Danny Paton

[maroonedinoz]

Something I have long wondered about, maybe some on here know.

And that is, why was our inside forward from the early 60’s called DANNY Paton, when his first name was Robert?

[LondonHearts]

[LondonHearts]

Not revealed in the article.

Not part of his full name either Robert Simpson Reid Paton.

 

Edited August 12, 2020 by LondonHearts

[colinmaroon]

A good player but sadly, my abiding memory is of Danny blasting the ball over the bar from close range in a 2-1 home loss in the Cup replay  v Motherwell  after a thrilling 3-3 draw at Fir Park.

[Doctor FinnBarr]

3 hours ago, LondonHearts said:

Not revealed in the article.

Not part of his full name either Robert Simpson Reid Paton.

 

 

My mates uncle.

[Deevers]

2 minutes ago, colinmaroon said:

A good player but sadly, my abiding memory is of Danny blasting the ball over the bar from close range in a 2-1 home loss in the Cup replay  v Motherwell  after a thrilling 3-3 draw at Fir Park.

Funnily enough that’s my memory of him. I don’t think he played that often after that. I actually quite liked him, he was a busy player and played pretty well, in partnership with Norrie Davidson.

[David Black]

32 minutes ago, Deevers said:

Funnily enough that’s my memory of him. I don’t think he played that often after that. I actually quite liked him, he was a busy player and played pretty well, in partnership with Norrie Davidson.

I could be wrong but I think Danny Paton was one of the first players to wear contact lenses. Also I am sure he scored a hat trick against Hibs at Easter Road.

[japanjambo]

His grandson works at my local gym.

[1953]

Danny was part of the team when I first started going to Tynecastle in 1963 but sadly I can't think of any stand out moments so he can't have made much of an impression.

[jbee647]

True story , a guy I used to work with lived in Briech, was a neighbour of Danny, he said Robert and his brothers all answered to the name Danny

[colinmaroon]

38 minutes ago, Deevers said:

Funnily enough that’s my memory of him. I don’t think he played that often after that. I actually quite liked him, he was a busy player and played pretty well, in partnership with Norrie Davidson.

 

I think what made it particularly sore was the great fightback in the first game, coming from 3-1 down (Joe Madrid had scored a first half hat-trick for them I think).

 

Another player to suffer the cold shoulder after hitting the ball over the bar  was one of my favourites, Tommy White, v Hibs in 1-0 Derby loss at Tynecastle on New Years day. Mind you it was about one yard outland a certain Willie Hamilton scored their winner.

[Deevers]

1 minute ago, colinmaroon said:

 

I think what made it particularly sore was the great fightback in the first game, coming from 3-1 down (Joe Madrid had scored a first half hat-trick for them I think).

 

Another player to suffer the cold shoulder after hitting the ball over the bar  was one of my favourites, Tommy White, v Hibs in 1-0 Derby loss at Tynecastle on New Years day. Mind you it was about one yard outland a certain Willie Hamilton scored their winner.

That was a real sickener Colin. I think a Tommy Walker didn’t pick Tommy White again after that miss.

[colinmaroon]

42 minutes ago, Deevers said:

That was a real sickener Colin. I think a Tommy Walker didn’t pick Tommy White again after that miss.

 

Problem was Tommy loved to bang the ball home, I think most of his shots hit the roof of the net.  He only had to prod it home but tried to burst the net.

 

PS I note that spellchecker changed McBride to Madrid in previous post. I think he could have!

Edited August 12, 2020 by colinmaroon

[Deevers]

19 minutes ago, colinmaroon said:

 

Problem was Tommy loved to bang the ball home, I think most of his shots hit the roof of the net.  He only had to prod it home but tried to burst the net.

 

PS I note that spellchecker changed McBride to Madrid in previous post. I think he could have!

You are right about him liking to leather the ball. I remember him bursting the match ball, with a screamer of a shot at Cathkin Park.

Edited August 12, 2020 by Deevers

[jambos are go!]

1 hour ago, David Black said:

I could be wrong but I think Danny Paton was one of the first players to wear contact lenses. Also I am sure he scored a hat trick against Hibs at Easter Road.

You are correct. He scored a hat trick in a 4-1 victory at Easter Road in 1962 just before we beat  Killie in the League Cup Final of 1962. An instinctive goalscorer who fitted well in with Willie Hamilton and Co. Played for Yevil Town whilst on National Service.

 

22 hours ago, Famous 1874 said:

The guys we sign will most likely not be Hearts quality but should do a job in the championship.

 

I would have given him a 12 month deal with an option to extend. The real rebuild will happen next summer, assuming that we go up. 

