Donald Sandison Masson (born 26 August 1946) is a Scottish former

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 ...

Club career

Masson began his career with

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

in 1964. He was signed by

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

manager Billy Gray in 1968 in a joint deal for £7000 along with Bob Worthington. He stayed there for six years before moving to

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

in December 1974 for £100,000. Masson made his debut in the 1-0 home win versus Sheffield United on 14 December 1974. Although approaching 29 years of age before he played top-level football, his was a signing that underlined the quality of then manager

Dave Sexton David James Sexton (6 April 1930 – 25 November 2012) was an English football manager and player. He was notable for managing Chelsea to their first ever major European trophy. Playing career Son of former professional boxer Archie Sext ...

's judgement. A stylish and creative

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, he came to be seen as the final piece in the jigsaw of an exciting and attacking QPR team. The following 1975/76 season saw QPR come close to winning the League title, being pipped by a point by

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. After three years at

Loftus Road Loftus Road is a football stadium in White City, London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers. In 1981, it became the first stadium in British professional football to have an artificial pitch of Omniturf installed. This remained in ...

he moved to

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

in October 1977 in exchange for

Leighton James Leighton James (born 16 February 1953 in Loughor, Swansea, Wales) is a former Wales international footballer. Playing career James started his career as a left winger with Burnley, making his league debut in November 1970 against Nottingham Fo ...

. After a further spell at Notts County he played for a time in the United States. Don was voted Notts best player of all time by Notts County supporters and also has a lounge at

Meadow Lane Meadow Lane Stadium is a football stadium in Nottingham, England. It is the home ground of Notts County, who have played there since it opened in 1910. The stadium was also home to Notts County Ladies F.C. from 2014 until 2017. It currently h ...

named in his honour. On returning to England he became the player-manager of

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

, before retiring from the game.

International career

Masson won 17 caps for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. He scored five goals including Scotland’s first goal in the 2-1 victory over England in 1976 which clinched their first British Home International Championship since 1967.Don Masson Statistics

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

; Retrieved 4 February 2010 He missed a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

in the 3–1 defeat against

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

in the

1978 World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by ...

Retirement

In retirement he turned his hand in to the hotel business, having bought ''The Gallery'' at

Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nottingham. Trent Bridge is also t ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

, which he later sold. He and his wife now run The Grange, a guest house in

Elton on the Hill Elton on the Hill is a small Nottinghamshire village and civil parish in the Vale of Belvoir. The population of about 75 is included with the civil parish of Granby, Nottinghamshire, Granby for census purposes. Situation and facilities Elton lie ...

References

External links

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Best & Worst: Don Masson
Sunday Times, 20 September 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:Masson, Don 1946 births Living people People from Banchory Association football midfielders Scottish footballers Scottish expatriate footballers Scotland international footballers 1978 FIFA World Cup players Middlesbrough F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Minnesota Kicks players Bulova SA players Kettering Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Scottish football managers Kettering Town F.C. managers Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate footballers in Hong Kong Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Footballers from Aberdeenshire

Club career

International career

Retirement

See also

References

External links