Paul Slane

Paul Slane (born 25 November 1991) is a Scottish media personality and former professional footballer. He has played for Motherwell, Celtic, Partick Thistle, Milton Keynes Dons, Ayr United, Clyde and Broomhill. Slane also represented the Scotland under-17 team.

Club career Motherwell Slane made his debut for Motherwell on 16 May 2009 in a league match at Hamilton Academical. He was an 86th-minute substitute during the 3–0 win.

Slane played in Motherwell's Europa League matches against Llanelli and Flamurtari in the summer of 2009, scoring the third goal in the 8–1 second round second leg win over Flamurtari. Slane was a trainee at Motherwell, but refused to sign a contract. When he signed a contract with Celtic in February 2010, Slane was criticised by Motherwell chairman John Boyle for showing a lack of loyalty to the club.

Celtic On 1 February 2010, Slane signed a four-year contract with Celtic. He made his reserve debut in a 4–1 win over Queen of the South's first team. Slane missed the entire 2010–11 season due to a cruciate ligament injury to his knee.

On 31 January 2012, Slane signed with English League One club Milton Keynes Dons on loan until the end of the season.

Slane made his SPL debut for Celtic on 18 August 2012, as a substitute against Ross County.

Ayr United On 25 September 2014, Slane signed for Ayr United, having played in the club's previous two fixtures as a trialist. Slane was released by Ayr on 2 February 2015.

Clyde Having already played twice for the club as a trialist, Slane signed for Clyde on 27 February 2015. Twenty minutes into Clyde's League Two match at Elgin City the following month, Slane was forced to come off as a result of eating a large amount of Mars bars on the coach journey up to the game. "Ten minutes in, I'm looking at him and he's just walking about," explained Clyde manager Barry Ferguson. "I'm thinking, 'What's up with this guy now?' He just looked across and said, 'I can't play'. I went mental."

Media career In 2019, Slane began appearing in videos for Open Goal's YouTube channel, and would soon become a regular to the channel, having previously appeared in the channel's podcast Keeping the Ball on the Ground, along with his former Celtic teammate Simon Ferry, Kevin Kyle and Andy Halliday. Open Goal has received a large cult following in Scotland, and won 'Best Podcast' at the 2019 Football Blogging Awards. Slane has received praise for his 'maverick' personality, earning a cult following of his own as a "horny winger".

Personal life A couple of months after leaving Celtic with a £10,000 pay-off, Slane appeared in the Scottish tabloid press as a result of a four-day bender in Amsterdam with friends. Compromising pictures of him appeared on Twitter which he initially claimed were faked but later admitted were real. Slane had initially intended to spend his pay-off from Celtic to fund a hip operation, but ended spending most of it on nights out and the trip to Amsterdam.

In 2017, he had been on the dole and delivering parcels with a friend around Lanark. "There was a forest there with caravans, and I used to say to him, 'Drop me off there. You deliver the parcels and I'll meet you back here'. So I used to just sit there, enjoying the nature, and always prayed that people came out of the caravans, just so that I could talk to somebody." While there, Slane received a call from Simon Ferry, who asked if he wanted to join the Keeping the Ball on the Ground podcast. "My mate came back, and I was partying in his van on the way home, going wild."