’re hard-working, down to earth and I think I was the same.
“They took me in as one of their own and we built up a good rapport right from the early stages.
“That only grew so I’ve got a lot to thank them for, that’s for sure.”
Good times at Tannadice tinged with regret
Although he has many happy memories of pulling on a tangerine jersey, there are also regrets for the central midfielder.
Paton wishes he could’ve got his hands on silverware at United, with the 2014 Scottish Cup Final defeat to St Johnstone a particular sore point for the ex-Partick Thistle man.
“The 2014 Scottish Cup Final still haunts me every day,” he added.
“Every time I think about it, it still hurts me the fact we never won the cup.
“Winning something would’ve topped it off. That’s something I would’ve remembered for the rest of my life.
“That said, we never deserved to win the cup nor did we get the wee bit of luck that we needed.
“Dowser (Ryan Dow) hit the post early doors, Nadir (Ciftci) hit the crossbar with a free-kick and everything just fell for the St Johnstone that day.
“We didn’t turn up and that’s something I’ll have to live with for the rest of my life – the fact we lost that game.
“But I had a lot of good memories there – getting to two finals, captaining the side and winning a couple of Player of the Month awards.”
Injured Paton felt ‘helpless’ in relegation season
The anguish in Paton is accentuated when talking about United’s relegation from the Premiership in 2016.
He missed much of that campaign with a knee injury and admits he felt powerless to stop the Terrors’ slide into the Championship under Mixu Paatelainen.
“In the relegation season I felt helpless,” Paton continued.
“I was watching a lot of the games in the stand thinking: ‘We’re going to win this, the boys have started well’.
“But we just lost terrible goals week after week and the longer the season went, things didn’t change.
“We kept making the same mistakes no matter what players were on the park so it was disappointing.
“I was injured for so long and didn’t get back until middle to late January.
“I won Player of the Month after being out for seven months so I’d like to think I could’ve made a difference.
“That’s why the fans took to me. I’d been out so long but I came back and they saw I cared, played a lot of games and in some pain.
“That wasn’t even through ability, that was just hard work and determination.
“I’d much rather I never won that award and we just stayed up but it wasn’t to be for us.”
International career owed to Terrors
Paton would leave United to sign for St Johnstone in 2016, where he would continue his involvement in the Northern Ireland squad.
He credits United for helping him earn his big break into then-boss Michael O’Neill’s pool and revealed how close he was to making the cut for Euro 2016.
“Careers are all ifs, buts, and maybes but I did well at United, I feel,” Paton reflected.
“I gave everything and that led to international call ups. I won four caps in the end and a couple of them were at United.
“If it wasn’t for United, I certainly wouldn’t have been on the international scene.
“I was in the first three or four squads for the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign but it was then obvious I needed a knee operation so I missed the run up to the tournament.
“I believe I would have and expected to be involved so that’s bitterly disappointing.
“When I did get back fit, I played in one of the last warm-up games against Wales.
“Michael was obviously thinking about me but went with the boys that went through all the qualifiers, rightly so.
“Evidently, he picked the right team because the boys did so well at the Euros.
“It was hard to watch as I’d have loved to have been there but I was still able to go to Paris with my dad, who is from Larne, and took in the Germany game.
“I enjoyed going over and cheering on the boys. That was another good time in my life.”
Memories of Cavani and Sanchez
It’s changed days now for the midfield man, playing part-time in Scotland’s third tier with the Sons.
He’s taken the rough with the smooth over the course of his career, which started as an amateur at Queen’s Park before Jackie McNamara took him from Partick to United.
Now looking ahead to a future which points to coaching, he certainly has plenty of experience to call on.
The highlights of his international career are certainly ones to recall with great fondness, owing themselves to a life-changing spell on Tannadice Street.
A ♦️ of a signing models our new 2021/22 away shirt. pic.twitter.com/I4IVICZoVi
— Dumbarton FC (@Dumbartonfc) June 10, 2021
Paton recalled: “I made my debut over in South America against Uruguay and, obviously, Edinson Cavani was playing and it was in the stadium the first-ever World Cup was held in.
“We went to play Chile after that and I was up against the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Arturo Vidal.
“My last few call-ups were Wales, Croatia and New Zealand, so I was lucky enough to play some big games in some big stadiums abroad, as well as Windsor Park.
“That was a big thing for me, playing Windsor Park.
“Albeit it was only substitute appearances, it was something I’ll remember forever and so will my family.
“When I look back at some of the memories, they’re unbelievable.”