Paul Paton

courtesy of Neil Fentie

Name: Paul Paton
Born: 18 April 1987, Paisley (SCO)
Height: 5.10 ft
Weight:
Position: Defender / Midfielder

Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: Full Caps (2014-).
Club Honours: (with Dundee United) Scottish Cup Runner-Up 2013/14; Scottish League Cup Runner-Up 2014/15.
Awards: SPFL Player of the Month September 2014, February 2016.

Club Career:
Teams ...... --Seasons-- Signed -Fee- -League- FA Cup FL Cup Other
Queen's Park.05/06-07/08 .. -05 Youth .89(0)/2 5(1)/0 5(0)/0 6(0)/1
Partick Th...08/09-12/13 May-08 .Free 142(5)/5 .7(0)/0 7(0)/0 5(1)/0 
Dundee Utd.. 13/14-15/16 Jul-13 ...... 71(4)/6 12(1)/0 7(0)/0
St Johnstone 16/17-17/18 May-16 .Free. 38(7)/1 .1(0)/0 3(3)/0 1(0)/0
Plymouth Arg 17/18 ..... Mar-18 .Free ..1(2)/0
Falkirk .... 18/19- date Jul-18 .Free

Biography:
Dundee United defensive player called-up for the first time as a late-addition for the squad to face Cyprus in March 2014. He qualifies for Northern Ireland through his Larne-born father.

JamieLister

Wikipedia
Soccerbase
Dundee United

Northern Ireland Full Cap Details:
30-05-2014 Uruguay.... A L 0-1 FR sub
04-06-2014 Chile...... A L 0-2 FR sub
24-03-2016 Wales...... A D 1-1 FR sub
15-11-2016 Croatia.... H L 0-3 FR sub
02-06-2016 New Zealand H W 1-0 FR sub
still active

Northern Ireland Players in the Scottish Premiership

The Scottish Professional Football League Premiership was formed in 2013 when the Scottish Premier League (SPL, founded 1998) "re-merged" with the Scottish Football League (founded 1890) to once again form a single governing body for senior league clubs in Scotland, the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL). All four divisions within the league structure were re-branded, with the Premiership as the top level with the Championship, League 1 and League 2 beneath.

The following Northern Ireland players have featured in the Premiership to date...

Liam Boyce (Ross County)
Conor Brennan (Kilmarnock)
Sammy Clingan (Kilmarnock)
Ben Hall (Motherwell)
Josh Magennis (Aberdeen, St Mirren, Kilmarnock)
Alan Mannus (St Johnstone)
Niall McGinn (Aberdeen)
Ryan McGivern (Hibernian)
Ryan McLaughlin (Aberdeen)
Michael McGovern (Hamilton Academical)
Billy McKay (Inverness Caledonian Thistlem Dundee Unired)
Rory McKeown (Kilmarnock)
Brian McLean (Ross County)
James McPake (Hibernian, Dundee)
Paul Paton (Dundee United)
Jamie Sendles-White (Hamilton Academical)
Ivan Sproule (Ross County)
Chris Turner (Hamilton Academical)
Jude Winchester (Kilmarnock)

Links:
SPFL

See also:
NI Players in the SPL
NI Players in the English Premier League
NI Players in the UEFA Champions League
NI Players in the UEFA Europa League
NI Players in the NASL and MLS
NI Players in the Scottish Cup Final
NI Players with 20+ Goals in a Scottish League Season

Jonny Tuffey

Name: Jonathan Tuffey

Born: 20 January 1987, Banbridge

Height: 6.01 ft

Weight: 12.08 st

Position: Goalkeeper

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Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: 8 Full (2008-2011), 13 Under-21 Caps (2006-2008), 11 Under-19 Caps, 8 Under-17 Caps, 10 Under-16 Schools Caps (2002-2003).
Club Honours: (with Inverness) North of Scotland Cup Winner 2011/12; (with Linfield) Co. Antrim Shield Winner 2013/14; (with Glenavon) Irish Cup Winner 2015/16; NIFL Charity Shield Winner 2016.
Awards: Scottish First Division Player of the Month March 2008; NIFWA Goalkeeper of the Year 2015/16.

