Mason Trafford

Mason Trafford (born August 21, 1986) is a Canadian soccer player who plays for Cavalry FC. Besides Canada, Trafford has played in Finland and China.[1][2][3]

Mason Trafford
Trafford with Vancouver Whitecaps in 2008
Personal information
Full name Mason Trafford
Date of birth (1986-08-21) August 21, 1986
Place of birth Boynton Beach, Florida, United States
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 Cavalry FC
Number 5
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– Cavalry FC 28 (0)
National team‡
2013 Canada 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of September 15, 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of January 22, 2019

Club career

Youth and amateur

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

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

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

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

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 Canadian National Team camp in Phoenix, Arizona and Houston, Texas with friendlies against Denmark and the United States. Immediately after, he went on trial with the Seattle Sounders 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

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

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

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]

International career

On January 18, 2013, Trafford received his first call up by the Canadian national team for friendlies against Denmark and the United States.[14] 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.[15]

Personal life

His cousin Charlie Trafford is also a professional soccer player with Hamilton Academical in Scotland. In 2013, Mason arranged for Charlie to sign for his former club IFK Mariehamn.[16]

Career statistics
As of 16 September 2020[17]
Club statistics
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Continental Other[lower-alpha 3] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Vancouver Whitecaps 2009 USL First Division 23030——10270
Real Maryland Monarchs 2010 USL Second Division 20220——00222
Mariehamn 2010 Veikkausliiga 710000—0071
2011 Veikkausliiga 2812061—00362
2012 Veikkausliiga 3002010—00330
Total 65240710000763
Ottawa Fury 2014 NASL 27020——00290
2015 NASL 25110——20281
Total 52130000020571
Miami FC 2016 NASL 31010——00320
2017 NASL 26050——10320
2018 NPSL ??10——0010
Total 57070000010650
Cavalry FC 2019 Canadian Premier League 20060——20280
2020 8000——0080
Total 28060000020360
Career total 24552507100602836
  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

Club

Ottawa Fury

Calvary FC

References
  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. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 17, 2008. Retrieved March 23, 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 24, 2009. Retrieved December 9, 2008.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved August 30, 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 20, 2014. Retrieved March 16, 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  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. "Canada MNT names young squad for January camp". CanadaSoccer.com. January 18, 2013. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
  15. "Inexperienced Canada overpowered by Denmark". Canada Soccer Association. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  16. Steve Bottjer (November 24, 2013). "Red Nation Interview Series: Charlie Trafford". Red Nation Online. Retrieved January 12, 2015.
  17. "M. Trafford". Soccerway. Retrieved September 7, 2019.
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