Alan Ball MBE
England, World Cup winner, Arsenal, Everton, Blackpool
Profile
Footballer for England (part of the World Cup 1966 winning team), Arsenal, Everton, Blackpool.
Date of Birth: 12th May 1945 (Farnworth).
League appearances: 116 for Blackpool (41 goals);
208 for Everton (66 goals); 177 for Arsenal (45 goals);
132 for Southampton (9 goals); 30 for Blackpool (5 goals);
63 for Southampton (2 goals); 17 for Bristol Rovers (2 goals).
England internationals: 72 Full Caps (8 goals).
Other honours: World Cup (1966) League Championship 1969-70).
Summary
Ball began his international career in 1965 on his 20th birthday, scoring his first England goal just four days later. 14 months on he was chosen for the first game of the 1966 World Cup. Then omitted for the next two matches, the midfielder returned at the quarterfinal stage with Argentina. In the final against West Germany, he was the creator of Geoff Hurst's controversial in off-the-bar goal. The World Cup saw Alan shoot to prominence, with his driving performances on England's right flank contributing mightily to England winning the competition.
Alan Ball then joined Everton for a fee of £110,000 and four years later Ball was again in the national side's starting line-up as the West Germans overturned a two-goal deficit to knock England out of the 1970 World Cup. At club level, Alan Ball's move to Everton spurred the club to its seventh league title, two seasons after the Merseyside outfit had finished FA Cup runners-up.
In 1971 he joined Arsenal as the reigning double-winners parted with a British record fee of £220,000. Soon reaching his second FA Cup final, the player finished on the losing side once more, whilst in 1972-73 he scored 10 times as the ‘Gunners' finished runners- up to League Champions, Liverpool.
He went on to join Southampton, for the first of three spells at the Dell, where helped The Saints regain their division one status. Following in his father's (Alan Ball Sr.) footsteps into management, an unhappy baptism in the hot seat did not stop this particular Ball from bouncing back.
It was as manager at Portsmouth, that he had enjoyed his first managerial success when, in 1987-88, he steered Pompey back to the old first division. He also managed Southampton and Manchester City.
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