Alan Ball Jr.

Alan Ball
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)
Playing position 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)
1976 → Hellenic (loan) 4 (?)
1976–1980 Southampton 132 (9)
1978–1979 → Philadelphia Fury (loan) 33 (5)
1979–1980 Vancouver Whitecaps 31 (10)
1980–1981 Blackpool 30 (5)
1981–1983 Southampton 63 (2)
1982 → Floreat 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
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Alan James Ball MBE (12 May 1945 – 25 April 2007) was a professional English footballer and football club manager.

Born in Farnworth, Lancashire, he was the youngest member of England's 1966 World Cup winning team and played as a midfielder for various clubs, scoring more than 180 league goals in a career spanning 22 years. His playing career also included a then national record £220,000 transfer from Everton to Arsenal at the end of 1971. After retiring as a player, he had a 15-year career as a manager which included spells in the top flight of English football with Portsmouth, Southampton and Manchester City.

Club career

Early career at Blackpool

Ball started his footballing career whilst still a schoolboy, playing for Ashton United, the team his father managed, amongst the hurly burly of the Lancashire Combination. He fell out with his headmaster over missing games for his Farnworth Grammar School team due to him signing and playing for Wolverhampton Wanderers.

After he left school, Wolves decided not to take Ball on. The midfielder then started training with Bolton Wanderers but they too decided not to give him a professional deal, as manager Bill Ridding said he was too small.[1]

Blackpool signed him after Ball's father called in a favour with the coach, an old friend with whom he used to play. Ball was given a trial in September 1961 and was immediately signed up as an apprentice. He turned professional in May 1962, making his Football League debut on 18 August 1962 against Liverpool at Anfield in a 2–1 victory. At age 17 years and 98 days, he became Blackpool's youngest League debutant.[2] On 21 November 1964, Ball scored his first hat-trick as a professional, in a 3–3 draw with Fulham at Craven Cottage.[2]

Everton

Ball's performances in the 1966 World Cup winning England team attracted the attention of a number of clubs bigger than Blackpool. With this being so, Ball was eventually sold to Everton for a fee of £112,000 in August 1966[3] At Everton, Ball settled into what became regarded as his generation's best Everton midfield trio alongside Colin Harvey and Howard Kendall (still affectionately referred to as "The Holy Trinity"). Everton reached the 1968 FA Cup Final, but lost to West Bromwich Albion and were knocked out by Manchester City in the semi-finals the following year. Ball was as instrumental a player in the team as ever, as Everton took the 1970 Football League Championship title, seeing off a late challenge from Leeds United.[4]

Back at club level, Everton again capitulated in the semi-finals of the FA Cup in 1971, with Ball's opening goal overhauled by two strikes from Merseyside rivals Liverpool, who went on to lose the final to "double"-chasing Arsenal. As was so, Ball was capped a total of 259 times for the Toffees, in all scoring 79 goals as well.[4]

Arsenal

On 22 December 1971, Arsenal paid a record fee of £220,000 to take Ball to Highbury.[4] He was 26 years of age and at his peak for both form and fitness when he joined Arsenal; he made his debut against Nottingham Forest on 27 December 1971.[5] However, Arsenal could not defend their League title in 1971–72 and also lost their grasp on the FA Cup when Leeds United beat them 1–0 in the centenary final at Wembley.

Alan Ball and manager Bertie Mee, March 1972

Ball had continued to play for Arsenal through all this time, as a near-constant member of the first team at first, including 50 appearances in 1972–73. However, Arsenal's Double-winning side was soon broken up and their replacements proved inadequate; Ball remained one of the few quality players in the Arsenal side, and was made club captain in 1974.[5] In April 1974 Ball broke his leg, resulting in his missing the start of the 1974–75 season, in which Arsenal finished 16th. Ball also missed the start of the 1975–76 season after an injury in the pre-season friendly at Crewe Alexandra, Arsenal subsequently finished in 17th place that season. Bertie Mee resigned as Arsenal manager in the summer of 1976 and it was clear new manager Terry Neill wanted to take the club in a new direction. Now aged 31, Ball continued to play for Arsenal until December 1976, when he was sold to Southampton for a fee of £60,000. In total he made 217 appearances for the Gunners, scoring 52 goals. [6]

Southampton

Ball's move to Southampton was a bit symmetrical in that he had arrived at clubs, being Everton, Arsenal and Southampton in 1966, 1971 and 1976, when each were holders of the FA Cup. He thus helped The Saints earn promotion back to the First Division in 1978 and picked up a League Cup runners-up medal in 1979 after they were beaten 3–2 by Nottingham Forest.[7]

