In the long history of English football, only a select few players have ever scored a hat-trick in three consecutive top-flight matches. Among these few stand Liverpool’s Jack Balmer, whose scoring run in November 1946 became part of Anfield legend. Known as the “hat-trick of hat-tricks,” his spree of 10 goals in three games helped fire Liverpool toward the league title in the first full season after World War II.
Who Was Jack Balmer?
Today we remember slightly forgotten star Jack Balmer who won the league with our club in 1947 and scored more than 100 goals for Liverpool – only 15 players have surpassed that milestone in #LFC 128-year history! Balmer passed away on 25 September 1984, aged 68.#LFChistory_net pic.twitter.com/WIOIMlD2ub
— LFChistory.net (@LFChistory) September 25, 2020
Born on 6 February 1916 in West Derby, Liverpool, John “Jack” Balmer began his footballing journey with Collegiate Old Boys before joining Everton as an amateur. When Everton didn’t retain him, Liverpool snapped him up at the start of the 1935/36 season. A few weeks after signing his first professional contract, he made his debut on 21 September, a game which saw the Reds lose 1-0 to Leeds at Elland Road.
Although he found himself in-and-out of the team during his debut season as a 19-year-old, Balmer soon established himself as a Liverpool regular. Thanks to this he continued the family tradition of being a top-flight footballer as uncles Bob and Billy played for Everton during the early 20th century.
Despite losing some of the best years of his career to WWII, Balmer still made over 300 appearances for Liverpool across competitions, scoring 110 goals. He even captained the club between 1947 and 1949 and spent three years as a coach following his retirement. While he was generally well-liked at the club, some fans did not like his tendency to jump out of challenges. In his own words when reflecting back on his career, “I got a shudder when I saw the boot going in.”
Balmer passed away on Christmas Day in 1984 at the age of 68, but his name continues to live on thanks to his historic goal-scoring run.
The Remarkable Hat-Trick of Hat-Tricks – November 1946
Jack Balmer wrote his name into history when he fired hat-tricks in three successive league matches #100pwstk – http://t.co/hsixxac2
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) February 4, 2013
Given that Liverpool went onto win the league title by a mere one point in 1946/47, Balmer’s scoring run certainly played its part. Admittedly, he did not need to score as many goals as he did to secure the win in any of the matches, but he surely added to the Reds’ momentum and belief. Here are the matches in which Balmer completed his hat-trick of hat-tricks, a record he surely never saw coming.
| Date | Opponent | Result | Balmer Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9th Nov 1946 | Portsmouth (H) | 3-0 win | 3 |
| 16th Nov 1946 | Derby County (A) | 4-1 win | 4 |
| 23rd Nov 1946 | Arsenal (H) | 4-2 win | 3 |
It is worth highlighting that his four goals haul against Derby came in the space of just 17 minutes! This was a remarkable purple patch for a player who, by all accounts, was not a hugely prolific goalscorer. Indeed, the title-winning 1946/47 season was the only time he recorded more than 15 league goals. While this campaign was particularly ripe for him, with 24 goals, these three matches saw Balmer record 42% of his league goals.
His fine form did not end following the third and final hat-trick. Balmer bagged a goal in the following away game against Blackpool and another four goals prior to Christmas. This preceded a large post-Christmas slump however, in which the inside forward managed just four goals in 19 matches. He also never managed any more hat-tricks in his career, with the three successive efforts being the only three he managed in over 300 appearances for Liverpool. It really was the hottest of hot streaks for Balmer, when everything went his way.
Just How Rare Is Hat-Trick of Hat-Tricks?
In some uncompetitive leagues, some prolific strikers will have no issues stringing together hat-tricks as they regularly batter the opposition by a score that might seem more at home in cricket. Perhaps you may have seen it in your local Sunday football division. In a competitive league like the English top flight though, such an achievement is incredibly hard to pull off. It is still something the Premier League has never witnessed, although Erling Haaland did manage to pull off hat-tricks in three successive home matches early on in the 2022/23 season.
In the history of English top-flight football, only three other players have managed a hat-trick of hat-tricks. The first was Frank Osbourne for Tottenham in the 1925/26 season. Remarkably, Osbourne failed to score a single goal across 26 matches in the season prior. His fortunes changed drastically, however, when the powers that be changed the offside rule. Now, only two defending players had to be behind the ball, rather than three. This saw the average goals per game figure in the league jump up from 2.58 to 3.69.
The second to join the triple hat-trick club was Tom Jennings of Leeds United in the 1926/27 season. After scoring a hat-trick Arsenal, he then managed four goal hauls away at Liverpool and then again at home to Blackburn. The Scotsman almost made it four hat-tricks in a row but could “only” manage a brace in his next match, a 3-2 defeat to Leicester.
The third and final man to record a hat-trick of hat-tricks is perhaps a slightly controversial addition to the list. This is because Dixie Dean’s treble was spread over two seasons. The final two games of the 1927/28 campaign saw him bag hat-tricks against Burnley and Arsenal. Thanks to this late glut, he was able to reach the 60-goal mark for the season. With his hat-trick streak still technically alive, Dean bagged a hat-trick on the opening day of the 1928/29 season during a 3-2 away win against Bolton Wanderers.
Liverpool Record Lives On
Although Balmer was not the first player to record a hat-trick of league hat-tricks, he is the only Liverpool player with this record. Gordon Hogson managed a whopping 17 hat-tricks during his Anfield career, but never strung three together.
In more recent times, there have been no players able to go even remotely close to matching Balmer’s efforts. Fernando Torres once managed back-to-back hat-tricks in league home games during the 2007/08 season, but drew a blank in the away match sandwiched between them. This highlights just how extraordinary Balmer’s feat was — a record that may never be matched by another Liverpool player.