Alan Ball - 72 Caps (8 Goals)

Full Name: Alan James Ball
Born: 12th May 1945, Farnworth, Lancashire
Died: 25th April 2007, Warsash, Hampshire aged 61
England Career: 1965 - 1975
Positions whilst with England: Forward, Left Half, Right Forward & Midfield
Clubs (and caps) whilst with England: Blackpool (14), Everton (39) & Arsenal (19)
FA Legacy Number: 837
The youngest member of the 1966 World Cup Winning team. His first cap was just shy of his 20th birthday whilst a young starlet at Blackpool. He quickly became a England regular and played in four of the 1966 World Cup games including the final. The following season he transferred to Everton where he spent five years until 1971 when he set an English record of £220,000 to go to Arsenal. After two spells at Southampton, a return visit to Blackpool (as player/manager) and several years in North America, Ball finally retired in 1983. He had managing spells at Portsmouth, Stoke, Exeter, Southampton, Man City and Portsmouth.
He died of a heart attack on 25th April 2007 whilst trying to put out a fire in his garden in Warsash, Hampshire.

England Career Statistics

Debut: v Yugoslavia (FR) on 9th May 1965 aged 19 years, 11 month, 28 days
Last Cap: v Scotland (HC) on 24th May 1975 aged 30 years, 0 months, 12 days
First Goal: v Sweden (FR) on 16th May 1965 aged 20 years, 0 months, 4 days
First Captaincy: v West Germany (FR) on 12th March 1975 aged 29 years, 10 months, 0 days
Career Length: 10 years, 14 days
Starts: 69
Substitute: 3
Withdrawn: 1
Full Games: 67

England Match Statistics

Match Type
Caps
Goals
Capt
Mins

FriendlyFR
29
6
1
2536
0
1

British Home ChampionshipHC
15
1
3
1350
0
1

World Cup FinalsWCF
8
0
0
716
0
0

European Championship QualifierECQ
16
1
2
1362
0
0

European Championship FinalsECF
1
0
0
90
0
0

World Cup QualifierWCQ
3
0
0
255
1
0

Competitive
43
2
5
3773
1
1

Home, Away or Neutral
Caps
Goals
Capt
Mins

Away
36
7
2
3151
1
2

Home
31
1
4
2742
0
0

Neutral
5
0
0
416
0
0

Match Result
Caps
Goals
Capt
Mins

Drawn
19
1
2
1636
0
0

Won
45
7
4
3938
0
2

Lost
8
0
0
735
1
0

Playing Positions
Caps
Goals
Capt
Mins

Forward
66
8
6
5709
1
2

Right Forward
3
0
0
300
0
0

Midfield
2
0
0
210
0
0

Left Half
1
0
0
90
0
0

Total
72
8
6
6309
1
2

England Managers

Manager
Caps
Goals
Capt
Mins

England Alf Ramsey
66
8
0
5769
1
2

England Don Revie
6
0
6
540
0
0

England Team Mates (Top 10)

Bobby Moore
62 Matches

Martin Peters
47 Matches

Gordon Banks
46 Matches

Geoff Hurst
38 Matches

Bobby Charlton
34 Matches

Alan Mullery
26 Matches

Colin Bell
26 Matches

Jack Charlton
24 Matches

Ray Wilson
23 Matches

Roger Hunt
22 Matches

Sources

An English Football Internationals' Who's Who by Douglas Lamming (Hutton Press 1990)
England's Who's Who by Tony Matthews (Pitch Publishing 2013)
220 sources from 72 matchesSelect from match list to see sources.

