Alfie Mawson

Alfie Robert John Mawson is an English professional football player who was born on 19 January 1994 in Hillingdon, England.

Centre-back is his main position on the ground and Mawson is considered as one of the best centre-backs playing for the Swansea City in the Premier League.

Background

At the age of 9, Mawson began his footballing career by joining the academy of Reading, a Championship club. After staying with the club till his official release at the 15 years of age, he gave some trials for Bournemouth and Millwall. However, he couldn't make it through.

Later, he joined Brentford in 2010. Staying with the club's youth rank, he gained some experience and was promoted to the senior squad subsequently. However, he didn't play any game for the club's senior team. Instead, he played for the Maidenhead United on loan. Afterwards, he also played a few games for Luton Town and Welling United.

Debut

After making some mere appearances for a number of clubs in his early time, his career took up a right turn when he joined League Two club, Wycombe Wanderers on 9 August 2014. Coming as a cover for injured Gary Doherty, Mawson made his Wycombe debut in the opening game of 2014-15 season, held in the month of August. In this game, he had played for whole 90 minutes helping his team to defeat Newport County by 2-0.

On 14 November 2016, Mawson debuted for the England U-21 against France U-21.

Rise to glory

After making his debut for Wycombe, Mawson instantly become a regular, appearing for the club in 19 consecutive games. However, he missed the 20th one due to an injury. On 29 November 2014, against Hartlepool United, he returned in the squad and netted his first goal leading his team to the 3-1 victory.

Afterwards, Mawson scored 7 goals in 50 games of the season including a decisive one against Cheltenham Town on 11 April 2015. His splendid performance led Wycombe to the final of the League but there, they lost to the Southend United in a penalty shootout.

However, Mawson won various awards at the end of the season including Wycombe Wanderers Supporters' Player of the Year, Wycombe Wanderers Players' Player of the Year along with Young Player and Away Travel Player of the Year award.

On 30 June 2015, League One club Barnsley signed him for a three-year contract. With his new club, Barnsley finished the season with 7 goals in 58 matches. Having him in the team, Barnsley also earned the Championship promotion.

After a successful season with Barnsley, Mawson moved to the Swansea City and made his full Premier League debut on 22 October 2016 in a goalless draw against Watford. For this particular fixture, he was also given the man of the match award for his defensive approach.

Recently on 22 January 2018, he scored match’s only goal against the renowned club Liverpool to win the match by 1-0.

On 15 March 2018, Mawson has been acquired in the England national squad for the first time to play pre-2018 FIFA World Cup friendlies.

Records

Mawson has played overall 195 matches for several clubs netting the ball for the 24 times. This clearly depicts that apart from defensive techniques, he is also an goal scoring player. Most of his appearances have come for Swansea City, Barnsley FC and Wycombe Wanderers. Both in the League One and League Two, Mawson has played 45-45 games scoring 6 goals in each league. In the Premier League, he has got 6 goals in 61 games.