Move to North America

Ball then went to play in the decade-old North American Soccer League, joining the Philadelphia Fury as a player in May 1978.[8] He was named player-coach after former Newcastle United coach Richard Dinnis was fired in June.[9] One season later, after he was no longer coaching, he was sold to the Vancouver Whitecaps in June 1979. Almost instantly he made a huge impact with the Whitecaps and helped lead them to the NASL Soccer Bowl title that September. He also walked away with the 1979 Playoff MVP award, scoring seven goals in nine games.[10]

Return to Blackpool

He returned to Britain in February 1980, as player-manager of his first club, Blackpool, after honouring the remainder of his contract with Vancouver.[2] Blackpool's general manager Freddie Scott substituted in the meantime.[2] Ball's appointment was well received by the Blackpool supporters, and he returned with enthusiasm, a desire to bring back the good times to the club, and still had enough energy to take the field occasionally.

The year that followed saw Blackpool's recent ill-fortune slump even further. The club slid towards relegation, and only some determined performances (including four wins out of their final six games) ensured an 18th-placed finish and survival. During the close season, Ball brought in several new faces and was also prepared to gamble on youngsters. One of his most unpopular moves amongst the fans was the sale of Tony Kellow, a huge favourite at Bloomfield Road.[11] The 1980–81 season began in similar fashion, with Blackpool struggling near the foot of the table. The optimism that had been in place during pre-season turned to anger as the team's performances failed to match up to Ball's promises.[11]

After an FA Cup first-round win over Fylde Coast neighbours Fleetwood Town on 22 November, Ball publicly criticised the fans for allegedly not wanting the team to succeed as much as he did.[11] Eventually it all became too much for manager and club, and shortly after a defeat at Brentford on 28 February 1981, Ball's contract was terminated with immediate effect and the mutual love affair had ended in ruins.[11] Blackpool were relegated at the end of the season. In March 2005, Ball finally commented on his time as Blackpool manager. He said, "Jack Charlton, a good friend, had offered me a coaching role at Sheffield Wednesday, and with hindsight I should have done that instead: got a bit of experience under my belt. Another thing I should have done was kept Stan Ternent on. I replaced him as manager, but he was very good. I think I was a bit big-headed, a little headstrong, and I thought being a player-manager would be no problem for me. It was a lot more difficult than I thought, and not helped by dealing with the boardroom."[2]

Back at Southampton and end of playing career

In March 1981, Ball was tempted back to Southampton to play alongside fellow veterans and former England team-mates Mick Channon and Kevin Keegan. He left Southampton in October 1982 to play for Hong Kong side Eastern Athletic, before joining Bristol Rovers in January 1983, where he remained until his retirement the following season. When Ball finally retired from playing, he had played 975 competitive games in 21 years.[7]

International career

1966 World Cup

Despite being in a struggling Blackpool team, Ball's industry, stamina and distribution were noticed by England manager Alf Ramsey, who gave him his international debut on 9 May 1965 in a 1–1 draw with Yugoslavia in Belgrade, three days before his twentieth birthday. Ramsey was preparing for the World Cup a year later, which England was to host, and was developing a system whereby England could deploy midfielders with a defensive and industrious bent, something which was not wholly guaranteed from conventional wide men. As a result, Ball became a useful tool for Ramsey to use – able to play conventionally wide or in the centre but still in possession of the energy to help out his defence when required.

Ball was the youngest member of the squad of 22 selected by Ramsey for the tournament, aged only 21. Though England as a team emerged collectively heroic from the tournament, Ball was one of many players regarded as an individual success, especially as he was one of the more inexperienced charges with no proven record at the very highest level. Indeed, he, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters emerged with enormous credit and eternal acclaim from the competition – and all of them were still only in single figures for caps won by the time they were named in the team for the final against West Germany.

The 98,000 crowd at Wembley witnessed a magnificent personal performance from Ball. Full of running, he continued to work and sprint and track back while team-mates and opponents alike were out on their feet. With fewer than 15 minutes to go, he won a corner on the right which he promptly took. Hurst hit a shot from the edge of the area which deflected into the air and down on to the instep of Peters, who rifled England 2–1 ahead. The Germans equalised with seconds to go, meaning that the game went into extra time. Somehow, this instilled extra bounce into Ball's play and the image of his continuous running round the Wembley pitch, socks round his ankles, is one of the most enduring of the occasion. It was his chase and low cross which set up Hurst's massively controversial second goal, and England's third; he was also sprinting upfield, unmarked and screaming for a pass, as Hurst took the ball forward to smash his historic hat-trick goal with the last kick of the game. Ball returned to a civic reception in Walkden, Lancashire following the World Cup success, where he lived with his parents and sister.[12] Ball's appearance in the final marked the last occasion on which a Blackpool player received a full England cap.

