Matt Connor (born 9 July 1959 in

Walsh Island Walsh Island or Walshisland () is a village in County Offaly, Ireland. It takes its name from the surrounding hinterland which is a fertile area of land on a hill (104m) located in an area of bogland known as the Bog of Allen, (hence, "island" ...

County Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster. It is named after the Ancient Ireland, ancient Kingdom of Uí ...

) is an

Irish Irish commonly refers to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the island and the sovereign state ***Erse (disambiguatio ...

former

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

er who played for his local club

and at senior level for the Offaly county team from 1978 until 1984, when he was seriously injured in a car crash. Connor's display for Offaly in the 1980 All-Ireland SFC semi-final against Kerry, scoring 2–9, was his signature performance, and is considered one of the best personal performances in the history of Gaelic football. He was interviewed for the documentary ''

Players of the Faithful ''Players of the Faithful'' is a documentary on Offaly's bid to stop Kerry becoming the first team to win five consecutive All-Ireland Senior Football Championships in 1982. Loosehorse were responsible for putting it together; it followed on f ...

''. In May 2020, the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray backgrou ...

'' named Connor at number six in its "Top 20 footballers in Ireland over the past 50 years". Armagh

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

and BBC GAA commentator Jimmy Smyth considers Connor the finest player he ever saw.'The GAA Social. Jimmy Smyth- Armagh captain, 20 years behind the mic (45:28)'
BBC Sport, 25 March 2025. Retrieved 26 March 2025

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Connor, Matt 1960 births Living people Gaelic football forwards Garda Síochána officers Leinster inter-provincial Gaelic footballers Offaly inter-county Gaelic footballers Police officers from County Offaly Walsh Island Gaelic footballers Winners of one All-Ireland medal (Gaelic football)