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Club Career:

Teams.......... --Seasons-- Signed -Fee- -League- FA Cup FL Cup Europe Other

St Patrick's Boys Club

Lisburn Youth

Coventry City.............. Jul-05 Youth ..0(0)/0

Partick Thistle 06/07-09/10 Aug-06 .Free 109(1)/0 9(0)/0 7(0)/0 3(0)/0

Inverness C.T. .10/11-11/12 Jul-10 .Free ..8(0)/0 5(0)/0 3(0)/0 
St Johnstone .. 12/13 ..... Jun-12 .Free . 0(0)/0 ...... 1(0)/0 
Linfield ...... 13/14-14/15 Jun-13 .Free .59(0)/0 2(0)/0 3(0)/0 8(0)/0 5(0)/0
Glenavon ...... 15/16- date May-15 .Free

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Biography:

A promising young 'keeper and former captain of Northern Ireland Under-21s, Jonny Tuffey was called into the Full squad for the first time for World Cup qualifiers against Slovakia and Czech Republic in September 2008 - he may have to serve a long apprenticeship as back-up for Maik Taylor and Alan Mannus.

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A former trainee at Coventry, where he was a regular in the reserve side at 18, Tuffey decided to join Partick Thistle in 2006. He established himself as first choice at Partick through the 2007/08 season, taking the place of former Scotland 'B' international, Kevin Arthur. In 2008/09 he aided Partick to runners-up spot in the Scottish First Division, one place of promotion, earning fans' Player of the Year accolades.

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Tuffey has already tasted some success for Northern Ireland at youth level. He featured in the 2004 UEFA European Under-17 Finals in France and 2005 Under-19 Finals hosted by Northern Ireland. He also starred in the Northern Ireland Elite side that were defeated by the USA in the Final of the 2005 Milk Cup.

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Tuffey made his full international debut as a half-time substitute in a friendly against Hungary in November 2008. He stood little chance for either of the goals he conceded in a 2-0 defeat. He made his first start for Northern Ireland in an end-of-season friendly against Italy, marking the occasion with a penalty save.

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After turning down a new contract with Partick in the summer of 2010, Tuffey was linked to a number of clubs in Scotland, England and the USA. Eventually he joined SPL side Inverness Caledonian Thistle on a two-year deal, after the club agreed "development" compensation with Partick. To date Tuffey has been merely back-up for Caley, though he retained his place as Northern Ireland's second choice 'keeper and put in a particularly impressive performance against Morocco in November 2010 before being replaced by Alan Blayney at half-time.

Having played only cup matches for Caley, Tuffey was finally given a run in the final three league matches of the season, so becoming the first goalkeeper from Northern Ireland to feature in the SPL since it was founded in 1998. He shared international goalkeeping duties with Blayney in the end-of-season Carling Nations Cup matches. The arrival of Lee Camp on the international scene, the continued presence of the veteran Taylor and a squad re-call for Mannus saw Tuffey fall from the the Northern Ireland reckoning.

After another campaign as Inverness' back-up and cup 'keeper, Tuffey was released in the summer of 2012. He joined the Steve Lomas managed St Johnstone where he competed for a place with Mannus. Having been unable to oust his fellow country-man from the Perth club's number one spot, Tuffey was released at the close of the season. He returned to Northern Ireland, signing for Linfield for whom he made his debut in a 2-0 Europa League win at IF Fuglafjordur of the Faroe Islands in July. Tuffey spent two largely disappointing seasons at Linfield that yielded only a County Antrim Shield win. Inconsistent form saw him lose his place for a portion of the 2014/15 season and he was released that summer.

Tuffey moved to Glenavon for 2015/16 and re-found his form as the Lurgan club finished third in the Irish League and claimed the Irish Cup.

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Irish FA

Partick Thistle

Wikipedia

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Northern Ireland Cap Details:

19-11-2008 Hungary. H L 0-2 FR sub

06-06-2009 Italy... A L 0-3 FR

12-08-2009 Israel.. H D 1-1 FR sub

14-11-2009 Serbia.. H L 0-1 FR sub

03-03-2010 Albania. A L 0-1 FR sub

17-11-2010 Morocco. H D 1-1 FR
09-02-2011 Scotland N L 0-3 CNC
27-05-2011 Wales... N L 0-2 CNC

Summary: 4(4)/0. Won 0, Drew 2, Lost 6. Goals conceded: 9.

