Billy Balmer (29 July 1875 – February 1961) was an English

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 played as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for Everton, as well as the England national side. His brother Bob played alongside him for Everton and his nephew was Jack Balmer.

Career

Balmer was a tough-tackling full-back. He joined Everton in 1897 from South Shore and went on to play 331 games, scoring one goal. His brother Bob – four years his junior – also played for Everton. His nephew, Jack, attained fame with local rivals

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. His only England appearance came in a 1–1 draw with

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

in 1905. Balmer spent the 1909–10 and 1910–11 seasons in the Southern League with Croydon Common, making 64 appearances and scoring four goals. In 1912, 35-year-old Balmer joined

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

in the

Lancashire Combination The Lancashire Combination was a football league founded in the North West of England in 1891–92. It absorbed the Lancashire League in 1903. In 1968 the Combination lost five of its clubs to the newly formed Northern Premier League. In 1982 i ...

, but he left after just two games as he was deemed to be too slow and past his best. In 1921, Balmer was appointed as trainer at

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

and progressed to become a coach with the club.

References

External links

* 1875 births 1961 deaths People from West Derby English men's footballers Footballers from Liverpool Men's association football fullbacks England men's international footballers English Football League representative players English Football League players Southern Football League players Everton F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Croydon Common F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. non-playing staff South Shore F.C. players {{England-footy-defender-1870s-stub