Martin Paterson
Martin Andrew Paterson is a former professional footballer who is the head coach of club Notts County.
Born in Stoke-on-Trent, he played as a forward; he began his career with Stoke City, making his senior debut in April 2005. He failed to win a regular first-team place, however, and had a loan spell at Grimsby Town in the 2006–07 season before he was allowed to join Scunthorpe United in July 2007. He scored 13 goals in the Championship in the 2007–08 season and was signed by Burnley for a £1 million fee in June 2008. He scored 19 goals in 57 appearances in the 2008–09 campaign, helping the club to win promotion into the Premier League via the play-offs. Burnley were relegated at the end of the 2009–10 season, and he went on to join Huddersfield Town on a free transfer in June 2013. He had loan spells at Bristol City, Fleetwood Town, and MLS club Orlando City. Huddersfield released him and then had a brief spell with Orlando City before he spent the 2015–16 season with Blackpool. He joined Port Vale for four months in August 2016 before returning to America to play for the Tampa Bay Rowdies in March 2017. He moved to India in January 2018 to sign for ATK. Throughout his 14-year professional career, he scored 78 goals in 339 league and cup appearances.
Internationally, Paterson won 23 caps for Northern Ireland in a seven-year international career from 2007 to 2014, scoring three international goals. After retiring as a player, he moved into coaching with Tampa Bay Rowdies, Fort Lauderdale, Inter Miami, Barnsley, Swansea City, before becoming the head coach at Burton Albion in January 2024 until May 2024. He then became part of the backroom staff at Huddersfield Town. He returned to a head coaching role with Notts County in June 2025.
Club career
Stoke City
Born in Tunstall, Staffordshire, Paterson failed a trial at nearby Port Vale at the age of nine as the club felt he was too small, but was instead accepted into the Stoke City academy. He made his first-team debut for Stoke as a late substitute for Chris Greenacre in a 2–0 win over Plymouth Argyle in a Championship game at the Britannia Stadium on 16 April 2005. His first start came in a 0–0 draw with Leeds United at Elland Road on 25 March 2006. He had dyed his hair red and white before the game, but was sent home to have it cut by manager Tony Pulis. He scored his first goal for the club on 12 September 2006, in a 1–1 draw with Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough Stadium. Nine weeks later he joined League Two side Grimsby Town on an initial one-month loan, along with Stoke teammate Anthony Pulis. He scored four goals in his first three appearances for the "Mariners". The loan was extended into a third month, and after scoring a total of six goals in his 15 games for Grimsby, manager Alan Buckley said that "for supporters to sing 'why don't you sign him', we've got to get real... there was never any possibility of us making anything permanent for a player like Martin." Wrexham tried to acquire the striker on loan, but he instead remained at Stoke. He played three further games for the "Potters" towards the end of the 2006–07 season, before departing in the summer. Manager Tony Pulis said that "it was the right decision to let him go – in the summer of 2007 – because there was no way he was going to play in front of Ricardo Fuller".Scunthorpe United
In July 2007, Paterson was signed by Scunthorpe United manager Nigel Adkins for a fee set by a tribunal. He enjoyed an excellent start to the 2007–08 season, scoring four goals in his first five games. He ended the campaign with 14 goals in 42 appearances, but the "Iron" were relegated out of the Championship. He left the club in acrimonious circumstances, accusing Scunthorpe of having gone back on their word after they rejected his written transfer request.Burnley
In June 2008, Paterson agreed a four-year contract with Burnley after being signed by manager Owen Coyle for a £1 million fee, which would rise to £1.3 million depending on appearances; the deal included a 20% sell on fee for Scunthorpe. He scored 19 goals in 57 appearances in the 2008–09 season, finishing as the club's top-scorer, as the "Clarets" reached the semi-finals of the League Cup and won promotion into the Premier League via the play-offs. He played the full 90 minutes at Wembley Stadium as Burnley beat Sheffield United 1–0 in the play-off final.He tore his medial knee ligament in September 2009 and was kept him out of action for three months as he was forced to undergo surgery to correct the problem. He returned to fitness, and scored his first Premier League goal on 21 February in a 5–2 defeat to Aston Villa at Villa Park. Six days later he made his first league start since his return from injury, and scored Burnley's consolation goal in a 2–1 defeat to Portsmouth at Turf Moor after lobbing England international goalkeeper David James. He scored in a 4–1 victory over Hull City at the KC Stadium on 10 April, and scored his fourth and final goal of the campaign in a 4–2 home win over Tottenham Hotspur on 9 May. Burnley were relegated at the end of the 2009–10 season, along with Hull City and Portsmouth, after finishing five points short of safety.
Paterson signed a new three-year contract in June 2010, with manager Brian Laws stating that "it is a reward for the season he had. Even though he was injured for a good part, Martin certainly made an impact". It took until 6 November for him to register his first goals of the season, scoring twice in a 2–2 draw with Norwich City at Carrow Road. He then picked up a thigh injury later in the month which kept him out over Christmas, and the injury re-occurred in February to rule him out for the rest of the season.
In August 2011, it was reported that Burnley rejected an offer of £2.5 million from Portsmouth for Paterson. He was again plagued by injury during the 2011–12 campaign, with a thigh problem picked up in August keeping him out until December and then a pulled hamstring picked up January keeping him out until the middle of February. He again picked up a hamstring tear in August 2012, but recovered quickly and went on to score eight goals in 39 appearances in the 2012–13 campaign. However, manager Sean Dyche used him primarily as a winger, and speaking in February 2013, Paterson joked that "it's pretty hard to get a game - I'll possibly have to shoot Charlie to get a game if I'm honest". Wolverhampton Wanderers attempted to sign Paterson on loan the following month, but were rebuffed by Dyche. Paterson rejected Burnley's offer of a new contract in the summer.
Huddersfield Town
Paterson signed a two-year contract with Huddersfield Town in June 2013, becoming manager Mark Robins's third signing ahead of the 2013–14 season. He stated that the promise of being played in his favoured position of centre-forward was a major factor in his decision to join the club. Three months later both he and teammate Adam Clayton were dropped from the first-team amid rumours of a training ground bust-up between the pair where Paterson was alleged to have punched Clayton. On 23 November, both players were re-instated to the first-team against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough Stadium, in which Paterson scored his first goal of the season, set-up by Clayton; following the goal Paterson celebrated by re-enacting a 'mock-fight' with Clayton. Paterson went on to fall behind Nahki Wells and James Vaughan in the pecking order however, and on 15 March he joined Bristol City on loan for the rest of the season. Bristol City manager Steve Cotterill had previously tried to sign Paterson when he was manager of Portsmouth. He made his debut for the "Robins" in a 0–0 draw with Swindon Town at Ashton Gate on 15 March, and admitted he was "disappointed not to score" after missing a good chance to win the game. He ended the 2013–14 campaign with one goal in eight games for Bristol City, and six goals in 26 games for Huddersfield.He picked up a knee injury picked up towards the end of the 2014–15 pre-season which put him out of contention until September. He made his first start of the season, as a substitute, in a 4–2 win over Blackpool at the John Smith's Stadium on 18 October. On 13 November, he joined League One side Fleetwood Town on loan until 3 January 2015. Fleetwood manager Graham Alexander had previously played with Paterson at Burnley. Injury cut short his loan after only three appearances, and he returned to Huddersfield on 4 December.