Gavin Mahon joined Rangers from Watford, initially on loan, during the January 2008 transfer window and has been a regular figure in the QPR midfield ever since.
DOB – 02/01/77
Height – 6ft 1in
Weight – 13st 2lbs
Contract Expires - 2010
It was Ian Holloway that once said ‘you can’t have everybody playing the piano, you need somebody to carry it onto the stage’. Of course Olly then filled his team with removal men with pretty dire results. One such ‘piano carrier’ is Gavin Mahon and although his signing from Watford at the end of December 2007 barely raised a message board thread from QPR fans his signing proved to be a shrewd one.
Mahon is an unspectacular player, but he’s solid, and he’s particularly valuable at the heart of midfield when the team has its backs to the wall. He opened his QPR goal scoring account with a diving header at the School End against Burnley in March 2008.
He spent the first six years of his career in the lower leagues with first Hereford and then Rangers’ West London neighbours Brentford. Gianluca Vialli took him to the First Division for the first time towards the end of the 2001/02 season and although the Italian was dismissed as manager shortly afterwards Mahon established himself in the Hornets’ line up winning the player of the year award in 2003/04 and playing for them in the Premier League.
He started 2007/08 as a key member of Watford’s squad again and after ten wins and a draw from the first eleven matches everything seemed to be going well. Aidy Boothroyd then inexplicably blocked both Mahon and former QPR man Danny Shittu from his starting eleven and although Shittu was soon reinstated Mahon never got back in and joined QPR in January. Looking at Watford’s results with him in the team and without him, and doing the same with QPR, should tell you just how valuable he is to a team.
With time no longer on his side it remains to be seen how much he features for QPR under Jim Magilton in 2009/10 and although he played very steadily for the most part on 08/09 he was infamously the target of abuse from the Loftus Road crowd during a poor performance in a televised 3-1 defeat by Ipswich in March.
| Career Stats | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Club | Season | Apps(as sub) | Goals |
| QPR | 2008 - 09 | 34(6) | 2 |
| QPR | 2007 - 08 | 12(5) | 1 |
| Watford | 2007 - 08 | 19(0) | 0 |
| Watford | 2006 - 07 | 37(1) | 1 |
| Watford | 2005 - 06 | 40(3) | 3 |
| Watford | 2004 – 05 | 50(1) | 0 |
| Watford | 2003 – 04 | 36(0) | 3 |
| Watford | 2002 – 03 | 17(6) | 5 |
| Watford | 2001/02 | 6(0) | 0 |
| Brentford | 2001 – 02 | 238(1) | 0 |
| Brentford | 2000 – 01 | 45(0) | 1 |
| Brentford | 1999 – 01 | 41(0) | 3 |
| Brentford | 1998 – 99 | 29(0) | 4 |
| Hereford | 1998 – 99 | 29(0) | 7 |
| Hereford | 1997 – 98 | 13(0) | 0 |
| Hereford | 1996 – 97 | 14(1) | 1 |