Clyde midfielder Nicki Paterson played his last game for the Cumbernauld club against Arbroath on Tuesday night and he is now jetting off to the much sunnier climes of America’s North Carolina.
Paterson has signed for Charleston Battery, who play in the second tier of American Professional Soccer, and for the 26 year old he is returning to a land he knows well.
Paterson, who started his career at Motherwell, and also played for Hamilton Accies, before leaving for the States 7 years ago said, “I have been in America since leaving the Accies in 2004. I went over to the University of Neveda in Las Vegas and had an unbelievable four years of playing and studying there to become a PE Teacher. I then spent two years as a professional with Real Maryland before returning home to Scotland last September when I joined Clyde.”
Paterson’s new side are based four hours from Orlando in Florida, however that is only a small hop compared to some of the away games his side will face in the USL 2 as he explained, “There are 16 teams in the league but 4 of them are based in the Caribbean, 1 is in New York and 1 is in Los Angeles. The rest are dotted in-between so I will be clocking up a lot of air miles going to away games.”
Despite the cold and the rain in Scotland Paterson will miss the Scottish fans and their passion despite their often critical nature as he added, “I can play in front of crowds of 5,000 in these games but there is just not the same atmosphere as there is with a 1,000 people at Broadwood. I will miss that, although the Americans do tend to be slightly more positive. Having been back for nearly seven months now, it will be hard to leave my family again as well.”
A further disappointment for Paterson is leaving the Bully Wee just as they are making progress at the foot of the Scottish Football League with Paterson saying, “I am sorry to be leaving Clyde, especially as things have turned a corner in recent weeks. I wish all the lads well for the remainder of the season.”
"I have made some great friends at the club and I want to thank Jim Duffy, Chic Charnley, Neil Watt and the previous management team of Stuart Millar and Gordon Wylde for a great few months while I have been back in Scotland.”
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