Joe Mason

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Joe Mason
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Mason playing for Cardiff City in 2015
Personal information
Full name Joseph Mason[1]
Date of birth (1991-05-13) 13 May 1991 (age 32)
Place of birth Plymouth, England
Height Script error: No such module "person height".
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
Cardiff City
Number 10
Youth career
2000–2009 Plymouth Argyle
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2011 Plymouth Argyle 53 (10)
2011– Cardiff City 85 (20)
2013–2014 Bolton Wanderers (loan) 8 (1)
2014 Bolton Wanderers (loan) 8 (5)
2014–2015 Bolton Wanderers (loan) 11 (4)
International career
2009–2010 Republic of Ireland U19 6 (2)
2010–2012 Republic of Ireland U21 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 15:44, 16 October 2015 (UTC)

Joseph "Joe" Mason (born 13 May 1991) is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for Cardiff City. Mason began his career with Plymouth Argyle, his home town club, for whom he made 53 Football League appearances. While at Cardiff he scored in the 2012 Football League Cup Final and win promotion to the highest level of English football. Mason played youth international football for the Republic of Ireland by virtue of his mother, who was born in County Mayo.

Club career

Plymouth Argyle

Mason began his career as a youth player with home-town club Plymouth Argyle at the age of 10. He was a regular scorer for the youth team and made the step up to reserve team football with similar ease, playing his part as the club won the Football Combination in 2009, with Mason as the club's top goalscorer.[3] He signed his first professional contract with the club in May 2009,[4] and immediately set about breaking into the club's first team, describing becoming a professional as a very proud moment.[5]

He began the 2009–10 season training with the first-team squad and again featured regularly for the club's reserves. He made his competitive debut, and his first start, for the club against Sheffield United at Home Park on 5 December 2009, playing for 65 minutes before being replaced by Craig Noone to a standing ovation.[6] He signed an extension to his contract with the club in January 2010 until the summer of 2012, with Paul Mariner commenting that the youngster has a very bright future.[7][8] He scored his first senior goal in the return fixture against Sheffield United at Bramall Lane on 27 February 2010.[9]

Cardiff City

File:Joe Mason 2013.jpg
Mason playing for Cardiff City in 2013

On 8 July 2011, Championship side Cardiff City agreed a £250,000 transfer fee for Mason.[10] Two days later the deal was completed and he signed a three-year deal with the Welsh club.[11] Mason made his debut for Cardiff in a 1–0 win at West Ham United on 7 August 2011, replacing Craig Conway as a second half substitute.[12] He made his first start on 17 August in a home match against Brighton & Hove Albion,[13] which Cardiff lost 3–1.[14] Mason scored his first goal for the club on 22 October, in a 5–3 victory over Barnsley.[15] His next goal came three days later in the League Cup, the goal against Burnley meant that Cardiff reached their first League Cup quarter final since 1965.[16] Mason scored his fifth goal of the campaign in a 3–1 win at home to Reading on 2 January 2012.

Having helped Cardiff reach the final of the League Cup, Mason scored the first goal against Liverpool at Wembley Stadium on 26 February.[17][18] With the score level after 90 minutes, Mason was substituted for Filip Kiss.[19] Cardiff lost 3–2 on penalties after the game finished two-all.[20] Mason scored his 9th and 10th goals against fellow play-off hopefuls Brighton and Middlesbrough respectively, which put him in the top three goal scorers at Cardiff. On 20 April, Mason signed a new contract to extend his stay in the Welsh capital until the summer of 2016.[21] He celebrated his contract extension with a goal against Leeds United, then later on Mason was awarded the Club Young Player of the Year award.[22] He enjoyed a really impressive first season in the Welsh Capital having scored 12 goals, more than he scored in his previous two put together and Cardiff had reached the play-offs but were however knocked out by West Ham United in the semi-finals.

Mason collected his first goal of the 2012–13 season on 25 August against severnside rivals Bristol City, which was also his 50th appearance in a Cardiff shirt. He scored his second of the season on his third league start against Burnley on 27 October, before scoring one of City's goals in the 5–4 defeat to Charlton Athletic soon after. His fourth came on 7 December, scoring the third in a 4–1 win at Ewood Park against Blackburn Rovers. Mason scored on New Years Day against Birmingham City, which took Cardiff seven points clear at the top of the table. Mason registered his sixth goal of the 2012–13 season after coming on as a substitute against Blackburn Rovers on 1 April 2013, at Cardiff City Stadium.

