The joint boss of East Kilbride Thistle has stepped down from his role as he continues to deal with the trauma of a violent assault that left him scarred for life.
Alan Paterson is lucky to be alive after a group of men attacked him and two friends on Village Main Street last month.
The 44-year-old was targeted on Sunday, April 4, as he and his friends waited on a taxi home.
Among his injuries, the postal worker suffered a deep gash to his face and had to be rushed to hospital in a police car rather than wait on an ambulance because of severe blood loss.
Six weeks later Alan remains traumatised by the event and continues to suffer from concussion. He has also been left with no feeling in his right hand.
Most heartbreaking of all, Alan revealed his injuries have left his two young children “scared”.
It is not known if a knife or other sharp implement was used in the attack, but the Murray man bears a large scar down the left-hand side of his face, just millimetres from his eye.
The father-of-two has found the courage to speak to Lanarkshire Live Sport about the attack and wished to thank the young couple who came to his aid, calling the police in the aftermath of the horrific attack.
Reliving the violent episode, Alan told us: “One of my friends has only got one hand and there were a couple of boys asking what happened to 'your wee spastic hand'.
“They were all saying things to him and he was telling him he lost his hand because of a bomb in Iraq when he was serving.
“One of the guys said something again and I could see him going for my pal. Next thing I know, I’m waking up in hospital because they had attacked all of us.
“I’d like to thank the young couple who came to my aid because if it wasn’t for them, I don’t know where I’d be right now.
“They came to meet me a couple of weeks after the attack and told me they put a towel over my head, phoned the police and and took me into their flat.
“The police car took me straight to hospital because we couldn’t wait on an ambulance due to the amount of blood I’d lost.
“But I don’t remember any of that.”
The brutal assault has taken a huge mental toll on Alan and he has decided to step away from football after almost 40 years in the game.
That’s despite efforts to return to football after being released from hospital.
But after just a handful of games and the league season at an end, he says he can no longer continue amid a loss in confidence and worries over people staring at his scar.
Now he is focused on enjoying watching his five-year-old son Kian play for EKYC and 10-year-old son Aiden with EKFC and Claremont.
He added: “My wee boy broke down a wee while back and said he was scared by the wound - so that has been in my mind.
“Because I’ve been off my work, I’ve been able to go and watch my kids play football and I felt it was time I put my family first and that made my decision for me.
“I also need to concentrate on getting myself back to where I want to be in life, before I do anything else.
“I’m off my work at the moment. I’ve got all sorts of meetings about trauma, stress, anxiety and suicidal thoughts.
“I’ve got to tick all those boxes and I was at a stage where physically I wasn’t in a good place.”
No one has yet been arrested in connection with the incident, but Police Scotland have confirmed they are still investigating it with enquiries on going to identify suspects.
Despite there being cameras in the street where the incident happened, none were live at the time and did not record anything.
As well as the significant facial wound, Alan’s two knee caps are also badly bruised and he is struggling with the symptoms of his ongoing concussion.
He told us: “Football gets a lot of bad press sometimes, but it’s a great community.
“Everyone at East Kilbride Thistle has been brand new with me.
“And I can’t thank my family and friends enough for their support. All the messages I’ve had over the last six weeks have been great.
“But I don’t have a great memory just now - sometimes I forget things. Some days I’m sharp, some days I’m not.
“So it’s not fair on the players when I can’t make decisions.
“I’m just totally done with being involved in football now.
“But I’ve made great memories and friends that will stick with me for life.”
Meanwhile, fellow co-boss Russell Craig also announced that he will step down after a 10-month spell.
In a club statement posted on the Jags' Twitter page last night, he said: "I feel now is the right time to step down, we have had this group of players for 17 years and objective was to get them to play senior football.
"Now is the time to step aside and let this group kick on."
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