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 lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...

for club

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 ...

. Balcombe is a product of the Brentford

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

and B team. 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 tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

. Balcombe was capped by

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

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 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, Stevenage w ...

. 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 and signed his first professional contract on 15 October 2016. Three weeks later, whiplash 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 football derby played between any two of Brentford, Chelsea, Fulham and Queens Park Rangers, all of whom are situated within West London. This particular derby is less prominent than other such derb ...

with

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 ...

. 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 Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

third round match versus

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

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 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 ...

club Boreham Wood 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 association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

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 S ...

, Balcombe fell behind B team goalkeeper

Patrik Gunnarsson Patrik Sigurður Gunnarsson (born 15 November 2000) is an Icelandic professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Belgian Pro League club Kortrijk. A product of the Breiðablik academy and Brentford B, Patrik played the majority of h ...

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 counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

. 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 for ...

club

Viborg FF Viborg Fodsports Forening (), also known as Viborg FF or VFF for short, is a Danish professional association football, football club based in the Central Denmark Region, Central Jutland city of Viborg, Denmark, Viborg. They compete in the Danish ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 and the Spain national team. Regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world, he is known for his distribution, b ...

and Luke Daniels. 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 club

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

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 a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

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

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

saves and a

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) 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 chose ...

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 is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

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 competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

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, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

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 southeast of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 88,000 as of 2023. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, charte ...

on loan until the end of the 2021–22 season. He was signed as a replacement for departed backup goalkeeper Reice Charles-Cook. Initially appearing only in

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

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 ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

on 22 May 2022.

2022–23 and loans to Crawley Town and Bristol Rovers

On 30 July 2022, Balcombe joined League Two club

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

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 ...

fixture versus

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

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 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 ...

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 and the departed David Raya's deputy Thomas Strakosha. 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 buildin ...

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

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

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

after extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a Tie (draw), tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is ...

, Balcombe saved two penalties 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 loans to St Mirren and Motherwell

On 24 May 2024, Balcombe joined

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

club St Mirren on loan for the duration of the 2024–25 season. After making 26 appearances and playing European football for the first time in his career, Balcombe was recalled on 5 January 2025. On 23 January, he joined Scottish Premiership club

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

on loan until the end of the season and made 12 appearances.

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 S ...

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

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

and

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

editions of the

Toulon Tournament The Maurice Revello Tournament (officially French: the ''Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello''), previously known as the Toulon Tournament, is a Association football, football tournament, which traditionally features invit ...

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

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

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, sometimes known simply as Saint Vincent or SVG, is an island country in the eastern Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies, at the south ...

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 was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

and won the Outstanding Achiever Award at the 2017 Bedford Sports Awards. Balcombe is a Brentford supporter.

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 21st-century Black British people 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 Scottish Professional Football League players 21st-century English sportsmen Motherwell F.C. players