  

[132goals1958]

1 hour ago, 1953 said:

Danny was part of the team when I first started going to Tynecastle in 1963 but sadly I can't think of any stand out moments so he can't have made much of an impression.

 

 

Scored a hat trick at Easter Road in a 4 0 victory,. Can,t remember the other scorer but the next player to achieve that feat was Mark De Vries.

[jambos are go!]

38 minutes ago, 132goals1958 said:

 

 

Scored a hat trick at Easter Road in a 4 0 victory,. Can,t remember the other scorer but the next player to achieve that feat was Mark De Vries.

John Cumming scored the other goal. And you are right it was 4 nil.

[jimmy the jambo]

Danny was from the same village I was brought up in (Breich),He was very humble and never talked too much about playing.

He was one of a few players to score a hat trick against the wee team if memory serves me right. 

[132goals1958]

8 minutes ago, jambos are go! said:

John Cumming scored the other goal. And you are right it was 4 nil.

 

Cheers

[David Black]

1 hour ago, jambos are go! said:

John Cumming scored the other goal. And you are right it was 4 nil.

John Cumming was my favourite player of all time. Hard as nails, but was never booked in his entire career. 

[Locky]

3 hours ago, jbee647 said:

True story , a guy I used to work with lived in Briech, was a neighbour of Danny, he said Robert and his brothers all answered to the name Danny

 

2 hours ago, sassenach said:

I know a bloke from Arran called Ian. Everyone calls him Dan, simply because it was his Father's name.

This thought crossed my mind as I read on. Zlamal gets called Bobby purely because of his dad (or grandad, can't remember).

[Tokyo Drifter]

10 hours ago, maroonedinoz said:

Something I have long wondered about, maybe some on here know.

And that is, why was our inside forward from the early 60’s called DANNY Paton, when his first name was Robert?

I don't have an answer, but I did initially misread your post title as Dolly Parton, if that helps.

[ULSTER HEARTS]

I'm good friends with one of his nephews, here is the story he just sent me.....

Lol everyone asks mate. It his right back to when my uncle Danny( Robert) was a boy playing football at the back of my  grans house in breich , she was forever trying to get him to stop playing football  to come home and some locals nicknamed him desperate Dan. My dad(John) got called Danny and my cousin (James) got called youg Dan. The name just ended up sticking with the Paton side of my family.  There is even a story when my uncle Robert was playing with hearts and he got pulled into Tommy walkers office for a lecture as my dad had been out on the piss at the weekend and got lifted by the police and news had got back to hearts that Danny Paton had been on the piss and in the cells but was the wrong Danny obviously 🤣

[oxfordman]

8 hours ago, David Black said:

I could be wrong but I think Danny Paton was one of the first players to wear contact lenses. Also I am sure he scored a hat trick against Hibs at Easter Road.

Surely, given their amazing record for "firsts", the 1st to wear contact lenses must have been a Hibs player?

[queensferryjambo]

14 hours ago, maroonedinoz said:

Something I have long wondered about, maybe some on here know.

And that is, why was our inside forward from the early 60’s called DANNY Paton, when his first name was Robert?

 

7 hours ago, sassenach said:

I know a bloke from Arran called Ian. Everyone calls him Dan, simply because it was his Father's name.

 

 

Not sure if Paton's Dad was called Dan but that isn't what I was told as to why Robert Paton was called Danny.

 

I briefly knew one of Robert Paton's nephew's met him through Hearts. 

 

He told me Robert Paton was called Dan as a nickname as a child after Desperate Dan because apparently he had a reputation for eating a lot and being very strong and having loads of stamina.

 

Danny Paton used to sign his autograph Robert but then changed it to Danny later. I think it might be one of the team photos from 57/58 or 59/60 that has the players signatures printed on it. 

 

I am sure one of is nephew's had a facebook page about Danny Paton and his career (not the same nephew I knew) unfortunately I cannot find it just now.

[rabthejambo]

I can confirm that my uncle Danny was indeed known by that name because of his big appetite and his stubbornness, characteristics of Desperate Dan from The Dandy,  when it came to playing football as a young lad growing up in Breich.  And as mentioned above it became a bit of a family tradition and his brothers, John and Alec, as well as a nephew all answered to it.  He was an absolute gentleman and my gran used to regale me with stories of her brother, the football star, when I was a wee boy growing up.  My favourite involved her travelling home from Portobello on a bus in September of 1962 and seeing the evening newspaper headlines outside the shops 'Paton scores hat-trick against Hibs'.  Still the last Hearts player to do so at Easter Road.  He ended up leaving Hearts in 1964 after a very bad knee injury and playing in the lower leagues in England before heading to America to play with Washington Darts in the NASL.  One of my most prized possessions is a cut out match report from the Washington Post from a match he played in against the great Santos side of 1970 (a month out from the World Cup Final) which has a picture of him standing next to Pele.  Quite a footballing journey which started on the football pitch in Breich behind his mothers back garden, which took in Newtongrange Star (with Alex Young and Dave MacKay), Tynecastle of course and then a stadium about 5000 miles away playing against arguably the finest player the world has ever seen.  A more humble man you could not meet.  I miss him greatly.  All our family does.

