Welcome back to Mega Project – we all know how much managers and players enjoy their time off after a hard and long season – and Mason Bradshaw is no different – we hear from a news report regarding travelling back to London – then Mason himself.

Bradshaw, Swapping Belfast for Brighton

Mason Bradshaw was spotted at Belfast Airport travelling back to London, where we suspect he will be staying with his immediate family. Our sources confirm the reason for the trip isn’t transfer related, however Mason looks set for a busy pre-season when he finally returns to Ireland.

Mason Bradshaw is a football manager who has had spells at Stirling and most recently Ards, in Ireland. Many pundits have wrote Mason off after his spell at Stirling, but he has completely turned his career down. He has took himself over to Northern Ireland to try and rebuild his short career. Mason’s reputation took a heavy beating after the media was massively behind him in a successful first management attempt and he ultimately failed, the blame has to be on his first couple of months where he couldn’t find the right 11 and attempted to play youth players who were showing “more spirit.”

It is rumoured that Mason will also be going to America before pre-season starts, for what reason, we don’t know, however it’s unlikely a management job. We hope to see Mason back in Ards for the coming season and to really make a push for it.

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Now, let’s hear from Mason himself about his off season.

18th May 2017

The season is over, I really have enjoyed my first season as a manager but I am now looking forward to a rest, and better still, a holiday. The off-season started a few days, after which I took a flight back to England where I was spending the start of the off-season I have gone back to Brighton to catch up with my friends and family around the area, which has been great fun. But the real event is hapening in July, the long-awaited trip to New York City!

It was my first trip to The Big Apple in over 10 years, and I couldn’t wait. My whole immediate family (My mum, dad and brother) were coming, and we were going to catch up with our Uncle Andy, Aunt Sandra and our cousins Meg and James. I can’t wait!

I fly out at 5am on the 31st May, from Heathrow Airport. I am really excited, I have a lot of plans, including obviously catching up with my family there. I also plan on going to watch some American football and some MLS over there. I am also looking forward to visiting some landmarks, such as the Empire State Building, The Statue of Liberty, Times Square and taking a stroll through Central Park. I also have a friend who lives in New York, and we are planning to try to do a bit of Route 66, but we shall see. We are going for a fortnight, so I have a lot to fit in!

16th June 2017

The off-season is nearly over, as I return to Ireland on the 21st June. I have had a great post season though, including my awesome trip to New York.

I left my parents’ house with the rest of the family at roughly 1am in the morning to drive down to London where we were catching the Tube to Heathrow. I remember getting onto the bustling train where crowd had started to fill to get to their daily job. As the train moved underground, and the lights flickered on and off, and then the squeeze of the breaks as the Tube rolled in Heathrow Airport – Terminal 4, it was time.

Around 10 hours later – and seven hours on a plane – I arrived in the Big Apple. At 7:15am local time in fact, as the plane landed at JFK Airport, as we walked out, heading to border control, I was ready to have my best experience in life so far.

After around an hour getting through border control and collecting our bags, we walked out looking for the family, when we saw them, we realised that Uncle Andy was holding a sign with ‘BRADSHAWS’ then in really small writing ‘Mason Bradshaw – Pro Manager’. I never felt so proud in my life.

As we drove back to New Jersey, I saw the Manhattan skyline, and I was taken back, it was amazing during the day, but I could only imagine what it would look like at the night so I knew I had to come back to see the skyline at night.

I had two weeks to go and do everything that I wanted to do – and I needed to make the most of this experience as not many get to stay in New York for two weeks.

I had a great catch up with my family over there – including a lovely burger at Wendy’s – a few beers at Anticipation as well as some great chats about their footballing experiences.

Next on my agenda was to finally watch some NFL – I was desperate to see the New York Jets at the MetLife and I got to watch two games against the Giants and New England Patriots, and the moment that the commentator shouted ‘TOUCHDOWN!!!!’ will stick with me forever.

I got up early on the 4th June, at around 9am local time in fact, to catch the PATH train from Harrison to the World Trade Center – I had decided that today was the day to get started on looking at some of the world-famous landmarks that the City of New York had to offer, and where better to start than the Empire State Building? I can’t even do it justice, it was amazing to see in person.

Then I took the short walk to Times Square, and even though, you see it in photos, it is much better when you see it in better, as I walked through the hustle and bustle of the crowd who were all in awe of wonderful spectacle we were all enjoying, seeing all the advertisements flash on and off the screens, it is a moment I shall never forgot – that is for sure.

It had been a very long day, but before I caught the PATH train back to Harrison, there was one thing I defintley wanted to do, go and see the Skyline at night and try to get some good photos of it, and you can see the photo I took below – but boy, what a view. If you get the chance to see it, go and see it!

I had to be back by the 14th June to watch a MLS game, therefore I knew I needed to start on completing at least a good distance of Route 66, so I sent a text to my mate, Ryan, and we got started on Route 66 on the 5th June, travelling about half way before heading home, it was an amazing experience though, and I’d definitely recommend it for people looking to go travelling.

Then it was time to watch a MLS game, I decided to go and see a game at Red Bull Arena. I am so glad I did. The atmosphere was magic. The South Ward was electric all night long and especially when Daniel Royer scored the winner over the their rivals, NYCFC. I’m going to put it out there right now, the Red Bulls are a club I’d like to manage in the future.

I only had a few days left until it was time to head back to Ireland, but I made sure I made the most of it, as I went to see more amazing landmarks including the marvelous Central Park, which is a dream, but it did take a long time to walk to the other side! I took a boat tour to see the Statue of Liberty which was amazing to. I also went to Ground Zero to pay my respects.

New York was an amazing experience, and something that I’ll never forgot – I really enjoyed the New York lifestyle, hopefully one day, I might be managing out in America, hopefully sooner rather than later.

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Mega Project is a unique Football Manager experience. Mega Project features Mason Bradshaw, a rookie manager who never played professionally, who attempts to climb the football leader from the first job to becoming a world class manager. Mega Project is something that’s never been done before as we look from all angles, from Mason himself, the clubs, his family and friends, colleagues, the world of football and more. Mega Project is released weekly here at DictateTheGame.com.

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Incase you have missed any previous Mega Projects, you can read them all here:

• Mega Project #1 -Where it all Begins
• Mega Project #2 – Recruitment Process
• Mega Project #3 – Jobs, Jobs, Jobs.
• Mega Project #4 – Up North We Go!
• Mega Project #5 – Wow! I have an office!
• Mega Project #6
• Mega Project #7 – The League Begins…
• Mega Project #8 – Time to turn it around
• Mega Project #9 – Points, Points and more Points
• Mega Project #10 – It begins with S!
• Mega Project #11 – Drama!
• Mega Project #12 – A New Start
• Mega Project #13 – Survial?

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Want to keep up to date on every movement of Mason Bradshaw? Mason has a Twitter account where he tweets about jobs, training, his personal life and more. You can follow Mason on Twitter – @MasonBradshawFM

We’re back with another release of Mega Project. This time we hear from other managers in Scotland, an interview with Mason’s parents on Scottish Football Weekly, superfan Simon Andrews gives his views on Mason and Stirling so far this season and finally an update from the man himself, Mason speaks to StirlingAlbion.com

 

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In a slide show format you can see the results in this update of six games. Take a look at the statistics for them games, and you can truly see Mason is turning things around. It’s been a long time coming.

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