by Peter Scherer
Mason Warren came to Mickleover at the beginning of the 2018/19 season and was named captain for this year.
Doncaster born but it was with neighbouring Rotherham United that his story really begins.
It was my aim to become a professional footballer, like pretty much every young lad around my area, we were brought up playing from a young age, pretending to be our favourite players on the local field.
He was scouted locally and signed for Rotherham, he did make the first team, but was released after a number of loan spells.
I was 15 or 16 when I signed and spent five years there. Happy times but didn’t get the breaks I needed.
He hasn’t always been a midfielder though.
I played centre midfield when I was young, but due to my size when I was about 12, I got moved to left back.
I stayed in that position until 18 or 19 when I moved back into midfield thankfully.
He is the favoured penalty and free kick taker, but did he volunteer for this?
Yes, I always put my name in the hat for set pieces and penalties. There are a couple of boys trying to steal the penalty duty, but I think my record speaks for itself.
Has being the captain and the extra responsibilities that brings affected his game?
If anything I think it’s probably helped really, with that extra responsibility I think tends to bring the best out of people. It’s also helped that the boys have been flying, so it’s worked out perfectly all round.
You have been doing zoom sessions with the rest of the players during Lockdown, does that help with team spirit?
It’s been great to be honest, as much as the sessions are tough and not nice at the time, it’s kept everyone in contact and kept the team spirit together. Sergeant Phil Squat as we call him now has done a cracking job if keeping us ticking over.
But what does he do away from football?
I love a round of golf and will try my hand at pretty much any sport to be honest, but apart from that I like spending time with my family. Maybe a cinema trip, food out and I’m prone to that regularly.
So what do you normally do before a match?
I tend to chill out, maybe see some mates and relax, then try and get an early ish night and a good sleep.
We know it’s been a short season again, but are you surprised how well it went?
In all honesty yes. I knew we had a great group of lads, but I thought maybe with all the new signings it may take us a bit of time to gel. But we were straight out of the traps and once up and running we never looked like stopping, which makes the season postponement that bit more disappointing.
When he heard the season was null and void, this was his first reaction.
Disappointing obviously, but ultimately we all expected that to be the case after recent mishaps in the world. For us though it’s just made us more determined to start next season off even better than this one, whenever that might be.
People will write us off and expect us to fall away, but I think that’s when we’re at our best as a team.
What are your fondest memories from your career so far?
Playing at Wembley for my Primary School team in year six. We went through various stages and qualified for the final there. Even though we got beat it was a memory I will never forget.