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Name: | Stuart Murray Balmer |
Date of Birth: | 20.9.69 |
Birthplace: | Falkirk |
Nationality: | Scottish |
Height: | 6' 1'' (185cm) |
Position: | Defender |
Signed: | Pro. 1 July 1987 |
International Caps | 0 |
International Goals | 0 |
Biog
Stuart Balmer came from Celtic Boys Club having worked his way up through the teams and onto the Groundstaff at Celtic Park. Originally from Falkirk he had first started playing with Grahamstown Boys Club before being signed on a S-Form and moving to the CBC's. He was the stand-out player of his CBC U16 team and was awarded the Scottish Schoolboy of the Year Award in 1986. He was given a full professional conract with Celtic on the 1st July 1987.
Stuart was on the edge of breaking into the main team in the late 80's but was predominantly a Reserve squad player and captained the Reserves in both the Premier Reserves and the Reserve League West. He was a stand-out in this role, however his position with regard to progression to the main team looked far less certain.
After playing in some of the first team 90/91 pre-season games he was sold on 24/8/90 to Charlton Athletic for £100,000. 250 appearances later Stuart moved on to Wigan for a £200,000 fee before joining Oldham on a Bosman transfer at the start of 01/02. He had loan periods at Scunthorpe and non-League Boston Utd before joining them for a season in 03/04 and helping them get into Division 3.
He returned to Scotland and joined Clyde in the summer 03/04 as both player and Assistant Manager to Billy Reid. When Reid was sacked and moved onto Hamilton, Balmer followed him. At the end of the season 05/06 he was told there was no money for him and he was offered the first team Coach job at St Mirren where he continues. He is still registered as a player but his role is mainly as First team coach.
Stuart represented Scotland at schoolboy and youth level and was known as a very forceful central defender with good ability at set pieces and dynamic in the air.
Career Stats
Club | From | To | Fee | League | FA Cup | League cup |
St Mirren | 01/07/2006 | 31/05/2007 | Free | No appearance data available | ||
Hamilton | 31/05/2005 | 14/05/2006 | Free | 15 (0) 1 | 4 (0) 0 | 3 (0) 0 |
Clyde | 01/07/2004 | 31/05/2005 | Free | 12 (1) 0 | 4 (0) 0 | 1 (0) 0 |
Boston Utd | 21/02/2003 | 01/07/2004 | Free | 38 (1) 3 | 1 (0) 0 | 0 (0) 0 |
Boston Utd | 14/12/2002 | 20/03/2003 | Loan | 8 (0) 0 | 0 (0) 0 | 0 (0) 0 |
Scunthorpe | 07/10/2002 | 25/11/2002 | Loan | 6 (0) 0 | 0 (0) 0 | 1 (0) 0 |
Oldham | 07/07/2001 | 21/02/2003 | Free | 35 (1) 6 | 4 (0) 0 | 2 (0) 0 |
Wigan | 18/09/1998 | 07/07/2001 | £200,000 | 99 (2) 3 | 8 (0) 0 | 12 (0) 1 |
Charlton | 24/08/1990 | 18/09/1998 | £120,000 | 201 (26) 8 | 9 (1) 0 | 11 (1) 0 |
Celtic | 01/08/1989 | 24/08/1990 | Junior | No appearance data available | ||
Totals | £320,000 | 414 (31) 21 | 30 (1) 0 | 25 (0) 1 |