Lee Mason

Lee Stephen Mason (born 29 October 1971) is a Referee from Bolton, Greater Manchester. Since 2006, Mason has been on the list of Select Group Referees who officiate in the Premier League.

Mason 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.

Mason attended Thornleigh College in Bolton and then 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.

Mason took up the whistle in 1988, officiating in the Bolton Boys' Federation League. He previously worked in the car rental industry. 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.

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

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.

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.

He was widely praised in the press following his handling of a 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. 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.

Statistics

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	107	3.57	3	0.11