!['[Last year] was probably a disappointing season overall because of the squad we have'](https://www.rte.ie/images/0023b3c7-800.jpg)
Galway manager Pádraic Joyce says a successful season for the county would only be guaranteed by "winning the whole thing out" but confirmed that Young Footballer of the Year nominee Matthew Thompson would be unavailable for the league and the early part of the championship.
Joyce's seventh campaign as Galway boss began with a lopsided victory over London in the restored FBD League last Saturday, with the westerners facing Leitrim in Round 2 next weekend.
The season properly starts in earnest with their Division 1 opener at home to Mayo on 25 January, however Joyce says they will be without Salthill centre-forward Thompson for the duration ot the campaign and possibly beyond.
Thompson, who was formerly on the books at Galway United before committing to the inter-county squad, is studying abroad at the University of California in Berkeley until May and may also be absent for the Connacht championship, where Galway are seeking a first five-in-a-row since 1956-60.
"He's heading off on an old Erasmus in January. And we won't have him for the National League and probably the Connacht championship as well. He's not back until May.
"He's a bit of a loss to us but it'll give someone else a chance to step up."
Gone for the entirety of the season are Thompson's Salthill team-mate Tomo Culhane and veteran wing-forward Johnny Heaney, both of whom have opted out for 2026.
Culhane came off the bench to score a crucial late goal in the win over Down in Newry last summer, while the experienced Heaney has been a stalwart of the set-up since Kevin Walsh's reign and the holder of six Connacht medals for the county.
However, neither will be available to the westerners for the upcoming season.
"Tomo has had some serious hamstring injuries so he's gone away to get his body right so he can try and play inter-county," Joyce told RTÉ Sport. "He's been in the panel with us for the last three or four years and has had a lot of niggles and injuries coming to big games.
"Johnny is a stalwart of Galway. He's been there numerous years, before I got involved. The way he plays, he could be there after I'm gone as well, I don't know.
"But he's taking a year out. He recently got married there and decided he can't commit to it this year."
The Galway manager had better news on the injury front, confirming that All-Star midfielder John Maher would see action in the league, even if he has to sit out the early rounds.
The Salthill player, who was nominated for Footballer of the Year in 2024, was stretchered off after suffering an ankle fracture in his club's Galway SFC semi-final win over Corofin. There were fears he could be set for a prolonged spell on the sidelines though Joyce says his recovery is progressing well.
"He's training away with us, starting rehab work. It was a nasty injury, he had a couple of bones broke. But he's off the crutches. He'll be fine but it'll take a bit of time.
"He'll see action in the league but it probably won't be early doors. It'll be towards the back end of it."
His midfield partner Paul Conroy, meanwhile, appears set to commit for another season. The 36-year old - who won his first Connacht title as a player alongside Joyce in 2008 - has yet to make a full decision on his availability but the manager is confident he will remain with the squad.
"I spoke to Paul a couple of times. Paul had his second child there back in early November, so he's busy with that at the minute. I'd be fairly hopeful he'd come back and stay with us. But, again, we'll get a final decision on that probably in the next couple of weeks."
The 2025 campaign saw Galway claim a fourth successive Connacht title for the first time since the 1960s, however it was otherwise a frustrating season for the westerners who were ambushed by a resurgent Meath in the last-eight.
For arguably the third season in a row, Galway were pitched into the Group of Death, being lumped in with Dublin, Armagh and Derry in an absurdly competitive group. An opening round loss at home to Dublin in Salthill left Galway scrapping for survival and Joyce admits that three gruelling games in Ulster in successive weekends may have told on the squad.
"I think the biggest thing was the travel involved," says Joyce, reflecting on last summer. "We had to travel to Derry, Cavan, Newry and Dublin in the space of a couple of weeks. And you're staying overnight and all that kind of stuff. It's not ideal.
"But, again, we put ourselves in that situation as well. We're not looking for huge excuses or anything like that, but it definitely didn't help.
"But, again, we didn't perform the days we were supposed to perform. So we only have ourselves to blame.
"Against Meath, we didn't perform at all in the first 25 minutes of the game. And then we got caught a t the end when he had a bit of momentum and didn't see it out.
"Meath played better than us on the day and deserved their victory. We didn't hit the performance level we're used to.
"It was probably a disappointing season overall because of the squad we have and their capabilities."
The Galway boss is by now one of the longest serving managers on the inter-county scene, with only Kieran McGeeney having served longer in his current role.
There was speculation in the wake of their quarter-final exit last summer that Joyce might move on, though the Galway manager signed on for another three-year term in the off-season. He is quick to clarify that this doesn't necessarily mean he will definitely hang on until the end of 2028 - "I wouldn't say I'm staying until 2028, I have a chance to stay till that, if I want. We'll take it year by year."
On assuming the job at the end of 2019, Joyce made headlines by declaring his ambition was to win the All-Ireland in his first year - a quote which has been dredged up routinely since then. They hadn't, at that point, appeared in an All-Ireland since 2001, when Joyce himself had racked up 0-10 as they overwhelmed Meath in a surprisingly one-sided decider.
After a couple of frustrating seasons during the Covid period, Galway hit their groove in 2022, reaching the final that season and again in 2024, though this generation have yet to land the big one.
"For a long number of years in Galway, we weren't competing at the top table. The last couple of years, at least, we're getting up there. We're playing in the big games, we're getting a lot of experience.
"The ultimate goal for us is to win the All-Ireland. I'd be lying if I said anything else. That's what the ambition is in the group.
"The biggest challenge for us is keeping all our main lads fit and in form when the time comes. But a successful season for us is going to be winning the whole thing out."
