Matt Connor

{{Short description|Irish Gaelic footballer}}

{{Use Hiberno-English|date=May 2020}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}

{{Infobox GAA player

| code= Football

| sport = Gaelic football

| image = Matt Connor of Offaly — one of the greatest footballers of all time.jpg

| name = Matt Connor

| irish = Maitiú Ó Conchubhair

| fullname =

| feet =

| inches =

| occupation = Garda Síochána

| county = Offaly

| province = Leinster

| club = Walsh Island

| cposition =

| clubs =

| clyears = 1977–1984

| clapps(points) =

| clcounty = 6

| clprovince= 2

| clallireland = 0

| counties = Offaly

| icposition = Full-forward

| icyears = 1978–1984

| icapps(points) = 26 (13–142)

| icprovince = 3

| icallireland = 1

| nfl = 0

| allstars = 3

| clupdate =

| icupdate =

| birth_place=Walsh Island, County Offaly

| birth_date={{Birth year and age|1960}}

}}

Matt Connor (born 9 July 1959 in Walsh Island, County Offaly) is an Irish former Gaelic footballer who played for his local club Walsh Island and at senior level for the Offaly county team from 1978 until 1984, when he was seriously injured in a car crash.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/its-just-a-matter-of-seconds-and-it-changes-your-world-26420250.html | title= 'It's just a matter of seconds and it changes your world'|work=Irish Independent|date=31 December 2006|accessdate=30 May 2020}}

Connor's display for Offaly in the 1980 All-Ireland Semi-Final against Kerry, scoring 2–09,{{cite web|url=http://www.hoganstand.com/Offaly/Profile.aspx|title=Offaly GAA profile|publisher=www.hoganstand.com|accessdate=2010-04-09|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140804190409/http://hoganstand.com/Offaly/Profile.aspx|archivedate=2014-08-04}} was his signature performance and is considered one of the best personal performances in the history of Gaelic football.{{cite news|url=https://www.balls.ie/hurling/15-best-ever-performances-on-a-losing-team-293848|title=The 16 Best Ever Performances By A Player On A Losing Team|publisher=Balls.ie|date=25 July 2022}}{{cite news|url=https://www.the42.ie/matt-connor-feature-genius-week-5113442-Jun2020/|title="'One of the greatest privileges of my life was training with Matt Connor': 40 years ago this summer the Offaly legend gave one of the greatest individual displays ever witnessed in Croke Park"|publisher=The42.ie|first=Kevin|last=O'Brien|date=3 June 2020}}

He was interviewed for the documentary Players of the Faithful.{{cite news|url=http://www.loosehorse.ie/portfolio-items/players-of-the-faithful/|title=Players of the Faithful}}

In May 2020, the Irish Independent named Connor at number six in its "Top 20 footballers in Ireland over the past 50 years".{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/the-greatest-players/revealed-the-top-20-footballers-in-ireland-over-the-past-50-years-39244335.html|title=Revealed: The Top 20 footballers in Ireland over the past 50 years|work=Irish Independent|first=Martin|last=Breheny|date=30 May 2020}}

Armagh captain and BBC GAA commentator Jimmy Smyth considers Connor the finest player he ever saw.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0l0bxnb 'The GAA Social. Jimmy Smyth- Armagh captain, 20 years behind the mic (45:28)']. BBC Sport, 25 March 2025. Retrieved 26 March 2025