Robert Henry Mason (born 22 March 1936) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

, who played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

, where he spent the majority of his league career, and for

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

Career

Mason was signed up by his local club

as a youngster and turned professional in 1954. He spent time in the reserves and youth ranks - playing in the 1954 FA Youth Cup Final - before he finally made his league debut on 5 November 1955 in a 1–5 defeat at

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

. He made only a handful of appearances until the departure of

Dennis Wilshaw Dennis James Wilshaw (11 March 1926 – 10 May 2004) was an English international footballer. A forward, he scored 173 goals in 380 appearances in the Football League, and also scored ten goals in twelve appearances for the England national te ...

in December 1957 opened the door for him. He took his chance and scored 10 goals during the remainder of the 1957–58 season to help Wolves win the league title. He continued his form the following year as he scored 13 times en route to a second successive championship. The 1959–60 season brought his best seasonal tally - 15 goals - but the club missed out on a third successive title by a single point. He also netted four times during their

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

campaign that year, but missed out playing in the

1960 FA Cup Final The 1960 FA Cup Final was the 79th final of the world's oldest domestic football cup competition, the FA Cup. It took place on 7 May 1960 at Wembley Stadium in London. The match was contested by Blackburn Rovers and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Wo ...

when he lost his place on the eve of the game to Barry Stobart. After two more modest goalscoring seasons, he left Molineux in June 1962. He initially dropped into the non-league with

Chelmsford City Chelmsford City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Chelmsford, Essex, England. Currently members of they play at the Melbourne Stadium. History Chelmsford Chelmsford Football Club was established in 1878 by members o ...

but returned to the Football League for the 1963–64 season with

. He later had brief spells with Poole Town and Parley Sports before retiring from the game in 1965. Today, he resides in

Swadlincote Swadlincote is a former mining town in the district of South Derbyshire, England, lying within The National Forest area. It borders the counties of Leicestershire and Staffordshire, south-east of Burton upon Trent and north-west of Ashby-de ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, Bobby 1936 births Living people Sportspeople from Tipton Men's association football inside forwards English footballers Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Poole Town F.C. players English Football League players