1970 World Cup

By now, Ball was one of the first names on Ramsey's England teamsheet and he was in the squad which travelled as defending champions to the altitude of Mexico for the 1970 World Cup. Ball famously hit the crossbar with a shot as England lost one of their group games 1–0 to Brazil, one of six strikingly prominent incidents from a fabulous game (the others being Jairzinho's goal; Jeff Astle's miss; Gordon Banks' save from Pelé; Bobby Moore's impeccable tackle on Jairzinho; and the sight of Pelé and Moore's mutual smiles of respect at the end as they exchanged shirts). England won their other group games and progressed to another showdown with West Germany in the quarter finals, but the heat sapped Ball's natural industry. England lost a 2–0 lead and their reign as world champions ended with a 3–2 reverse.

1974 World Cup

In a qualifier for the 1974 World Cup against Poland in Chorzów on 6 June 1973, Ball became only the second England player to be sent off in a full international, after grabbing Lesław Ćmikiewicz by the throat and kneeing him in the groin after a player scuffle. As a result, he missed the return game at Wembley Stadium which became one of the most notorious in English football history – a 1–1 draw in which England were kept out largely thanks to Polish goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski. England failed to qualify for the World Cup as a result.

Captaincy and retirement

Ramsey was sacked and Joe Mercer took over at a caretaker level, for whom Ball never appeared due to injury. However, Ball's relationship with his national side was enhanced and then soured beyond repair when Don Revie was appointed as Ramsey's permanent replacement. Ball was given the captaincy after the dropping of Emlyn Hughes and held it for six consecutive games, none of which England lost. They included a 2–0 victory over reigning World champions, West Germany in March 1975 and a 5–1 defeat of Scotland in May 1975.

After sustaining an injury in a pre-season friendly for Arsenal at Crewe Alexandra, Ball was not called up at all for England, let alone retained as captain, when Revie announced his squad for a game against Switzerland. Ball only found out when his wife took a call from a journalist asking for her reaction. Aged 30, Ball's international career had ended suddenly and acrimoniously after 72 appearances and eight goals. He was, however, the last of the 1966 World Cup winning team (although not the squad, as Ian Callaghan was unexpectedly called up by Ron Greenwood in 1977) to leave the international stage.

Coaching and managerial career

Portsmouth

Ball resumed his managerial career in May 1984 with Portsmouth and was a huge success. They just missed out on promotion to the First Division in his first two seasons as manager, and he finally guided them to the top flight in 1987. However, they were relegated after just one season back among the elite, and Ball was sacked in January 1989 for failing to mount a serious promotion challenge after having a serious personality clash with Portsmouth's then chairman Jim Gregory.[4]

Stoke City

The following month he joined Colchester United as assistant to Jock Wallace and in October 1989 took up a similar post under Mick Mills at Stoke City.[13] However, Mills was sacked two weeks later and Ball was promoted to the manager's seat. He had come to the conclusion that the squad he had inherited was simply not good enough and out went Chris Kamara, Dave Bamber, Leigh Palin, Carl Saunders, Gary Hackett and Nicky Morgan.[13] Into the side came Tony Ellis, Lee Sandford, Tony Kelly, Dave Kevan, Paul Barnes and Noel Blake.[13] It was a big gamble by Ball to change the squad around so much so quickly and it did not pay off, Stoke staying rooted to the bottom of the table and fell through the trap door into the Third Division for the first time since 1927, 63 years earlier.[13]

Ball's next objective was to gain an instant return to the Second Division and it looked an achieveable goal as after 12 matches in 1990–91 they were one of the favourites for promotion.[13] But Stoke's form fell away and with some embarrassing results the side dropped down the table and after a 4–0 defeat away at Wigan Athletic Ball was sacked, and Stoke went on to finish 14th, their lowest league position.[13]

