Sam Mason-Smith (born 25 October 1991) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for

Miramar Rangers Miramar Rangers AFC is a New Zealand association football club in the Wellington suburb of Miramar. The club is one of the most successful in New Zealand, having won the Chatham Cup four times and the National League title twice. Over the last ...

in the

New Zealand National League The New Zealand Men's National League (NZNL), known as the Dettol Men's National League for sponsorship reasons, is an amateur men's football league at the top of the New Zealand football league system. Founded in 2021, the New Zealand Nationa ...

Career

New Zealand

Embarking on a move to New Zealand's

Richmond Athletic Richmond Athletic FC is a New Zealand Association football, football club, based in the South Island town of Richmond, New Zealand, Richmond, Tasman District, Tasman, New Zealand. Their home ground is Jubilee Park. History Formed in 1948, Richm ...

with three other Englishmen for 2011, Mason-Smith gained a switch to

Team Wellington Team Wellington Football Club was an association football club based in the suburb of Miramar in Wellington, New Zealand. They competed in the ISPS Handa Premiership. Team Wellington had traditionally been one of the most successful football c ...

who play in the national league. With the National League in New Zealand played during the summer, Mason-Smith played his winter season for local team

. He continued playing for the two teams until 2015 when he signed with

Hawke's Bay United Hawke's Bay United was a professional Association football club based in Napier, New Zealand, Napier, New Zealand. HB United most recently played in the New Zealand Football Championship, ISPS Handa Premiership – a semi-professional franc ...

to play National League, finishing the 2015–16 with six goals. Mason-Smith also didn't return to Miramar Rangers for the 2016 season, instead playing for

Wairarapa United Wairarapa United Football Club is based in Masterton, New Zealand. WUFC Women's Firsts are the region's premiere senior female team who finished 2nd on the table in 2024 in the Capital Football Women's 1 League, gaining promotion to Cap Prem in 2 ...

Central Premier League The Central League, known as the Dettol Central League for sponsorship reasons, is a competition run by the Capital Football for association football clubs located in the southern and central parts of the North Island. It is a New Zealand top-t ...

. In one game, he converted five goals in a 5-0 trouncing of

Petone Petone (Māori language, Māori: ''Pito-one'') is a large suburb of Lower Hutt, Wellington, New Zealand. It stands at the southern end of the Hutt Valley, on the northern shore of Wellington Harbour. Europeans first settled in Petone in Januar ...

which was a record for the most goals by a Wairarapa athlete in a Central League meeting, the previous being four. The following season with Wairarapa United, Mason-Smith was tasked with being responsible for Wairarapa's strikeforce again. After a successful season he was awarded the ''2017 Central League Player of the Year''.

South Africa

Heading to South Africa for a one-month trial with

Stellenbosch Stellenbosch (; )A Universal Pronouncing Gazetteer.
Thomas Baldwin ...

near the end of 2017, the Englishman contended in the

2017–18 Nedbank Cup The 2017–18 Nedbank Cup is a South African club football (soccer) tournament. The knockout tournament, based on the English FA Cup format, was won by Free State Stars Free State Stars Football club was a South African professional soccer ...

with them, meeting

Kaizer Chiefs Kaizer Chiefs Football Club (often known as Chiefs) is a South African professional football club based in Naturena, Johannesburg South, that plays in the Premiership. The team is nicknamed ''AmaKhosi'', which means "Kings" or "Chiefs" in Zu ...

in the Round of 16.

Return to New Zealand and Australia

In March 2019, after a prolific spell with

New Zealand Football Championship The New Zealand Football Championship () was a men's association football league at the top of the New Zealand league system. Founded in 2004, the New Zealand Football Championship was the successor to a myriad of short-lived football leagues in ...

side

, Mason-Smith joined

Victorian State League Division 1 The Victorian State League, known as VETO Sports State League for sponsorship purposes is an Australian soccer league based in Victoria that was founded in 1958 and administered by Football Victoria. It consists of five divisions (separated by ...

side

Preston Lions Preston Lions Football Club (formerly Preston Makedonia Soccer Club) is a semi-professional soccer club from Preston, a northern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The club was established in 1947 to play non-professional soccer matche ...

. After playing winter with Preston Lion's, Mason-Smith returned to

for the 2019–20 season of the New Zealand Football Championship.

Honours

Club

: *

Player of the Year: 2017

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mason-Smith, Sam 1991 births Living people Stellenbosch F.C. players Expatriate men's soccer players in South Africa English expatriate men's footballers Footballers from King's Lynn Histon F.C. players Richmond Athletic FC players Team Wellington FC players English expatriate sportspeople in South Africa Men's association football forwards English men's footballers Expatriate men's association footballers in New Zealand Soham Town Rangers F.C. players Miramar Rangers AFC players New Zealand Football Championship players English expatriate sportspeople in New Zealand Hawke's Bay United FC players New Zealand National League players Wairarapa United players 21st-century English sportsmen