Mario Barone was born on January 2, 1948 in Malito, Italy. He emigrated to Canada from his home in Italy in 1959 when he was 11 years old.
He started his soccer career with local Toronto teams Juventus, Catanzaro and Toronto Italia.
As a bantam he scored 39 goals in 18 games in the 1962 season.
Mario played in the Toronto and District League’s fifth division in the 1964 season, and scored 28 goals.
In 1966 Mario led the city in scoring with 26 goals.
In 1967 he was the leading goalscorer in the Toronto & District League with 24 goals.
In March 1968 he went on a tour to Latin and South America with the Toronto Falcons. The former Toronto Italia-Falcons club had been members of the Eastern Canada Professional Soccer League since 1961, before joining the North American Soccer League. Previous to that they had been members of the National Soccer League. After a month of training the Falcons returned to Toronto.
Barone, a forward, six feet and weighing 178 pounds, played in nine NASL games and scored one goal during the 1968 NASL season.
When the Toronto Falcons team folded, Mario returned to the Toronto Italia team. He started the 1969 season in the Canadian National Soccer League. In June 1969 he joined Syracuse Scorpions in the American Soccer League.
Mario later played with Vittore-San Marco in the Toronto & District League.