Young Footballer of the Year nominee Matthew Thompson will miss Galway’s upcoming Allianz League campaign.

Johnny Heaney and Tomo Culhane have also opted out for 2026, while there are doubts over Peter Cooke’s availability due to work commitments in London. Salthill/Knocknacarra clubman Thompson, who enjoyed a successful breakout season in 2025, will spend the spring studying in Berkley, California, but Galway manager Padraic Joyce is hopeful he will return for the Championship.

“He’s heading next week actually and he won’t return until probably the middle of May,” Joyce said of the University of Galway student at yesterday’s launch of the FBD Insurance Connacht League.

“He’s doing Global Commerce and it’s part of his education to get out there. He’s probably been lucky enough to get selected where he got to go to, out to Berkley. It’s a big opportunity for him to turn down.

“We’ll work with him. He’s a great young fella, he’s in great shape at the minute. We might try get a bit of football into him before he gets away. He had a super year last year with us, a brilliant find for us, he had a great campaign with Salthill as well.

“He’s going to be a big loss to us, but it will give somebody else a chance to step up and hopefully when he comes back he’ll be in decent shape for the rest of the campaign.”

Joyce also confirmed that veteran midfielder Paul Conroy has recommitted for another season.

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