Martin Paterson

Martin Paterson

Paterson with Scunthorpe United in 2007
Personal information
Full name	Martin Andrew Paterson
Date of birth	(1987-05-10) 10 May 1987 (age 30)
Place of birth	Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, England
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Playing position	Forward
Club information
Current team	Tampa Bay Rowdies
Number	19
Youth career
1998–2005	Stoke City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2005–2007	Stoke City	15	(1)
2006–2007	→ Grimsby Town (loan)	15	(6)
2007–2008	Scunthorpe United	40	(13)
2008–2013	Burnley	130	(29)
2013–2015	Huddersfield Town	25	(5)
2014	→ Bristol City (loan)	8	(1)
2014	→ Fleetwood Town (loan)	3	(0)
2015	→ Orlando City (loan)	3	(0)
2015	Orlando City	1	(0)
2015–2016	Blackpool	17	(0)
2016	Port Vale	16	(2)
2017–	Tampa Bay Rowdies	5	(1)
National team
2007	Northern Ireland U21	2	(0)
2007–2014	Northern Ireland	23	(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14 May 2017.

Martin Andrew Paterson (born 10 May 1987) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Tampa Bay Rowdies in the United Soccer League. He won 23 caps for Northern Ireland in a seven-year international career from 2007 to 2014, and scored three international goals.

Born in Stoke-on-Trent, 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. He was released by Huddersfield and then had a brief spell with Orlando City, before he spent the 2015–16 season with Blackpool. He joined Port Vale for a four-month spell in August 2016, before returning to America to play for the Tampa Bay Rowdies in March 2017.

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".