Chris Mason (footballer)

Christopher Joseph Mason (born 26 June 1986) is an English footballer who captains and plays as a defender for Spennymoor Town.

Chris Mason
Personal information
Full name Christopher Joseph Mason[1]
Date of birth (1986-06-26) 26 June 1986[2]
Place of birth Newton Aycliffe, England
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 Spennymoor Town (player/coach)
Youth career
2002–2003 Darlington
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2005 Darlington 1 (0)
2004 → Bishop Auckland (loan)
2004–2005 → Bishop Auckland (loan)
2005–2006 Harrogate Town (1)
2005 → Bishop Auckland (loan)
2006 Östavalls (9)
2006–2007 Gateshead 18 (0)
2007 Östavalls
2007–200? Shildon
2009– Spennymoor Town 303 (10)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He previously appeared in the Football League for Darlington, and played non-league football for Bishop Auckland (several spells), Harrogate Town, Gateshead and Shildon, as well as in the Swedish sixth tier for Östavalls IF. With Spennymoor, he won four Northern League titles and the 2013 FA Vase.

Life and career

Mason was born in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham,[3] where he attended Woodham Academy.[4] He played representative football for Durham Schools[5] before joining Darlington when he left school.[6] He spent time on loan at Northern Premier League club Bishop Auckland in early 2004,[7] and the club were disappointed when he was recalled to Darlington as injury cover.[8] On the final day of the 2003–04 Football League season, the 17-year-old Mason made his senior debut for Darlington as a very late substitute in a 1–0 win away to Scunthorpe United.[2] He was Darlington's Youth Team Player of the Year the following season,[9] as well as spending more time with Bishop Auckland,[10][11] but despite being given a first-team squad number ahead of the 2005–06 season,[12] he was allowed to leave the club in August 2005.[3]

Mason signed for Conference North club Harrogate Town in August 2005.[3] He spent yet another spell on loan at Bishop Auckland at the start of the season, to maintain match fitness,[13] before returning to Harrogate where he established himself as a first-team regular. He finished the season with 34 appearances in all competitions, mostly in the starting eleven, and scored once,[14] but was one of several players to be released at the end of the season.[15]

He went to Sweden, where he scored nine goals for Östavalls IF in Division 4, the sixth tier of Swedish football, and was named as the club's player of the year.[16][17] When the Swedish season finished at the end of September, Mason came back to the north-east of England with Gateshead, where he made 23 appearances in all competitions, 18 in the Northern Premier League,[18] before returning to Östavall for the 2007 season.[19]

Having tried and failed to sign Mason the previous February,[20] Shildon succeeded going into the 2007–08 season.[21] Alongside playing for Shildon in the Northern League, Mason played Sunday League football for Hetton Lyons Cricket Club. He was a member of their team that won the FA Sunday Cup in 2008,[22] and also in 2010,[23] by which time he had moved on to Spennymoor Town. He contributed to the club's three consecutive Northern League titles in his first three seasons,[4] was captain on the day as Spennymoor beat Tunbridge Wells 2–1 in the 2013 FA Vase Final,[24] was appointed club captain in January 2014,[25] and finished the season with another league title and promotion to the Northern Premier League Division One North.[26]

Coaching career

Ahead of the 2022–23 season, Mason was named as Spennymoor Town's Strength and Conditioning Coach. He was still registered as a player for the coming season.[27]

Outside football

Mason has worked as a residential social worker[4] and as the head coach in a Crossfit gym.[28] His partner, Beau-Louise Morton, gave birth to the couple's first child, Freddie, just before the FA Vase Final in 2013.[29]

References
  1. "List of Players under Written Contract Registered Between 01/04/2013 and 30/04/2013" (PDF). The Football Association. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  2. "Games played by Chris Mason in 2003/2004". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  3. "Mason Chris". Harrogate Town AFC. Archived from the original on 17 June 2006.
  4. Walker, Martin (28 April 2013). "Newtonian can't wait for Wembley date". Aycliffe Today. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  5. "Past Players (M)". Durham County Schools' Football Association. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  6. "Gray puts faith in youth as Quakers look to the future". The Northern Echo. Darlington. 7 June 2002. Archived from the original on 7 December 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  7. Ley, John (1 January 2004). "December Transfers". The Telegraph. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  8. "Raw bows out for Moors". The Northern Echo. Darlington. 3 April 2004. Archived from the original on 26 September 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  9. Stoddart, Craig (9 May 2005). "Pacino stars in team talk". The Northern Echo. Darlington. Archived from the original on 26 September 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  10. Pratt, Malcolm (4 September 2004). "Honour faced with headache". The Northern Echo. Darlington. Archived from the original on 26 September 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  11. Simpson, Ray (27 December 2004). "UniBond League: Progress measure for Moors". The Northern Echo. Darlington. Archived from the original on 26 September 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  12. Ley, John (3 August 2005). "League Two club guide". The Telegraph. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  13. "Holland pledges future to Town". Harrogate Advertiser. 16 September 2005 – via NewsBank.
  14. "Appearances 2005/2006". Harrogate Town AFC. Archived from the original on 16 June 2006.
  15. "Six shown the door as Aspin reshuffles his pack". Harrogate Advertiser. 26 May 2006. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  16. "Välförtjänt tredjeplats till Östavalls IF" [Well deserved third place for Östavalls IF] (in Swedish). Östavalls IF. 30 September 2006. Archived from the original on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  17. "Spelarutmärkelser säsongen 2006" [Player awards 2006 season] (in Swedish). Östavalls IF. 18 November 2006. Archived from the original on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  18. "Gateshead F.C. Season 2006/07". Unofficial Gateshead Football Club Statistics Database. Alan Percival. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  19. "Index" (in Swedish). Östavalls IF. 1 June 2007. Archived from the original on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  20. Simpson, Ray (24 February 2007). "Arngrove Northern League". The Northern Echo. Darlington – via NewsBank.
  21. Simpson, Ray (3 September 2007). "Shildon evoke memories of Cup run in nine goal thriller". The Northern Echo. Darlington – via NewsBank.
  22. Stoddart, Craig (27 April 2008). "Hetton reclaim Sunday cup". The Northern Echo. Darlington. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  23. Groundhopper (27 April 2010). "Hat trick for Hetton Lyons Cricket Club". Durham & District Sunday League. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  24. Hunter, James (5 May 2013). "Ex-Black Cat scores Spennymoor Town's FA Vase winner on eve of anniversary". Evening Chronicle. Middlesbrough. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  25. Simpson, Ray (10 January 2014). "Big surprise as Moore is put on list at Brewery Field". The Northern Echo. Darlington. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  26. "Spennymoor Town FC Club History". Spennymoor Town F.C. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  27. "Chris Mason".
  28. Phillips, Jak (13 February 2014). "Joanne Bannatyne opens gym near ex-husband's health club". Leisure Opportunities. The Leisure Media Company. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  29. Walker, Martin (9 May 2013). "Triple celebration for Vase-winning Newtonian!". Aycliffe Today. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
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