Ángelo Jasiel Balanta (born 1 July 1990) is a Colombian 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 lea ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

or a striker for club

Hornchurch Hornchurch is a suburban town in East London in the London Borough of Havering. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential area. It historically formed a large ancient par ...

Club career

Born in

Cali Santiago de Cali (), or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,280,522 residents estimate by National Administrative Department of Statistics, DANE in 2023. The city span ...

, Colombia, Balanta moved to England when he was 5 and grew up in

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

as a youth where he attended Hurlingham & Chelsea Secondary school. he then attended south thames college for a year, completing a construction course. Balanta progressed through the

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

youth system before being promoted to the first team in 2007. He had been spotted by QPR scouts playing for CB Hounslow United who play in the

Combined Counties League The Combined Counties Football League is a regional men's football league in south-eastern England with members in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and the western half of Greater Lond ...

. He signed his first

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who work (human activity), works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the partic ...

contract with QPR in January 2008, which will keep him at the club until 2010 and was given shirt number 36. He made his first team debut when he was brought on as a substitute, replacing Ben Sahar, against

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 buildin ...

on 4 December 2007. He made his first start against

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

on 29 December 2007. In the 10th minute of the game, Balanta put

Dexter Blackstock Dexter Anthony Titus Blackstock (born 20 May 1986) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker. He played most notably for Queens Park Rangers and Nottingham Forest. Having represented England at youth international level, Bla ...

through with a looping ball which resulted in him being fouled and a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

being given, which was scored by

Martin Rowlands Martin Charles Rowlands (born 8 February 1979) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in England, he has represented Ireland at youth level. Club career After starring for Heston Gaels GAA club at underage level ...

. In the 40th minute, Balanta won an aerial challenge against

Lloyd Doyley Lloyd Colin Doyley (born 1 December 1982) is a former professional footballer who played as a defender. He is currently under-18s assistant coach at Watford. Doyley came through the Watford Academy and went on to make 443 first-team appearance ...

and found unmarked

with a lob. Rowlands scored with a chip over Richard Lee from an acute angle. Balanta is highly rated at QPR and is the latest talent to break through the youth set up at

Loftus Road Loftus Road, currently known as MATRADE Loftus Road Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Shepherd's Bush, West London, Greater London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers F.C., Queens Park Rangers Football Club, w ...

. On 5 January 2008, he made his

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

debut against Chelsea, coming on as a 65th-minute substitute for new signing

Hogan Ephraim Hogan Phillip Ephraim (born 31 March 1988) is an English former footballer. He is a graduate of the West Ham United academy, a former England Under-19 international, and made over 100 appearances for Queen's Park Rangers. His primary position i ...

. On 23 February 2008, Balanta scored his first senior goal for QPR against

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

at Loftus Road. The goal came in the 19th minute when

whipped in a cross into the near post where Balanta latched onto the ball. Rangers drew the game 1–1. At the start of the 2008–09 season, new manager

Iain Dowie Iain Dowie (born 9 January 1965) is a football manager, former professional footballer and sports television pundit. He played as a striker from 1983 until 2001, notably in the Premier League for Southampton, Crystal Palace and West Ham Unit ...

handed Balanta the number 19 shirt and gave him his first start in a League Cup

third round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

game away at

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

, which was won 3–2, with Balanta scoring the first goal. On 13 November 2008, Balanta moved on loan to League Two side

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...

for three months. He was recalled from his loan spell two weeks early having scored three goals in 11 games. In June 2010, Balanta moved on loan to

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...

for the entire

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season. On 1 August 2011 Balanta returned to MK Dons for a five-month loan. In January 2012, Balanta returned to Queens Park Rangers and was given the number 46 shirt. In their game against Aston Villa he was placed on the bench. On 26 March 2013, Balanta joined League One side Yeovil Town on loan until the end of the 2012–13 season. Balanta made seven appearances for Yeovil and was an unused substitute in the 2013 League One play-off final as Yeovil beat

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

2–1 to secure promotion to the

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, i ...

. On 1 July 2014, Balanta was released by QPR after seven years at the club, and joined

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

. Balanta had a successful year at Rovers in the

Football Conference The National League of English Football Clubs is a professional Association football, football league in England that consists of 72 teams, divided equally between the National League (division), National League North and National League South ...

, scoring a penalty in the club's

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

victory over

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

in the play-off final. However, he decided to join Carlisle in June 2015. On 28 July 2016, Balanta joined National League side Boreham Wood on a one-year deal. On 22 October 2018, he signed for fellow National League outfit

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club (), often known simply as Dagenham and abbreviated when written to Dag & Red, is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England that play in the , the sixth level of the En ...

mere days after playing against them in the

, a game in which Boreham Wood chairman Danny Hunter stated 'his mind was understandably elsewhere'. In the same statement, Hunter also revealed that Dagenham had initially seen two bids rejected before finally reaching agreement on a 'substantial deal' of undisclosed value. After just short of five years at Dagenham, with the latter two being limited by injury, he left the club by mutual consent in the summer of 2023. Former club Boreham Wood then announced his return there on 1 July, his 33rd birthday. Following Boreham Wood's relegation at the end of the 2023–24 season, Balanta was in talks regarding a new contract, instead opting to join newly promoted National League South side

International career

In September 2008, the England Under-19 side placed Balanta on standby as a replacement were a player to withdraw from the team.

Career statistics

Honours

Yeovil Town *

Football League One play-offs The EFL League One play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL League One table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , the play-offs comprise tw ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Bristol Rovers *

Conference Premier The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National Leagues and step 1 of the National Le ...

play-offs:

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Individual *

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

Player of the Month: March 2021

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Balanta, Angelo 1990 births Living people Footballers from Cali Colombian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Boreham Wood F.C. players Dagenham & Redbridge F.C. players Hornchurch F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Colombian expatriate men's footballers Colombian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Balanta family 21st-century Colombian sportsmen