It’s emotionally stirring enough that both of them have, independent of the other, used the same adjective to describe it.
Surreal.
Ben Paton, who signed with Forge FC in February after nine years in Europe, and his older brother Harry Paton, who signed with Forge two weeks ago after 11 years in Europe, are the first set of siblings ever to play for the Hammers. Both came off the bench to contribute importantly to Forge’s thorough 4-0 dismantling of Pacific FC last Sunday at Hamilton Stadium.
That was the first time they’d played together in a game since they shared the field in 2021-22 helping Ross County to its best finish (sixth) in the Scottish Premiership, the country’s top soccer flight.
They grew up in Kitchener with Harry, now 27, heading for London and the youth academy at Fulham FC when he was 15, and Ben, two years younger, joined the youth academy of Blackburn Rovers in the north of England when he was 15.
But they had never actually played on the same team until Ben joined Harry, signing with Ross County in July 2021, in Harry’s final season of a strong five-year stint there before he moved on to Motherwell for three more productive years.
“I joined Ross County when I was 19 so I was still quite young and wanted to get some first-team minutes and it helped me a lot,” Harry says. “I was involved with first teams before in Fulham but never got onto the team until I debuted in Ross County. And I played over 150 games with them, and it got me into the Canadian Team setup, so it was really good.
“They were always asking me about my brother, and I’d always be saying good things. He was a quality player for Blackburn and I know how well it benefited me at Ross County so I tried to get him there and get him the same kind of things. They were keeping notes on him, watching his games and they were really impressed with his performances. Then the season he came in it was one of the highest places we finished and we were on the same field quite a bit.
“The one that stood out really was when we were playing Celtic away. We were losing, not by a lot, but we were able to string some passes around the middle together and kind of take it in. It was kind of surreal.”
His brother picks up the narrative, “During the game, I wasn’t thinking about it but then the ball went out of play and Harry was in front of me…”
Over to Harry: “….and we both kind of looked at each other...”
Back to Ben: “…and said ’this is pretty sick!’”
Harry again: “….60,000 people in the stadium. We were standing this close to each other and had to yell!”
They’re looking forward to the moment, if it comes, when one brother can set up the other for a Forge goal: then reverse roles for another Forge score, much like they traded off breaking ground for each other in new clubs: Harry paving the way for not only Ben’s subsequent foray into Europe but easing his transition to Ross County; Ben in turn showing Harry the ropes, intricacies and high in-club demands he’d absorbed in his extra few months with Forge and Canadian domestic pro soccer.
“It’s been crazy growing up together and literally playing around the world together,” Ben says. “It’s very surreal.
“Our parents come to all the games now; when we were overseas they could only watch us on TV.”
Their soccer odysseys, although they took divergent routes through the U.K., originated in the same place: Kitchener coach Mario Halapir who was Harry’s coach and a mentor to youth players throughout the K-W region. When he was five Ben was allowed by Halapir to practice with Harry’s team of seven-year-olds.
“It was good exposure for me to get used to more physical players at that age,” Ben said. “They were two years older and a higher quality as well. I think it helped me massively. He’s been a good older brother. He’s always been mentoring me and helping me out. We played similar positions as well, centre midfielder from when we were young although Harry played everywhere at times. But as much as he was helping me out, we were always pretty competitive with each other.”
Harry left Kitchener for England at 15, had some trials with other teams and landed a scholarship at Fulham Academy, and after two years moved to Heart of Midlothian for another two. Hearts loaned him to Stenhousemuir and he was named to the League 2 Team of the Season and then signed with Ross County, scoring in the Scottish Cup game in his debut. He spent some time back out on loan then made Ross on a full-time basis in 2019-20, a couple of years before his brother joined the club. Then he went to Motherwell for three years.
“It was difficult being away from family when I moved over at 15,” he says. “I was fortunate to get in and I’ve played a lot of games. It was nice to be on my own but it wasn’t always easy.”
Ben says his brother, “has been a mentor. He’s played 150-200 games in the Scottish Premiership, and made his debut vs Japan for Canada (October of 2023). He’s done really well.”
