All-Ireland Senior Football Championship 1966

The 1966 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was played from May to September, 1966. Galway, making 4th final appearance in succession and looking to secure a "Three In A Row" of All-Ireland titles, faced Meath. The two met in the semi-final stage of the 1964 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, when Galway triumphed with a 3 point victory. Meath were unable to stop the mighty Tribesmen as they won by an emphatic six point margin in the final, 1-10 to 0-07. The win completed a memorable "Three In A Row" for the county. It would be another 32 years before Galway would won another All-Ireland title, in 1998 against Kildare.

All-Ireland Senior Football Championship

Semi-Finals

All-Ireland Final

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 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 3 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 John 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 Seamus Leydon. This left it at 1-05 to no score in favour of Galway. Murty Sullivan got Meath off the mark but at half-time, they trailed by 8 points, 1-06 to 0-01. 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.

See also