[rabthejambo]

11 hours ago, 1953 said:

Danny was part of the team when I first started going to Tynecastle in 1963 but sadly I can't think of any stand out moments so he can't have made much of an impression.

Its probably fair to say that his best Hearts days were behind him at that point as injury was forcing him out of the team,  but he did play and score in the record breaking 1957-58 league winning season as well as winning the League Cup in 1962.  And if course a hat trick against Hibs away in 1962 ( as well as a goal in the return game at Tynecastle) is a pretty strong list of accomplishments.  He joined Hearts at a time when perhaps the greatest forward line we have ever had were in their pomp and he was unlucky to lose two years of his Tynecastle career due to National service.  Having said that he played at Yeovil town and scored over 50 goals in two seasons whilst there as well as playing in the FA Cup.  In fact he is still considered one of Yeovil's finest ever players for his efforts during those two seasons.  I find myself tempted every once in a while to buy a Yeovil strip as a novelty but I'm afraid their fondness for green and white has stopped me thus far.

[Lone Striker]

9 minutes ago, rabthejambo said:

I can confirm that my uncle Danny was indeed known by that name because of his big appetite and his stubbornness, characteristics of Desperate Dan from The Dandy,  when it came to playing football as a young lad growing up in Breich.  And as mentioned above it became a bit of a family tradition and his brothers, John and Alec, as well as a nephew all answered to it.  He was an absolute gentleman and my gran used to regale me with stories of her brother, the football star, when I was a wee boy growing up.  My favourite involved her travelling home from Portobello on a bus in September of 1962 and seeing the evening newspaper headlines outside the shops 'Paton scores hat-trick against Hibs'.  Still the last Hearts player to do so at Easter Road.  He ended up leaving Hearts in 1964 after a very bad knee injury and playing in the lower leagues in England before heading to America to play with Washington Darts in the NASL.  One of my most prized possessions is a cut out match report from the Washington Post from a match he played in against the great Santos side of 1970 (a month out from the World Cup Final) which has a picture of him standing next to Pele.  Quite a footballing journey which started on the football pitch in Breich behind his mothers back garden, which took in Newtongrange Star (with Alex Young and Dave MacKay), Tynecastle of course and then a stadium about 5000 miles away playing against arguably the finest player the world has ever seen.  A more humble man you could not meet.  I miss him greatly.  All our family does.

Thanks Rab -  that's a superb tribute to your uncle, a player whose ability was overshadowed by the more celebrated and famous teammates.👍

[Rab WL]

10 hours ago, jambos are go! said:

John Cumming scored the other goal. And you are right it was 4 nil.

My first derby and remember Cumming's goal was a cracker - Danny was a good player for us and was still called Danny when I knew him many years later in Bathgate 

[1953]

11 hours ago, rabthejambo said:

Its probably fair to say that his best Hearts days were behind him at that point as injury was forcing him out of the team,  but he did play and score in the record breaking 1957-58 league winning season as well as winning the League Cup in 1962.  And if course a hat trick against Hibs away in 1962 ( as well as a goal in the return game at Tynecastle) is a pretty strong list of accomplishments.  He joined Hearts at a time when perhaps the greatest forward line we have ever had were in their pomp and he was unlucky to lose two years of his Tynecastle career due to National service.  Having said that he played at Yeovil town and scored over 50 goals in two seasons whilst there as well as playing in the FA Cup.  In fact he is still considered one of Yeovil's finest ever players for his efforts during those two seasons.  I find myself tempted every once in a while to buy a Yeovil strip as a novelty but I'm afraid their fondness for green and white has stopped me thus far.

Thanks for that. I have zero personal knowledge of anything Hearts related prior to my first match in March/April 1963. I was not even aware that we had won the League cup in 1962. I can't explain that at all as my dad was a die hard jambo and I was aware that he went to matches, but I guess it was never talked about until he took me to my first game when I was 9, and just tall enough to see over the wall at the front of the terracing.

[Harry Potter]

On 12/08/2020 at 10:00, japanjambo said:

His grandson works at my local gym.

What a small world.

