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JOE MASON
Full Name: Joseph Mason
Born: 13 May 1991
Came from: Trainee Went to: Cardiff City
First game: 05 December 2009 Last game: 07 May 2011
Appearances: 55 (31/24) Goals: 10
Mason, a Plymouth-born product of Argyle's Centre of Excellence, was a prolific goalscorer for the club's youth and reserve sides before breaking into the first-team squad at the start of the 2009-10 season. He represented the Republic of Ireland at under-18, under-19 and under-21 levels, qualifying through his mother.
After making his Argyle debut in December 2009, he featured regularly for the remainder of the season, often as a substitute, and showed considerable promise. The following campaign saw him establish himself in the first team and, although his goalscoring record was not as prolific as many had hoped, he attracted interest from a number of clubs. During the January 2011 transfer window, Mason turned down a move to Swindon Town, but speculation over his future continued for the rest of the season. In July 2011, amid Argyle's financial crisis, he was sold to Cardiff City for a reported fee of ‚£250,000.
Mason capped an impressive first season in South Wales by scoring the opening goal against Liverpool in the 2012 League Cup Final at Wembley Stadium. After scoring 12 goals in all competitions during his debut campaign, he was named Cardiff City's Young Player of the Year and signed a contract extension until 2016.
In November 2013, he was due to join Championship side Bolton Wanderers on loan until January. However, injuries within Cardiff's squad prompted manager Malky Mackay to cancel the move, despite Mason having already travelled to Bolton to train with the club. Once Cardiff's injury problems had eased, he completed the loan later that month. He returned to Cardiff at its conclusion before rejoining Bolton on a second loan in February 2014 for a further two months.
Having returned to Cardiff at the end of the season, Mason rejoined Bolton for a third spell in August 2014, this time on a season-long loan. The following month, he scored a second-half hat-trick in a home victory over Rotherham United to secure Bolton's first league win of the campaign. It was also the club's first competitive hat-trick since 2002. His loan was terminated by mutual consent in January 2015 after Cardiff's new manager, Russell Slade, decided to reassess the squad he had inherited following Ole Gunnar Solskjƒ¦r's departure three months earlier.
In January 2016, Mason joined Wolverhampton Wanderers for an undisclosed fee, reported to be in the region of ‚£3 million, signing a contract until the summer of 2019. The transfer also proved beneficial for Argyle. Although he had been sold while the club was in administration, a sell-on clause, believed to be worth 15 per cent, had been included in the original deal. As with all unexpected income received before the club's debts had been settled, however, half of the proceeds went directly to Argyle's football creditors.
Over the following season and a half, Mason made 39 appearances and scored seven goals for Wolves before a change of management restricted his first-team opportunities. In August 2017, he joined fellow Championship side Burton Albion on loan until January 2018, scoring once in five appearances. He then spent the remainder of the 2018 Major League Soccer season on loan with Colorado Rapids, making 14 appearances and scoring three goals.
A brief loan spell with Portsmouth during the 2018-19 campaign brought just one appearance before Wolves released him at the end of the season.
Mason joined League One side MK Dons ahead of the 2019-20 season and made 43 appearances, scoring nine goals across two campaigns with the Buckinghamshire club.
He then moved to Canada, where he spent three seasons with Cavalry FC in the Canadian Premier League, making 59 appearances and scoring 17 goals. During the 2022 season, he briefly played alongside future Argyle forward Bim Pepple. After leaving Cavalry, he appeared to have retired from professional football.
However, in July 2026, Mason came out of retirement at the age of 35, joining Radstock Town in the Western Football League Division One.
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APPEARANCE DETAILS [reselect competitions]
The details below reflect appearances in all first-team competitions.
I'm very grateful to many who have helped write GoS-DB's player pen-pictures, and to Dave Rowntree, the PAFC Media Team and Colin Parsons for their help with photos. Thanks also to staff at the National Football Museum, the Scottish Football Museum and ScotlandsPeople for their valuable assistance.
The following publications have been particularly valuable in the research of pen-pictures: Plymouth Argyle, A Complete Record 1903-1989 (Brian Knight, ISBN 0-907969-40-2); Plymouth Argyle, 101 Golden Greats (Andy Riddle, ISBN 1-874287-47-3); Football League Players' Records 1888-1939 (Michael Joyce, ISBN 1-899468-67-6); Football League Players' Records 1946-1988 (Barry Hugman, ISBN 1-85443-020-3) and Plymouth Argyle Football Club Handbooks.
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