# Matt Goff

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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Goff
> Source revision: 1350516488
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{{Short description|Irish Gaelic footballer}}
{{One source|date=October 2025}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox GAA player
| image          =
| name           = Matt Goff
| irish          = 
| birth_date     = {{Birth date|1901|7|5|df=y}}
| death_date     = {{Death date and age|1956|3|19|1901|7|5|df=y}}
| nickname       =
| height         =
| occupation     = Military Police Officer
| sport          = Gaelic football
| code           = Football
| county         = Kildare
| province       = Leinster
| clposition     = —
| club           = Leixlip
| clyears        = ?–?
| clapps(points) =
| clcounty       =
| clprovince     = —
| clubs          =
| counties       = Kildare
| icposition     = —
| icyears        = 1926–1936
| icapps(points) =
| icprovince     = 4
| icallireland   = 2
| nfl            = 0
| allstars       = N/A
| icupdate       = 16:29, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
| clupdate       = 16:29, 27 March 2007 (UTC)
| birth_place    = Kildare, Ireland
}}
{{Use Irish English|date=December 2021}}

'''Matt Goff'''<ref>{{cite web |title=MATT GOFF – LEGEND OF LEIXLIP AND KILDARE – Kildare eHistory Journal |url=https://kildarelibraries.ie/ehistory/matt-goff-legend-of-leixlip-and-kildare/ |website=kildarelibraries.ie |access-date=18 October 2025 |date=20 November 2007}}</ref> (born Matthew Gough in [Leixlip](/source/Leixlip), [County Kildare](/source/County_Kildare), 5 July 1901, died 19 March 1956) was a [Gaelic football](/source/Gaelic_football)er on the [Kildare](/source/Kildare_GAA), [Leinster](/source/Leinster_GAA) and [Irish](/source/Ireland) [Tailteann Games](/source/Tailteann_Games_(Irish_Free_State)) teams and one of a group of players who helped establish [Gaelic Athletic Association](/source/Gaelic_Athletic_Association) as a sport in [Ireland](/source/Ireland).

He played in six [All Ireland](/source/All-Ireland_Senior_Football_Championship) finals between 1926 and 1935, won an unprecedented six Leinster titles in succession, and won two All Ireland medals with the Kildare team that was the first to be presented with the [Sam Maguire Cup](/source/Sam_Maguire_Cup). He played with [Leixlip GAA](/source/Leixlip_GAA) in the junior championship teams of 1921 and 1922 and the 1923 league, and came to notice on Tom Farrell’s 1924 Leixlip team that reached the 1924 Kildare junior final. He made his senior debut for Kildare against [Louth](/source/Louth_GAA) in the 1926 championship and held his place  in four All Ias Kildare went to final only to lose in a dramatic replay against [Kerry](/source/Kerry_GAA).

As Kildare went on to play Kerryreland finals over the next six years, interest in football reached new levels. The attendance at the 1929 final, 43,839, broke the record of 41,000 established for the [Ireland](/source/Northern_Ireland_national_football_team)-[Scotland](/source/Scotland_national_football_team) football match in [Belfast](/source/Belfast) in 1925. He was one of four Kildare players selected on the Irish team for the 1928 Tailteann Games and played 13 times for Leinster, winning six [Railway Cup](/source/Railway_Cup) medals for inter-provincial competition. He played his last of his 65 competitive appearances for Kildare in the 1936 championship against [Meath](/source/Meath_GAA). He worked as a military police officer, participating in the Stacumny ambush in the [Irish War of Independence](/source/Irish_War_of_Independence), and later with [CIÉ](/source/C%C3%B3ras_Iompair_%C3%89ireann). When he died in 1956 GAA players from all over Ireland formed a [guard of honour](/source/guard_of_honour) for his coffin. The overpass bridge on the [Dublin](/source/Dublin)-[Galway](/source/Galway) motorway at Leixlip was named in his honour on 18 March 2006.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goff, Matt}}
Category:1901 births
Category:1956 deaths
Category:Kildare inter-county Gaelic footballers
Category:Leixlip Gaelic footballers
Category:20th-century Irish sportsmen

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Matt Goff](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Goff) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Goff?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.