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Mason Trafford

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Mason Trafford
Trafford walking on the pitch during a match
Trafford with Cavalry in 2022
Personal information
Full name Mason Trafford
Date of birth (1986-08-21) August 21, 1986 (age 38)
Place of birth Boynton Beach, Florida, United States
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
North Shore Selects
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2007 UNLV Rebels 66 (2)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008 Whitecaps Residency 4 (0)
2008–2009 Vancouver Whitecaps 37 (0)
2010 Real Maryland Monarchs 20 (2)
2010–2012 IFK Mariehamn 65 (2)
2013 Guizhou Zhicheng 29 (0)
2014–2015 Ottawa Fury 52 (1)
2016–2018 Miami FC 57 (0)
2019–2022 Cavalry FC 62 (1)
International career‡
2013 Canada 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of October 8, 2022
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of January 22, 2019

Mason Trafford (born August 21, 1986) is a retired Canadian soccer player who most recently played for Canadian Premier League club Cavalry FC. Besides Canada, Trafford has played in the United States, Finland, and China.[1][2][3]

Club career

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Youth and amateur

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Born in Boynton Beach, Florida, Trafford grew up in North Vancouver, attended Handsworth Secondary School, and played club soccer for the North Shore Selects. Trafford honed his skills under the eye of soccer coach Roman Tulis, and played for 2 years on the British Columbia provincial team, before going on to play four years of college soccer at University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He was team captain in his final year with the Rebels, and in addition to soccer he maintained top marks at school, graduating with a Bachelor of Science/Accounting degree.

Vancouver Whitecaps

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Trafford with Vancouver Whitecaps in 2008.

Trafford signed a one-year contract with the Vancouver Whitecaps in June 2008, after finishing his fall semester at UNLV.[4] He went on to play 14 games in the USL First Division in 2008, and was re-signed by the Whitecaps on December 3, 2008 for the 2009 season.[5] Trafford played 23 games in 2009 as the team again reached the USL Championship game, eventually losing out to the Montreal Impact. Trafford played a variety of roles for the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Real Maryland Monarchs

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In an effort to develop at one position, he signed with Real Maryland Monarchs under coach Anthony Hudson to be the club's left sided central defender. Trafford would go on to score two goals and played every minute during the club's 2010 campaign that ended in August 2010, allowing him to transition to a European club.

Mariehamn

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On August 29, 2010, after impressing on trial, Trafford signed a 6-month contract with a 2-year option with Finnish club IFK Mariehamn.[6] IFK Mariehamn picked up the option after Trafford played all seven matches to conclude the 2010 season. Mason would go on to play every match available throughout his IFK Mariehamn career.

Guizhou Zhicheng

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Trafford rejected a new contract with IFK Mariehamn in order to test the free agency market. Trafford considered offers from Sweden, Finland and North America and participated in his first Canada national team camp in Phoenix, Arizona and Houston, Texas with friendlies against Denmark and the United States. Immediately after, he went on trial with Seattle Sounders FC for a week but could not play in a friendly match against the Portland Timbers due to having food poisoning the night prior, along with several other teammates. He then elected to go on trial in China where he was once again successful. On February 23, 2013, Trafford signed with China League One club Guizhou Zhicheng for 1 year as one of the club's three international players.[7]

Ottawa Fury

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On March 17, 2014, Trafford signed with North American Soccer League expansion club Ottawa Fury FC.[8] In the club's first professional season, Trafford played a key role at centre-back, appearing in all 29 of the Fury's matches in all competitions and earning himself the club's Supporters' Player of the Year award.

In the 2015 season, the club's acquisition of centre-backs Colin Falvey and Rafael Alves pushed Trafford out of the starting lineup for much of the Spring season, however after discussions with management he was given an opportunity to play at left-back, a position he had played previously at IFK Mariehamn. Trafford was very successful and helped start a remarkable and record-breaking defensive run by the Fury during which they lost only one match and conceded by far the fewest goals of any club in the league, earning the club the NASL Fall Championship title and its first-ever berth in the Soccer Bowl playoffs. At the end of the season, Trafford once again earned the Fury Supporters' Player of the Year award.

Miami FC

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On October 1, 2015, Trafford signed a contract extension with Ottawa through 2017.[9] However, on February 4, 2016, a clause in Trafford's contract requiring the club to transfer him if a certain minimum fee was met was activated by expansion club Miami FC, sending him instead to his birthplace of Florida for the 2016 season.[10] At the time of his departure, he was the Fury's all-time appearance leader.

