Martin Paterson

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…

Born in England, Paterson qualified to represent Northern Ireland at international level as his father was from Northern Ireland, and he was alerted to the Irish Football Association by Ciarán Toner. He won two caps for the Northern Ireland under-21 side, before withdrawing from the squad for personal reasons in October 2007. Nigel Worthington handed Paterson his senior team debut as a 72nd-minute substitute for Warren Feeney in a 1–0 defeat to Spain in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying match on 17 November 2007. He made his first start for Northern Ireland on 20 August 2008, in a 0–0 draw with Scotland. He scored his first international goal with an 84th-minute penalty in a 3–3 draw in a friendly against Finland at Windsor Park on 15 August 2012. He scored his second international goal on 14 August 2013, his header securing Michael O'Neill his first win as manager with a 1–0 victory over Russia in a qualifying game for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He scored the third goal of his international career on 10 September 2013, in a 3–2 defeat to Luxembourg at the Stade Josy Barthel. He won the last of his 22 senior caps on 5 March 2014, in a 0–0 friendly in a friendly against Cyprus. He withdrew from Northern Ireland's squad three months later in order to focus on his pre-season with Huddersfield Town, citing injury issues during the 2013–14 season in his decision.

Former Burnley manager Eddie Howe described Paterson as "a real grafter, you can see that with the way he plays, he sets the tone really in terms of his closing down and work rate and also he's got quality as well".

Paterson was appointed as an assistant coach to head coach Neill Collins at the Tampa Bay Rowdies in July 2018. In February 2020, he was named as assistant coach to Jason Kreis at USL League One club Fort Lauderdale CF. He was hired as an assistant coach at Major League Soccer club Inter Miami in January 2022. Seven months later he returned to England to work as Michael Duff's assistant at League One club Barnsley. He joined Duff at Swansea City in June 2023, working as an assistant head coach alongside Alan Sheehan.

Burton Albion

On 11 January 2024, Paterson was appointed head coach of Burton Albion, who were 17th in League One. Owner Ben Robinson revealed in March that it was only a short-term contract but said that it was "a scenario where hopefully it's going to be a long-term relationship". Paterson left the club after Burton narrowly avoided relegation at the end of the 2023–24 season. He joined the backroom staff at Huddersfield Town in June 2024.

Notts County

On 22 June 2025, Paterson was appointed head coach of EFL League Two club Notts County, succeeding Stuart Maynard. His appointment was part of a wider club restructure that included the formation of a Technical Board and the additions of Andy Edwards as assistant head coach and former Magpies goalkeeper Sam Slocombe as first-team coach. His side showed their resilience by coming from behind to defeat Swindon Town 2–1 on 27 January. The team won six matches in a row between December and…