Galway’s Matthew Thompson suffers ankle injury while in America

Matthew Thompson of Galway. Pic: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile

Galway will be without Young Footballer of the Year nominee Matthew Thompson for longer than anticipated after he suffered an ankle injury while in America.

Thompson missed the entire National League and opening round of the Connacht SFC championship after travelling to Berkeley for his Erasmus.

It was anticipated that the forward would return in the coming weeks, but manager Pádraic Joyce has confirmed he faces a spell on the sideline.

“Matthew is away at the minute,” he told the Tuam Herald. “He picked up an ankle injury over there, so he is not back first and foremost in the country, but he is now dealing with a little bit of an ankle injury as well.” 

The Salthill-Knocknacarra clubman enjoyed a breakout season in 2025 and helped his club to a county final.

Elsewhere, Matthew Tierney and Cian Hernon missed their victory over Leitrim. Both are expected to be in contention to play against Roscommon in this Sunday’s Connacht SFC final.

Galway will be aiming to complete a Connacht five-in-a-row this weekend.

“Teams are going to have injuries, there is no doubt about that,” said Joyce.

“But we are in a position at the minute where we’re actually in probably one of the healthiest states that we have been in since I was over the team.”