With only one starting place available in any team, it can be difficult for young goalkeepers to gain senior experience.
Indeed, just two goalkeepers under the age of 25 have started Premier League matches this season – Brighton & Hove Albion’s Bart Verbruggen and Leicester City’s Mads Hermansen.
That number rises to six in the EFL Championship, 14 in League Two and 16 in League One, but only one, Walsall’s teenage stopper Tommy Simkin, is younger than West Ham United’s promising gloveman Mason Terry.
At 20 years and two months, 2023 FA Youth Cup winner Terry has already played over 50 first-team matches, gaining valuable experience of playing for league points in front of large crowds against players for whom playing and winning matches is vitally important.
The Canvey Island-born stopper spent the 2023/24 season on loan at local club Concord Rangers, for whom his outstanding performances won him the Players’ Player and Supporters’ Player of the Year awards.
One of those outstanding performances came in a 1-0 defeat at Isthmian League Premier Division champions-elect AFC Hornchurch in March. The Urchins went on to clinch the title and so impressed was manager Daryl McMahon that he asked West Ham to loan Terry for their current National League South campaign.
Training with the Hammers during the day and training with McMahon’s squad on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, Terry has picked up where he left off, producing a series of impressive displays to help Hornchurch compete at the higher level and secure wins over the likes of St Albans City, Farnborough, Hemel Hempstead and Torquay United. He has also started for the Hammers' development team in a Premier League International Cup tie against Benfica, too.
On Saturday, the young goalkeeper will take his place between the sticks for the east London club’s FA Trophy second-round tie at Enfield Town, starting the Urchins’ quest to repeat their glorious run to victory at Wembley Stadium in the same tournament in 2020/21.
Ahead of that tie, Terry spoke to whufc.com about loving life on loan and his dream of helping Hornchurch return to Wembley…
Mason, this is the second season in a row that you’ve gone out on loan to gain senior experience, so how are things going?
“At Concord, it was unreal for my development, to go out and get that experience and be involved in every game was brilliant for my career and helped me get the move to Hornchurch for this season. They had a few eyes on me through the season, watching my games, and obviously the game against Hornchurch was when they were going for the league title and I made eight or nine saves and we only conceded from a set piece from the last kick of the game.”
You’re now playing in National League South against some big, traditional clubs, some of whom have played in the Football League and the National League recently?
“Yeah, you’ve got teams like Boreham Wood, Torquay, Dorking Wanderers, Maidstone and Weymouth. I’m really enjoying it. I’ve stepped up a level and I’ve now played 19 games in all competitions and I’ve noticed the level is higher and the crowds are bigger. We played Maidstone last weekend and there were over 2,000 there, so it was like a Football League game. Their fans were getting on to me and there was pressure to perform, so obviously that was another test for me to deal with.”
What has been your favourite experience so far?
“We beat Torquay 2-1 a few weeks ago and that was probably the biggest so far. They brought three or four hundred fans to Hornchurch, but we know anyone coming to us will find it difficult. We like to call our ground ‘our fortress’ as teams coming to our place and trying to turn us over won’t happen very often.”
You’ve got a good fanbase at Hornchurch too?
“Yeah, it’s a great fanbase and they’ve got a song about me which they sing, ‘Super Mason Terry!’, so I feel fully supported by them.”
You’ve got some real quality in the squad which won promotion?
“Yeah, they’ve really built on last year and added players to it. I’m one of the youngest players in the squad, so I’ve come into a changing room with players in their early 30s who have great experience and played at good levels, like Liam Nash who played in Ireland and Gibraltar and Sean Scannell who played for Crystal Palace and Huddersfield. They’re helping me out and any support and advice they give me, I take it on board because it’s only going to help me in my career.”
You’ve played a lot of senior games for your age, haven’t you?
“That was the main thing for me, to go out and get games and build my CV up. I think Under-21s football is really good for development, but it’s completely different to senior men’s football, and the style of play is obviously very different with loads of balls coming into the box, more direct play and set plays. It’s very physical and every game you go out to give everything to get three points and it makes your weekend if you win. I’m really enjoying it down there, I like the gaffer (McMahon) and the goalkeeper coach Kyri Neocleous, who is really good. It’s good to work with him there alongside my work with Xavi [Valero] and Bill [Lepine] at West Ham. I train with them on a Thursday as I want to be part of the team and not just turn up and play matches, plus we do our prepping and shape work going into the games on a Saturday.”
You have been knocked out of the FA Cup, but still have a chance to get to Wembley in the FA Trophy, starting at Enfield Town on Saturday?
“Yeah, they won it three years ago when they beat Hereford, but they got knocked out at the first hurdle last season, so everyone wants to have a good run in it this year. To play at Wembley would be an unbelievable experience and I’d love to do that, so that’s our end goal. If we get through on Saturday, we could draw someone like Southend who get seven or eight thousand crowds, or an away tie at Oldham, Rochdale or York, which would be another great experience in a big atmosphere, so let’s hope we can do it.”