The Ex-Files: Paul Mason Tuesday, 22nd Oct 2013 12:54 In the 10th part of our regular series, The Ex-Files, Blair Ferguson catches up with 1990s goalscoring midfielder Paul Mason. It was an injury-enforced move abroad which really marked the start of Paul Mason’s footballing career, having spent time with Everton in his home city of Liverpool as a schoolboy. Working in the building trade while trying to break into professional football, a break of one type led to one of a rather more welcome variety. "I was playing in England at the time at Tranmere and I broke my leg, so obviously I lost my job,” he recalled. “I had six months out and I had time to think. My brother was in Holland so I went over there looking for work." The decision turned out to be a masterstroke as playing for a local team paved the way into professional football. "I ended up at a place called Groningen, well nearby, and at that time I played amateur football for a local team on the weekends to go with my job five days a week. “And they said there's a team from Holland called Groningen looking at you, so they followed me for a while and invited me down to train with them and it all went from there." Having made his debut for Groningen in 1984, Mason, now 50, went on to impress and was linked with some of Holland’s top clubs, with PSV Eindhoven particularly keen. "I heard that PSV were interested but they had a player called Eric Gerets, a Belgian international, and he had a year to go and he was nearing the end of his career and they wanted to sign me in one year’s time. I heard from lad called Ronald whose father was at the club," explains Mason. "But it meant waiting a year and you don't know what happens in a year, so I heard they were interested and they were the main ones but nothing materialised." After a successful spell at Groningen, Mason felt it was time for change with a slice of luck playing a part in his move closer to home. "I'd had five years there and I thought it was time for a change. The manager came to me in January [1988] and I wondered if he would give me a better contract and he just said 'In January if anyone comes in we'll listen to offers'. "I thought it a bit strange actually, he was the one that made the first move and I got told in mid-January time that Dundee United were showing interest. “Come June time, the manager of Aberdeen was watching another player play [FC Twente’s Theo Snelders] and I was playing against him and he signed both of us at the same time.” Like most footballers that move to a different country Mason struggled to adapt to a different style of play but soon found himself fitting in and becoming a fans’ favourite at Pittodrie. "It was difficult the first year because from Dutch football it's a different pace of game going to Scotland, it's a very quick pace and it took me a long time to adjust,” he said. “And in Holland I was playing right-back on paper and I was never a defender. I was an attacking right-back but that's what they play in Holland, offensive football, but in Scotland a right-back just defends and I wasn't used to that. So, I didn't really settle in for the first six, seven, eight months and then I got a chance in midfield." Mason has fond memories from his time north of the border, leaving with two cup final winner’s medals in one season, 1989/90: "The year I scored 15 goals, was top scorer and we beat Rangers 2-1 in the final and I scored two goals. “We also beat Celtic in the FA Cup as well on penalties, so that was a great year. We won two cups in one year and beat the Old Firm in each one." Whilst playing for the Dons Mason attracted the attention of the Scotland national team and could have found himself pulling on the dark blue, but the thought of being a Scotland player with a Scouse accent wasn't something he fancied. "The manager asked me about my family and maybe at the time I was a bit naive,” he said. “I did say to him that my grandparents of my dad's side were Welsh but I thought it a bit strange me being from Liverpool.
"I never would have felt comfortable playing for anyone else. Maybe looking back it would have been good for my career but I think it's strange. “I never played for England obviously but being from Liverpool I think it would have been strange to play for Scotland or anybody but else but the manager said I could have got 50 caps but I never went down that route. "I’ve been listening to Jack Wilshere and he's been talking about this lad from Manchester United, Adnan Januzaj, who can play for six or seven different countries and that baffles me. "I know there's parents and grandparents and people with dual nationalities and all that now but I just think it strange, standing there singing the national anthems. “I love the Scottish anthem and I love Scotland but I just don't think it would be right standing there with a different national anthem but in hindsight people have played for Ireland from Liverpool and different parts of the world but I never did it, maybe I should have done, you never know.” Coming to the end of his time at Aberdeen, Mason was keen on a new challenge with Ipswich his next port of call. "I had three good years and at the end of my contract I wanted to try and play in the Premiership or in England because that obviously where I'm from and I was getting on a bit. “I was 27, I thought I was in my prime then so I thought I'd try my luck in England but nothing materialised, so I went back to Aberdeen and had two more years there, I was very happy at Aberdeen but it's a different league, a different challenge. "So two more years at Aberdeen, played in another cup final and lost to Rangers 2-1, and then I got a phone call from Ipswich and they invited me down to have a look around and that was it really." The Blues paid the Dons £400,000 for his services but Town struggled in his first campaign, 1993/94, and on the final day of they were on the brink of going down at Blackburn with the outcome changing throughout the game. "It was a bit strange because obviously when you're playing during the game you're getting different shouts from the line, one minute we're down because someone else has scored somewhere else and then four or five more midfielders go attacking, and then all of a sudden you get a shout 10 minutes later, 'Sit back sit back, we're still up!' "You're changing tactics the whole way through the game and even when the final whistle goes it's confusing because no one knows what's going on but we managed to escape.” The man to bring Mason to Ipswich was John Lyall, someone he speaks of fondly and he has his own theory on what went wrong for Town under his management.
