Ellery Ronald Balcombe (born 15 October 1999) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for club St Mirren, on loan from club

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

. Balcombe is a product of the Brentford

academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

. He turned professional in 2016 and was promoted into the first team squad in 2018, but has since played the majority of his career with the club away on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

. Balcombe was capped by

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at youth level.

Club career

Brentford

Youth years (2014–2018)

, Balcombe began his career as a youth with Bedford Panthers and

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

. He began his affiliation with

at the age of eight and progressed into the club's

and its Elite U19 Education and Football Programme. He was a part of the U15 team which won the Junior Globe at the 2014

Milk Cup SuperCupNI, formerly called the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament and the Dale Farm Milk Cup, is an international youth football tournament held annually in Northern Ireland. The cup matches are mainly played in the North Coast area of ...

. While still an U16, Balcombe broke into the U18 team during the second half of the 2015–16 season, making six appearances. He also made four Development Squad appearances. At the end of the 2015–16 season, Balcombe was promoted into the new Brentford

B team B, or b, is the second letter of the Latin-script alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' bee'' (pronounced ), plural ''bees''. It r ...

and signed his first professional contract on 15 October 2016. Three weeks later,

whiplash Whiplash may refer to: * The long flexible part of a whip * Whiplash (medicine), a neck injury ** Whiplash Injury Protection System (WHIPS), in automobiles Film and television * ''Whiplash'' (1948 film), a US film noir about a boxer * ''Whiplas ...

suffered in a car accident by second-choice goalkeeper Jack Bonham saw Balcombe win his maiden first team call up for a

West London derby The West London derby is the name given to a association football, football List of sports rivalries in the United Kingdom, derby played between any two of Brentford F.C., Brentford, Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, Fulham F.C., Fulham and Queens Park Rang ...

with

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

. He remained an unused substitute during the 2–0 defeat. Balcombe played in the majority of the B team's matches during the 2016–17 season and helped the team to win the 2017 Kai Thor Cup. Balcombe was the undisputed first choice goalkeeper for the B team during the 2017–18 season and made 30 appearances. He received his only first team call up of the season for a

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

third round match versus

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

on 6 January 2018, in which he remained an unused substitute.

2018–19 and loan to Boreham Wood

In June 2018, Balcombe signed a new four-year contract and was promoted into the first team squad. On 6 August 2018, he joined

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

club

Boreham Wood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...

on a youth loan until 1 January 2018. He made eight appearances for the club, before returning to Brentford early, for treatment on an injury suffered while on international duty in mid-October 2018. After regaining fitness, he won his first senior Brentford call up of the 2018–19 season for an FA Cup third round match versus

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

on 5 January 2019. Injuries suffered by goalkeepers saw Balcombe receive a number of call-ups into the first team squad during the final months of the season.

2019–20 and loan to Viborg FF

During the 2019–20

pre-season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

, Balcombe fell behind B team goalkeeper Patrik Gunnarsson in the first team goalkeeping pecking order and he instead travelled with the B team on its

training camp A training camp is an organized period in which military personnel or athletes participate in a rigorous and focused schedule of training in order to learn or improve skills. Athletes typically utilise training camps to prepare for upcoming events, ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

. On 2 September 2019, Balcombe joined

Danish 1st Division The 1st Division (''1. Division'') is the second-highest football league in Denmark, also known as NordicBet Liga for sponsorship reasons. From 1945 to 1991 the 1. Division was the name of the highest level of football in Denmark. With the forma ...

club

Viborg FF Viborg Fodsports Forening ("Viborg Footsport Association"), or Viborg F.F. and VFF for short, is a Danish professional football club based in Viborg. The club was founded in 1896 and waited more than a century before winning its only national ...

on loan until the end of the 2019–20 season. He was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

for the first time in his career on his eighth and what proved to be final appearance for the club, a 2–1 defeat to

HB Køge HB Køge () is a professional Danish football club based primarily in the town of Herfølge, and secondly in the town of Køge, both in the Køge Municipality, part of 'Region of Zealand', in the eastern part of Zealand, south of Copenhagen. It w ...

on 2 November 2019. The loan was terminated during the winter break, due to a season-ending back injury, which required surgery.

2020–21 and loan to Doncaster Rovers

Balcombe returned fit for the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

pre-season and owing to the departure of Patrik Gunnarsson on loan, he served as third-choice goalkeeper behind

David Raya David Raya Martín (; born 15 September 1995) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Arsenal, on loan from Brentford, and the Spain national team. Raya began his senior career in England with Blackburn Rove ...

and

Luke Daniels Luke Matthew Daniels (born 5 January 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays for club Middlesbrough as a goalkeeper. Daniels is product of the Manchester United and West Bromwich Albion academies and played much of the early year ...

