Mason’s third game between Burnley and Liverpool
Lee Mason has refereed our two Premier League games against Liverpool at Anfield, in 2009 and 2015, and tomorrow he will referee what is now our home game against them.
The mere mention of Lee Mason’s name always brings with it our home game against Preston in November 2007. It was his first ever Burnley game; his performance was a disgrace with him bottling the first minute handball on the line and then following that up with a string of poor decisions that saw the league’s bottom club beat us while we finished the game with nine players.
He wasn’t much better a year later when he refereed the same fixture, this time the major decisions going our way rather than Preston’s, and later that season he was caught up in the farce that was the windy night in Blackpool when he looked close to abandoning the game as Brian Jensen took about five minutes with a goal kick.
Since those two Preston games, it has to be said, he’s been fine but because of them a Burnley appointment always brings shudders among our supporters.
Mason has been refereeing in the Premier League for over ten years. His first game at the top level came at Middlesbrough in February 2006, a game home side lost 4-0 against Aston Villa and in the following season he showed his first top flight card, dismissing Reading’s Ibrahima Sonko in a 2-1 defeat at Villa.
He’s mainly used at the top level now. Last season he refereed 34 games of which 22 were in the Premier League with five others in cup ties. He’s not the most over eager when it comes to cards. His 96 yellows last season were less than three per game and he only sent off three players, they being Gareth Barry (Everton), Geoff Cameron (Stoke) and Sadio Mane (Southampton). Of those 96 yellow cards, 43 have gone to home team players and 51 to away team players; the other two shown in the FA Trophy Final at Wembley.
He refereed Liverpool twice last season and then won both games. He was in charge when they won 5-4 in an incredible game at Norwich and then he later refereed their 2-0 home win against Watford.
That FA Trophy Final was his last game but there were no cards in his last Premier League game of last season; Everton’s 3-0 win against Norwich at Goodison Park.
Lee Mason is currently 11th out of 18 in the Select Group Rate the Ref Table with a rating of 64.09 out of 100.
The assistant referees are Simon Beck (Bedfordshire) and Scott Ledger (South Yorkshire). The fourth official is Kevin Friend (Leicestershire) whose last Burnley game was our 1-0 win at Deepdale in April.
Lee Mason – Previous Burnley Games
| Season | Opponents | V | Res | Y | R | Burnley Players Carded |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007/08 | Preston | h | 2-3 | 2 | 2 | Y: Elliott R: McCann, Gudjonsson |
| 2008/09 | Preston | h | 3-1 | 4 | 1 | |
| 2008/09 | Blackpool | a | 1-0 | 5 | 0 | Y: Kalvenes, McDonald |
| 2009/10 | Liverpool | a | 0-4 | 2 | 0 | Y: Jordan, Eagles |
| 2009/10 | Wigan | h | 1-3 | 2 | 0 | Y: Carlisle, Alexander |
| 2011/12 | Barnsley | a | 0-2 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2012/13 | Blackburn | h | 1-1 | 2 | 0 | Y: Duff |
| 2014/15 | Sunderland | a | 0-2 | 4 | 0 | Y: Marney |
| 2014/15 | Liverpool | a | 0-2 | 1 | 0 | Y: Mee |
| 2015/16 | Leeds | h | 1-0 | 2 | 0 | Y: Barton |
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