"I liked him, he was a lovely man, he was a gentleman, a really nice man. Obviously he had a lot of experience from his West Ham days so I knew all about him. “When I signed I had no second thoughts when he offered me a contract and it went well. He got sacked after nearly two years. "I think John Lyall wanted to take more of a back seat. Mick McGiven came in to help him with the day to day management, maybe because he'd had his day and now he was sitting back a bit. “Maybe the team didn't play the way he wanted to because he was just showing up once or twice on the weekend and he wasn't at training all the time to get his ideas across but I ‘m not sure.” After the departure of Lyall, George Burley took over and Mason found himself having to prove himself again. "I knew of him, I'd heard of him and when he came to us he was just a young up and coming manager so I didn't know much about him as a manager but he'd done well at Ayr United and Colchester and obviously he got a chance at Ipswich being an ex-Ipswich player. “When he came in it was a new start for everybody but I think he thought I was too old and past it. Well, he told me really! "I think any player thinks they are up to the job so when you've got a squad of 22 players and only 11 of them can play, another nine or 10 think they should be playing. “But different managers have different styles and different players suit them. Maybe he thought my best days were past me and he could have been right, but maybe it was just good management because it gave me a kick up the backside to prove him wrong and I did.” Mason sat on the bench as Ipswich were mauled 9-0 by Manchester United and explains what it’s like to sit and watch your team-mates going through a game like that. "It's very hard, you don't know what to do. I suppose if you’re watching it and it's one or two that's not too bad because you've got a chance of going on and trying to do something, change the game but when it goes, five, six, seven-nil you can't do anything about it. “It's not happy watching at all, you don't even want to go on, to be honest, because what are you going to do? I just hope the score stayed down!" But he had enjoyed a better day against the Red Devils earlier in that 1994/95 relegation season, netting twice in a 3-2 victory at Portman Road. The scorer of memorable goals in a derby victory over Norwich and in the FA Cup win at Blackburn, it’s that game he cites as the best moment of his career with Town.
"It was great, scoring two goals against Manchester United being from Liverpool. With the rivalry between Liverpool and Manchester it was one of the highlights of my career, along with the Rangers goal in the final, those two goals were my highlight.” After Town had dropped out of the Premier League into what’s now the Championship, Mason forged a formidable partnership with Mauricio Taricco down the left side, allowing him to play some of the best football of his career. He remembers the Argentinian, signed by Lyall shortly before his departure, took time to get used to English football: "He took a while to settle in but when he went to left-back and I went to left midfield, we just seemed to click.
“He knew exactly where I was, where to put the ball, it was just a great understanding and an enjoyable part of my career because when you know someone knows exactly how you play and where you want the ball and vice versa, it's makes clever play and I enjoyed that a lot.” Mason scored some fantastic goals during his time at Town with his personal pick coming in a game against Crystal Palace. "My favourite one was against Crystal Palace in the Coca-Cola Cup or whatever it was then. We did this routine then and other players found it hard to work out what we did and it was quite simple. "The ball was thrown to me and I hit it full whack over Taricco's head and somebody said it might have been a cross! That was my best goal, definitely my favourite one for Ipswich anyway.” One of the more remarkable games he was involved in came at Barnsley, although he wasn’t there to witness most of the final minutes drama as Town fought back from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 as he’d already hit the road having been subbed. "It was 2-0 at half-time and he brought me and John Wark off and when I left it was 3-1,” he recalled. “At that time my family were living back in Liverpool, I was going home anyway so it was no big deal, although I should have really waited to the end of the game. “On my way back I heard 3-2, then 3-3. I had to go in and see them on Monday but it wasn't bad. [George] understood I was upset and that was it.” The end of Mason’s career came suddenly after returning from an unrelated injury: "I broke my hand playing at Charlton and I thought nothing of it, you’re out for four or five weeks which isn't bad.
“But when I came back off that I started jogging round the training pitch and I began to feel my Achilles. I hadn't been doing anything else for six weeks and when I started to do some physical work I started to feel my Achilles and that was basically the beginning of the end because my Achilles had just worn away. "It wasn't painful, it was like I lost the spring in my step sort of thing. I went to see a specialist and he said 'That's it, you’re out. It's going to be an operation and nine months out'. Obviously at 34 years of age, nine months isn't looking very good but the club stood by me. "I knew what they would do, they basically let me get fit and then maybe [let me] try and play at another level, maybe a lower level. “My contract was up in June [1998] but they kept me on until September but I wasn't that fit. People thought it was OK because I scored against Exeter but I still wasn't 100% but the manager said it was time and they were going to have to let me go. “I went around to one or two teams but it wasn't for me, it was more physical and there wasn’t much skill involved and that was the end." After finishing his football career Mason didn't know what the future held until his wife made the suggestion of running a hotel and The Gables in Southport has been their home and workplace for some years now. "It just happened. Me and my wife when I finished football didn't really know what to do next. It was her idea because we always had people, friends and family, staying over the years. Being in Aberdeen and Holland people came over. “I didn't fancy it at first but as the years go by it grows on you, it keeps you occupied. The tallest man in Britain stayed here, he's 7ft 7in tall and also the girl who won the 2010 Women's Open. I’ve got pictures of them because they're in the limelight and it's good for the hotel.” Coaching is sometimes a natural path for players at the end of their career but it wasn't something Mason had thought about doing until a conversation with a friend. "I haven't done my badges or anything like that, I was never interested in coaching but I went to see a friend in Arizona who was working out there coaching and because it's warm and nice it suits me rather than the cold, especially with getting older. "I did six or seven weeks coaching out there and took a team and that went OK. I wouldn't mind doing doing that for a few weeks or months a year. But you can't do that, it's either a full-time job or not at all, so it was a really good experience and you never know what might happen in the future." You can read all the previous Ex-Files here.
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