Northern Ireland B Cap Details:
06-05-2009 Scotland A L 0-3 FR

Northern Ireland Under-21 Cap Details:
14-11-2006 Germany... A L 1-2 FR 
06-02-2007 Wales..... H L 0-4 FR 
24-03-2007 Romania... A L 0-2 FR 
24-05-2007 Scotland.. A L 0-4 FR 
01-06-2007 Moldova... A W 1-0 ECQ 
21-08-2007 Finland... H W 2-1 FR 
07-09-2007 Germany... H L 0-3 ECQ 
12-09-2007 Luxembourg A W 2-1 ECQ 
17-10-2007 Israel.... H L 1-3 ECQ 
16-11-2007 Luxembourg H W 5-0 ECQ 
20-11-2007 Moldova... H W 3-0 ECQ 
06-02-2008 Israel.... A L 1-2 ECQ 
26-03-2008 Romania... H L 1-3 FR sub 

Summary: 12(1)/0. Won 5, Drew 0, Lost 8.

Picture by Roy Cathcart.

Michael McGovern

Full Name: Michael Mcgovern

Born: 12 July 1984, Enniskillen

Height: 6.02 ft

Weight: 14.00 st

Position: Goalkeeper

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Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: Full Caps (2010-date), 10 Under-21 Caps (2005-2006); 3 Under-19 Caps.

Club Honours: (with Ross County) Scottish Cup Runner-Up 2009/10; Scottish League Challenge Cup Winner 2010/11; (with Falkirk) Scottish League Challenge Cup Winner 2011/12.
Awards: SPFA First Division Team of the Year 2011/12; SPFA Championship Team of the Year 2013/14; Opta/Euro 2016 Team of the Group Stage.

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Club Career:

Clubs	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA Cup	FL Cup	Europe	Other
Enniskillen Town United			Youth	(Fermanagh & Western League)
Celtic	03/04-07/08	Jul-01	Youth	0(0)/0	-	-	-	-
Stranraer	04/05	Jul-05	Loan	19(0)/0	-	-	-	-
St Johnstone	06/07	Dec-06	Loan	1(0)/0	-	-	-	-
Dundee Utd	08/09	Jun-08	Free	0(0)/0	-	-	-	-
Ross County	09/10-10/11	Jun-09	Free	71(0)/0	9(0)/0	5(0)/0	-	3(0)/0
Falkirk	11/12-13/14	Jun-11	Free	105(0)/0	7(0)/0	10(0)/0	-	10(0)/0
Hamilton Ac.	14/15-15/16	Jun-14	-	75(0)/0	2(0)/0	5(0)/0	-	-
Norwich C.	16/17- date	Jul-16	Free	-	-	-	-	-
TOTALS		£-		-	-	-	-	-

* all games

Biography:

Although he never made a firstteam appearance for Celtic, Michael McGovern did claim two Scottish Cup winner's medals as an unused substitute in 2004 and 2007. His senior appearances during this time were limited to loan spells with Stranraer and St Johnstone. Although he regarded his time at Celtic Park as excellent grounding, McGovern did later lament having stayed too long.

Courtesy of
Roy Cathcart

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Having captained the Northern Ireland Under-21 side and appeared in the Milk Cup 25th Anniversary Match against Everton, McGovern was first included in the Full squad for the European Championship Qualifiers against Latvia and Iceland in September 2007. His inclusion came as fellow Enniskillen-man, Roy Carroll, declared himself available for the stand-by list only. Linfield's Alan Mannus was preferred for a place on the substitute's bench for both matches. McGovern remained in the Northern Ireland squad through to 2008.

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McGovern signed a one-year deal with Dundee United on 17 June 2008. He left Tannadice after a season without making a firstteam appearance, signing for Ross County as a free agent. With The Staggies he played his part in a famous 2-0 Scottish Cup semi-final win over his ex-club, Celtic and in the 3-0 final defeat by another ex-club, Dundee United.

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Three years after his first inclusion in the Northern Ireland senior squad, McGovern won his first cap in Chile during an end-of-season tour, though he was overlooked by Nigel Worthington thereafter. In April 2011 he kept a clean-sheet as Ross County won the Alba Challenge Cup final 2-0 against Queen of the South. When his contract ended at the end of the 2010/11 season, McGovern spent some time training with St Johnstone as he looked for a new club, eventually signing for Falkirk.

