Veteran Jamaican footballer Leonard Mason died in Brooklyn, New York on October 31 at the age of 72, after years of battling an illness.
Mason, affectionately called “Chicken” by Jamaican football fans, represented Excelsior High School in the Manning Cup football competition in the mid -1960s.
He later earned scholarships to Eastern Illinois University and Century University where he earned an Accounting degree and an MBA.
At club level in Jamaica, he played for Santos, Lucas and Real Mona, among others. In the United States, he represented Jamaica Nationals and the Jamaica Ambassadors football teams. He was also widely known for scoring for Jamaica in the island’s first victory (1-0) over Mexico in 1972 at the National Stadium.
After retiring from competitive football in 1975, he operated his own business as the CEO of LEMS Accounting Services, in New York and Florida.
In his later years, he became involved in several youth initiatives in Jamaica and was actively involved in fundraising activities at his alma mater.
