Danny Rose and the Tottenham fans paid tribute to retired former midfielder Ryan Mason during their FA Cup fifth round tie at Rochdale.
Spurs were taken to a replay by the League One side with an injury time equaliser. However, when Harry Kane’s 88th minute penalty looked to have won the tie, Rose made a beeline for the camera before kissing the lens and shouting ‘Ryan Mason’.
The 26-year-old, who fractured his skull in a collision with Chelsea’s Gary Cahill in January 2017, was forced to announce his retirement from playing on Tuesday, stating he was left with no option following medical advice.
Mason, who has been told by Mauricio Pochettino that the door is always open for him to make a return to north London in another role, thanked Rose for his tribute on Twitter.
Before Rochdale’s late celebrations, Spurs fans were indulging in what they thought was a place in the FA Cup quarter finals, chanting ‘there’s only one Ryan Mason’.
Mason has said he’ll wait to make a decision on what to do next, but says he’d be keen on a Spurs return.
"I'm going to see what I fall into but if I was to go down the coaching route I spent 18 years at Tottenham and that's my club so I'm sure that would be in my DNA if I was a coach,” he told Soccer AM.
"I'm still not sure [what I'll do next]. I'm just going to see where everything takes me. I've only been retired for four or five days so I think I'm going to enjoy a bit of time with my family, see everyone and then see where I want to go with it all."
