Niall Aadya Mason (born 10 January 1997) is an English 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 ...

who plays as a defender for Al Shahaniya. He was born in Brighton, and played youth football for Real Madrid,

Al Sadd Al Sadd Sports Club ( ar, نادي السد الرياضي, lit=Dam Sports Club) is a Qatari sports club based in the Al Sadd district of the city of Doha. It is best known for its association football team, which competes in th ...

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

and

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

before he signed his first professional deal at Villa. He went on to play for

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

and

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

Early life

Niall Mason was born in Brighton in 1997 to an American father and an Indian mother. The family spent time living in Spain and Qatar. Mason is eligible to play for

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He has said that he would like to play for England if the opportunity arose. As a 7-year-old, Mason was signed by the Real Madrid academy. When David Beckham visited the academy the two would often converse, as they were the only English players at the club. He also played alongside Zinedine Zidane's sons,

Enzo Enzo is an Italian given name derivative of the German name Heinz. It can be used also as the short form for Lorenzo, Vincenzo, Innocenzo, or Fiorenzo. It is most common in the Romance-speaking world, particularly in Italy and Latin Americ ...

and

Luca The last universal common ancestor (LUCA) is the most recent population from which all organisms now living on Earth share common descent—the most recent common ancestor of all current life on Earth. This includes all cellular organisms; th ...

. He went on to play for the Al Sadd academy in

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

when his parents moved there for work and then signed for

at the age of 13. In his early days Mason played in advanced positions, but he has gradually moved further down the pitch and now plays mostly as a defender or defensive midfielder.

Career

Aston Villa

Mason signed his first contract with Aston Villa in 2015, after turning down a professional contract in order to join Aston Villa. Following a successful trial, he became a regular for Villa's under 21s. He joined the first team for a summer 2015 training camp in

Faro, Portugal Faro ( , ) is a municipality, the southernmost city and capital of the district of the same name, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. With an estimated population of 60,995 inhabitants in 2019 (with 39,733 inhabitants in the city proper, ...

under manager

Tim Sherwood Timothy Alan Sherwood (born 6 February 1969) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. As a player, he was a midfielder from 1987 until 2005, notably as captain of Blackburn Rovers' Premier Leag ...

Doncaster Rovers

On 6 August 2016, Mason joined Doncaster Rovers on loan until January alongside Chelsea's

Jordan Houghton Jordan Alexander Houghton (born 5 November 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for EFL Championship club Plymouth Argyle. Club career Chelsea Houghton joined Chelsea's academy at Under-8. In Novembe ...

. Both players made their debut on the same day, in a 3–2 loss to

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete his ...

. On 1 January 2017, Mason had his loan extended until the end of the season. On 8 May 2017 Doncaster Rovers signed Mason permanently from Aston Villa for an undisclosed fee. He scored his first goal on 23 December that year, a penalty that was the only goal of a victory away to

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

. Three days later, he scored in the same way in a 3–0 win over

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

at the

Keepmoat Stadium The Eco-Power Stadium (formerly known as Keepmoat Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in Doncaster, England, with a capacity of 15,231. It cost approximately £20 million to construct, as part of the wider Lakeside Sports Complex that i ...

. Mason was a regular under

Darren Ferguson Darren Ferguson (born 9 February 1972) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player, who was most recently the manager of Championship club Peterborough United. In between his stints with Peterborough, he also managed Preston No ...

and then

Grant McCann Grant Samuel McCann (born 14 April 1980) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder in the Football League. He was most recently the manager of EFL League One club Peterborough United. Born in ...

, but was suspended in January 2019 following his conviction. In March 2019, Mason was sacked from Doncaster Rovers as a result of his conviction for sexual assault.

Peterborough United

In June 2019 he signed for

. He scored his first goal for the club in an EFL Trophy tie against

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home grou ...

on 8 September 2020. On 11 May 2021 it was announced that he would leave Peterborough at the end of his contract. He scored his first and only league goal for The Posh in his final appearance for the club against his former side Doncaster a few days beforehand. In August 2021, Mason had a brief trial at Dundee. His presence led to fan protests over his conviction. In December 2021, Mason returned to Qatar and after a spell playing for

Lusail Lusail ( ar, لوسيل, , ) is the second-largest city in Qatar, located on the coast, in the southern part of the municipality of Al Daayen. Lusail is located about north of the city centre of Doha, just north of the West Bay Lagoon, on over ...

, he joined

Qatari Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

side Al Shahaniya. In the summer of 2023 he signed a new extension on his deal for a reported 1 million dollar a year salary.

Career statistics

Personal life

Niall Mason was convicted of a sexual offence in January 2019, after pleading guilty to a charge relating to 18 February 2018. Prior to his appearance in court, Mason had maintained his innocence and continued his playing career. He was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years and was placed on to the sex offenders register for seven years. Following the sentencing Mason claimed to have been advised to plead guilty by his legal team but continued to assert his innocence.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, Niall Living people 1997 births Footballers from Brighton English men's footballers English people of American descent English people of Indian descent Men's association football defenders Aston Villa F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players English Football League players British people convicted of sexual assault Lusail SC players Al Shahaniya SC players Qatari Second Division players English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar English expatriate sportspeople in Qatar