Romal Palmer
English footballer (born 1998)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Romal Jordan Palmer (born 30 September 1998) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for League of Ireland Premier Division club St Patrick's Athletic.
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Romal Palmer during a pre-match warmup with St Patrick's Athletic in 2025 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Romal Jordan Palmer[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 30 September 1998 | ||
| Place of birth | Wigan, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.81 m)[2] | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | St Patrick's Athletic | ||
| Number | 17 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2016 | Manchester City | ||
| 2016–2018 | Barnsley | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2018–2022 | Barnsley | 70 | (2) |
| 2018–2019 | → Darlington (loan) | 18 | (0) |
| 2022–2024 | Göztepe | 33 | (3) |
| 2024 | → St Patrick's Athletic (loan) | 19 | (1) |
| 2025– | St Patrick's Athletic | 15 | (3) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23:10, 8 May 2026 (UTC) | |||
Early life
Career
Barnsley
After a decade with Manchester City's academy, he was released in 2016, and joined Barnsley.[5][6] He signed an 18-month professional contract with Barnsley in January 2017.[7] In July 2018, he signed a one-year contract extension with Barnsley.[6][8] On 21 December 2018, Palmer joined National League North club Darlington on a one-month loan.[9] On 23 January 2019, Palmer's loan at Darlington was extended until the end of the seasons.[10] He made 18 appearances on loan at Darlington.[2] In May 2019, Palmer signed a new contract with Barnsley until summer 2020.[11]
In May 2020, Barnsley announced that Palmer had signed a new two-year contract with the club.[12] Palmer made his debut for Barnsley on 20 June 2020 against Queens Park Rangers in the EFL Championship.[13] He made 3 league appearances during the 2019–20 season.[14] Palmer made a first-team breakthrough during the 2020–21 season, making 36 league appearances.[13][15] He scored his first goal for Barnsley in a 2–1 defeat to Blackburn Rovers on 28 November 2020.[16] Despite starting his career as an attacking midfielder, Palmer was used mainly as a holding midfielder during the 2020–21 season as Barnsley finished 5th in the Championship, qualifying for the play-offs.[17] He played in both legs of their play-off semi-final defeat to Swansea City.[15]
Barnsley manager Valerien Ismael and Palmer's midfield partner Alex Mowatt both left the club in summer 2021, leaving Palmer as the oldest midfielder in Barnsley's squad.[18][19] He made 33 appearances for Barnsley during the 2021–22 season, scoring once against Millwall, in what the Barnsley Chronicle described as a "very tough campaign" for Palmer.[20][18] Barnsley were relegated to EFL League One after a 24th-place finish in the Championship.[21]
Göztepe
On 1 July 2022, Palmer joined TFF First League club Göztepe after seven years at Barnsley.[22][23] On 14 November 2022, he scored his first goal for the club, a 77th minute winner at home to Ankara Keçiörengücü at the Gürsel Aksel Stadium.[24] Palmer scored 3 goals in 34 appearances in all competitions during his time with the club.[2]
St Patrick's Athletic
2024 loan season
On 10 February 2024, Palmer signed for League of Ireland Premier Division club St Patrick's Athletic on a season-long loan.[25] He made his debut for the club on 29 March as a substitute in an away match against Drogheda United.[26] His first start came on 24 May 2024 under newly appointed former Republic of Ireland manager Stephen Kenny, in a 2–2 draw away to Bohemians in which Palmer won the penalty for his side's first goal, before assisting the second goal.[27][28] On 25 July 2024, Palmer made his first European appearance of his career, assisting Jake Mulraney's second goal in a 3–1 win over Vaduz of Liechtenstein in the UEFA Conference League.[29] He scored his first goal for the club in the away leg against Vaduz, scoring an 81st minute equaliser to secure a 2–2 draw at the Rheinpark Stadion, earning a third qualifying round tie with Sabah of Azerbaijan.[30] On 8 August 2024, Palmer scored the only goal of the game to secure a 1–0 win in the first leg against Sabah at Tallaght Stadium.[31][32] On 22 August 2024, he was substituted off in the first half of his sides 0–0 draw with İstanbul Başakşehir in the UEFA Conference League due to a Medial collateral ligament injury that would keep him out of action for eight weeks, including the following week's second leg.[33][34] On 1 November 2024, Palmer scored in the 90th minute of a 2–0 win over Sligo Rovers as his side won a record equaling 9 league games in a row to secure 3rd position in the table and UEFA Conference League football for the following season.[35]
2025 season
On 2 December 2024, Palmer signed for the club on a permanent basis, on a two-year contract.[36][37] After four appearances into the season, Palmer had to undergo surgery on a hamstring injury in March 2025, with the recovery period set to keep him out of action for several months.[38] On 22 May 2025, manager Stephen Kenny revealed that Palmer had almost finished his recovery and rehabilitation period when he suffered a setback that would require another surgery on his hamstring.[39] On 10 October 2025, he made his long awaited return from injury after 10 months out, coming off the bench in a 4–0 win over St Mochta's in the Leinster Senior Cup, helping earn his side a place in the final.[40]
2026 season
On 27 February 2026, Palmer opened the scoring in a 4–0 win over Dundalk in what was his first start in 364 days, having recovered from an injury hit 2025 season.[41] On 13 March 2026, Palmer scored the final goal of the game in a 4–1 win at home to Drogheda United.[42] On 3 April 2026, he scored a headed equaliser in an eventual 4–1 win over Sligo Rovers at Richmond Park.[43]
Career statistics
- As of match played 8 May 2026
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Barnsley | 2019–20[14] | Championship | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 3 | 0 | ||
| 2020–21[15] | Championship | 34 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 2[c] | 0 | 39 | 1 | ||
| 2021–22[20] | Championship | 33 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 35 | 1 | |||
| Total | 70 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 2 | 0 | 77 | 2 | |||
| Darlington (loan) | 2018–19[2] | National League North | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 18 | 0 | |||
| Göztepe | 2022–23[2] | TFF First League | 27 | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 28 | 3 | |||
| 2023–24[2] | TFF First League | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 6 | 0 | ||||
| 2024–25[2] | Süper Lig | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 33 | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | 34 | 3 | |||||
| St Patrick's Athletic (loan) | 2024[2] | LOI Premier Division | 19 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | 5[d] | 2 | 0[e] | 0 | 25 | 3 | |
| St Patrick's Athletic | 2025[2] | LOI Premier Division | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0[d] | 0 | 2[e] | 0 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2026[2] | 11 | 3 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0[e] | 0 | 11 | 3 | ||||
| Total | 15 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 3 | |||
| Career total | 155 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 171 | 11 | ||
- Includes FA Cup, Turkish Cup & FAI Cup
- Appearances in 2021 EFL Championship Play-offs
- Appearances in the UEFA Conference League
- Appearances in the Leinster Senior Cup
Honours
St Patrick's Athletic
