Chelsea FC Profile: Johnny Paton
Full Name: John Aloysius Paton
Born: Monday, 2nd April 1923
Place of birth: Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Died: Thursday, 1st October 2015 (aged 92)
Place of death: Stanmore, Middlesex, England
Burial: Buried - Harrow Weald Cemetery, Stanmore, London Borough of Harrow, Greater London, England
Involvement with Chelsea:
Men's 1st Team Player from 1946 to 1947 (on loan)
John was born on 2 Apr 1923 in Glasgow. He came from a staunch Celtic family and was on their books when WW2 broke out.
Johnny met his wife when he was serving down south as a navigator in the RAF during WW2. She explained that Johnny was on his way to meet her for a date on the tube when he was stopped by a gentleman who recognised him and who told him that Chelsea were looking for a winger. That gentleman was John Harris, the Captain of Chelsea. John was late for his date but when he explained why he was forgiven.
Johnny came 'on loan' from Celtic at a time when loans were not allowed so he signed 2 sets of transfer forms for Celtic on the same day, one to Chelsea and an undated set back to Celtic.
He played 23 games and scored 3 goals in the 1946-47 season before returning to Celtic.
His wife didn't like Glasgow, and having seen the bright lights of London Johnny soon took her back south again where he had spells with Bretford and Watford before retiring from playing in 1955. Between 1955 - 1965 he had spells as manager of both Brentford and the Arsenal "A" team, before working at various times as a press photographer, snooker referee & a sales rep for a a biscuit company.
He was guest of honour at Chelsea's centenary dinner in 2005 as at the time he was believed to be Chelsea's oldest surviving player and he was the only surviving member of the pre Ted Drake era when, on 1st December 2013 he was invited back to Stamford Bridge for the visit of Southampton, brought out on to the pitch at half time and introduced to the crowd. With the team trailing 1-0, Paton took the microphone and memorably urged our supporters to roar the team back into the game. Within four minutes of the restart we were level before going on to win the match 3-1.
John was and his surviving family still are staunchly blue and very appreciative of how the Club look after their former players, sending hampers annually.
He died on 1st Oct 2015 and is buried in Harrow Weald Cemetery.
*** Some details obtained from Nathan Whitehouse following a phone conversation with Johnny's wife in October 2020. ***
Playing Career:
St. Mungo's Acadamy
Dennistoun Waverley
Celtic
--->Chelsea (L) (Nov 1946 to Jun 1947)
Brentford
Watford
* (L) = On Loan
Chelsea First-Team Career Summary
Competitive Debut: Saturday, 7th December 1946, Chelsea 1 - 1 Everton
Age on debut: 23 years 8 months 5 days
Last Competitive First-Team Appearance: Saturday, 26th April 1947, Wolverhampton Wanderers 6 - 4 Chelsea
See full chronological appearance listing HERE
Appearances
| Goals
|
* oth = other competitive matches such as Full Members Cup, Charity/Community Shield, Fifa World Club Cup.
Figures in ( ) are substitute appearances and are also included in the totals.
i.e. Johnny Paton made 23 appearances for Chelsea, of which 0 were as a substitute.
Competitive Matches Played
| Comp | Date | Home | Away | Att | |||
| League | 7th Dec 1946 | Chelsea | 1 | 1 | Everton | 41,255 |  |
| League | 14th Dec 1946 | Huddersfield Town | 1 | 4 | Chelsea | 9,011 |  |
| League | 21st Dec 1946 | Chelsea | 1 | 2 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 43,006 |  |
| League | 25th Dec 1946 | Chelsea | 1 | 2 | Preston North End | 37,126 | |
| League | 26th Dec 1946 | Preston North End | 1 | 1 | Chelsea | 40,167 |  |
| League | 28th Dec 1946 | Bolton Wanderers | 1 | 1 | Chelsea | 36,048 | |
| League | 4th Jan 1947 | Chelsea | 3 | 1 | Liverpool | 59,226 | |
| F.A. Cup | 11th Jan 1947 | Chelsea | 1 | 1 | Arsenal | 70,257 | |
| F.A. Cup | 15th Jan 1947 | Arsenal | 1 | 1 | Chelsea | 53,350 | |
| F.A. Cup | 20th Jan 1947 | Arsenal | 0 | 2 | Chelsea | 59,590 | |
| F.A. Cup | 25th Jan 1947 | Chelsea | 2 | 2 | Derby County | 49,484 | |
| F.A. Cup | 29th Jan 1947 | Derby County | 1 | 0 | Chelsea | 19,079 | |
| League | 1st Feb 1947 | Charlton Athletic | 2 | 3 | Chelsea | 32,959 | |
| League | 8th Feb 1947 | Chelsea | 0 | 0 | Grimsby Town | 17,896 | |
| League | 15th Feb 1947 | Stoke City | 6 | 1 | Chelsea | 30,408 | |
| League | 1st Mar 1947 | Arsenal | 1 | 2 | Chelsea | 52,606 | |
| League | 8th Mar 1947 | Chelsea | 1 | 4 | Blackpool | 30,365 | |
| League | 15th Mar 1947 | Brentford | 0 | 2 | Chelsea | 33,244 | |
| League | 22nd Mar 1947 | Chelsea | 2 | 1 | Sunderland | 45,415 | |
| League | 29th Mar 1947 | Aston Villa | 2 | 0 | Chelsea | 35,786 | |
| League | 4th Apr 1947 | Chelsea | 0 | 2 | Blackburn Rovers | 37,840 | |
| League | 19th Apr 1947 | Chelsea | 1 | 0 | Huddersfield Town | 39,753 | |
| League | 26th Apr 1947 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 6 | 4 | Chelsea | 44,260 | |
Non-Competitive First-Team Appearances
| Non-Competitive First-Team Goals
|
Figures in ( ) are substitute appearances and are also included in the totals.
i.e. Johnny Paton made 0 appearances for Chelsea, of which 0 were as a substitute.
Non-Competitive First-Team Matches Played
| Comp | Date | Home | Away | Att |
Non-First-Team Appearances
| Non-First-Team Goals
|
Figures in ( ) are substitute appearances and are also included in the totals.
i.e. Johnny Paton made 0 appearances for Chelsea, of which 0 were as a substitute.
Non-First-Team Matches Played
| Comp | Date | Home | Away | Att |
Chelsea Graves Society Info & External Research Links:
View CGS profile for John Aloysius Paton on Ancestry
View CGS profile for John Aloysius Paton on Find-A-Grave
View location on Zeemaps for John Aloysius PatonReturn to Player Directory.
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