Alan Ball Jr.

English footballer and manager (1945-2007)

Alan James Ball, Jr., MBE (12 May 1945 – 25 April 2007) was an English World Cup winning football player[1] turned manager. He was born in Farnworth, Lancashire. He is known for career as an international player and at club level for Everton and Arsenal. He died of a heart attack in Warsash, Hampshire.[1]

Alan Ball
MBE
Ball in 2004
Personal information
Full name Alan James Ball
Date of birth (1945-05-12)12 May 1945
Place of birth Farnworth, Lancashire, England
Date of death 25 April 2007(2007-04-25) (aged 61)
Place of death Warsash, Hampshire, England
Height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1960–1961 Bolton Wanderers
1961–1962 Blackpool
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1960–1961 Ashton United 7 (1)
1962–1966 Blackpool 116 (40)
1966–1971 Everton 208 (66)
1971–1976 Arsenal 177 (45)
1976Hellenic (loan) 4 (?)
1976–1979 Southampton 132 (9)
1978Philadelphia Fury (loan) 33 (5)
1979 Vancouver Whitecaps 31 (10)
1980–1981 Blackpool 30 (5)
1981–1982 Southampton 63 (2)
1982Floreat Athena (loan) 3 (2)
1982–1983 Eastern AA 12 (?)
1983 Bristol Rovers 17 (2)
Total 833 (187+)
National team
1965–1975 England 72 (8)
Teams managed
1978 Philadelphia Fury
1980–1981 Blackpool
1984–1989 Portsmouth
1989–1991 Stoke City
1991–1994 Exeter City
1994–1995 Southampton
1995–1996 Manchester City
1998–1999 Portsmouth
Honours
Men's football
Representing  England
FIFA World Cup
Winner 1966 England
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career statistics change

Club change

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[2][3][4][5]
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Other[A] Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Ashton United 1960–61 Lancashire Combination 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 1
Blackpool 1962–63 First Division 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
1963–64 First Division 31 13 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 34 14
1964–65 First Division 39 11 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 42 13
1965–66 First Division 41 16 2 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 45 17
Total 116 40 5 1 5 3 0 0 0 0 126 44
Everton 1966–67 First Division 41 15 6 2 0 0 4 1 0 0 51 18
1967–68 First Division 34 20 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 40 20
1968–69 First Division 40 16 5 0 4 2 0 0 0 0 49 18
1969–70 First Division 37 10 1 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 41 12
1970–71 First Division 39 2 6 3 3 1 6 3 1 0 55 9
1971–72 First Division 17 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 18 3
Total 208 66 22 6 13 4 10 4 1 0 254 80
Arsenal 1971–72 First Division 18 3 9 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 27 5
1972–73 First Division 40 10 8 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 51 14
1973–74 First Division 36 13 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 40 13
1974–75 First Division 30 9 8 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 38 10
1975–76 First Division 39 9 1 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 42 9
Total 163 44 29 7 6 0 0 0 0 0 198 51
Hellenic 1976 National Football League (South Africa) 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Arsenal 1976–77 First Division 14 1 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 20 1
Southampton 1976–77 Second Division 23 1 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 29 2
1977–78 Second Division 41 5 4 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 48 5
1978–79 First Division 42 2 6 1 8 0 0 0 0 0 56 3
1979–80 First Division 26 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 28 1
Total 132 9 17 2 12 0 0 0 0 0 161 11
Philadelphia Fury (loan) 1978 NASL 25 5 25 5
1979 NASL 8 0 8 0
Total 33 5 33 5
Vancouver Whitecaps 1979 NASL 15 8 15 8
1980 NASL 16 2 16 2
Total 31 10 31 10
Blackpool 1980–81 Third Division 30 5 2 0 3 0 0 0 3 0 38 5
Southampton 1980–81 First Division 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0
1981–82 First Division 41 1 1 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 47 1
Total 51 1 1 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 57 1
Floreat Athena 1982 West Australian Football League 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 2
Southampton 1982–83 First Division 12 1 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 16 1
Eastern 1982–83 Hong Kong First Division League ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? 12+ 0+
Bristol Rovers 1983–84 Third Division 17 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 2
Career total 821+ 187+ 76+ 16+ 48+ 7+ 16+ 4+ 4+ 0+ 977+ 214+
A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Anglo-Scottish Cup, FA Charity Shield.

International change

Appearances and goals by national team and year[6]
National team Year Apps Goals
England 1965 4 1
1966 13 0
1967 5 3
1968 6 0
1969 8 0
1970 10 3
1971 7 0
1972 5 1
1973 7 0
1974 1 0
1975 6 0
Total 72 8

Manager change

Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
P W D L Win %
Blackpool 1 July 1980 28 February 1981 34 7 10 17 20.6
Portsmouth 11 May 1984 17 January 1989 222 94 58 70 42.3
Stoke City 7 November 1989 23 February 1991 62 17 21 24 27.4
Exeter City 6 August 1991 20 January 1994 135 36 43 56 26.7
Southampton 21 January 1994 2 July 1995 67 22 24 21 32.8
Manchester City 3 July 1995 27 August 1996 49 13 14 22 26.5
Portsmouth 26 January 1998 9 December 1999 97 28 26 43 28.9
Total[7] 666 217 196 253 32.6

Honours change

As a player change

Everton[8][9]

Arsenal[10][11]

Southampton[12]

Vancouver Whitecaps

England

Individual

As a manager change

Individual

References change

  1. 1.0 1.1 "World Cup winner Ball dies at 61". BBC Sport. 26 April 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
  2. Alan Ball Jr. at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
  3. "Alan Ball – National Football Teams". national-football-teams.com. Archived from the original on 25 November 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  4. "曾經馳騁港甲的世界級球星 (上)" [A retrospection of world-class players that played in Hong Kong]. Football.Fanpiece.com (in Chinese). 5 January 2018. Archived from the original on 30 November 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  5. "Alan Ball :: Alan James Ball". PlaymakerStats.com. Archived from the original on 25 November 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  6. Alan Ball Jr. at National-Football-Teams.com
  7. "Alan Ball". Soccerbase. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  8. 8.0 8.1 "Alan Ball". Eurosport.com.
  9. "Alan Ball: Profile". Everton FC.com. Archived from the original on 13 November 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  10. "Alan Ball:Profile". Arsenal.com. Archived from the original on 13 January 2014.
  11. "1972 FA Cup Final". FA Cup Finals.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 October 2007.
  12. "Alan Ball's Southampton Bio". Sporting Heroes.net.
  13. "Manager profile: Alan Ball". Premier League. Retrieved 14 September 2018.