Robert Ballaman (21 June 1926 – 5 September 2011) was a Swiss

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 ...

who played as a centre forward.

Career

Born in

Reconvilier Reconvilier is a municipality in the Jura bernois administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. It is located in the French-speaking Bernese Jura (''Jura Bernois''). History Reconvilier is first mentioned in 884 as ''Roconis v ...

, Ballaman began playing football with FC Reconvilier at age 15. in 1946, he joined

FC Biel-Bienne Fussballclub Biel-Bienne is a Swiss association football club based in Biel/Bienne. The currently play in the 2. Liga Interregional. Honours Swiss championship *Champions: 1946–47 *Runners-up: 1947–48, 1959–60 Swiss Cup *Runner ...

, where he would win the 1946–47 Nationalliga A title. He played a total of 14 seasons in the Nationalliga A with FC Biel-Bienne, Grasshopper Club Zürich and

FC Winterthur FC Winterthur is a Swiss football club based in Winterthur, Canton of Zürich. They play in the Swiss Super League, the first tier of Swiss football, and appeared regularly in the Nationalliga A during the 20th century. Their home is the Stadi ...

, scoring 271 league goals. Ballaman earned 50 caps and scored 18 goals for the Switzerland national football team. He played in the

1954 FIFA World Cup The 1954 FIFA World Cup was the fifth edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football tournament for senior men's national teams of the nations affiliated to FIFA. It was held in Switzerland from 16 June to 4 July. Switzer ...

on home soil, where he scored 4 goals and Switzerland reached the quarterfinals.

Club career

* 1944–1950:

* 1950–1963: Grasshopper Club Zürich * 1963–1964:

Personal

Ballaman died at age 85 in September 2011.

References

1926 births 2011 deaths Swiss men's footballers Switzerland men's international footballers 1954 FIFA World Cup players FC Biel-Bienne players Grasshopper Club Zürich players FC Winterthur players Swiss Super League players Men's association football forwards Sportspeople from the canton of Bern {{Switzerland-footy-forward-stub