[bairdy]

I also remember Danny, he had a tremendous shot, can't remember the 4-0 game against the lochenders, but the '62 final' was my first final. (Never missed one since.)

A good player, as others have said, it was unfortunate for him that he was with us when we had a tremendous team.

[maroonedinoz]

Great response to my o.p.

 

Thanks to all.....Desperate Dan was one of my favourite comic characters as a kid too😂

[Doctor FinnBarr]

On 12/08/2020 at 21:53, rabthejambo said:

Its probably fair to say that his best Hearts days were behind him at that point as injury was forcing him out of the team,  but he did play and score in the record breaking 1957-58 league winning season as well as winning the League Cup in 1962.  And if course a hat trick against Hibs away in 1962 ( as well as a goal in the return game at Tynecastle) is a pretty strong list of accomplishments.  He joined Hearts at a time when perhaps the greatest forward line we have ever had were in their pomp and he was unlucky to lose two years of his Tynecastle career due to National service.  Having said that he played at Yeovil town and scored over 50 goals in two seasons whilst there as well as playing in the FA Cup.  In fact he is still considered one of Yeovil's finest ever players for his efforts during those two seasons.  I find myself tempted every once in a while to buy a Yeovil strip as a novelty but I'm afraid their fondness for green and white has stopped me thus far.

 

I know your location is given as Bathgate but are you perhaps big Rab McL from Blackburn?

[systemx]

First team player but still working underground at Woodmuir  Colliery

[rabthejambo]

1 hour ago, FinnBarr Saunders said:

 

I know your location is given as Bathgate but are you perhaps big Rab McL from Blackburn?

No mate, I'm his nephew. 

[rabthejambo]

31 minutes ago, systemx said:

First team player but still working underground at Woodmuir  Colliery

That's right,  changed days back then. Never bothered him, but I think he was glad when he could finally hang up the Davey lamp and live off the football. He was paid very well when he went down South. Far more than he made at Hearts anyway. He played briefly with Oxford United, alongside a young Ron Atkinson no less, but his old manager at Yeovil, Basil Hayward, took him to Bedford where he did well and made a few quid before heading over to the USA to play and coach.

[Kiwidoug]

On 12/08/2020 at 22:38, 132goals1958 said:

 

 

Scored a hat trick at Easter Road in a 4 0 victory,. Can,t remember the other scorer but the next player to achieve that feat was Mark De Vries.

I can tell you that John Cummings was the other scorer and it was a roof of the net thunderbolt from around 25 yards.

[Scottie Wanshot.]

He came from Breich west lothian, I knew his brother and guess what, his name was Danny as well.

[Francis Albert]

On 12/08/2020 at 09:20, colinmaroon said:

A good player but sadly, my abiding memory is of Danny blasting the ball over the bar from close range in a 2-1 home loss in the Cup replay  v Motherwell  after a thrilling 3-3 draw at Fir Park.

Was at both games. The Fir Park game was one of the most entertaining I've seen ...  the replay a huge disappointment. 

[David Black]

8 hours ago, Kiwidoug said:

I can tell you that John Cummings was the other scorer and it was a roof of the net thunderbolt from around 25 yards.

I was at that game and I'm sure we scored most goals playing up the Eiger. 

[cookieboy]

On 13/08/2020 at 10:16, jonnothejambo said:

 

John certainly bled maroon. 

 

When he became our trainer he always used to sprint onto the pitch to attend to the injured player. 

 

He was faster than most of the players.....

 

A true Hearts legend.

and the maroon runs through his family right down through his great grandchildren 

[john thomas]

1 hour ago, Francis Albert said:

Was at both games. The Fir Park game was one of the most entertaining I've seen ...  the replay a huge disappointment. 

Yes was at fir park some of my mates [not all jambos] wanted to leave at half time .

Replay was a reminder of what it is/was like to be a Hearts supporter

[colinmaroon]

2 hours ago, Francis Albert said:

Was at both games. The Fir Park game was one of the most entertaining I've seen ...  the replay a huge disappointment. 

 

I can remember their winning goal.  I was in the School end, the goal Danny blasted over and they scored at the Gorgie Road end.  It was from a corner, I think, and  Aitken (?) scored with a glancing back header.

 

Like you, the first game was really something but what a let down.

 

[Doctor FinnBarr]

17 hours ago, rabthejambo said:

No mate, I'm his nephew. 

 

Ah, hi Robert

[upgotheheads]

One of the reasons I remember Danny Paton is that he also played for Bedford town. I was born in Bedford and was  a regular visitor until the last few years, now sadly only for funerals. I would often pass Bedford's stadium and his name would always pop into my mind. Danny was a tidy player.