# Romal Palmer

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.

## Early life

Palmer was born and raised in Wigan, Greater Manchester.

## Career
### Barnsley

After a decade with Manchester City's academy, he was released in 2016, and joined Barnsley. He signed an 18-month professional contract with Barnsley in January 2017. In July 2018, he signed a one-year contract extension with Barnsley. On 21 December 2018, Palmer joined National League North club Darlington on a one-month loan. On 23 January 2019, Palmer's loan at Darlington was extended until the end of the seasons. He made 18 appearances on loan at Darlington. In May 2019, Palmer signed a new contract with Barnsley until summer 2020.
In May 2020, Barnsley announced that Palmer had signed a new two-year contract with the club. Palmer made his debut for Barnsley on 20 June 2020 against Queens Park Rangers in the EFL Championship. He made 3 league appearances during the 2019–20 season. Palmer made a first-team breakthrough during the 2020–21 season, making 36 league appearances. He scored his first goal for Barnsley in a 2–1 defeat to Blackburn Rovers on 28 November 2020. 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. He played in both legs of their play-off semi-final defeat to Swansea City.
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. 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. Barnsley were relegated to EFL League One after a 24th-place finish in the Championship.

### Göztepe

On 1 July 2022, Palmer joined TFF First League club Göztepe after seven years at Barnsley. 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. Palmer scored 3 goals in 34 appearances in all competitions during his time with the club.

### 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. He made his debut for the club on 29 March as a substitute in an away match against Drogheda United. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 8 weeks, including the following week's second leg. 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.

#### 2025 season

On 2 December 2024, Palmer signed for the club on a permanent basis, on a 2 year contract. After 4 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.

## Career statistics

    As of match played 28 February 2025
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | National cup | National cup | League cup | League cup | Europe | Europe | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Barnsley | 2019–20 | Championship | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 3 | 0 |
| Barnsley | 2020–21 | Championship | 34 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 2 | 0 | 39 | 1 |
| Barnsley | 2021–22 | Championship | 33 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 35 | 1 |
| Barnsley | Total | Total | 70 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 2 | 0 | 77 | 2 |
| Darlington (loan) | 2018–19 | National League North | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 18 | 0 |
| Göztepe | 2022–23 | TFF First League | 27 | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 28 | 3 |
| Göztepe | 2023–24 | TFF First League | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 6 | 0 |
| Göztepe | 2024–25 | Süper Lig | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0 |
| Göztepe | Total | Total | 33 | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 34 | 3 |
| St Patrick's Athletic (loan) | 2024 | LOI Premier Division | 19 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 3 |
| St Patrick's Athletic | 2025 | LOI Premier Division | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 143 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 158 | 8 |
* ↑ Includes FA Cup, Turkish Cup & FAI Cup
* ↑ Includes EFL Cup
* ↑ Appearances in 2021 EFL Championship Play-offs
* 1 2 Appearances in the UEFA Conference League
* 1 2 Appearances in the Leinster Senior Cup

## Honours
### St Patrick's Athletic

* Leinster Senior Cup (1): 2023–24