Exeter City and England

In July 1991 he was appointed as manager of Third Division Exeter City. Although Exeter struggled (their form hardly helped by a tight budget), Ball managed to keep them in the Third Division (the new Division Two from the creation of the Premier League in 1992) in 1993, though by the time he moved on they were on their way to relegation to the bottom tier. Between February and August 1992 he also worked as a coach for the England team under Graham Taylor, including the 1992 European Championships, which were not a success for England, as they failed to progress beyond the group stages of the tournament in Sweden.[14]

Southampton

In January 1994, Ball left Exeter to take over the reins at Southampton, replacing the unpopular Ian Branfoot. At the time of his appointment, Southampton seemed doomed to relegation, having spent virtually the whole season to that point in the drop zone. Ball's first task as manager was to re-establish Matthew Le Tissier's role in the team and to ensure that the other players recognised that he was the club's greatest asset. Le Tissier responded by scoring 6 goals in Ball's first 4 games in charge, including a hat-trick on 14 February 1994 in a 4–2 victory over Liverpool. In the second half of the 1993–94 season, Le Tissier played 16 games under Ball's management, scoring 15 times.

After 3 defeats over the Easter period, the Saints remained in the relegation zone. In the final 6 games Saints scored 15 goals (8 from Le Tissier) and gained 10 points which were sufficient to confirm safety on the final day of the season.

At the start of the following season, 1994–95, Ball signed goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar but more significantly signed Le Tissier on a new 3-year deal. Despite not winning any of their first 4 games (including a 5–1 defeat at Newcastle), the Saints, assisted by 3 goals from loanee signing Ronnie Ekelund, then won 4 out of 5 games in September lifting them to 7th in the table. After this, they drifted away and only won 2 more games until mid-March, dropping into the relegation zone. On 22 March 1995, the Saints were at home to Newcastle and were trailing 1–0 with 4 minutes left, however the team scored 3 goals, including 2 in injury time, to snatch an amazing and priceless victory.

This result inspired the Saints, who won 5 of their remaining 10 games, to finish the season on a high in 10th place.

Manchester City

Despite this success, Ball was tempted away in July 1995 to become Manchester City's manager under the ownership of former England team-mate Francis Lee. His departure from The Dell was rather acrimonious and for some years afterwards, Ball's return visits to the Dell were greeted by abuse from some sections of the Saints' fans.

Ball's tenure at Maine Road was controversial, in that many observers and supporters felt he was appointed for his name and friendship with the chairman rather than for any credentials as a coach (and pointed out that previous manager Brian Horton, appointed by Lee's predecessor Peter Swales, had done no wrong). This opinion was rather questionable, as City had finished 16th and 17th under Horton, after finishing fifth, fifth and then ninth under Horton's predecessor Peter Reid.

Ball gave Paul Walsh, who had scored 15 league and cup goals for City in 1994–95, and cash, to Portsmouth in exchange for Gerry Creaney, who scored 4 goals for City in 1995–96. But a terrible start to the 1995–96 season saw City endure eight defeats and not win a single game from their opening 11 games.[15] November saw a turnaround in fortunes when City finally managed to win a league game at the 12th attempt and follow this up with a draw and two wins[16] which saw them end the month outside the relegation zone and Ball was elected Premier League Manager of the Month for November 1995.[17]

City drew 2–2 with Liverpool on the final day of the season, but the other relegation-threatened teams fared better, and City were relegated on goal difference after seven successive seasons of top-flight football. The board kept faith with Ball, but he resigned three games into the Division One campaign. He felt that he had been forced to sell their best players due to City's financial plight.[4]

Back to Portsmouth

In January 1998, Ball was contacted by Brian Howe, who informed him he was to make a takeover bid for the club and that he would like Ball to manage the club. This led to Ball returning to Portsmouth as manager in February 1998, however the take-over never came about. When he was appointed Pompey were several points adrift at the bottom of the table and enduring a near-fatal financial crisis, going into administration for over a year.[4] In 1998, he masterminded a miraculous escape that saw two of his former sides (Stoke City and Manchester City) relegated after Pompey won 3–1 at Bradford City on the final day of the season. He also kept them up in the 1998–9 season, but his contract was terminated on 9 December 1999 with the club in the lower half of Division One. His departure came 6 months after the club was rescued from financial oblivion by new owner Milan Mandaric. On his retirement, 54-year-old Ball was the last remaining England World Cup winner in management.

