Conor Masterson

Conor Masterson
Masterson in 2023
Personal information
Full name Conor Ciaran Masterson[1]
Date of birth (1998-09-08) 8 September 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth Celbridge, Ireland
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 Gillingham
Number 4
Youth career
–2014 Lucan United
2014–2018 Liverpool
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2019 Liverpool 0 (0)
2019–2023 Queens Park Rangers 17 (1)
2021 → Swindon Town (loan) 5 (0)
2021–2022 → Cambridge United (loan) 16 (0)
2022 → Gillingham (loan) 18 (0)
2023 → Gillingham (loan) 20 (2)
2023– Gillingham 37 (6)
International career
2014–2015 Republic of Ireland U17 11 (0)
2015–2017 Republic of Ireland U19 6 (0)
2019–2020 Republic of Ireland U21 13 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 07:20, 2 April 2024 (UTC)

Conor Ciaran Masterson (born 8 September 1998) is an Irish footballer who plays as a centre-back for EFL League Two club Gillingham.

Club career

Early career

Originally from Celbridge, County Kildare, in Ireland,[2] Masterson played for Lucan United before joining Liverpool on his 16th birthday for a reported fee of €1m after being spotted playing for a Dublin & District Schoolboys League select team in 2012.[3][4]

He made his U18s debut in 2014–15. Masterson went on to captain the under-18s and was an unused sub for Liverpool in their FA Cup tie at Exeter City in January 2016.[5] He moved to the U23s squad ahead of the 2017–18 season.[6]

He was named on the bench for Liverpool's UEFA Champions League 3–0 quarter final victory against Manchester City on 4 April 2018.[7][8] He was named in Liverpool's Premier League squad for the match against Everton on 7 April 2018 and was included on the substitutes' bench.[9]

Masterson was released by Liverpool at the end of the 2018–19 season.[10]

Queens Park Rangers

On 3 July 2019, Masterson signed a two-year deal with Queens Park Rangers.[11][12] On 5 January 2020, he made his debut for the club in an FA Cup third round 5–1 defeat of Swansea City.[13] On 18 July 2020, Masterson scored his first senior goal when he opened the scoring in an eventual 4–3 victory over Millwall.[14]

On 19 January 2021, Masterson joined League One side Swindon Town on loan until the end of the 2020-21 season[15] On 21 August 2021, Masterson joined another League One side, Cambridge United, on loan until January 2022.[16] Masterson was named in the starting line-up on the same day as the U's faced Burton Albion. On 4 January 2022, Masterson returned to QPR.[17] On 28 January 2022, Masterson joined a third League One club, Gillingham, on loan until 30 April 2022.[18] He again joined Gillingham on loan in January 2023.[19]

Gillingham

After Queens Park Rangers opted not to renew his contract at the end of the 2022–23 season, Masterson signed a permanent contract with Gillingham to take effect on 1 July.[20] He was named as the Kent side's Player of the Year for the 2023–24 season.[21]

International

On 6 March 2014, Masterson made his debut for Republic of Ireland Under-17s in a 2–1 friendly win over Austria at Dalymount Park.[4][22] At the 25th Annual FAI International Football Awards Masterson was named as the Under-16 International Player of the Year for 2014.[23]

Masterson graduated to the Under-19 side on 10 October 2015 as an unused substitute in a 1–1 friendly draw against Ukraine, before making his debut in a 1–2 loss against the same side two days later.[4]

He was first called up to the Under-21 side in March 2019 ahead of a European Championships qualifier against Luxembourg, going on to play the full 90 minutes in a 3–0 victory.[24][25]

Career statistics

As of match played 9 February 2024[26]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Liverpool 2017–18 Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2018–19 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Queens Park Rangers 2019–20[27] Championship 12 1 2 0 0 0 — 14 1
2020–21[28] Championship 4 0 1 0 1 0 — 6 0
2022–23 Championship 1 0 0 0 0 0 — 1 0
Total 17 1 3 0 1 0 — 21 1
Swindon Town (loan) 2020–21[28] League One 5 0 — — — 5 0
Cambridge United (loan) 2021–22[28] League One 16 0 2 1 1 0 2 0 21 1
Gillingham (loan) 2021–22 League One 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 18 0
Gillingham (loan) 2022–23 League Two 20 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 2
Gillingham 2023–24 League Two 27 5 3 0 1 0 3 0 34 5
Career total 103 8 8 1 3 0 5 0 119 9

