Heerenveen Balkestein was born in the Dutch city of
Gouda on 29 April 1987. He is the son of former
Sparta Rotterdam and
Feyenoord player
Luuk Balkestein. He came through the academy ranks at
SC Heerenveen, making the step up from the under-19 squad to the first team for the 2006–07 season. However, the defender never made a first team appearance for the club. At the end of the 2007–08 season, Balkestein joined
championship side
Ipswich Town on trial, impressing manager
Jim Magilton enough to be offered a permanent deal following his strong performance in a friendly for Ipswich Town Reserves against
Tottenham Hotspur Reserves.
Ipswich Town On 16 June 2008, Balkestein signed a two-year contract with Ipswich Town with the option of a further year extension. As a result of the transfer, a fee of £180,000 was paid to his former club SC Heerenveen as compensation. Balkestein made his professional and
Football League debut for Ipswich Town on 9 August 2008 in a 2–1 defeat by
Preston North End. The 21-year-old defender would go on to make 20 league appearances in total for Ipswich Town during the
2008–09 season. The defender made his debut for Brentford on 21 November 2009 in a 1–1 draw with
Walsall. On 21 December 2009, Brentford manager
Andy Scott extended Balkestein's loan by a further month. The extension was short-lived however, as on 30 December 2009, Balkestein was recalled by his parent club in order to replace injured defender
David Wright. Balkestein's last game for Ipswich Town came on 30 January 2010 against the same opposition as his first, Preston North End, in what would end as a 2–0 defeat. On 30 March 2010, Balkestein scored his first football league goal for Brentford in a 3–2 win over
Oldham Athletic.
Brentford Having made 14 appearances on loan at Brentford during the 2009–10 season, Balkestein joined the Bees on a permanent basis from Ipswich Town for an undisclosed fee on 6 August 2010, signing a three-year deal. The defender made 20 league appearances in total for Brentford during the
2010–11 season. Balkestein scored his second and last goal for the Bees in a 3–2 defeat by Walsall on 12 April 2011. however, Balkestein quickly found himself out of favour and deemed surplus to requirements by successor to the post
Uwe Rösler. As a result of this, Balkestein was loaned out for almost the entirety of the
2011–12 season. His first loan spell was to League One rivals
Rochdale beginning on 19 August 2011 and running until 18 January 2012. Balkestein's debut for Rochdale came in a 2–0 defeat by Oldham Athletic on 20 August 2011. The defender would go on to make just 13 league appearances in total for Rochdale in the 2011–12 season, The 24-year-old returned to training at Rochdale on 5 December 2011. However, he would not go on to make another appearance for "The Dale" and subsequently returned to Brentford in January 2012, where he was told by Uwe Rösler that he had no future with the club. Balkestein subsequently joined
League Two side
AFC Wimbledon on a one-month loan deal on 9 March 2012. Balkestein made his debut for AFC Wimbledon in a 2–1 win over
Dagenham & Redbridge on 10 March 2012.
AFC Wimbledon On 17 July 2012, Balkestein returned to AFC Wimbledon on a permanent deal after being released by Brentford. Balkestein scored his first goal for AFC Wimbledon on 21 August 2012 in a 6–2 defeat by Burton Albion. The 25-year-old defender scored his second for the club on 12 March 2013 in a 3–1 win over
Southend United. Having made twenty–four appearances for "The Dons" during his second spell with the club,
Later career After being released by AFC Wimbledon, Balkestein joined
Dutch Eerste Divisie side
VVV-Venlo on 12 June 2013, signing a three-year deal. On 6 August 2015, it was announced that Balkestein had signed with German
Regionalliga side
SV Elversberg. He had his contract terminated in January 2016. Subsequently, Balkestein signed with Dutch
Topklasse club
De Treffers from
Groesbeek. At De Treffers, he grew to become a key player and
team captain. Balkestein retired at the end of the
2021–22 season and remained at the club in a backroom capacity. ==Career statistics==