Cavalry FC

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On February 27, 2019 Trafford signed with Canadian Premier League club Cavalry FC.[11] In November 2019, Cavalry would confirm that Trafford would return for the 2020 season.[12] In November 2020, Trafford would re-sign with the club for the 2021 season, his third season with the club.[13] In February 2022, Trafford would once again re-sign with the club for the 2022 season.[14] On April 7, 2022, following the retirement of previous club captain Nikolas Ledgerwood, Trafford was named club captain ahead of the start of the season.[15] On February 10, 2023, the club announced that Trafford had retired from professional soccer and would be taking a role in the front office.[16]

International career

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On January 18, 2013, Trafford received his first call up by the Canada national team for friendlies against Denmark and the United States.[17] He made his senior team debut on January 26 in a friendly against Denmark as a second half sub for Tosaint Ricketts, the game ended as a 4–0 defeat.[18]

Personal life

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His cousin Charlie Trafford is also a professional soccer player. In 2013, Mason arranged for Charlie to sign for his former club IFK Mariehamn.[19] In February 2022, they became teammates, with Charlie returning to Canada to sign a contract with Cavalry FC.

Career statistics

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As of October 23, 2022[20]
Club statistics
Club Season League National Cup[a] League Cup[b] Continental Other[c] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Vancouver Whitecaps 2009 USL First Division 23 0 3 0 — — 1 0 27 0
Real Maryland Monarchs 2010 USL Second Division 20 2 2 0 — — 0 0 22 2
Mariehamn 2010 Veikkausliiga 7 1 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 7 1
2011 Veikkausliiga 28 1 2 0 6 1 — 0 0 36 2
2012 Veikkausliiga 30 0 2 0 1 0 — 0 0 33 0
Total 65 2 4 0 7 1 0 0 0 0 76 3
Ottawa Fury 2014 NASL 27 0 2 0 — — 0 0 29 0
2015 NASL 25 1 1 0 — — 2 0 28 1
Total 52 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 57 1
Miami FC 2016 NASL 31 0 1 0 — — 0 0 32 0
2017 NASL 26 0 5 0 — — 1 0 32 0
2018 NPSL ? ? 1 0 — — 0 0 1 0
Total 57 0 7 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 65 0
Cavalry FC 2019 Canadian Premier League 20 0 6 0 — — 2 0 28 0
2020 8 0 0 0 — — 0 0 8 0
2021 13 0 2 0 — — 1 0 16 0
2022 21 1 2 0 2 0 — 0 0 25 1
Total 62 1 10 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 77 1
Career total 279 6 29 0 9 1 0 0 7 0 324 7

  1. ^ Includes the Canadian Championship, U.S. Open Cup and Finnish Cup.
  2. ^ Includes the Finnish League Cup.
  3. ^ Includes the USL First Division Playoffs, Soccer Bowl and Canadian Premier League Finals.

Honours

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Club

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Ottawa Fury

Calvary FC

References

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  1. ^ RedNation Interview Series: Mason Trafford rednationonline.ca
  2. ^ INTERVIEWS Mason Trafford on Canada, Arie Schans and the harsh reality of China League One wildeastfootball.net
  3. ^ Fury FC's Mason Trafford survived his Chinese adventure ottawacitizen.com
  4. ^ "Whitecaps call up 4 Residency players". Archived from the original on September 17, 2008. Retrieved March 23, 2009.
  5. ^ "Thompson and Trafford back with 'Caps". Archived from the original on February 24, 2009. Retrieved December 9, 2008.
  6. ^ "IFK Mariehamn - Fotboll". Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved August 30, 2010.
  7. ^ "加拿大国脚梅森正式签约智诚-加拿大国脚梅森正式签约智诚". Archived from the original on April 20, 2014. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
  8. ^ "Mason Trafford Joins Ottawa Fury FC". nasl.com. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  9. ^ "Trafford Inks Extension". ottawafuryfc.com. Archived from the original on August 8, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  10. ^ "Miami FC Strengthens Back Line With Mason Trafford". nasl.com. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  11. ^ "Cavalry FC Announces the 'New' Trafford". Cavalry FC. February 27, 2019. Retrieved February 27, 2019.
  12. ^ "A strong core confirmed for Cavalry FC in 2020". Cavalry FC. November 13, 2019.
  13. ^ "Cavalry FC secure the core for the 2021 Canadian Premier League Season". Cavalry FC. November 6, 2020.
  14. ^ "Cavalry FC Re-Signs Defender Mason Trafford". Cavalry FC. February 11, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  15. ^ "Cavalry FC Announces New Captain for 2022 Season". Cavalry FC. April 7, 2022. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
  16. ^ "Cavalry FC Announces the Retirement of Mason Trafford". Cavalry FC. February 10, 2023. Retrieved February 12, 2023.
  17. ^ "Canada MNT names young squad for January camp". CanadaSoccer.com. January 18, 2013. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  18. ^ "Inexperienced Canada overpowered by Denmark". Canada Soccer Association. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  19. ^ Steve Bottjer (November 24, 2013). "Red Nation Interview Series: Charlie Trafford". Red Nation Online. Retrieved January 12, 2015.
  20. ^ "M. Trafford". Soccerway. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
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