Players - Jack Balmer

Jack Balmer
Birthdate: 6 February 1916
Birthplace: West Derby, Liverpool, England
Date of death: 25 December 1984
Other clubs: Collegiate Old Boys, Everton (1934-35); Brighton & Hove Albion and Newcastle (wartime guest)
Signed from: Unafilliated
Signed for LFC: Free Transfer, 15.05.1935 / Professional - 23.08.1935
Liverpool debut: 21.09.1935
Last appearance: 23.02.1952
Debut goal: 07.12.1935
Last goal: 10.02.1951
Contract expiry: May 1952
Win ratio: 38.19% W:118 D:79 L:112
Games/goals ratio: 2.81
Honours: League Championship 1946/47
Wartime games/goals: 107 / 70
League games / goals: 288 / 98
Total games / goals: 309 / 110

Player Profile

Balmer was spotted by Everton when playing for Collegiate Old Boys, an amateur club that was founded to provide a football facility for old boys of the Liverpool Collegiate School. The Blues gave Balmer a trial and he played for them as an amateur for two seasons. The Balmer name was already well known at the club as Jack's uncles, Bill and Bob Balmer, had both been popular players at Everton in the early part of the century. Everton decided not to keep him for a third season and Liverpool snapped Jack up when he was only 19 in May 1935. Balmer signed professional forms for Liverpool three months later. He came back to haunt Everton in the Merseyside derby on 16 February 1938 at Goodison Park when he scored inside 30 seconds in a 3-1 win!

After losing potentially the best years of his career to World War II Balmer resumed League football after the war and was the club's top scorer, equal with Albert Stubbins as Liverpool won the League Championship for the first time for nearly a quarter of a century. It was during that season that he scored hat-tricks in three successive first division matches in November 1946; Portsmouth, Derby and Arsenal being his victims. Naturally, when Balmer had netted twice against the Gunners at Anfield the crowd wanted one more. Balmer completed his hat-trick in the sixty-eighth minute when the score was 2-2. "All that was needed now was a Balmer goal to make three hat-tricks in succession," reported the Echo. "No sooner had the words been spoken than Eastham started the run which produced an angled chance for Balmer, who veered to the right, and put the ball into the net to the biggest cheer Anfield has ever known in its long history. Having scored a hat-trick of hat-tricks, and 10 goals in three matches, Balmer must have established a record which will stand for many a year. He was mobbed by his delighted teammates." He became the third player to achieve that feat in the top division; first to do so was Tottenham's South African Tom Jennings in 1925 with Frank Osborne at Leeds following in his footsteps in 1926. Incidentally, Liverpool were in each instance involved in their scoring run, Osborne scoring three against the Reds on 24 October 1925 at White Hart Lane and Jennings four at Anfield on 2 October 1926. Since Balmer joined this select group of men no one has managed a hat-trick of hat-tricks in the top division.



Balmer was a prolific scorer for Liverpool throughout his career and is one of the few men to have scored over 100 times for the club in all competitions. Balmer was a tremendously skilful and clever player his refusal to get stuck in with well-placed tackles made him unpopular with a certain section of the Liverpool crowd. "Maybe I didn’t go in for the crunch tackle but that kind of thing wasn’t my idea of football," Balmer admitted. "I was never a coward at the game but I got a shudder when I saw the boot going in." Balmer was captain of Liverpool from 1947-1949 and a coach at the club from 1952-1955.

Balmer lived in West Derby and died suddenly at his home on Christmas Day 1984.
Appearances per season
Please note

The three League games played in the 1939/40 season were expunged from Football League records as the season was stopped due to World War II. The games are therefore not considered valid by LFChistory.net and as the "Association of football statisticians" does not count them towards official player totals.

Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 288 21 0 0 0 309
1935-1936 17 0 0 0 0 17
1936-1937 33 1 0 0 0 34
1937-1938 30 1 0 0 0 31
1938-1939 42 3 0 0 0 45
1939-1940 0 0 0 0 0 0
1945-1946 0 2 0 0 0 2
1946-1947 39 6 0 0 0 45
1947-1948 40 1 0 0 0 41
1948-1949 42 4 0 0 0 46
1949-1950 9 0 0 0 0 9
1950-1951 34 1 0 0 0 35
1951-1952 2 2 0 0 0 4
A more detailed look at the player's appearances
Apps Minutes Opponent
19 1710 Wolves
16 1440 Bolton Wanderers
15 1350 Huddersfield Town
15 1350 Charlton Athletic
15 1350 Portsmouth
14 1260 Sunderland
14 1260 Preston North End
14 1260 Derby
13 1170 Stoke City
13 1170 Middlesbrough
13 1170 Aston Villa
13 1170 Everton
12 1080 Arsenal
12 1080 Chelsea
12 1080 Manchester United
11 990 Blackpool
10 930 Burnley
10 900 Grimsby Town
9 810 Leeds United
8 720 Birmingham City
7 630 WBA
7 630 Brentford
6 540 Sheffield United
6 540 Manchester City
5 450 Blackburn Rovers
3 270 Newcastle United
3 270 Sheffield Wednesday
3 270 Leicester City
2 210 Nottingham Forest
2 180 Norwich City
2 180 Fulham
1 90 Tottenham
1 90 Stockport County
1 90 Notts County
1 90 Walsall
1 90 Luton Town
Total Venue
155 Home
151 Away
3 Neutral
Total Competition
288 League
21 FA Cup
Total W D L Win % Manager
279 108 72 99 38.7% George Kay
17 5 3 9 29.4% George Patterson (2nd term)
7 2 2 3 28.6% Don Welsh
6 3 2 1 50% Caretaker Manager
Goals per season
Please note

