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

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 ...

Life and playing career

Born in

West Derby West Derby ( ) is an area of Liverpool, Merseyside, England, in the east of the city. At the 2011 Census, the population was 14,382. History West Derby Mentioned in the ''Domesday Book'', West Derby achieved significance far earlier tha ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, Balmer came from a family of footballers:

Billy Billy may refer to: * Billy (name), a name (and list of people with the name) * Billy (surname), a surname (and list of people with the surname) Animals * Billy (dog), a dog breed * Billy (pigeon), awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945 * Billy ( ...

and Bob 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 Walton, Liverpool, Walton, Liverpool, England, it was the home of Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton from 1892 until 2025. It is now the home of Everton F.C. (women), Everton's ...

. Balmer played for Collegiate Old Boys and Everton, where he was an amateur, before he made 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 Vancouver, Downtown peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay, Vancouver, English Bay. The park bor ...

and was signed by

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, or Elland Road Stadium, is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the Home (sports), home of Leeds United F.C., Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the List of foot ...

against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

in a

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

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

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

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

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

. Balmer flitted in and out of the starting line-up during his first season, fighting for the number 9 shirt with Fred Howe. He gained 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

curtailed Balmer's footballing career. Upon resumption of the national competitions, Balmer formed a partnership with Albert Stubbins; they both finished the first post-war season ( 1946–47) with 24 goals, helping to guide Liverpool to their first championship in 24 years. During the title season, Balmer 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 Wick ...

of hat-tricks (no other player scored even two successive hat-tricks for the club until

Fernando Torres Fernando José Torres Sanz (; born 20 March 1984) is a Spanish Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former Football player, player who played as a Striker (association football), striker. He is the curr ...

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

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, with the goals coming in the 30th (penalty), 70th and 79th minutes, he followed this up a week later with a four-goal haul away at the

Baseball Ground The Baseball Ground was a stadium in Derby, England, that was first used for baseball, as the home of Derby Baseball Club from 1890 until 1898, and then for football, as the home of Derby County from 1895 until 1997. The club's reserve and yo ...

in a 4–1 win over

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

(this included a six-minute hat-trick in the 43rd, 46th and 49th minutes, with the fourth coming on the hour mark). The record-breaker came on 23 November at home to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

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 ten consecutive goals by Balmer). He followed this feat up with five more goals in his next four games, making a total of 15 in seven outings, a strike rate of more than two per game. Balmer was given the

captaincy A captaincy ( , , ) is a historical administrative division of the former Spanish colonies, Spanish and Portuguese colonies, Portuguese colonial empires. It was instituted as a method of organization, directly associated with the home-rule admin ...

in the 1947–48 season and continued prolifically along with Stubbins. He played 313 official games, scoring 111 goals between 1935 and his retirement in 1952 (averaging a goal every 2.8 appearances). It was during the war that he gained his only international recognition, playing for

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 ...

in a wartime match against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

at the

Racecourse Ground The Racecourse Ground (), is a football stadium in Wrexham, Wales. It is the home of Wrexham A.F.C., Wrexham AFC. It is the largest stadium in North Wales and the List of football stadiums in Wales, fifth-largest in Wales. It is the world's o ...

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in front of a crowd of 17,000 on 18 November 1939. England won 3–2, with Balmer scoring one of the goals. Balmer 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

Profile
at the Liverpool F.C. website
Player profile at LFChistory.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balmer, Jack 1916 births 1984 deaths Footballers from Liverpool English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Liverpool F.C. players English Football League players England men's wartime international footballers