Ellery Ronald Balcombe (born 15 October 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for EFL League Two club Crawley Town, on loan from Premier League club Brentford. He is a product of the Brentford academy and was capped by England at youth level.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ellery Ronald Balcombe[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1999-10-15) 15 October 1999 (age 23) | ||
| Place of birth | Watford, England[2] | ||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[3] | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team |
Crawley Town (on loan from Brentford) | ||
| Number | 37 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Bedford Panthers | |||
| Stevenage | |||
| 0000–2018 | Brentford | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2018– | Brentford | 0 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | → Boreham Wood (loan) | 8 | (0) |
| 2019–2020 | → Viborg FF (loan) | 8 | (0) |
| 2021 | → Doncaster Rovers (loan) | 15 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | → Burton Albion (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2022 | → Bromley (loan) | 15 | (0) |
| 2022– | → Crawley Town (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 2016–2017 | England U18 | 3 | (0) |
| 2017–2018 | England U19 | 9 | (0) |
| 2017–2019 | England U20 | 6 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 00:26, 30 October 2022 (UTC) | |||
A goalkeeper, Balcombe began his career as a youth with Bedford Panthers and Stevenage, before joining the academy and the Elite U19 Education and Football Programme at Brentford.[4][5] He was a part of the U15 team which won the Junior Globe at the 2014 Milk Cup.[6] While still an U16, he broke into the youth team during the second half of the 2015–16 season, making six appearances and he also made four Development Squad appearances.[7][8]
At the end of the 2015–16 season,[9] Balcombe was promoted into the new Brentford B team and signed his first professional contract on 15 October 2016.[10] Three weeks later, he won his maiden first team call up for a West London derby with Fulham, after second-choice goalkeeper Jack Bonham suffered whiplash in a car accident and remained an unused substitute during the 2–0 defeat.[2][11] He 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.[12][13] Balcombe was the undisputed first choice goalkeeper for the B team during the 2017–18 season and made 30 appearances.[14] He received his only first team call up of the season for an FA Cup third round match versus Notts County on 6 January 2018, during which he remained an unused substitute.[2]
In June 2018, Balcombe signed a new four-year contract and was promoted into the first team squad.[15] On 6 August 2018, he joined National League club Boreham Wood on a youth loan until 1 January 2018.[16] He made eight appearances for the club,[17] before returning to Brentford for treatment on an injury suffered while on international duty in mid-October 2018.[18] 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 on 5 January 2019.[2] Injuries suffered by goalkeepers saw Balcombe receive a number of further call-ups into the first team squad during the final months of the season.[2][19][20]
During the 2019–20 pre-season, Balcombe fell behind B team goalkeeper Patrik Gunnarsson in the first team goalkeeping pecking order and instead travelled with the B team on its training camp in Cheshire.[21] On 2 September 2019, Balcombe joined Danish 1st Division club Viborg FF on loan until the end of the 2019–20 season.[22] He was sent off 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 on 2 November 2019.[2] The loan was terminated during the winter break, due to a season-ending back injury,[23] which required surgery.[24]
Balcombe returned fit for the 2020–21 pre-season and owing to the departure of Gunnarsson on loan,[25][26] he served as third-choice goalkeeper behind David Raya and Luke Daniels and was an unused substitute during two early regular season matches.[2] Balcombe signed a new 4+1⁄2-year contract on 6 January 2021 and later that day, he joined League One club Doncaster Rovers on loan until the end of the 2020–21 season.[27] He immediately assumed a starting role and one of his saves during a 4–0 FA Cup fourth round defeat to West Ham United on 23 January was nominated for the competition's Save of the Round award.[28][29] One week later, two penalty saves and a man of the match performance in a 1–0 win over Lincoln City saw Balcombe named in the League One Team of the Week.[30][31] Balcombe's January 2021 performances in league matches saw him nominated for the PFA Fans' League One Player of the Month award.[32][33] He finished his spell with 17 appearances.[28]
On 29 June 2021, Balcombe joined League One club Burton Albion on loan for the duration of the 2021–22 season.[34] Unable to dislodge first-choice goalkeeper Ben Garratt, he made just three EFL Trophy appearances before the termination of the loan on 4 January 2022.[35] On 31 January 2022, Balcombe joined National League club Bromley on loan until the end of the 2021–22 season.[36] He was signed as a replacement for departed backup goalkeeper Reice Charles-Cook.[36] Initially appearing only in FA Trophy matches, Balcombe displaced first-choice goalkeeper Mark Cousins in the league lineup in March 2022.[2][37] His 19th and final appearance for the club came in the 1–0 2022 FA Trophy Final victory over Wrexham on 22 May 2022.[2][38]
On 30 July 2022, Balcombe joined League Two club Crawley Town on a season-long loan.[39] He started in the club's opening 2022–23 fixture versus Carlisle United later that day, but was substituted due to injury at half-time during the 1–0 defeat.[40] He returned to match play on 29 October 2022.[41]
Balcombe was capped by England at U18, U19 and U20 level.[42] He was a part of the England squads at the 2018 UEFA European U19 Championship and the 2017 and 2019 editions of the Toulon Tournament.[43][44][45][46] He was uncapped at U21 level, but was an unused substitute in a number of matches and was called into the 2018 Toulon Tournament group as a standby and training support.[2][47] While on U21 duty in October 2019, Balcombe trained with the full England squad.[48]
Balcombe is of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines descent through his parents.[3] He attended Castle Lower School in Bedford and won the Outstanding Achiever Award at the 2017 Bedford Sports Awards.[4]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Brentford | 2016–17[49] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| 2017–18[50] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2018–19[17] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2020–21[28] | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| Boreham Wood (loan) | 2018–19[17] | National League | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| Viborg FF (loan) | 2019–20[2] | Danish 1st Division | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 8 | 0 | ||
| Doncaster Rovers (loan) | 2020–21[28] | League One | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 17 | 0 | ||
| Burton Albion (loan) | 2021–22[51] | League One | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Bromley (loan) | 2021–22[2] | National League | 15 | 0 | — | — | 4[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 19 | 0 | ||
| Crawley Town (loan) | 2022–23[52] | League Two | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Career total | 48 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 57 | 0 | ||
England U20
England U18
Bromley
Crawley Town F.C. – current squad | |
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