The three League games played in the 1939/40 season were expunged from Football League records as the season was stopped due to World War II. The games are therefore not considered valid by LFChistory.net and as the "Association of football statisticians" does not count them towards official player totals.

Season League FA LC Europe Other Total
Totals 98 12 0 0 0 110
1935-1936 3 0 0 0 0 3
1936-1937 8 0 0 0 0 8
1937-1938 13 0 0 0 0 13
1938-1939 10 4 0 0 0 14
1939-1940 0 0 0 0 0 0
1945-1946 0 1 0 0 0 1
1946-1947 24 4 0 0 0 28
1947-1948 15 0 0 0 0 15
1948-1949 14 2 0 0 0 16
1949-1950 1 0 0 0 0 1
1950-1951 10 1 0 0 0 11
1951-1952 0 0 0 0 0 0
A more detailed look at the player's goalscoring
Wartime Appearances / Goals
Season Appearances Goals
1939-1940 8 5
1940-1941 2 0
1941-1942 12 7
1942-1943 16 14
1943-1944 26 22
1944-1945 3 0
1945-1946 40 22
Milestone Appearances
# Date Against Stadium Competition
1 21.09.1935 Leeds United Elland Road League
50 24.04.1937 Huddersfield Town Anfield League
100 10.12.1938 Grimsby Town Anfield League
150 25.12.1946 Stoke City Victoria Ground League
200 03.01.1948 Stoke City Anfield League
250 19.03.1949 Charlton Athletic The Valley League
300 24.02.1951 Stoke City Victoria Ground League
Milestone Goals
# Minute Date Against Stadium Competition
1 81 07.12.1935 Preston North End Anfield League
50 46 16.11.1946 Derby Baseball Ground League
100 42 20.08.1949 Sunderland Anfield League
Related Articles
The Untold Story of Billy Howard

Greats like Billy Howard have gone by unnoticed, since they never really made an impact on Liverpool FC's first team, but have given so much to the community of Liverpool, working with the local kids and helping them develop through football.

Liverpool Echo report

The Liverpool Echo report on Everton 1 - 3 Liverpool played on February 16, 1938.

A Liverpool player has rarely been so badly treated by supporters

Jack Balmer's career at Liverpool was no walk in the park.

Quick blows felled Everton

The Liverpool Daily Post on Everton 0-3 Liverpool on 27 September 1947.

Related Quotes

"Towards the end of a long career memories crowd thick and fast on one. That which remains most fresh in my mind was when I had the good fortune, thanks to the unselfishness of my team-mates, to score three successive hat-tricks in 1946-47."

Jack Balmer in 1950

"I thought a lot of him. If Jack had had a little more 'devilment' in him, he would have been one of the best inside forwards in the game."

Former Liverpool captain, Don MacKinlay, on Jack Balmer in 1955

Scrapbook
1947 title tussle
1947 title tussle
Albert Stubbins reveals Balmer's superstition in the FA Cup run in 1950
Albert Stubbins reveals Balmer's superstition in the FA Cup run in 1950
Balmer - the promising player at Collegiate Old Boys
Balmer - the promising player at Collegiate Old Boys
George Kay convinced LFC's board lost the 1950 FA Cup final by leaving out Jack Balmer
George Kay convinced LFC's board lost the 1950 FA Cup final by leaving out Jack Balmer
Hat-trick for Balmer!
Hat-trick for Balmer!
Jack Balmer of a soccer family
Jack Balmer of a soccer family
Liverpool get a new kit in 1938
Liverpool get a new kit in 1938
Other Clubs
Club Season Club rank League apps League goals Total apps Total goals
Collegiate Old Boys I Zingari League N/A N/A N/A N/A
Everton 1934-1935 England First Division 0 0 0 0
Total 0 0 0 0