Career statistics

As a player

Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Other[A] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Blackpool 1962–63 First Division 500000000050
1963–64 First Division 3113201100003414
1964–65 First Division 3911112100004213
1965–66 First Division 4116202100004517
Total 116405153000012644
Everton 1966–67 First Division 4115620041005118
1967–68 First Division 3420402000004020
1968–69 First Division 4016504200004918
1969–70 First Division 3710113100004112
1970–71 First Division 39263316310559
1971–72 First Division 17300100000183
Total 208662261341041025480
Arsenal 1971–72 First Division 18392000000275
1972–73 First Division 4010843000005114
1973–74 First Division 3613301000004013
1974–75 First Division 309810000003810
1975–76 First Division 39910200000429
1976–77 First Division 14100600000201
Total 17745297120000021852
Southampton 1976–77 Second Division 23161000000292
1977–78 Second Division 41540300000485
1978–79 First Division 42261800000563
1979–80 First Division 26110100000281
Total 1329172120000016111
Philadelphia Fury (loan) 1978 NASL 255––––255
1979 NASL 80––––80
Total 335––––335
Vancouver Whitecaps 1979 NASL 158––––158
1980 NASL 162––––162
Total 3110––––3110
Blackpool 1980–81 Third Division 30520300030385
Total 30520300030385
Southampton 1980–81 First Division 10000000000100
1981–82 First Division 41110104000471
1982–83 First Division 12100202000161
Total 63210306000732
Bristol Rovers 1983–84 Third Division 17200000000172
Total 17200000000172
Career Total 807184761648716440951211
A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Anglo-Scottish Cup, FA Charity Shield.

As a manager

Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record
PWDLWin %
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[18] 666 217 196 253 32.6

Honours

As a player

England
Everton[19][4]
Arsenal[6][20]
Southampton[7]
Vancouver

As a manager

Exeter City
Manchester City

Premier League Manager of the Month: November 1995[21]

Individual honours

England: MBE

In 2000, Ball and four other members of the World Cup winning team were appointed MBE for their services to football. Ball, along with Roger Hunt, Nobby Stiles, Ray Wilson and George Cohen, had to wait more than three decades for official recognition of their achievements.

English Football Hall of Fame

In 2003 Ball was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in recognition of his talents.

NASL

In 2011, the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame inducted the 1979 NASL champion Vancouver Whitecaps team. Ball was a vital member of this squad. He was also named a 2nd Team NASL All-Star (Best XI) for that season, and the MVP of the 1979 NASL playoffs.

Blackpool F.C. Hall of Fame

Ball was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Bloomfield Road, when it was officially opened by former Blackpool player Jimmy Armfield in April 2006.[22] Organised by the Blackpool Supporters Association, Blackpool fans around the world voted on their all-time heroes. Five players from each decade are inducted; Ball is in the 1960s.[23]

Everton F.C. Hall of Fame

Ball was inducted into Everton's Hall of fame "Everton Giants" in 2001,[24] and at the start of the 2003–04 season, as part of the club's official celebration of their 125th anniversary, was elected by fans as a member of the greatest ever team.[25]

Personal life

Ball was educated at Farnworth Grammar School. Ball's father, Alan Sr., died in a car crash in Cyprus in January 1982.

Ball was always a distinctive figure thanks to his diminutive stature and his high-pitched voice. He wrote an autobiography, It's All About a Ball, in 1978. His second autobiography, Playing Extra Time (2004) received much critical acclaim giving insight into his highs and lows in the footballing world. In April 2004, Ball appeared for Testwood Baptist Church in the Roger Frapwell Testimonial Match at the BAT ground, Totton, near Southampton, wearing the number 7 shirt as he did in the 1966 World Cup triumph. Also in that team were former Saints manager Dave Merrington and ex-Saints defender Francis Benali. The proceeds from the game were donated to local charity SCRATCH.[26]

As a family man, Ball struggled privately after his wife and daughter were both diagnosed with major illnesses. Lesley, his wife of 37 years, died on 16 May 2004, aged 57, after a three-year battle against ovarian cancer. Alan and Lesley, who had been together for five years prior to their marriage, had three children together; Mandy born in 1969, Keely who was born two years afterward and Jimmy born in 1976.[27] They also had three grandchildren.[28]

He had remained in the family home in Warsash, and from mid-2005, Ball had an ongoing relationship with childhood friend Valerie Beech, ex-wife of former Bolton player Harry Beech.[29] In May 2005, Ball put his World Cup winner's medal and commemorative tournament cap up for auction to raise money for his family. They were altogether sold for £140,000.