. He was an unused substitute during two early regular season matches. Balcombe signed a new -year contract on 6 January 2021 and later that day, he joined

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

on loan until the end of the

season. He immediately assumed a starting role and one of his saves during a 4–0 FA Cup fourth round defeat to

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

on 23 January was nominated for the competition's Save of the Round award. One week later, two

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

saves and a

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

performance in a 1–0 win over Lincoln City saw Balcombe named in the League One Team of the Week. Balcombe's January 2021 performances in league matches saw him nominated for the PFA Fans' League One Player of the Month award. He finished his spell with 17 appearances and in his absence, Brentford were promoted to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

2021–22 and loans to Burton Albion and Bromley

On 29 June 2021, Balcombe joined League One club

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home groun ...

on loan for the duration of the 2021–22 season. Unable to dislodge first-choice goalkeeper Ben Garratt, he made just three

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

appearances before the termination of the loan on 4 January 2022. On 31 January 2022, Balcombe joined National League club

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, char ...

on loan until the end of the 2021–22 season. He was signed as a replacement for departed backup goalkeeper

Reice Charles-Cook Reice Jordan Charles-Cook (born 8 April 1994) is an professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bromley. Born in England, Charles-Cook represents the Grenada national team. Charles-Cook began his career at Arsenal, and enjoyed a loan ...

. Initially appearing only in

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

matches, Balcombe displaced first-choice goalkeeper Mark Cousins in the league lineup in March 2022. His 19th and final appearance for the club came in the 1–0 2022 FA Trophy Final victory over

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

on 22 May 2022.

2022–23 and loans to Crawley Town and Bristol Rovers

On 30 July 2022, Balcombe joined

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team co ...

on a season-long loan. He started in the club's opening

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

fixture versus

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...

later that day, but was substituted due to injury at

half-time In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...

during the 1–0 defeat. He returned to match play on 29 October 2022 and made 11 further appearances before being recalled on 17 January 2023. Two days later, Balcombe joined League One club

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

on loan until the end of the season. He made eight appearances during an injury-affected spell.

2023–24

Following involvement in Brentford's 2023–24 pre-season matchday squads, Balcombe began the regular season as third-choice goalkeeper, behind new signing

Mark Flekken Mark Flekken (born 13 June 1993) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Bundesliga club SC Freiburg and the Netherlands national team. Early years Flekken grew up in Bocholtz, Limburg, Netherlands on the German border. ...

and the departed David Raya's deputy

Thomas Strakosha Thomas Strakosha (born 19 March 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Brentford. Born in Greece, he plays for the Albania national team. Born in Athens, Strakosha played youth football at Panionio ...

. On 26 August 2023, Balcombe was included in a competitive matchday squad for the first time since September 2020, when he remained an unused substitute during a 1–1 Premier League draw with

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

. Three days later, he made his competitive debut for the club with a start in a

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

second round match versus Newport County. With the score 1–1

after extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a Draw (tie), tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is ...

, Balcombe saved two

penalties Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

in the resulting shoot-out, helping Brentford to victory. On 3 October 2023, Balcombe signed a new four-year contract, with a one-year option. He was an unused substitute on five occasions during the 2023–24 season.

2024–25 and loan to St Mirren

On 24 May 2024, Balcombe joined

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

club St Mirren on loan for the duration of the 2024–25 season.

International career

Balcombe was capped by England at U18, U19 and

U20 U20 or U-20 may refer to: Naval vessels * * , a sloop of the Royal Navy * , a submarine of the Austro-Hungarian Navy Other uses * Great truncated cuboctahedron * Meizu U20, a smartphone * Roland U-20, a synthesizer * Small nucleolar RNA SN ...

level. He was a part of the England squads at the 2018 UEFA European U19 Championship and the

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

and

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

editions of the

Toulon Tournament The Toulon Tournament (officially the Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) is a football (training match) tournament, which traditionally features invited national teams composed of youth players from U-17 to U-23 level. ...

. He was uncapped at U21 level, but was an unused substitute in a number of matches and was called into the

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Toulon Tournament group as a standby and training support. While on U21 duty in October 2019, Balcombe trained with the full England squad.

Personal life

Balcombe is of

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea wh ...

descent through his parents. He attended Castle Lower School in

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

and won the Outstanding Achiever Award at the 2017 Bedford Sports Awards.

Career statistics

Honours

England U20 *

England U18 * International Trophy: 2016 Bromley *

: 2021–22

References

External links

*
Ellery Balcombe
at brentfordfc.com
Ellery Balcombe
at thefa.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Balcombe, Ellery 1999 births Living people English men's footballers Black British sportsmen Footballers from Watford Men's association football goalkeepers England men's youth international footballers English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Brentford F.C. players Boreham Wood F.C. players Viborg FF players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Bromley F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players English Football League players Danish 1st Division players National League (English football) players English people of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines descent St Mirren F.C. players