Like Harry, Ben was helped by his Kitchener coach’s contacts in Europe, got a week-long trial with Blackburn and was offered a two-year scholarship to the Academy. They signed him to a professional contract when he was 18. He’d trained with the first team while he played U-23 but never got a chance to debut in a game with the Firsts because injuries got in the way when they wanted to call him up on loan, “which was unfortunate but he enjoyed it there for six years.”
Because they were in different parts of the country, and busy with their training and game schedules – and were still young and not driving much — the brothers saw each other about once a month but were constantly in contact on the phone. And just knowing they were in the same country, and same overall football framework, was comforting for each of them.
“And it’s not like Canada where you might have to drive seven hours. It was two and a half,” Harry said.
Then, of course, they saw each other day with Ross County and when Harry moved to Hearts, it was only a couple of hours by train and they met up in Edinburgh. They have still never played against each other because when Hearts met Ross County Ben had torn his ACL and was sidelined.
Ben then moved back to Canada and Forge.
“Ben’s another one of those players who is a flex player for us,” says head coach Bobby Smyrnioitis. “We’ve had excellent players who can help us out over the years, all the way back to Year 1. We can move him in different lines. This is a guy who plays as a defender, as a midfielder and has played in the front-three line. And I think that’s important in a league like ours where you need that flexibility with the roster rules. It’s important that we’ve got three of those guys who can move around and play all those roles—Alex (Achinioti-Jönsson), Elimane (Cissé), and Ben. He’s been very good at it: very good at left back and midfield, not just plugging holes where we need it but being an important player for the team.
“I think it helps Harry with the adjustment having his brother here. He felt comfortable, he knows where everything is and had someone to show him around. He’s a great team guy as well and he’s integrated well into the group. He’s got the right mentality; he’s a professional. The most important thing was to get Harry on the field. He’s been training with us for a few weeks now even before we signed him, so he’s comfortable with the group. I thought he showed some very good energy. He’s an excellent player with a great mentality and we want to integrate him as we go into these next three games. He’s got an excellent pedigree, not only playing in Scotland in the top division; he’s had games with the national team. He knows how to compete. Beyond the football he’s a competitor and at this point in the season you need to compete for every single minute, for every goal and for every point that’s in front of you.”
Forge, of course, wants to take two points from Vancouver FC, who languish in last place but have been on a solid run of late, making it all the way to the Canadian Championship final Wednesday night, where they lost 4-2 to the Vancouver Whitecaps, the same team that eliminated Hamilton.
They’ll have to closely mark the attacking unit of 21-year-old speedster Thierno Bah, who had a goal and an assist against the Caps and stretches the pitch with his wheels, veteran Nicolás Mezquida, the 33-year-old Uruguayan who also scored on Wednesday, and Hugo Mbogue, the young striker who is just three days older than fellow Canadian Bah and also has dangerous vertical speed.
Forge has already set a club record for points in a season and if they should win out, over the next three games, two of which are at home, they’ll tie a CPL record for points. They’ve already guaranteed a home playoff game and a 1 vs. 2 semifinal playoff match—at the field of the first-place finisher—against Ottawa Atlético, whom they lead by two points.
“We have to make sure this is a fortress for us,” Smyrniotis emphasized. “We say that all season; how good you can be at home gives you a pass to the trophy, gives you a path to the championship. So we’ve got two more home games and we obviously need maximum points from them.”
HAMMERS AND NAILS: Noah Jensen, Marko Jevremović, Hoce Massunda and Dan Nimick were named to the CPL’s Gatorade Team of the Week; Forge FC goalkeeper Jassem Koleilat’s blank sheet against Pacific was his record-extending 12th of the season, and he’s averaging a shutout exactly one of every two games; Brian Wright leads Forge with 9 goals, tied for fourth in the CPL, and Nana Ampomah has 6; Hoce Massunda has 5 assists, tops on Forge; Defender Dan Nimick ranks fifth in passes in the CPL with 1522, 55 off the league lead; Vancouver’s Hugo Mbongue has 6 goals and Ndlaye Pathé has 5; Thierno Bah has six assists, tied for second in the league; Forge has allowed the fewest goals in the league at 20, 5 fewer than Ottawa and trails Ottawa by four goals-scored with 46.