John Balmer (6 February 1916 — 25 December 1984) was an English footballer who played as a striker for English club

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

Life and playing career

Born in

West Derby West Derby ( ) is an affluent suburb of Liverpool, England. It is located East of the city and is also a Liverpool City Council ward. At the 2011 Census, the population was 14,382. History West Derby Mentioned in the ''Domesday Book'', West ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancas ...

, England, Balmer played for Collegiate Old Boys and Everton, where he was an amateur, before he was signed by Liverpool manager George Patterson who gave him his first professional contract on 23 August 1935. The 19-year-old made his debut on 21 September 1935 at

Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The ...

against

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...

in a 1st Division match, however, it wasn't a successful match as Liverpool lost 1–0. His first goal came on 7 December the same year in a league game at

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892 ...

, the 81st-minute strike turned out to be the winner in a 2–1 victory over

Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...

. Balmer came from a family of footballers, Uncles Walter and

Bob Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places * Mount Bob, New York, United States *Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname ...

both played for Everton during the early part of the 20th century whilst Uncle Jack was an amateur at

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a association football, football stadium in the Walton, Liverpool, Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area ...

. After the short journey across

Stanley Park Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay. The park borders the neighbourhoods of West End and ...

, Jack flitted in and out of the starting line-up during his first season at the club, fighting for the number 9 shirt with Fred Howe. Balmer would gain great experience playing in an inside forward position as well as his more accustomed centre-forward role. The

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

curtailed Balmer's footballing career, as it did so many others, but in doing so it probably took away his best years. Upon resumption of the national league competitions, Balmer formed an impressive partnership with

Albert Stubbins Albert Stubbins (17 July 1919 – 28 December 2002) was an English footballer. He played in the position of centre forward, although his career was limited by the onset of World War II. While playing for Liverpool, he won the League Champions ...

, they both finished the first post war season ( 1946–47)with 24 goals, helping to guide Liverpool to the League title 24 years after their last. During the title season, Jack created a League record by scoring a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

of hat-tricks (no other player would score even two successive hat-tricks for the club until another number 9,

Fernando Torres Fernando José Torres Sanz (; born 20 March 1984) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the current manager of Atlético Madrid Juvenil A. Due to his consistent goalscoring rate as a young player, ...

, did so in 2008). The first came on 9 November 1946 in a 3–0 home win against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

with the goals coming in the 30th (penalty), 70th and 79th minute, he followed this up a week later with a 4-goal haul away at the Baseball Ground in a 4–1 win over

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

, this included a 6-minute hat-trick, 43rd, 46th and 49th minutes with the 4th coming in the 60th minute. The record breaker came on 23 November at home to Arsenal in the 15th, 61st and 68th minutes of a 4–2 triumph, Stubbins scored the other in the 78th minute bringing to an end a run of 10 consecutive goals by Balmer. He followed this feat up with 5 more goals in his next 4 games, making a grand total of 15 in 7 outings, a strike rate of more than 2 per game. Balmer, who was intelligent and very skillful, was given the captaincy in the 1947/48 season and continued prolifically along with Stubbins. He played 313 games, scoring 111 goals between 1935 and 1952 which could have been a lot more if it hadn't been for the

. It was during the 1939–45 war that he gained his only international recognition playing for

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 ...

in a wartime match verses Wales at the Recreation Ground in front of a crowd of 17,000 on 18 November 1939, England won 3–2 with John Balmer scoring one of England's goals. In 1952, after playing 312 appearances for the Reds scoring 111 goals, Balmer retired from the game after averaging a goal every 2.8 appearances for the Reds. He died on Christmas Day 1984 at the age of 68.

Career details

*Liverpool F.C (1935–1952) – 312 appearances, 111 goals – Football League First Division (level 1) championship winners medal (1947)

References

External links

Official player profile at Liverpoolfc.tvPlayer profile at LFChistory.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balmer, Jack 1916 births 1984 deaths Footballers from Liverpool English footballers Association football forwards Liverpool F.C. players English Football League players England wartime international footballers