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1966 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final
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June 2018
June 2018
1966 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final 1966 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final programme.jpg 250px 1966 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Galway 40px 1–10(13) Meath 40px 0–7(7) 25 September 1966 Croke Park Dublin Jimmy Hatton (Wicklow) 71,569 1965 1967
The 1966 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final was the 79th All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1966 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland.
It was the third of three All-Ireland football titles won by Galway in the 1960s, which made them joint "team of the decade" with Down who also won three.https://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/kerry-on-honour-roll-26565988.html Kerry on honour roll Irish Independent Independent News & Media 14 September 2009 14 September 2009 However, Galway's three 1960s titles came consecutively.Tom Kenny https://www.advertiser.ie/galway/article/38701/the-men-who-first-brought-sam-to-galway The men who first brought Sam to Galway Galway Advertiser 14 April 2011 14 April 2011 Then came the three in a row team who in 1964 beat Kerry by 0 – 15 to 0 – 10; in 1965 it was Galway 0 – 12 to Kerry 0 – 9, and in 1966 Galway 1 – 10 to Meath's 0 – 7.
In 2018, Martin Breheny listed this as the ninth greatest All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final.Breheny, Martin. "Martin Breheny's Greatest All-Ireland Finals". Irish Independent. 1 September 2018, p. 12–13.
Paths to the final
Galway, though reigning champions, approached the game as underdogs. Their opponents Meath had seen off Down in the semi-final.
Pre-game
The teams kneeled to kiss the bishop's ring before the game got underway.
Match
This year's final was played on 25 September.https://www.gaa.ie/api/pdfs/image/upload/t8bphnbixyanijooj1un.pdfbook The Complete Handbook of GAELIC GAMES 2021 DBA 151July 2026 InternetArchiveBot
Summary
This was to be, if not the battle of the century, at least the final of the decade. That was the assessment from all the pundits as Galway geared up to secure their third All-Ireland title in a row, against Meath. The credentials of both sides were perfect: Galway unbeaten since the 1963 All-Ireland SFC final with Dublin, against a Meath team that had put in an incredible second-half performance against Down to win by ten points. The champions, with the breeze behind them, made the early running. With 13 minutes gone they had strolled to a three-point lead. Despite the best efforts of the Meath side to keep the score that low against a Galway side who had the momentum, the crucial score came not long after. Cyril picked up possession and played the ball across the Meath goal. As it bounced across the face of Seán McCormack's goal, Mattie McDonagh came steaming in and planted the ball into the back of the net with relative ease. It was Galway's first goal in their "Three In A Row" assault. Thirty seconds later, Liam Sammon pointed, followed quickly by another from Séamus Leydon. This left it at 1–5 to no score in favour of Galway. Murty Sullivan got Meath off the mark but at half-time, they trailed by eight points, 1–6 to 0–1. A reshuffled Meath team re-opened the second half with promise, but the revival they sought, desperately needing a goal, never looked like coming. Meath outscored Galway in the second half but it was merely an irrelevant statistic as the Tribesmen had made it "Three In A Row", with a six-point victory. The ingredients were there for a thrilling contest were there for a thrilling contest, but on the day it all came apart for Meath and remained the same for a Galway side who made GAA history with their performance.
Mattie McDonagh scored a goal after 21 minutes and Galway led 1–6 to 0–1 at half-time, and went on to complete a three-in-a-row. McDonagh's goal came 11th in RTÉ's 2005 series Top 20 GAA Moments.High Ball magazine, issue #6, 1998.
Details
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Galway
_whiteborder _collarwhite _whiteborder _hoops_white 009900 009900 009900 ffffff 009900 Meath
GalwayMaroon & White Shirts/White Shorts/Maroon Socks1–10 – 0–7(final score after 60 minutes)MeathGreen & Gold Shirts/White shorts/Green SocksManager: John 'Tull' Dunne
Team:
1 Johnny Geraghty (GK)
2 Enda Colleran (c)
3 Noel Tierney
4 Bosco McDermott
5 Colie McDonagh
6 Seán Meade ?
7 Martin L. Newell
8 Jimmy Duggan
9 Pat Donnellan
10 Cyril Dunne
11 Mattie McDonagh
12 Séamus Leydon
13 Liam Sammon
14 Seán Cleary
15 John Keenan
Substitutes used:
17 John Donnellan for Meade ?
Substitutes not used:
16 Frank McLoughlin
18 Tom Sands
19 Mick Reynolds
20 Christy TyrrellHalf-time:1–6 – 0–1
Competition:All-Ireland Senior Football Championship(Final)
Date:15.30 BSTSunday, September 25, 1966
Venue:Croke Park, Dublin
Attendance: 71,569
Referee:Jimmy Hatton (Wicklow)
Match rules:60 minutes.Replay if scores still level.Maximum of 3 substitutions.Manager: Fr. Patrick Tully
Team:
1 Seán McCormack (GK)
2 Dinny Donnelly ?
3 Jack Quinn
4 Peter Darby
5 Pat Collier
6 Bertie Cunningham
7 Pat Reynolds
8 Peter Moore
9 Tom Browne
10 Tony Brennan
11 Murty Sullivan
12 Davy Carty (c) ?
13 Gerry Quinn
14 Noel Curran
15 Ollie Shanley
Substitutes used:
17 Mick White ? for Donnelly
18 Jack Fagan ? ? for Carty
21 Martin Quinn ? for Fagan
Substitutes not used:
16 Paddy Cromwell
19 John Carolan
20 Paddy Mulvany
22 Vincent Foley
23 L. Kierans
24 Mick Mellett
25 J. Walsh
26 M. Lynch
27 M. O'Brien
Beitzel
Harry Beitzel, an Australian credited with pioneering the development of the composite rules sport International rules football, is said to have drawn inspiration from watching the 1966 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final on television, and in 1967 sent an Australian side – "The Galahs" – to play the game against an Irish side. Beitzel followed this up the next year with The Australian Football World Tour, a six-match series with games played against Irish teams in Ireland, the UK and United States. (The 1968 Galahs also played exhibition matches of Australian Rules throughout the tour, including a game in Bucharest, Romania.)https://archive.today/20120731040226/http://www.aussierulesinternational.com/home/world/europe/ireland/international_rules/croke_park_had_never_seen_anything_like_it#Inspired 'Croke Park had never seen anything like it'
References
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final, 1966
All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Finals
Category:All-Ireland Senior Football Championship finals
Category:GAA finals at Croke Park
Category:Galway county football team matches
Category:Meath county football team matches