| Harold Ball | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Harold C. Ball | ||
| Date of birth | 29 May 1920 | ||
| Date of death | 9 February 1942 (aged 21) | ||
| Original team | Merbein | ||
| Height/Weight | 188 cm / 87 kg | ||
| Position(s) | Ruck | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1939–1940 | Melbourne | 33 (33) | |
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1 Playing statistics to end of 1940 season .
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Harold C. Ball (29 May 1920 – 9 February 1942) was an Australian rules football player for the Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL).
Ball was one of five Melbourne VFL players to serve and be killed during World War II (the others were Ron Barassi, Sr., Keith Truscott, Syd Anderson and John Atkins).
Debuting for Melbourne in 1939 and wearing the number 11 jumper, the young ruckman won the award for best first year player at the Demons, an award which was subsequently named in his honour – the Harold Ball Memorial Trophy. He played 20 games, kicking a total of 30 goals and receiving 3 Brownlow Medal votes that year. He played in a VFL Grand Final and was part of Melbourne's winning premiership team.
Ball played a further 13 games in 1940, including another premiership, before he enlisted in the Army. He served in the 2/9 Field Ambulance, Australian Army Medical Corps. He was killed in active service during the Battle of Singapore on 9 February 1942.
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