It did not take long for Mason Terry to notice the challenges of non-league football.
The young goalkeeper was making his debut for Concord Rangers – the Isthmian League Premier side he will spend the 2023/24 season loaned to – and something was different.
The football, he explained, was not quite the West Ham way.
“I put the ball down for a goal kick looking to play short,” Terry laughed, “but when I looked up everyone was already on the halfway line.
“I think I’d get told off if I played it out from the back! We don’t really do that!”
Terry is of course speaking in slight jest, but non-league football brings its challenges. There is a different and more direct style of play. Matches in the Isthmian League Premier are also more physical than Academy football.
“It’s almost a different game,” Terry continued. “At U21s, we look to keep the ball on the floor and for non-league it has lots of balls into the box, crosses and shots. In general, it’s more direct.
“You know set-pieces are coming under the bar and bodies are going to be challenging you for the ball.
“The opposition don’t care if you’re 19 because every opportunity they get the ball is coming into the box and they’re trying to make you feel uncomfortable and put you off your game. You’ve just got the deal with that.”
As Terry explains, there are lessons to be learned from this experience. You can see how much Jacob Knightbridge, another young goalkeeper who spent 2022/23 at Harrow Borough, has grown over the past year from a season in non-league football to starring for the U21s this term.
Even a few months into his spell at Concord, it is clear Terry has risen to the challenge. To holding himself in a men’s environment. To playing maybe two or three times a week.
“That’s probably the biggest thing,” stated the FA Youth Cup-winning stopper. “You’ve got to make sure your body can cope with that demand of games. So, you’ve got to look after yourself to be ready to play. I know at Concord I’m going to play each week, which is good because I want to be playing.”
There is also the demand of playing in front of fans – and learning to, in Terry’s own words, block out the noise.
Terry is a local lad to Canvey Island, living a few minutes’ walk from Concord’s ground. A derby with Canvey was quite the welcome to non-league, then!
“I was thinking I’m going to get so much stick!” he explains on the Essex Island derby, having grown up as a fan of Canvey Island too. “There were a couple of hundred Canvey fans behind the goal and I got so much abuse.
“The fans are so close behind the goal as well, so every time a cross comes in or the ball comes near you, they’re saying something!
“I had to just switch off and focus because I’ve not had to deal with that before. Other than the Youth Cups, it was my first time playing in front of fans.” A baptism of fire, then? He laughs. “Just a bit.”
While Terry plays matches in the non-league, part of his loan agreement is that the stopper can still play for the U21s in Premier League 2, the Premier League International Cup, and other friendlies.
He also trains with the U21s and, as such, is getting match experience in both men’s and Academy football. As it stands, Terry is happy with the progress he is making in this campaign, then. “One of my targets was to play men’s football,” he concluded. “I wanted to challenge myself and I knew it would not be easy but I’m loving it.
“I still train with West Ham and feel involved with the U21s, but I am also getting the games at Concord, which is really important.
“The players have made me feel welcome and given me lots of advice, bits of information, from their experiences. I have always been learning and I feel a lot stronger and confident in my play.”
