Lee Mason

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For the Australian actor, see Lee Mason (actor).

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Lee Mason
Lee mason.jpg
Mason issues a red card during a match in 2010
Full name Lee Stephen Mason[1]
Born (1971-10-29) 29 October 1971 (age 52)
Bolton, Greater Manchester, England
Domestic
Years League Role
1992–1996 North West Counties League Assistant referee
1996–1998 North West Counties League Referee
1998–2000 Football League Assistant referee
2000–2002 Premier League Assistant referee
2002–2006 Football League Referee
2006– Premier League Referee

Lee Stephen Mason (born 29 October 1971)[2] is an English professional football referee from Bolton, Greater Manchester. Since 2006 Mason has been on the list of Select Group Referees who officiate in the Premier League.[2]

He is a former chairman of the Bolton Referees' Society and is associated with the Lancashire County Football Association. His younger brother Andy Mason is a former professional footballer who played for Bolton Wanderers, among others.[3]

Education

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Mason attended the Liverpool Institute of Higher Education between 1990 and 1993, living in Newman Hall, where he gained his degree. Whilst there he played for his college football team as well as being a regular compere, hosting a variety of social events at a students' union club.

Career

Mason took up the whistle in 1988, officiating in the Bolton Boys' Federation League. He previously worked in the car rental industry.[4] In 1992 he was added to the North West Counties Football League assistant referees' list, and progressed to referee in that league four years later. He was included on the Football League list of assistant referees in 1998, and was added to the Premier League assistant referees' list in 2000.

In 2002, he was promoted to referee in the Football League, and his first match at that level was a Third Division match between Shrewsbury Town and Exeter City in August 2002, won 1–0 by the home side.[5]

Also in 2002, he took charge of that year's FA County Youth Cup final between Birmingham and Durham, which Birmingham won 2–1.[6]

Mason became a Development Group referee in 2003, and finally reached the Premier League list of Select Group Referees in 2006. His first Premier League appointment came in February 2006, when Middlesbrough lost 4–0 at home to Aston Villa.[7]

Later in 2006 he was appointed to referee the Football League One play-off final between Barnsley and Swansea City at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, which Barnsley won on penalties after a 2–2 draw after extra time.[8]

In 2008 Mason was widely criticised for his decision to send off Middlesbrough's Jérémie Aliadière after an altercation between Aliadiere and Liverpool's Javier Mascherano, while the latter escaped any punishment.[9] Middlesbrough appealed the red card but Aliadiere's ban was not only upheld by the FA, but increased by an extra match (to a total of four matches) on the grounds that their appeal had been "frivolous". Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson called the FA "amateurs and silly little men".[10]

In 2009 Mason refereed the FA Youth Cup final between Arsenal and Liverpool. Later that year he was handed a one-week demotion to the role of fourth official after his handling of a match between Fulham and Liverpool in which he sent off Liverpool players Jamie Carragher and Philipp Degen; Fulham ultimately won the fixture 3–1.[11]

Mason and his assistants came in for criticism from Manchester United's management in December 2010 for allowing a last-minute equaliser scored by Birmingham City to stand. A Birmingham cross into United's penalty area appeared to hit Nikola Žigić's arm and Lee Bowyer slid the ball home despite appearing to be offside. Birmingham manager Alex McLeish defended the decision to allow the goal, saying that Mason would have been "harsh if he had penalized [Žigić] for deliberate handball."[12]

Mason's decision in April 2012 to send-off Shaun Derry for a professional foul in the 14th minute of a match against Manchester United was appealed by Queens Park Rangers after reviewing video replays. The referee awarded United a penalty kick when Derry appeared to foul Ashley Young. QPR manager Mark Hughes criticised Young for going to ground "too readily" and Mason for being "very quick" in giving the penalty, despite Young being in an offside position when he received the ball.[13] However, the Football Association upheld the red card.[14]

He was widely praised in the press following his handling of a Football League Cup tie between Chelsea and Manchester United in October 2012. The two teams had met three days prior in an incident-filled Premier League fixture which United won 3–2 and Chelsea had two players sent off. After that game, Chelsea made a formal complaint to the FA against the referee, Mark Clattenburg, about his alleged use of "inappropriate language" towards two of their players. During the League Cup match, Mason correctly awarded three penalties and was required to interpret and handle a number of other incidents. Chelsea won 5–4 after a 90th-minute penalty for the Blues, who were previously 3–2 down, forced the Cup tie into extra-time.[4][15]

In March 2015 Mason caused controversy during a Football League Championship match between Cardiff City and Bournemouth by disallowing a goal by Bournemouth's Callum Wilson after Cardiff's goalkeeper struck a drop-kick against his back as he stood just outside the area, with the ball looping back against the crossbar before Wilson converted it. Pundits said after the game that the goal, which would have given Bournemouth a 2–1 lead, was legitimate and should have stood, while Wilson should not have been booked.[16] The game ended 1-1.

Statistics

Season Games Total Booked Booked per game Total Red card Red card per game
2002–03 24 94 3.92 3 0.13
2003–04 30 118 3.93 6 0.20
2004–05 36 108 3.00 3 0.08
2005–06 37 90 2.43 3 0.08
2006–07 33 87 2.64 3 0.09
2007–08 30 110 3.66 4 0.13
2008–09 34 132 3.88 8 0.23
2009–10 35 106 3.09 7 0.20
2010–11 33 135 4.09 5 0.15
2011–12 32 80 2.50 3 0.09
2012–13 30 107 3.57 3 0.10

Statistics are for all competitions. No records are available prior to 2002-03.[17]

References

  1. ↑ England - L. Mason - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Birthdate confirmation and biography: the Football League Official website.
  3. ↑ Andy Mason (ex-footballer), Lee's brother: Boston United website.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lee Mason stars without stealing the limelight - Manchester Evening News
  5. ↑ First Football League match, Shrewsbury v. Exeter, Division Three, 2002: soccerbase.com website.
  6. ↑ FA Youth Cup Final 2002, Birmingham v. Durham: TheFA.com website.
  7. ↑ First Premier League match, Middlesbrough v. Aston Villa, 2006: soccerbase.com website.
  8. ↑ League One Play-Off Final 2006, Barnsley v. Swansea: soccerbase.com website.
  9. ↑ Jérémie Aliadière's Ban is Ridiculous | World Soccer Talk
  10. ↑ Boro rage against FA's 'silly little men' - Premier League - Football - The Independent
  11. ↑ EXCLUSIVE: Red-card refs Lee Mason and Mike Jones axed while 'Phantom Goal' official Stuart Attwell gets a game at Manchester City | Mail Online
  12. ↑ BBC Sport - Football - Sir Alex Ferguson fumes at referee over Birmingham goal
  13. ↑ QPR to appeal Derry red | Football News | Sky Sports
  14. ↑ BBC Sport - QPR captain Shaun Derry criticises FA over appeal
  15. ↑ Match Report: Chelsea 5-4 Manchester United - KensingtonChelseaToday
  16. ↑ http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11743/9765011/sky-sports-analyst-garry-birtles-says-bournemouth-denied-perfectly-good-goal
  17. ↑ Lee Mason | Latest Football Betting Odds | Soccer Base

External links

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