Lee Mason facts for kids
Mason issues a red card during a match in 2010
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| Full name | Lee Mason | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 29 October 1971 Bolton, Lancashire, England |
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| 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 | |
| 2006–2021 | Premier League | Referee | |
Lee Mason (born 29 October 1971) is a retired football referee from Bolton, England. For many years, from 2006 to 2021, Mason was one of the special referees chosen to officiate matches in the Premier League, which is England's top football league.
He used to be the head of the Bolton Referees' Society. He is also connected with the Lancashire County Football Association, which helps manage football in the Lancashire area.
Contents
Lee Mason's Early Life and Education
Lee Mason went to Thornleigh College in Bolton. After that, he studied at the Liverpool Institute of Higher Education from 1990 to 1993. He earned his degree there. While at university, he played for his college football team. He also often hosted different social events at the student club.
Lee Mason's Family Connections
Lee Mason has a younger brother named Andy. Andy used to be a professional football player. He trained at Bolton Wanderers. He also played professionally for teams like Hull City. Later, he played for smaller, non-league teams.
Lee Mason's Referee Career
Lee Mason started his refereeing journey in 1988. He began by officiating games in the Bolton Boys' Federation League. Before becoming a full-time referee, he worked in the car rental business.
Climbing the Referee Ranks
In 1992, Lee Mason became an assistant referee in the North West Counties Football League. Four years later, in 1996, he became a main referee in that same league. His career continued to progress. In 1998, he joined The Football League as an assistant referee. By 2000, he was an assistant referee in the Premier League.
Becoming a Football League Referee
In 2002, Mason was promoted to be a main referee in the Football League. His very first match at this level was in August 2002. It was a Third Division game between Shrewsbury Town and Exeter City. Shrewsbury Town won that match 1–0. Also in 2002, he was chosen to referee the FA County Youth Cup final. This was a match between youth teams from Birmingham and Durham. Birmingham won the game 2–1.
Reaching the Premier League
Mason became a Development Group referee in 2003. This was a step closer to the top level. Finally, in 2006, he joined the special group of referees who work in the Premier League. His first Premier League match was in February 2006. In that game, Middlesbrough lost 4–0 at home to Aston Villa.
Later in 2006, he was given the important job of refereeing the Football League One play-off final. This match was between Barnsley and Swansea City. It took place at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. Barnsley won the game after a penalty shootout, following a 2–2 draw after extra time.
Notable Matches and VAR Role
Lee Mason received a lot of praise from the media in October 2012. This was after he managed a League Cup game between Chelsea and Manchester United. These two teams had played each other just three days before in a Premier League match. That earlier game was full of incidents, and Chelsea had two players sent off. During the League Cup match, Mason correctly awarded three penalties. He also had to deal with many other tricky situations. Chelsea won the game 5–4 after extra time. A penalty for Chelsea in the 90th minute, when they were losing 3–2, forced the game into extra time.
Mason stopped refereeing matches on the field at the end of the 2020–21 season. However, he then became the Premier League's first dedicated Video Assistant Referee (VAR) starting from the 2021–22 season. A VAR uses video replays to help the on-field referee make correct decisions. Mason left this VAR position on February 17, 2023, by mutual agreement.
Lee Mason's Refereeing Statistics
Here are some statistics about Lee Mason's refereeing career. These numbers show how many yellow cards (
) and red cards (
) he gave out in games. Please note that these statistics are for all competitions he officiated in. Records are not available for games before the 2002–03 season.
| Season | Games | Total |
per game |
Total |
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 | 108 | 3.60 | 3 | 0.11 |
| 2013–14 | 36 | 111 | 3.08 | 6 | 0.17 |
| 2014–15 | 33 | 101 | 3.06 | 6 | 0.18 |
| 2015–16 | 34 | 96 | 2.82 | 3 | 0.09 |
| 2016–17 | 25 | 96 | 3.84 | 3 | 0.12 |
| 2017–18 | 26 | 72 | 2.78 | 4 | 0.15 |
| 2018–19 | 32 | 99 | 3.09 | 3 | 0.09 |
| 2019–20 | 26 | 80 | 3.08 | 1 | 0.04 |
| 2020–21 | 22 | 46 | 2.09 | 2 | 0.09 |
