Alan Ball - Biography

Last Editor: gsrikiran82				Alan Ball Biography -   Name : Alan Ball Date of birth : May 12th 1945 Place of birth : Farnworth, Lancashire

Alan Ball Trivia -

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Alan Ball Detailed Biography -

Alan Ball MBE (born Farnworth, Lancashire, May 12th 1945) was a footballer who was the youngest member of England's 1966 World Cup winning team. A tireless, marauding midfield player who could operate centrally or on the right flank, Ball came to prominence at Blackpool after falling foul of his headmaster over missing games for his school team due to a youth contract he had acquired with Wolverhampton Wanderers. After leaving school, Wolves decided not to take Ball on, and he started training with Bolton Wanderers but they too decided not to give him a professional deal, saying he was too small. Blackpool then signed him up after Ball's father, an ex-player himself, called in a favour with the coach, an old friend with whom he used to play. Ball was given a trial and was immediately signed up. He made his debut in 1962 and managed 116 League appearances. Despite being in an unglamorous and struggling team, Ball's industry, stamina and distribution was noticed by England manager Alf Ramsey, who gave him his international debut in 1965 in a 1-1 draw with Yugoslavia, three days before turning twenty. 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 just 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 100,000 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. England's fans and media were thrilled with the achievement and Ball was taken to the sport's bosom to the extent that the bids started coming in. It took a record offer of £110,000 from Everton later in 1966 before Blackpool let Ball go.