JAMES Mason likes unwinding with his family on a Saturday night watching Ant and Dec with a few beers.

But City’s chief operating officer could be excused for feeling he has been the punchline for one of their pranks.

“I keep expecting them to jump up from the sofa shouting ‘surprise’,” he laughed. “Nobody would believe so much could happen in four months.

“I’ve probably done 20 years worth of being a chief executive already. It’s been a rollercoaster but in that respect, it’s been invaluable.”

Mason has pretty much seen it all already. From the extreme highs of beating Sunderland and Chelsea – “that’s got to be the greatest FA Cup upset ever, the likes of Jon Stead and Mark Yeates are up there now with Ronnie Radford” – to the ticket fiascos punctuating City’s FA Cup adventure, it’s been some learning curve.

Filling the large shoes left by David Baldwin’s move to Burnley was always going to be a challenge. The pair had spoken at length about the “24/7” nature of the job – but neither could have possibly imagined the obstacles that would be thrown his way.

James “Who” soon became a convenient scapegoat as the new boy on the block when City were plunged into ticketing turmoil as they struggled to cope with FA Cup demand.

“It was extremely painful. People tell you not to read this and that, and in the future I won’t.

“You’ve got to be headstrong and plough your own furrow. But when everyone says it is your fault, it is hard.

“The strength to carry on came from the fact I was well supported at board level and from most of the fans. Although I was receiving scapegoat criticism on social media, the amount of e-mails, letters and people just bobbing in saying it wasn’t my fault was great.

“While I was pilloried as a scapegoat, that made me even more motivated to prove these people wrong and do a good job going forward.

“Would I have stuck at it if it wasn’t my club? Probably not. But I’m a Bradfordian, I’m a Bradford City fan and I eat, sleep and drink with Bradford City fans.

“The last thing I wanted to do was cause pain to anybody.

“The significant positive to how we reacted to Chelsea and Reading was to dig deep and help get your fellow Bradfordians out of this mess and we did to some extent.

“This is a dream job for me and I want it for a long time. I wouldn’t have been true to my passion for Bradford City if I had walked away.

“Bradford City fans like their players to give 100 per cent. Stuart McCall and Gary Jones weren’t quitters.

“They wouldn’t have given up just because of four or five bad mistakes. People wouldn’t want the sort of person who would just quit.

“I’m not a flaky character. Whatever anyone wants to throw at me, they can’t label the fact that I don’t put in 100 per cent effort.”

Mason admitted his first couple of months were spent as a watching brief, allowing others to get on with their own roles while building his. What transpired has given him the confidence – and the battle scars – to stand up and take the lead.

He said: “I was conscious at first that I was just going to listen because you’ve got experienced staff who have been here a lot of years. It would have been wrong of me to start banging the drum about how I want to do things.

“It’s quite democratic. We have a staff meeting every Tuesday and listen to every head of department and come up with a plan.

“Chelsea was the first big hurdle and although we were caught cold (by demand for tickets), the flipside is I didn’t come in and start making decisions. So when the going got tough, I never beat myself up too much because I knew it wasn’t all down to me.

“If the first two or three months were about listening and observing, now it’s about starting to lead. Win, lose or draw, if I can hang my hat on things at least I feel I can be responsible.

“It’s given me that strength now to stand up in front of the board with authority.

“To some extent the job almost starts now. It’s been artificial to some extent because the things thrown at you might never happen again in a whole career.”

Adverts go out this week for sales and marketing managers and Mason expects those jobs filled by the end of the season. That’s two less hats for him to wear.

Mason will continue to push City’s position within the community. He is proud of their link with the Shapla foundation, encouraging more Asians to get involved, and the club have also brought in new starters from long-term unemployed projects.

With his media background, he has worked to make City more accessible. Their social media index was rock bottom when he came in.

“Our Twitter account has added 10,000 followers in that time. We want people to be able to get in touch with us, not just when things are going well but when they are not.

“We want to be a bigger part of the community than we’ve ever been. We’re not big in numbers but big in heart.

“We’ve got to build on all the good things from this season and how to reinvest the money that’s come in. If we don’t make it to the play-offs, we’ve certainly got to aim for promotion next year.

“Off the field, we are now looking at sponsorship because lots of deals run out this summer.

“Being in the sunshine like we have been makes it easier because it makes us a viable business opportunity.”

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