Death

Ball, aged 61, died in the early hours of 25 April 2007 at his home in Warsash, Hampshire, following a heart attack.[30] He suffered the fatal heart attack while attempting to put out a blaze in his garden that had started when a bonfire – on which he had earlier been burning garden waste – re-ignited and spread to a nearby fence.[31] His funeral was held in Winchester Cathedral on 3 May 2007. Many of Ball's former football colleagues were in attendance, and the flat cap that he became famous for wearing was placed on top of his coffin.[32] Ball is the second of the 1966 World Cup winning team to die, the first being captain Bobby Moore in 1993.

The Alan Ball Memorial Cup, a match between two squads of former international players, in the shape of "England vs the World", was played at Denbigh Stadium in Milton Keynes on Sunday 29 July 2007, with proceeds going towards the Bobby Moore Fund for Cancer Research UK and the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance Service.[33]

References

  1. ↑ Ball, Alan (2004). Playing Extra Time. Sigwick and Jackson. ISBN 0-330-42742-3.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Gillatt, Peter (30 November 2009). Blackpool FC on This Day: History, Facts and Figures from Every Day of the Year. Pitch Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-905411-50-2.
  3. ↑ Calley, Roy (1992). Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887–1992, p.39
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Alan Ball: Profile". Everton FC.com.
  5. 1 2 "Gunners 50 Greatest Players: Alan Ball". Arsenal.com.
  6. 1 2 "Alan Ball:Profile". Arsenal.com.
  7. 1 2 3 "Alan Ball's Southampton Bio". Sporting Heroes.net.
  8. ↑ "NASL Coaches Registry". National Soccer Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on 11 July 2010.
  9. ↑ "Remembering the Pseudo-Atoms". Philadelphia Atoms. Retrieved 2 March 2011.
  10. ↑ David, Litterer (30 May 2010). "North American Soccer League (Div. 1)". The Year in American Soccer - 1979. American Soccer History Archives. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Calley, Roy (1992): Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887–1992
  12. ↑ Youssef, Anna (26 April 2007). "Local lad was a world beater". The Bolton News. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
  14. ↑ "Sweden 1992". BBC News. 27 May 2004.
  15. ↑ Footymad Limited. "Manchester City FC News". Manchester City MAD. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
  16. ↑ Footymad Limited (9 June 2010). "Results – Manchester City FC". Manchester City MAD. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
  17. ↑ Footymad Limited. "Manchester City FC News". Manchester City MAD. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
  18. ↑ "Alan Ball". Soccerbase. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  19. 1 2 "Alan Ball". Eurosport.com.
  20. ↑ "1972 FA Cup Final". FA Cup Finals.co.uk. Archived from the original on 26 October 2007.
  21. ↑ "Carling Premiership Manager of the Month 1995/96". Premier League. Archived from the original on 10 December 2006. Retrieved 3 October 2009.
  22. ↑ Singleton, Steve, ed. (2007). Legends: The great players of Blackpool FC (1 ed.). Blackpool: Blackpool Gazette. pp. 44–49. ISBN 978-1-84547-182-8.
  23. ↑ "The Hall Of Fame – 1960's". Blackpool Supporters Association. Archived from the original on 12 June 2010. Retrieved 29 November 2009.
  24. ↑ "Everton Giants". Everton F.C.
  25. ↑ "Everton's greatest team".
  26. ↑ "Roger Frapwell Testimonial Match". Testwood Baptist Church. April 2004. Archived from the original on 27 February 2009. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  27. ↑ "Footballers' wives of 1966 relive the memories". Daily Mail. London. 8 June 2006.
  28. ↑ "World Cup winner Ball sells medal". BBC News. 19 April 2005.
  29. ↑ Russell, Andy (9 May 2007). "Divorce I fell for legend Bally". The Sun. London.
  30. ↑ World Cup winner Ball dies at 61, BBC Sport, 25 April 2007
  31. ↑ World Cup winner Ball died tackling garden fire, The Independent, 25 April 2007.
  32. ↑ Football's legends remember Ball, BBC News, 3 May 2007
  33. ↑ Star Plays stadium:MK in honour of Alan Ball, MK News, May 2007

Further reading

  • Calley, Roy (20 October 1992). Blackpool: A Complete Record 1887–1992. Breedon Books Publishing Co Ltd. ISBN 1-873626-07-X. 
  • Singleton, Steve, ed. (2007). Legends: The great players of Blackpool FC (1 ed.). Blackpool: Blackpool Gazette. ISBN 978-1-84547-182-8. 
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