Loans to Bolton

On 11 November 2013, a loan deal was agreed with Football League Championship side Bolton Wanderers until 5 January 2014. However, the following day it was announced that Cardiff manager Malky Mackay had a change of heart over the deal and the striker stayed in South Wales, despite having travelled up to Bolton to train with them on the previous day.[23][24]

A move to Bolton was finally completed on 27 November 2013 once Cardiff's injury situation had cleared up, and this allowed Mason to link up with Wanderers until the New Year on a similar arrangement to that of teammate Kevin McNaughton.[25]

He made his Bolton debut on 30 November 2013 in an away defeat against Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium as a substitute for Neil Danns. His first start and goal came a week later as he opened the scoring for Wanderers in a 3–0 win over Doncaster Rovers at the Reebok Stadium.

On 20 February 2014, Mason re-joined Bolton Wanderers on a two-month loan.[26]

On 11 August, Mason once again joined Bolton on loan, this time for the full season.[27]

On 16 September, Mason scored a second half hat-trick to earn Bolton their first win of the season at home to Rotherham United. This was the first hat-trick scored by a Bolton player in a competitive match since Fredi Bobic against Ipswich in 2002. On 21 January 2015 his loan was terminated by mutual agreement.

Return to Cardiff

Following his return from injury, Mason became a key part in new Cardiff boss, Russell Slade's plans towards the end of the 2014–15 season.

The next season, Mason was rewarded the number 10 shirt and started the first 17 games of the season, with a return of 5 goals. During October, Cardiff suffered a barren run of goals scoring only 2, one where Mason scored the opener in a 1-1 with Brighton & Hove Albion. This resulted in Mason being dropped and new signing Tony Watt taking his place.

International career

Mason was born in Plymouth, but was eligible to represent the Republic of Ireland because his mother was born in County Mayo.[28] He represented the Republic at under-16 and under-18 level before being called up to the under-19 squad for the Four-Nation tournament and their qualifying games in the UEFA Under-19 European Championships.[29][30] He played in their 2–0 win against Turkey,[31] and their 1–0 defeat to Portugal as the Irish finished second, behind Netherlands.[32] He scored twice for the Republic in their 5–0 win against San Marino, and played a crucial role in their 2–0 win against Albania.[33][34] The Irish finished second in Group 1, behind Italy, and both qualified for the elite round which took place in May 2010.[35][36] Mason received his first call-up to the under-21 side in July 2010,[37] and made his debut two months later in a 1–0 defeat to Switzerland.[38]

Personal life

Mason grew up supporting Plymouth Argyle and attended St Boniface's Catholic College.[39] His older brother, Anthony, was an apprentice at the club and signed a professional contract in 2007, but was released without making a first team appearance and went on to play non-league football.[5]

Career statistics

As of match played on 16th December 2015.[40]
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Plymouth Argyle 2009–10 Championship 19 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 19 3
2010–11 League One 34 7 1 0 0 0 1[lower-alpha 1] 0 36 7
Total 53 10 1 0 0 0 1 0 55 10
Cardiff City 2011–12 Championship 39 9 1 1 4 2 2[lower-alpha 2] 0 46 12
2012–13 28 6 0 0 1 0 0 0 29 6
2013–14 Premier League 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 3 0
2014–15 Championship 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 1
2015–16 Championship 19 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 19 5
Total 91 18 2 1 7 2 2 0 106 24
Bolton Wanderers (loan) 2013–14 Championship 16 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 17 6
2014–15 Championship 14 4 4 0 0 0 0 0 16 4
Career total 174 38 3 1 7 2 3 0 194 44

Honours

Cardiff City

Individual

References

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  3. "Player profile" Plymouth Argyle F.C. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  4. "Pilgrims part with Smith & add three" The West Briton. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  5. 5.0 5.1 "Argyle's Mason looks to thrive" The West Briton. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  6. "Joe's in the pink" Plymouth Argyle F.C. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  7. "Deal done" Plymouth Argyle F.C. Retrieved 1 January 2010.]
  8. "Mason signs up" BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 January 2010.
  9. "Mason: I want to push on now" Western Morning News. Retrieved 2 March 2010.
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  29. "Called up" Plymouth Argyle F.C. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  30. "Trio called up" Plymouth Argyle F.C. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  31. "Clifford at the double" Football Association of Ireland. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  32. "Disappointment for Ireland" Football Association of Ireland. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  33. "Mase the ace" Plymouth Argyle F.C. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  34. "Euro Joe" Plymouth Argyle F.C. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  35. "Italy edge Ireland" UEFA. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  36. "Under-19's in 2009" Football Association of Ireland. Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  37. "Step up for Mason". Plymouth Argyle. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
  38. "Young U21s lose narrowly in Switzerland". Football Association of Ireland. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
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External links