Match List

SCO, 5 - 1, 24th May 1975 (HC) Arsenal, Cap: 72.
Age: 30 years, 0 months, 12 days.
WAL, 2 - 2, 21st May 1975 (HC) Arsenal, Cap: 71.
Age: 30 years, 0 months, 9 days.
NIR, 0 - 0, 17th May 1975 (HC) Arsenal, Cap: 70.
Age: 30 years, 0 months, 5 days.
CYP, 1 - 0, 11th May 1975 (ECQ) Arsenal, Cap: 69.
Age: 29 years, 11 month, 30 days.
CYP, 5 - 0, 16th Apr 1975 (ECQ) Arsenal, Cap: 68.
Age: 29 years, 11 month, 4 days.
FRG, 2 - 0, 12th Mar 1975 (FR) Arsenal, Cap: 67.
Age: 29 years, 10 months, 0 days.
POR, 0 - 0, 3rd Apr 1974 (FR) Arsenal, Cap: 66.
Age: 28 years, 10 months, 22 days.
POL, 0 - 2, 6th Jun 1973 (WCQ) Arsenal, Cap: 65.
Age: 28 years, 0 months, 25 days.
TCH, 1 - 1, 27th May 1973 (FR) Arsenal, Cap: 64.
Age: 28 years, 0 months, 15 days.
SCO, 1 - 0, 19th May 1973 (HC) Arsenal, Cap: 63.
Age: 28 years, 0 months, 7 days.
WAL, 3 - 0, 15th May 1973 (HC) Arsenal, Cap: 62.
Age: 28 years, 0 months, 3 days.
NIR, 2 - 1, 12th May 1973 (HC) Arsenal, Cap: 61.
Age: 28 years, 0 months, 0 days.
SCO, 5 - 0, 14th Feb 1973 (FR) Arsenal, Cap: 60.
Age: 27 years, 9 months, 2 days.
WAL, 1 - 1, 21st Jan 1973 (WCQ) Arsenal, Cap: 59.
Age: 27 years, 8 months, 9 days.
WAL, 1 - 0, 15th Nov 1972 (WCQ) Arsenal, Cap: 58.
Age: 27 years, 6 months, 3 days.
YUG, 1 - 1, 11th Oct 1972 (FR) Arsenal, Cap: 57.
Age: 27 years, 4 months, 30 days.
SCO, 1 - 0, 27th May 1972 (HC) Arsenal, Cap: 56.
Age: 27 years, 0 months, 15 days.
FRG, 0 - 0, 13th May 1972 (ECQ) Arsenal, Cap: 55.
Age: 27 years, 0 months, 1 day.
FRG, 1 - 3, 29th Apr 1972 (ECQ) Arsenal, Cap: 54.
Age: 26 years, 11 month, 17 days.
GRE, 2 - 0, 1st Dec 1971 (ECQ) Everton, Cap: 53.
Age: 26 years, 6 months, 20 days.
SUI, 1 - 1, 10th Nov 1971 (ECQ) Everton, Cap: 52.
Age: 26 years, 5 months, 29 days.
SCO, 3 - 1, 22nd May 1971 (HC) Everton, Cap: 51.
Age: 26 years, 0 months, 10 days.
NIR, 1 - 0, 15th May 1971 (HC) Everton, Cap: 50.
Age: 26 years, 0 months, 3 days.
MLT, 5 - 0, 12th May 1971 (ECQ) Everton, Cap: 49.
Age: 26 years, 0 months, 0 days.
GRE, 3 - 0, 21st Apr 1971 (ECQ) Everton, Cap: 48.
Age: 25 years, 11 month, 9 days.
MLT, 1 - 0, 3rd Feb 1971 (ECQ) Everton, Cap: 47.
Age: 25 years, 8 months, 22 days.
GDR, 3 - 1, 25th Nov 1970 (FR) Everton, Cap: 46.
Age: 25 years, 6 months, 13 days.
FRG, 2 - 3, 14th Jun 1970 (WCF) Everton, Cap: 45.
Age: 25 years, 1 month, 2 days.
TCH, 1 - 0, 11th Jun 1970 (WCF) Everton, Cap: 44.
Age: 25 years, 0 months, 30 days.
BRA, 0 - 1, 7th Jun 1970 (WCF) Everton, Cap: 43.
Age: 25 years, 0 months, 26 days.
ROU, 1 - 0, 2nd Jun 1970 (WCF) Everton, Cap: 42.
Age: 25 years, 0 months, 21 day.
ECU, 2 - 0, 24th May 1970 (FR) Everton, Cap: 41.
Age: 25 years, 0 months, 12 days.
COL, 4 - 0, 20th May 1970 (FR) Everton, Cap: 40.
Age: 25 years, 0 months, 8 days.
SCO, 0 - 0, 25th Apr 1970 (HC) Everton, Cap: 39.
Age: 24 years, 11 month, 13 days.
WAL, 1 - 1, 18th Apr 1970 (HC) Everton, Cap: 38.
Age: 24 years, 11 month, 6 days.
BEL, 3 - 1, 25th Feb 1970 (FR) Everton, Cap: 37.
Age: 24 years, 9 months, 13 days.
POR, 1 - 0, 10th Dec 1969 (FR) Everton, Cap: 36.
