Matt O'Connor

Matt O'Connor Octochamp Statistics
Final position	-
Seeding	2
Points total	949
Conundrums solved	6

Matt O'Connor in Series 65...

...and 11 years later in Series 85.

Matt O'Connor was an octochamp in Series 85, who made his debut in Series 65 under the name Matt Croy. He is a serving detective, formerly with Greater Manchester Police but now with Cheshire Police, and has been a member of Apterous since 2011.

Heat games

Matt began his Countdown début on 17 June 2011 as one of two brand new contestants following the octorun of the eventual series winner Graeme Cole. He lasted until his 6th show when he was narrowly defeated by a score of 90 – 91 after his opponent, Andrew Halliburton, correctly solved the conundrum MYQUARTER a fraction before the clock had completed 30 seconds. Matt's 5 wins and 538 points were not enough to reach the series finals.

Matt returned to the show 11 years later where he won his first game of his second run with a tight game against 5-game winner Craig Fawcett with 113 to Fawcett's 77, thanks to spotting MALONATES for nine in the last letters round. Matt followed this with a personal best of 130 points, which he bettered by 9 points five shows later. In his last heat of his second run, he spotted PREDATION for nine, but his opponent, Liam Moss, clawed back to near distance by spotting TABOURETS for nine in the next letters round. However, a disallowed word from Liam allowed Matt to eventually wrap up and become an octochamp, with an overall score of 949 points – 18 points fewer than Dan Byrom.

On 10 June, O'Connor returned to the show as No. 2 seed to start his finals run against fellow octochamp Dan Hall. After a close start, O'Connor broke away later on and won the game with another century to book his semi-final spot.

Special episode

In late 2012, he was invited back to Countdown in a themed 'Law & Order' special episode against prison officer Craig Lingard. He was allowed to devote the show to the memory of his friends and colleagues Fiona Bone and Nicola Hughes who had been killed on duty weeks earlier, he used his appearance as a fundraiser in their memory for the charity 'Care of Police Survivors' (COPS). This show was finally broadcast in April 2015.

Episodes

#	Date	Type	Contestant 1	Score	Contestant 2	Presenters				Guest	Lex	Max
5288	17/06/2011	P	Matt Croy	86 – 50	Barrie Crawford	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Jon Culshaw	Susie Dent	117
5289	20/06/2011	P	Matt Croy	96 – 45	Pete Snowdon	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Tim Vine	Susie Dent	119
5290	21/06/2011	P	Matt Croy	100 – 53	Mark Worsfold	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Tim Vine	Susie Dent	119
5291	22/06/2011	P	Matt Croy	95 – 86	Chris Hemingway	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Tim Vine	Susie Dent	129
5292	23/06/2011	P	Matt Croy	71 – 45	Kevan Nijjar	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Tim Vine	Susie Dent	118
5293	24/06/2011	P	Matt Croy	90 – 91	Andrew Halliburton	Jeff Stelling	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Tim Vine	Susie Dent	114
S45	10/04/2015	S	Matt Croy	91 – 66	Craig Lingard	Nick Hewer	Rachel Riley					Paul Zenon	Susie Dent	117
7741	15/04/2022	P	Craig Fawcett	77 – 113	Matt O'Connor	Anne Robinson	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Giles Coren	Susie Dent	144
7742	18/04/2022	P	Matt O'Connor	130 – 6	Charlie Edwards	Anne Robinson	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Sophie Ellis-Bextor	Susie Dent	133
7743	19/04/2022	P	Matt O'Connor	118 – 20	Tom Parkin-Coates	Anne Robinson	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Sophie Ellis-Bextor	Susie Dent	136
7744	20/04/2022	P	Matt O'Connor	120 – 6	Anna Chandra	Anne Robinson	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Sophie Ellis-Bextor	Susie Dent	125
7745	21/04/2022	P	Matt O'Connor	123 – 74	Stewart Cairns	Anne Robinson	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Sophie Ellis-Bextor	Susie Dent	137
7746	22/04/2022	P	Matt O'Connor	102 – 53	Paul Merison	Anne Robinson	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Sophie Ellis-Bextor	Susie Dent	142
7747	25/04/2022	P	Matt O'Connor	139 – 34	James Campbell	Anne Robinson	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Justin Webb	Susie Dent	144
7748	26/04/2022	P	Matt O'Connor	104 – 78	Liam Moss	Anne Robinson	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Justin Webb	Susie Dent	145
7781	10/06/2022	QF	Matt O'Connor	106 – 58	Dan Hall	Anne Robinson	Rachel Riley				Lucy Summers	Jay Rayner		none