Referee Lee Mason - Bolton, Lancashire
Mr Mason started refereeing in 1988 and was promoted to the national list of assistant referees in 1998 and then the Premier League list in 2000, plying his trade mainly in the northern half of the country.

He was promoted to The Football League list of referees in 2002, and was the 4th official at the 2004 Division 2 Play-Off final between Bristol City and Brighton and Hove Albion.

His first and only game in the Premiership so far has been the Middlesbrough vs Aston Villa game in February, which the Midlanders won 4-0 and Ref Mason booked 3 home players and one, Barry, from Villa.

In the Football League he has been critised by fans for inconsistency so he should not be too much out of place in the Premiership.

In his four years of being the Man in the Middle Ref Mason has not had the pleasure of reffing a Fulham game.

Referee Stats - 2005/2006

As Ref Mason is a new boy on the block there is not much to go on. His record in the Football League is fairly average in relation to numbers of cards, both yellow and red   Mr. Mason's Av Premiership Ref Total Match Avg Total Match Avg Games 1 14 Fouls 26 26.0 371 27.0 Yellows 4 4.0 43 3.1 Reds 0 0.0 3 0.2 Penalties 0 0.0 3 0.2 Fouls per Yellow - 6.5 - 8.7

Homer? (2005-2006) Total Home Away Total Games Fouls Yellow Red Pen Fouls Yellow Red Pen Fouls Yellow Red Pen 1 14 3 0 0 12 1 0 0 26 4 0 0   54% 75% 0% 0% 46% 25% 0% 0% - - - - Premiership Average 14 49% 42% 28% 64% 51% 58% 72% 36% 371 43 3 3 Ref Mason obviously took a dislike to Boro in his first Premiership game but his record in the Football League shows a biase slightly less than the Premiership average.Hopefully he did not made too many friends at Villa during his Premiership debut.