Age: 24 years, 6 months, 29 days.
BRA, 1 - 2, 12th Jun 1969 (FR) Everton, Cap: 35.
Age: 24 years, 1 month, 0 days.
URU, 2 - 1, 8th Jun 1969 (FR) Everton, Cap: 34.
Age: 24 years, 0 months, 27 days.
MEX, 0 - 0, 1st Jun 1969 (FR) Everton, Cap: 33.
Age: 24 years, 0 months, 20 days.
SCO, 4 - 1, 10th May 1969 (HC) Everton, Cap: 32.
Age: 23 years, 11 month, 29 days.
WAL, 2 - 1, 7th May 1969 (HC) Everton, Cap: 31.
Age: 23 years, 11 month, 26 days.
NIR, 3 - 1, 3rd May 1969 (HC) Everton, Cap: 30.
Age: 23 years, 11 month, 22 days.
ROU, 1 - 1, 15th Jan 1969 (FR) Everton, Cap: 29.
Age: 23 years, 8 months, 3 days.
ROU, 0 - 0, 6th Nov 1968 (FR) Everton, Cap: 28.
Age: 23 years, 5 months, 25 days.
YUG, 0 - 1, 5th Jun 1968 (ECF) Everton, Cap: 27.
Age: 23 years, 0 months, 24 days.
FRG, 0 - 1, 1st Jun 1968 (FR) Everton, Cap: 26.
Age: 23 years, 0 months, 20 days.
ESP, 2 - 1, 8th May 1968 (ECQ) Everton, Cap: 25.
Age: 22 years, 11 month, 27 days.
ESP, 1 - 0, 3rd Apr 1968 (ECQ) Everton, Cap: 24.
Age: 22 years, 10 months, 22 days.
SCO, 1 - 1, 24th Feb 1968 (ECQ) Everton, Cap: 23.
Age: 22 years, 9 months, 12 days.
URS, 2 - 2, 6th Dec 1967 (FR) Everton, Cap: 22.
Age: 22 years, 6 months, 25 days.
WAL, 3 - 0, 21st Oct 1967 (ECQ) Everton, Cap: 21.
Age: 22 years, 5 months, 9 days.
AUT, 1 - 0, 27th May 1967 (FR) Everton, Cap: 20.
Age: 22 years, 0 months, 15 days.
ESP, 2 - 0, 24th May 1967 (FR) Everton, Cap: 19.
Age: 22 years, 0 months, 12 days.
SCO, 2 - 3, 15th Apr 1967 (ECQ) Everton, Cap: 18.
Age: 21 years, 11 month, 3 days.
WAL, 5 - 1, 16th Nov 1966 (ECQ) Everton, Cap: 17.
Age: 21 years, 6 months, 4 days.
TCH, 0 - 0, 2nd Nov 1966 (FR) Everton, Cap: 16.
Age: 21 years, 5 months, 21 day.
NIR, 2 - 0, 20th Oct 1966 (ECQ) Everton, Cap: 15.
Age: 21 years, 5 months, 8 days.
FRG, 4 - 2, 30th Jul 1966 (WCF) Blackpool, Cap: 14.
Age: 21 years, 2 months, 18 days.
POR, 2 - 1, 26th Jul 1966 (WCF) Blackpool, Cap: 13.
Age: 21 years, 2 months, 14 days.
ARG, 1 - 0, 23rd Jul 1966 (WCF) Blackpool, Cap: 12.
Age: 21 years, 2 months, 11 day.
URU, 0 - 0, 11th Jul 1966 (WCF) Blackpool, Cap: 11.
Age: 21 years, 1 month, 30 days.
POL, 1 - 0, 5th Jul 1966 (FR) Blackpool, Cap: 10.
Age: 21 years, 1 month, 24 days.
DEN, 2 - 0, 3rd Jul 1966 (FR) Blackpool, Cap: 9.
Age: 21 years, 1 month, 22 days.
FIN, 3 - 0, 26th Jun 1966 (FR) Blackpool, Cap: 8.
Age: 21 years, 1 month, 14 days.
SCO, 4 - 3, 2nd Apr 1966 (HC) Blackpool, Cap: 7.
Age: 20 years, 10 months, 21 day.
FRG, 1 - 0, 23rd Feb 1966 (FR) Blackpool, Cap: 6.
Age: 20 years, 9 months, 11 day.
POL, 1 - 1, 5th Jan 1966 (FR) Blackpool, Cap: 5.
Age: 20 years, 7 months, 24 days.
ESP, 2 - 0, 8th Dec 1965 (FR) Blackpool, Cap: 4.
Age: 20 years, 6 months, 27 days.
SWE, 2 - 1, 16th May 1965 (FR) Blackpool, Cap: 3.
Age: 20 years, 0 months, 4 days.
FRG, 1 - 0, 12th May 1965 (FR) Blackpool, Cap: 2.
Age: 20 years, 0 months, 0 days.
YUG, 1 - 1, 9th May 1965 (FR) Blackpool, Cap: 1.
Age: 19 years, 11 month, 28 days.
* Match was concluded via extra time, penalties or both.