With Falkirk McGovern claimed a second Challenge Cup winner's medal, was named the club's Players' Player of the Year and has been shortlisted for the SPFA Division One Player of the Year. He also earned a re-call to the Northern Ireland squad for Michael O'Neill's first match as manager in February 2012.

In June 2014 McGovern joined newly promoted Hamilton Academicals for their debut Scottish Premiership season. He made his first ever start for Northern Ireland in a friendly against Scotland in March 2015 and earned his first competitive cap as a late stand-in for Roy Carroll in a scoreless draw against Romania that June. Good performances in those games saw him retain his position in the team for the following season, though it was his fumble that gifted Hungary their goal in a 1-1 draw in September.

McGovern retained his position as Northern Ireland's first choice as qualification for Euro 2016 was clinched. He earned great plaudits for his performances in France, with a particularly impressive display in the 1-0 group game defeat by Germany earning attention from across Europe. With his Accies contract having expired, he became much sought after and eventually joined Norwich City.

Michael's younger sister, Aine has played for the Northern Ireland Women's international team and his brother Joe currently plays for Dundee United's development squad.

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Irish FA Site

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Northern Ireland Cap Details:

30-05-2010 Chile ....... A L 0-1 FR sub
26-03-2015 Scotland..... A L 0-1 FR
13-06-2015 Romania...... H D 0-0 ECQ
04-09-2015 Faroe Islands A W 3-1 ECQ
07-09-2015 Hungary...... H D 1-1 ECQ

still active.

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George O'Boyle

Name: George O’Boyle
Born: 14 December 1967, Belfast
Height: 5.09 ft
Weight: 11.09 st
Position: Forward

Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: 13 Full Caps / 1 Goal (1994-1998), 4 B Caps / 2 Goals (1994-1998), Under-18, Under-17; Irish league: 2 Caps (1989).
Club Honours: (with Linfield) Irish League Champion 1986/87, 1988/89; Gold Cup Winner 1988/89; Irish League Cup Winner 1986/87; (with St Johnstone) Scottish League Division One Champion 1996/97; Scottish League Cup Runner-Up 1998/99.
Awards: Ulster Young Player of the Year 1987; Scottish league Division One Player of the Year 1996.

Club Career:

Clubs	Seasons	Signed	Fee	League	FA Cup	FL Cup	Europe	Other
Manchester City	-	Oct-84	Youth	0 (0)/  0	-	-	-	-
Distillery	85/86	Dec-85	Youth	23 (1)/  4	-	-	-	1(1)/ 0
Linfield	86/87	Aug-86	-	20 (2)/ 12	-	-	2(0)/0	/ 8
Bordeaux	87/88-88/89	Aug-87	-	0 (3)/  0	-	-	-	-
Linfield	88/89	Jun-88	Loan	23 (1)/  9	-	-	1(1)/0	/ 9
Dunfermline Ath.	89/90-93/94	Aug-89	£250k	86 (9)/ 29	4(2)/1	10(0)/4	-	1(0)/ 2
St Johnstone	94/95-00/01	Jul-94	£200k	135(11)/ 64	?(?)/?	?(?)/?	0(1)/0	-
Raith Rovers	01/02	Jul-01	Free	2 (3)/  0	-	-	-	-
Brechin City	01/02	Nov-01	Free	4 (1)/  2	1(0)/2	-	-	-
Queen of the S'th	01/02	Dec-01	Free	7 (0)/  3	-	-	-	-
Glenavon	02/03	Jun-02	Free	33 (0)/  9	3(0)/1	2(0)/0	-	1(0)/0
Ards	03/04	Jun-03	Free	5 (4)/  0	-	1(2)/1	-	-
Bo’ness United	03/04-05/06	Jan-04	Free	33 (7)/ 13	(Scottish Junior)
Kelty Hearts	06/07	Jul-06	Free	-	(Scottish Junior)
Carnoustie.Pan're	06/07	Nov-06	Free	0 (1)/  0	(Scottish Junior)
TOTALS		£450k		371(42)/145	8(2)/4	13(2)/5	3(2)/0	/19

Biography:
Having won Youth caps, George O’Boyle started his Irish League career with Distillery, where he made 25 appearances before joining Linfield. At Linfield he developed into one of the best young players in Northern Ireland, and was voted Ulster’s Young Player of the Year in 1987, the same season as he claimed an Irish League winner’s medal. A spell with Bordeaux proved short-lived and he returned to Linfield on loan in 1988. During his season back at Windsor O'Boyle received Inter-League recognition and his first inclusions in Billy Bingham's Northern Ireland squad - however it would be another five years before he was actually capped.