Honours

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Notification of shirt numbers" (PDF). English Football League. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  2. ^ "Liverpool bench role for Ireland's Conor Masterson next step in steady rise". Irish Independent. 5 April 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018. [Though he played] at Lucan where his father, Ciarán, was a coach [..] Masterson [..] actually grew up across the Kildare border in Celbridge
  3. ^ Ste McGovern. "Who Is Conor Masterson? The Irish Starlet Who Could Make His Champions League Debut Tonight". Balls.ie. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  4. ^ a b c Donaghy, Gerard (5 September 2017). "All you need to know about Conor Masterson, the Irish youngster in Liverpool's Champions League squad". The Irish Post. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  5. ^ "Liverpool youngster Conor Masterson could be named on the bench against Man City". Liverpool Echo. 3 April 2018. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  6. ^ "Liverpool FC". liverpoolfc.com. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  7. ^ "Champions League: Liverpool v Manchester City & Barcelona v Roma - Live - BBC Sport". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
  8. ^ "Watch: Jurgen Klopp reveals the ultra-confident reaction of Ireland's Conor Masterson to his Champions League bench role". Independent.ie. Retrieved 7 April 2018.
  9. ^ Reddy, Melissa (7 April 2018). "#LFC starting XI v #EFC: Karius, Clyne, Lovren, Van Dijk, Klavan, Henderson, Wijnaldum, Milner, Mane, Ings, Solanke \ Subs: Mignolet, Masterson, Moreno, Alexander-Arnold, Jones, Ox, Firmino \ Clyne's first start of the season. First squad involvement for Curtis Jones, 17".
  10. ^ Shaw, Chris (7 June 2019). "Liverpool confirm Premier League retained list". Liverpool FC. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  11. ^ "Conor Masterson signs for QPR". QPR. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
  12. ^ "Conor Masterson: QPR sign defender after Liverpool exit". BBC Sport. 3 July 2019.
  13. ^ "Queens Park Rangers 5–1 Swansea City". BBC Sport. 5 January 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  14. ^ "Queens Park Rangers 4–3 Millwall". BBC Sport. 18 July 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
  15. ^ "CONOR MASTERSON SIGNS ON LOAN FROM QPR". www.swindontownfc.co.uk. 19 January 2021.
  16. ^ "Cambridge United sign QPR centre-back on loan until January". BBC Sport. 21 August 2021.
  17. ^ "Cambridge United defender Conor Masterson returns to QPR after loan spell ends". Cambridge News. 4 January 2022.
  18. ^ "Gills sign Conor Masterson on loan". Gillingham FC. 28 January 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  19. ^ "Conor Masterson returns on loan". Gillingham FC. 26 January 2023. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  20. ^ "Conor Masterson signs permanent Gills deal". Gillingham FC. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  21. ^ a b "Conor Masterson voted Player of the Year". Gillingham FC. 13 April 2024. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  22. ^ Barrow, Pete (6 March 2014). "Huddersfield Town academy player Danny Kane impresses in international win". Yorkshire Live. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  23. ^ a b "John O'Shea named Ireland player of the year". RTÉ. 22 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  24. ^ "Parrott and Masterson named in Ireland U-21 squad". RTÉ. 13 March 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  25. ^ "History: Republic of Ireland-Luxembourg | Under-21 2021". UEFA.com. 24 March 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  26. ^ "Republic of Ireland - C. Masterson - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway".
  27. ^ "Conor Masterson | Football Stats | Queen's Park Rangers | Season 2019/2020 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  28. ^ a b c "Conor Masterson | Football Stats | Queen's Park Rangers | Season 2020/2021 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 10 May 2021.