O’Boyle moved to Scotland with Dunfermline in the summer of 1989. Whilst with Dunfermline he was called up by Bryan Hamilton for a Northern Ireland ‘B’ international with England, and on 10th March 1994 he scored in a 4-2 defeat at Hillsborough in Sheffield. That goal brought another call-up to the Full international squad, and he went on that summer’s trip to the USA. He won his first cap as a substitute on 3rd June against Colombia, a 2-0 defeat, and eight days later he started against Mexico in a 3-0 defeat.

The summer of 1994 also saw George O’Boyle make a tribunal-set-£200,000 move to Scottish First Division side St Johnstone as a replacement for Aberdeen bound Billy Dodds. His form over the next few seasons saw him regularly top the goalscoring charts and establish his place in the world of international football. In 1995/96, the same season that he scored 23 League goals, he was linked to a host of top Scottish sides, including Hearts, Hibs and even Rangers. His reputation was further enhanced as he came of the substitutes bench to score for Northern Ireland in a 1-1 draw with Germany in April 1996.

St Johnstone resisted all attempts to lure their top striker away, and he eventually helped them to the Scottish Premier League in the late 1990s. In 1998 O’Boyle scored his last goal in a Northern Ireland shirt as the Republic of Ireland were defeated 1-0 in a ‘B’ international in Dublin on 11th February. Regular appearances from the bench during Lawrie McMenemy’s first year in charge yielded little joy and as injuries started to plague O’Boyle he made his final appearance, again from the bench, against Finland on 10th October 1998.

Injury problems, including a cruciate ligament problem put him out of action for much of 1999 and 2000, but it was his off-the-field antics that drew the most attention. In January 2001 St Johnstone sacked George O’Boyle after being found guilty of gross misconduct. It followed allegations that, along with Saints team-mate Kevin Thomas, he had been seen taking cocaine in a Perth bar.

On leaving St Johnstone O’Boyle started to train with Raith Rovers, signing a short-term contract in July 2001. He failed to make an impact at Raith and was released that October. Four goals in six competitive appearances during a month with Brechin City pre-empted a move to Queen of the South. His three goals in seven League games for the Doonhamers, before injury ended his season in February, helped them claim the Scottish Second Division Championship in 2002. A double of sorts was claimed as Brechin won the Third Division title.Like so many local players based in the mainland, O’Boyle returned to the Irish League during the summer of 2002, scoring on his debut for Glenavon. After a brief spell with Ards the following season, O’Boyle returned to Scotland with Junior side, Bo’ness United.

Later he played with other Junior sides, Kelty Hearts and Carnoustie Panmure, where he was assistant-manager for a few years. In May 2016 he was appointed assistant head coach of Lisburn Distillery.

Drug Scandal (From BBC)
Wikipedia

Northern Ireland Cap Details:
03-06-1994 Colombia... N L 0-2 FR sub
11-06-1994 Mexico..... N L 0-3 FR
07-09-1994 Portugal... H L 1-2 ECQ sub
26-04-1995 Latvia..... A W 1-0 ECQ sub
22-05-1995 Canada..... A L 0-2 FR sub
25-05-1995 Chile...... N L 1-2 FR sub
24-04-1996 Sweden..... H L 1-2 FR sub
29-05-1996 Germany.... H D 1-1 FR sub 1 goal
22-01-1997 Italy...... A L 0-2 FR sub
11-02-1997 Belgium.... H W 3-0 FR sub
25-03-1998 Slovakia... H W 1-0 FR sub
22-04-1998 Switzerland H W 1-0 FR sub
10-10-1998 Finland.... H W 1-0 ECQ sub

Summary: 1(12)/1. Won 5, Drew 1, Lost 7.

Northern Ireland B Cap Details:
10-05-1994 England.... A L 2-4 FR 1 goal
21-02-1995 Scotland... A L 0-3 FR
26-03-1996 Norway..... H W 3-0 FR
11-02-1998 Rep Ireland A W 1-0 FR 1 goal

Summary: 4/2. Won 2, Drew 0, Lost 2.